E. Mennonite making Royal mess of ODAC

They may have lost their grip on the nation’s No. 1 spot, but the Old Dominion Athletic Conference still reigns supreme right now in D-III men’s basketball.

Two of the nation’s top three teams. Three of the top seven. Four of the top 12. That’s what you’d call dominance. And we’re only just now seeing ODAC titan Randolph-Macon fall out of the top spot -- because of a loss to another conference heavyweight.

Eastern Mennonite athletics photo George Johnson leads the team in assists, but when he has the ball, he can score, averaging 14.9 points per game while shooting 93 percent from the foul line.

From out of nowhere, we’ve seen the emergence of Harrisonburg, Va.-based Eastern Mennonite, a program that not too long ago put up nine straight losing seasons, as a national power. The Royals finally broke through with a winning season under coach Kirby Dean last season, going 15-11, and this year, they’re shocking the world at 14-1. Their signature win? A 90-67 trouncing of Randolph-Macon at their home in Yoder Arena. If you weren’t already noticing how good these Royals can be, they’ve probably got people's attention now.

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EMU overcame Macon last Wednesday night by going up 48-42 at halftime, getting into an upbeat transition game, and then absolutely burying the visiting Yellow Jackets in the second half, holding them to just 25 points. Three EMU juniors -- Todd Phillips, George Johnson and D.J. Hinson -- finished over 20 points.

“I think we felt like the teams were evenly matched,” Dean said. “Our kids felt that Randolph-Macon was really good. We had a lot of respect for Randolph-Macon, and we still do. At least for me, it was an even draw, and whichever team executed their game plan better was going to come out on top.

“I think the difference was the emotion of our fans. It was a crazy game because of our crowd -- it was a sellout crowd, and there was so much energy, everyone was into it. We were able to sustain the transition game a little bit better because of our fans.”

So much for Macon’s perch atop the national rankings. After rolling into Harrisonburg undefeated at 13-0, the Yellow Jackets were taken down a notch, then taken down one more with a loss to Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Ranked third nationally, the Jackets have to head back to the drawing board.

“Eastern Mennonite played better than we did on that night, and they beat us pretty good,” Macon coach Nathan Davis said. “But it's a long season -- it's a marathon, not a sprint, and that was only one game. We had two very good practices in the two days after that game, and we came out and played very well Saturday [beating Emory and Henry, 94-73]. We're just trying this season to be as good as we can be.”

As for the Royals, they’re an up and coming program. And with last week’s statement victory under their belts, they can start looking toward bigger and better things.

“We'd like to try to win the ODAC,” Dean said. “That's got to be our goal. And obviously if we did that, we'd be going to the (NCAA) tournament. And really, you're starting to get into uncharted waters for this program. I mean, to even talk about winning the league is something they really haven't talked about here since the early 1980s. I don't even know how to put a definition on what that would mean to our school. But those are our goals, and we have the potential to achieve our goals.”

Before the 2008-09 season, the Royals had only once won more than 15 games in a season. Dean had never won more than 12, and his career record in five years at EMU was 45-81. The program was in bad shape, but Dean worked with a strong core of young players to develop a promising future. He brought in a quartet of freshmen two years ago -- Phillips, Johnson, Hinson and Orie Pancione -- that all jumped into the rotation right away, all starting in their rookie year. And they built from there.

“Last year, we kind of said our goal was to break the program record [16 wins, in 1997-98 under Tom Baker],” Dean said. “And we came close to doing that. We came within one win. And there several games that got away from us that we probably felt shouldn't have gotten away from us. We had a good year for the program, and we achieved a lot, but we didn't achieve everything that we wanted to. This year, we want to do more … We want to put ourselves in a position to really show some people what this program is going to be about.”

But it’s not just about Dean’s Royals and Davis’ Yellow Jackets. The conference isn’t just strong -- it’s deep, and any number of teams could make a run at it. The four favorites at the moment are EMU, Macon, Guilford and Virginia Wesleyan, the only four of the 11 teams in the league who are above .500 in conference. The Guilford Quakers have won 11 consecutive games, including a 96-62 walloping of Roanoke on Monday night; they’re the defending regular-season champions of the conference, while the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan hold the ODAC Tournament title. Which of those four teams is the top dog? There’s no easy answer.

“We look at it like it's wide open,” Davis said. “Hampden-Sydney's very good, Bridgewater's very good, Randolph, Roanoke ... There's a lot of good teams in this league that are capable of winning games. The four of us are off to really good starts, but there are really no easy games, and you've got to come to play every night.”

Dean isn’t ready to plug his EMU squad as an elite contender yet. Winning a league title is certainly on his radar, but he’s still giving tons of credit to the more established top programs in the conference.

