WOOSTER -- Last Saturday, while The College of Wooster men's basketball team was grinding its way past Penn-State Behrend in a first-round Div. III national tournament game, Dickinson College started its own tournament run with the best start it could possibly imagine.
Hosting Marietta College in its first-round game, Dickinson raced out to a 19-6 lead, then pushed that advantage out to as many as 24 in the second half before settling for an 80-65 victory on its campus in Carlisle, Pa.
The win improved the Red Devils to 21-7, set a school-record for victories in a season, and moved them into a second-round game Saturday against the Fighting Scots (23-5) at Timken Gym (7 p.m.).
"We made some shots early and it started to snowball. It was just one of those nights," said Dickinson coach Alan Seretti, now 84-24 in his fourth season at the school.
In the game, Dickinson lit it up from the field, hitting 58 percent of its shots (30-of-52), including 10-of-18 3-pointers, while limiting Marietta to 37-percent shooting.
The Red Devils, who qualified by winning the Centennial Conference tournament, had their two best players -- 6-foot-7 Gerry Wixted and 6-0 guard Adam Honig -- lead the way in the win over the Pioneers.
Honig, a junior averaging 14.2 points a game, drilled 12-of-15 shots to score 32 points, going 5-of-7 on his 3-pointers. Wixted, a sophomore averaging team-highs of 17 points and 6.7 rebounds, added 20 points (7-of-11 FGs), and both grabbed eight rebounds.
"Honig's really good, a lot like Andy Winters," said Wooster coach Steve Moore, comparing the Dickinson guard to Ohio Wesleyan's Winters, the Player of the Year in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
"The big man, Wixted, is very versatile and a tough matchup because he can shoot the 3. They start him away from the basket and he makes 3s, he can put it on the floor, and he can also post up. We've faced other guys who were tough inside, but nobody as versatile as him."
"From a defensive standpoint," Moore added, "guarding Wixted will be very important, and a big challenge for Jake (Mays) and Josh (Claytor). And Honig is really good -- we have to contain those two and not let them take over the game."
Unlike Penn State-Behrend, which had 6-9 center Russ Conley as its one weapon, Dickinson's eight-player rotation has others to pay attention to. Tucker Landy (6-5 jr.) and Chris Barsanti (6-3 sr.) both average 8.6 points, while 6-9 sophomore Steve Collins comes off the bench for 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. Chris Cox (6-2 so.), Brandon Angradi (6-4 fr.) and Ted Hinnekamp (6-5 fr.) all average between 3.8 and 5 points.
"They've got a full complement of players, with size and good guards," Moore said. "Some of the other guys don't necessarily have scoring averages that are that high, but Barsanti and Landy have both had big games this year. Collins, in their (conference) semifinal against Johns Hopkins, they wouldn't have stayed in the game if he didn't come off the bench and score 11 points.
"One thing, we don't want to get in a scoring contest with this team," Moore added. "Not that we won't look to push it when we can, but we don't want to trade baskets. What makes them so good is that they like to push it, but if it's not there they've also got a good halfcourt offense."
Wooster will counter with its own depth, led by guards Doug Thorpe (13.4 ppg) and Xavier Brown (13.3). Claytor and Mays average a combined 17 points and 13 rebounds while splitting duties in the post, while Kenny DeBoer (8.3 ppg) and Evan Pannell (7.5) start on the wings.
Although guard Jalen Goodwin is out again with a broken finger, guard Geoff FuQuay and wings Alex LaLonde and DeVaughn Wingard bring quality minutes off the bench.
"Obviously, they've got that two-headed monster in the frontcourt (Claytor and Mays), and Thorpe and Brown are dangerous and can create their own shots," Seretti said. "Then you've got long, athletic guys like Pannell and Wingard -- and I left out LaLonde and numerous other guys. Most of the time at our level you can pick a guy or two you have to stop, but I don't know if Wooster has one guy, they have so many capable guys."
Wooster expects to see more of the zone defense employed last weekend by Behrend that held the Scots 11.5 points under their per-game scoring average and forced 16 turnovers.
"They've shown a 1-3-1 that is similar, and we've seen them extend that out," Moore said. "I thought we did a pretty good job against it, but we'll continue to work on it in practice. That will be a big key."
The two schools have met just one time, when Wooster clobbered Dickinson 86-31 at the Mose Hole Classic back in December, 1995.
At that time, Seretti was a freshman at Allegheny, where he lettered three times. During his days as a Gator, Seretti was part of two teams that went to the national tournament, including the 1997-98 squad that captured the NCAC Tournament title.
So, while his team has never been inside Timken Gym, Seretti knows what to expect Saturday.
"It will be a crowd that understands the game," he said. "You get down to the end of the shot clock or get down a few baskets, they know how to pour it on.
"But I don't think we'll be rattled by that. Our guys like to play ball against good teams, so I think we'll come in there excited and ready to go."
Saturday's winner will face the winner of the second-round game between host Ohio Wesleyan and Cabrini, both 23-5. The site for that Sweet 16 contest will be determined Sunday, with that winner advancing to the Elite Eight in Salem, Va.
Mike Plant can be reached at 330-287-1649 or mplant@the-daily-record.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MPlantTDR.
gillian anderson leah remini desean jackson kyle orton kyle orton ncaa tournament schedule black and tan
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.