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Notebook

Greg Chandler's
Great Lakes Notebook
Posted Dec. 8, 1999

OAC Games as Tight as Ever
By Greg Chandler
D3hoops.com

For many years, the Ohio Athletic Conference has been one of the most competitive conferences in all of Division III. If the first weekend is any indication, the OAC should have another exciting campaign.

Two of the four weekend contests went into overtime, but defending champion and preseason favorite Ohio Northern stepped forward with an 84-70 victory over Otterbein. Two-time All-OAC guard Jeremy Thompson poured in 23 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Polar Bears. It's the 30th time Thompson has gone for 20 or more points in a game in his illustrious career at ONU.

Elsewhere in the OAC, Baldwin-Wallace got a monkey off its back by downing John Carroll in overtime, 89-77. Jason Woleben scored 24 points and Shawn McCormick 23 for the Yellow Jackets as B-W snapped a 10-game losing streak against JCU. Michael Hill had a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds for John Carroll, but couldn't prevent the Blue Streaks from slipping to 2-3, their worst five-game start in coach Mike Moran's eight years at JCU.

The OAC's other overtime game had Heidelberg post a 69-65 win at Muskingum. Junior forward Randy Evans scored 23 points as the Student Princes won their fourth straight road game this season. Evans hit for 28 earlier in the week in a non-conference win over Urbana. Junior center Chris Garber did his best to keep Muskingum in the game with 17 points, nine boards and six assists.

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association are dominating their non-conference competition, posting a 30-11 record through the weekend. Three of the league's eight teams - Calvin (6-0), Olivet (5-0) and Kalamazoo (3-0) are unbeaten, and every team has a record of at least .500 or better.

Calvin, which has shot up the D3hoops.com Top 25 faster than the latest Backstreet Boys record, continued to stay hot with a 90-77 road win at NCAA Division II Ferris State, then defeated defending NAIA D-II champ Cornerstone 76-68. The win over Ferris was the Knights' second win in less than a week against a D-II foe, following their win the previous weekend over Grand Valley State at the Old Kent Classic. Calvin, which started the year at No. 22, took only two weeks to move into the Top 10.

Olivet, meanwhile, posted three straight wins, including the championship of the Fred Raisk Classic at Wilmington. The Comets, who already own a victory against nationally ranked Manchester, defeated Waynesburg 90-76 and Greensboro 93-75 in that tournament. James Johnson scored 23 points for Olivet in the championship game.

Defiance center Chad Kahle had a monster week in being named MIAA player of the week. The rugged 6-5 Kahle had 29 points and 16 rebounds in a 104-88 win against Bluffton, then scored 20 points and ripped down 21 boards in a 97-59 blowout of Ohio Wesleyan. If Kahle continues to put numbers up like that, the Yellow Jackets will be in the hunt for the MIAA title.

Last season, Hiram College didn't win its first game until Jan. 30, and finished the year 3-21. It's taken the Terriers two weeks to exceed that victory total this season. After losing its season opener, Hiram has won four straight, including a 67-57 road victory over Denison in its first game in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Terriers moved to the NCAC from the OAC at the end of last season.

Hiram is one of two new NCAC members that played their first conference games last week. Wabash made its conference debut a success, with Josh Estelle firing in 28 points as the Little Giants rallied to down Earlham 74-63. Wabash later stumbled at the University of Chicago, falling to the Maroons 84-72.

Wooster scored a pair of road victories during the week, downing Capital 85-72 and Earlham 79-57. John Ellenwood had 22 points and eight boards in 26 minutes against Earlham, as the Fighting Scots opened NCAC play with an important win.

Just call him Sugar: Waynesburg guard Ray Robinson lit it up in the consolation game of the Fred Raisk Classic, scoring 37 points in a 99-94 win against Wilmington. Robinson far and away leads the Presidents Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 23.8 points a contest after five games. Backcourt mate Rob Strcula added 23 points for Waynesburg, including a perfect 14-of-14 from the line, and was named PAC player of the week.

Name game: Baldwin-Wallace reserve guard Jon Carroll came off the bench to help his team defeat his (almost) namesake, John Carroll. Carroll, the player, scored seven points and had two assists in 17 minutes off the bench.

Bethany's Nevada Smith is stroking it from 3-point range. Smith is hitting a sizzling 57 percent (16-28) from long distance, tops in the PAC. He has made only four baskets inside the 3-point arc this season, averaging a total of 12 points per game.

Other noteworthy performances during the week included Alma's Aaron Kanitz, who scored 31 points as the Scots defeated Cornerstone in overtime 90-82, while Hope's Mark Bray scored a career-high 25 points as the Flying Dutchmen avenged an earlier loss to Aquinas, 87-78.

Women's action: In an early season battle of nationally ranked teams, Capital defeated Mount Union 75-63. Kendra Meyer and Amy Strine scored 18 points each for the Crusaders, who improved to 5-1, while Meyer had nine rebounds.

Baldwin-Wallace, meanwhile, improved to 5-0 with a pair of wins, taking down Grove City 65-54, then John Carroll 73-57. Senior center Anjee Beard had 35 points and 16 rebounds for the week, while freshman center Holly Koepp had her first career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in 21 minutes off the bench against John Carroll.

Ohio Wesleyan won three straight during the week to improve to 7-0. The Battling Bishops romped over Wooster 89-67 in their NCAC opener, then defeated Carlow 82-56 and Geneva 75-55 in the Geneva Holiday Invitational. Jessica Viertlboeck scored 25 points for Ohio Wesleyan in the title game, while tournament MVP Katy Sturtz had 15 points and 15 rebounds against Carlow and 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals against Geneva.

MIAA preseason favorite Hope won three straight games during the week to boost their record to 5-2. The Flying Dutch pounded St. Mary's (Ind.) in their league opener 72-49, then defeated Cornerstone 68-55 and Spring Arbor 63-61 to win their own Hope Subway Shootout.

Senior forward Lisa Hoekstra scored 20 points against St. Mary's, then tossed in 25 against Cornerstone. She was named the MVP of the Subway Shootout and the league's player of the week. Against Spring Arbor, Hope blew a 12-point lead with 2:09 to play, but freshman Amy Baltmanis won the game with a 15-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer.

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