“I still, for me, feel like Guilford is probably the team to beat,” Dean said. “They won the regular season last year, and they advanced to the Final Four. And they didn't really lose anyone from that team. I think they're a little more battle-tested. If you're going to pin me down and ask me to identify one team to beat in this league, I would still say Guilford. But I'm not trying to take anything away from Wesleyan or Macon.”

And like Davis, he added that the next tier of ODAC contenders is almost as strong. No one knows who’ll come out on top in this melee, but whoever does will be in excellent shape going forward. Expect the ODAC to have a huge national presence this spring.

Macon may not be the clear favorite anymore, but they’re still chugging away, looking to be on top by the end.

“I know it's a cliché, but we're just working to get better every day,” Davis said. “We have every reason to believe that if we keep doing that, we're going to be able to compete for a championship in our league. And as good as our league is, that's really all you can ask for ... It's going to be hard, but if you're going to do anything worth doing in this game, it shouldn't be easy.”

It won’t be. Not in this year's ODAC.

A TITANIC PERFORMANCE: They're called the Titans for a reason.

The Illinois Wesleyan women have now won 31 consecutive games in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, and 54 straight regular-season contests overall. And against the best competition the CCIw has to offer, the Titans aren't just winning -- they're absolutely blowing them away.

The Titans won at Elmhurst on Sunday afternoon, opening an 18-9 lead right out of the gate and never looking back, pulling away 74-64. Then, for an encore, they thrashed Wheaton on the road, 94-57. Fourteen different Titans scored in the game.

"We weren’t real happy with our play in the first half," IWU coach Mia Smith told the Bloomington Pantagraph. "But that second half was the best one we’ve had at both ends of the floor in a long time."

You're telling me.

They outscored the Thunder 49-22 after the break, holding them to 30 percent shooting. And this is against a team that sits comfortably at third in the CCIW.

Yeah, this IWU squad is the real deal.

FLYING DUTCH BRING HOPE: There's still hope in Holland, Mich. -- even in troubled times.

The Flying Dutch women scored a big win over archrival Calvin on Tuesday night, improving to 15-1 on the season with a decisive victory, 73-58. And they did it all while battling difficult emotions following a campus-wide tragedy.

The teams took a moment of silence before the game to honor David Otai and Emma Biagioni, two Hope students who were killed in a plane crash in Allegan County, Michigan on Sunday afternoon. The players then dedicated their effort on the court to their late classmates 48 hours later.

"That was an emotional week at Hope," coach Brian Morehouse told the Holland Sentinel. "It’s been draining for our campus. But sometimes good things can come from sport. Tonight was an opportunity for us to put a little bit of our grieving aside, enjoy the joy of sport, in a way that those two people lived their lives -- with a way."

BAPTISTE, BROOKLYN'S BULLDOG: If you measure a player’s passion for basketball by his facial expressions and how much he emotes during a game, then Brooklyn Bulldogs forward Richard Jean-Baptiste is not for you.

The All-American does a little bit of everything. On offense he brings the ball up court when needed. He feeds fast breaks with long passes to streaking teammates. He uses his good first step, long arms and soft touch to hit outside shots. He drives to the rim with size and body control that allows him to absorb contact and still get the shot he wants. On defense he plays the wing in Brooklyn’s “amoeba defense,” a type of zone that allows him to sag off his man a little and help in the post. His timing and those long arms help him block shots or grab rebounds. But he doesn’t show the emotions – joy, anger, disbelief – that flash across the face of many players during a game.

Brooklyn athletics photo Richard Jean-Baptiste leads Brooklyn in scoring and rebounds and is second in assists, steals and blocked shots.

During Monday’s game at Widener, Richard Jean-Baptiste did a little bit of everything. He swatted a shot six rows into the stands and the ball bounced off a trio of unsuspecting girls. They laughed, blushed and seemed a little flustered by the surprise souvenir. He offered no response. No growl, shout or glare.

On the next possession he stole the ball and headed toward Widener’s rim, slowing down just enough so that the Widener defender might draw a personal foul trying to stop him but not so much that the defender would actually succeed. After making the shot, Jean-Baptiste again offered no response. No fist pump or chest bump.

Richard Jean-Baptiste did plenty against the Widener Pride. He finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, four steals, four turnovers and two blocks. But if you want more emotion during the game, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Like the Brooklyn bench where coach Steve Podias paces and scowls, cheers and cajoles his team throughout the game.

Podias calls out plays, shouts instructions and even leads the Bulldogs reserves in a couple “DE-FENSE” chants. Seated next to those reserves is Jeffrey Jean-Baptiste, an assistant coach and Richard’s older brother.

During the middle part of the decade, Jeffrey was the Jean-Baptiste to watch. He scored 1,400 points during his playing career at Brooklyn, placing him in the school's top five all time. He was named the team’s Most Outstanding Player twice and made the conference’s All-Rookie team as a guard. Like his younger brother, Jeffrey also kept a quiet demeanor on the court.

