Little Giants, Quakers Look to Cancel Plans for Witt-Wooster Rubber Match

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Wooster's Matt Schlingman needs just four points to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career.

» Game 1: Wittenberg def. Wabash 61-53 (OT)
» Game 2: Wooster def. Earlham 84-52

The field has narrowed to four teams in the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with Earlham College, Wabash College, Wittenberg University, and The College of Wooster all battling for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament inside the confines of Timken Gymnasium this weekend.

While most expect a Wittenberg-Wooster championship game, Wabash and Earlham have proven they can challenge the national powerhouses. The Tigers and Scots, both ranked among the top-five in this week's D3hoops.com national poll, did sweep the regular season meetings with their semifinal foes. But, the Little Giants held a 21-17 halftime lead at home this year against Wittenberg before losing by eight (56-48), and the Quakers also gave Wooster difficulties on Dec. 11 in Richmond, Ind., as they were trailing by single digits with less than three minutes to play (66-58) before falling 74-61.

Here's a closer look at each semifinal team:

Earlham, 12-14 overall, bounced back from a 3-10 start to finish 9-7 in NCAC play, and grab the No. 5 seed for the tourney. Head coach Jeff Justus' squad has won its last four contests, led by junior Brandon Miller. Miller has been one of the best players in the league once again this season, ranking among the top-five in scoring (18.4 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg), and steals (2.3 spg). Miller draws most of the attention from opponent's defenses, but the Quakers do have two other major scoring threats to turn to in sophomores LaRon Henry and Jermaine Crumby. Henry nearly doubled his season average (12.8 ppg) in Tuesday's mild upset of fourth-seeded Denison University (92-72) with 24 points on 8-of-10 shots from the field, while Crumby is averaging 11.1 points. Defensively, freshman Nick Welsh uses his 6'9î frame to cause havoc, as he has a team-high 25 blocked shots.

Wabash, the third seed with a 10-6 conference mark, is 14-12 overall while having been part of some thrilling games of late. The Little Giants edged Denison in double overtime (93-83), then had a game-winning bucket at Earlham waved off due to an offensive foul (64-65), and then got a 10-foot buzzer beater from Kyle Medeiros against Kenyon College (56-54) leading up to Tuesday night's quarterfinal win over Ohio Wesleyan University (62-52). In that most recent win, head coach Mac Petty picked up his 400th career victory at Wabash, and he's now looking to guide the Little Giants to their first NCAC Tournament championship. A trio of juniors, Medeiros, Adonis Joseph, and Kyle Coffey, lead a balanced offense. Medeiros is averaging 10.0 points, in addition to 35.9 percent shooting from 3-point land (37-for-104), while Joseph is the team's second-leading scorer at 9.2 points per game. Coffey is the top shot blocker in the NCAC (1.52 per game) and ranks first among the Little Giants in rebounding (4.9 rpg).

Wittenberg, which last won the NCAC Tournament in 2002, is one of the best teams in all of Div. III under veteran head coach Bill Brown, currently ranking No. 5 in the D3hoops.com poll. The Tigers are also among the statistical leaders in the nation, rating among the top-10 in five categories - scoring defense (55.5 ppg), scoring margin (+20.2 per game), defensive field-goal percentage (.364), rebounding margin (+12.9 per game), and win-loss percentage (.880). Leading Wittenberg is the two-headed monster in the paint of juniors Daniel Russ and Dane Borchers. The 6'9î Russ and 6'8î Borhcers dominated the inside, averaging 14.5 and 14.3 points, respectively, and each pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game. In addition to their outstanding defensive and post play, the Tigers can also shoot very effectively from the outside with three players - seniors Andy Bucheit, Danny Brywczynski, and Kenny Molz all among the top-five in the league in 3-point field-goal percentage. Bucheit and Brywczynski combine for 16.8 points and 4.6 assists per outing.

Wooster, the two-time defending NCAC tourney champions, is under the direction of head coach Steve Moore, who could reach a milestone this weekend. He needs two victories to tie the school record for coaching victories with the legendary “Mose” Hole (412). On the court, junior Tom Port leads a balanced attack with 13.8 points per game and is second in rebounding (6.5 rpg). Senior Matt Schlingman, who needs just four points to reach 1,000 for his career, was the Scots' leading scorer in conference games-only during the regular season (13.4 ppg). Overall, he's averaging 11.8 points and tops the conference in field-goal percentage (.682). Also noteworthy, junior point guard Kyle Witucky and sophomore forward Tim Vandervaart have raised their level of play over the past month. Witucky has ascended to be the leading 3-point shooter in the conference at 45.6 percent, while Vandervaart has moved into sixth in the league in rebounding (7.1 rpg), to go with 8.3 points per game.

Should the seeds hold to form, the Tigers and Scots would meet in the NCAC Tournament title game for the fourth time in five seasons, and eighth time overall, however, it would be the first such match-up to take place at Wooster since 1997. Earlier this year, Wittenberg knocked off the No. 1 ranked Scots 69-51 in Timken Gymnasium, however, Wooster avenged that setback by emerging as the victor from a thrilling, triple-overtime affair (102-95) two weeks ago.

The 21st NCAC Tournament championship will take place Saturday night, with the opening tip slated for 7 p.m.