Podias recalls a playoff game in Jeffrey’s freshman year where he scored 35 points but said nothing about the performance afterward. Podias tested him during the postgame talk in the locker room, saying Jeffrey scored somewhere between 25 and 40 points to see if the young guard would point out the correct amount. Jeffrey kept quiet, a habit he know attributes to the need to act professionally and the desire to gain a mental edge over opponents who could be rattled by how little he reacts during a game.

When Jeffrey was playing at Brooklyn, Podias knew he had a younger brother named Richard who played high school basketball at St. John’s Preparatory School in Queens. Podias went to some of those games, including the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association championship in 2005.

“During the championship game against Mount Saint Michael, he did everything,” recalls Podias. “He did everything within what St. John’s Prep wanted to do. When they needed a basket, he got a big basket. And I said to myself, ‘I wish I could get this kid into the building because, if he comes to our building, we’ll win a championship.’”

Instead Richard chose a different path and eventually landed at Blinn Junior College in Bryan, Texas. Richard hoped to build a resume there that would land him a scholarship for the rest of his college career. Instead he struggled and became depressed.

“I honestly lost the love for the sport.’” says Richard. “It didn’t seem fun anymore. It’s kind of like when you work really hard and you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, and there’s no payment. That’s exactly how I felt.”

During their nightly phone conversations, Jeffrey could tell his younger brother was unhappy. So he lobbied Richard to come back to New York City and play for Podias. “If you’re not happy, you’re losing your love for basketball. Come and play here, you know, and we’ll embrace you.” Richard remembered Podias’ recruiting efforts, knew he had a close relationship with Jeffrey and agreed to come home back to the City. He joined the Brooklyn College Bridges (as they were then known) midway through an unremarkable season that ended with a 10-14 record and just two wins in CUNYAC play.

Fast forward to 2010 and a lot has changed. The team is now called the Bulldogs and they are the defending CUNYAC champions. Richard Jean-Baptiste has collected multiple individual honors: 2008 Atlantic Region Player of the Year as a sophomore, 2009 Fourth Team All-American as a junior, 2009 Preseason All-American as a senior. He’s the two-time CUNYAC player of the year and could finish as Brooklyn’s all-time leading scorer.

In Monday’s game against Widener, he finished as the team’s leading scorer. But there were times when Richard stayed behind as his teammates charged down the court on a fast break. He did not appear to go full speed through much of the game.

Combine that with his quiet demeanor and you might wonder how hard Richard Jean-Baptiste is trying. But any notion that he is not working hard is washed away when you notice that his dark red jersey is even darker than usual because it is saturated with sweat. His red shorts partially cover a heavily wrapped left knee that was injured during a summer game in which Richard says he “heard something snap” while taking a shot.

With that injury, he may be missing a step but he hasn’t missed any games. He led the team in minutes through Jan. 13, and played all 40 against Widener. He helped his teammates off the floor after hard fouls and calmed them when calls did not break Brooklyn’s way. As good as Richard is, he knows that the team’s success hinges on the players’ ability to play well as a unit. “Without my teammates there’s no me. I couldn’t do this by myself,” says Richard. “As a senior, I would rather go to war with nobody else than [my teammates].”

When Brooklyn played well against Widener, everyone contributed. Guards Amil John and Tyshawn Russell played tight defense and sparked the fast break. Forward Darnell Cudjoe made tough shots inside the paint. Daniel Nisbett (a 1,000-point scorer himself) and Thomas Guerin hit mid-range jumpers. Without that balanced contribution the Bulldogs won’t defend their CUNYAC title against top contenders Baruch and York (N.Y.).

In the closing minutes against Widener, the Bulldogs had a 65-63 lead and gave the ball to Jean-Baptiste to seal the win. He started toward the rim along the baseline where he collided with a Widener defender. The ball rolled free and Widener went down the court to tie the game at 65. Meanwhile back behind the play Jean-Baptiste showed some emotion for the first time and it’s the wrong emotion – pain as he grimaced, rolled on his back and grabbed at his wrapped left knee.

As he pulled himself to his feet and the referee checked on him, Podias shouted, “Richard, are you okay?” Either way there wasn’t much of a response from Jean-Baptiste.

He was clearly staying in the game.

The Bulldogs brought the ball up the floor and put it in his hands outside the three-point line. He waived his teammates off, looked at the defender and watched the clock wind down to six seconds. Then he took a step to his left, drove toward the basket and kicked it to a wide-open Guerin. Guerin took a dribble or two toward the rim and drained the game winning shot as the buzzer sounded.

The Bulldogs exploded off the bench. One player jumped on top of Jean-Baptiste and then all the others joined a dogpile at half court. He was crucial to the winning play, but he did not do it alone. He had company in the victory and the celebration.

And, with the game over, he also finally had room for a smile.

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