Ya gotta believe. If you don’t, what’s the point?

CAA POY-Gary Neal, TU

All-CAA first team

Loren Stokes, HU
Frank Elegar, DU
Valdas Vasylius, ODU
Eric Maynor, VCU
Will Thomas, GMU

All-CAA second team

Antoine Agudio, HU(almost first team)
Drew Williamson, ODU
Herb Courtney, UD
BA Walker, VCU
Bennett Davis, NU

All-CAA third team

Adam Payton, W&M
Carlos Rivera, HU
Folarin Campbell, GMU
Juwann James, JMU
Jessee Pellot-Rosa, VCU

All-CAA Defensive team

Chaz Crawford, DU(DPOY)
Bashir Mason, DU
Adam Payton, W&M
Brandon Johnson, ODU
Bennett Davis, NU

CAA Coach of the Year(top 3)

1)Anthony Grant, VCU
2)Bill Coen, NU
3)Tony Shaver, W&M

CAA All-Rookie team

Matt Janning, NU(ROY)
David Schneider, W&M
Brian Johnson, UD
Pierre Curtis, JMU
TJ Gwynn, VCU

Next one out-Gerald Lee, ODU

CAA Women’s first team All-CAA

Meredith Alexis, JMU(POY)
Tamera Young, JMU
Kyra Kaylor, W&M
TJ Jordan, ODU
Tyresa Smith, UD

The 4 byes

VCU-The Rams took the one side by hanging on at Georgia State, and while they had a great season they limped to the finish line. With 3 potent guards in Jesse Pellot-Rosa, Eric Maynor, and BA Walker, plus the home-court advantage, the Rams will be tough to stop in the tournament.

ODU-Old Dominion had the strongest finish in the conference, winning their last 11 games including a blowout of ODU. They have the best shot in the conference at getting an at-large bid, and with great senior leadership in Arnaud Dahi, Valdas Vasylius, and Brian Henderson, I think they’ll get one.

HU-Hofstra is another guard-dominated team, with seniors Carlos Rivera and Loren Stokes, plus junior Antoine Agudio. They can be beaten inside, and were upset against Delaware, but are still not a team I’d like to face in the tournament.

DU-Drexel is the only other team with a shot at an at-large. In the early season they knocked off Syracuse and Villanova. They probably have the most inside-outside balance, with Chaz Crawford and Frank Elegar down low and Dom Mejia and Bashir Mason in the back-court. They were upset by W&M only 2 weeks ago, and are the most vulnerable of the top 4 teams, but to pull of the win the oppositions big men have to come to play.

The slate

8/9, noon game-W&M vs. GSU

W&M-The Tribe had one of the most surprising season’s of the year, finishing at 8-10 and tied for seventh place with a win @ GMU and over Drexel at home. Adam Payton was the biggest surprise, finally becoming a scoring threat averaging over 13 a game and holding serve as the Tribe’s best defender. David Schneider was a nice find, leading the team as a freshman, and Laimis Kisielius finally lived up to his potential. This isn’t the most talented team, but if you aren’t ready for them they will beat you.

GSU-GSU was the best of the worst this season, finishing in 9th place with 4 wins. Senior Lance Perique has led them throughout the year, with over 15 points a game and 5 rebounds. Leonard Mendez has also come out of nowhere, averaging over 13 per. They don’t have any outstanding wins, but did beat UNCW twice, NU once, and Towson once.

Prediction-W&M crushed GSU by 14 and 16 in their 2 games, and I expect no less on Friday. Tribe-65 Panthers-50

5/12 2:30 game-NU vs. UD

NU-The Huskies have also shocked the Colonial Athletic Association, losing most of their talent and their coach and still finishing in the same spot in the league. Bill Coen has done a great job with the Huskies, and with Bennett Davis and Matt Janning at the helm, they have a very solid team. The downside, though, is that while they were dominating at home, they were pretty much terrible on the road, and because of that I don’t see them making it past the second round.

UD-The Blue Hens finished last in the CAA, with a new coach in Monte Ross and without All-CAA Harding Nana. They are currently down to 6 players, one being a manager, but never really gave up and somehow blew out W&M in Delaware. They very easily could upset NU, but I don’t see it happening.

Prediction-While NU is bad on the road, and UD is definitely capable of pulling upsets, I think NU wins this one. NU-69 UD-62

7/10 6 pm game - Towson vs. UNCW

Towson-The Tigers are led by Gary Neal, one of the top players on their team. Neal can flat-out take over games, and has the entire CAA scared. They come and go with Neal, and if he gets hot they could pull off a second round upset. I definitely think they win their first game, though, as UNCW probably won’t be able to stop Neal.

UNCW-UNCW also has the firepower to pull off an upset, with Vladimir Kuljanin, Todd Hendley, and Montez Downey. Kuljanin can be a force down low, but tends to slack off on defense. The Hawks were expected to be near the top half of the Association, but Benny Moss hasn’t really impressed the Seahawk faithful.

Prediction-Close game, but Gary Neal takes over in the second half and TU wins by 8. 78-70.

6/11 8:30 game - GMU vs. JMU

GMU-Coming off a final four run, George Mason has not lived up to expectations. After a solid start to the season, the last couple weeks they have seemed to have given up and it has shown in their play. They are capable of an upset, with Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell, but I think it is more likely that they continue the slide.

JMU-Head Coach Dean Keener really hasn’t paid off for JMU. With another bottom 4 finish in the league, the Dukes looked terrible most of the year with losses against Youngstown State and many more terrible teams, and a shocking home victory against ODU. They could easily beat GMU in the first round in a rivalry game behind Pierre Curtis, Terrence Carter, and Juwann James.

Prediction-In the only upset of the first round, the Dukes beat GMU. Mason has seemingly given up, and I doubt that will change Friday night. 80-76 JMU.

Full Tourney Predictions:

GSU vs. W&M-W&M
NU vs. UD-NU
TU vs. UNCW-TU
GMU vs. JMU-JMU

W&M vs. VCU-W&M
NU vs. DU-DU
TU vs. ODU-ODU
JMU vs. Hofstra-Hofstra

ODU vs. Hofstra-Hofstra
W&M vs. DU-W&M

Hofstra vs. W&M-W&M

Because if you don’t believe, what’s the point?

(now for the no kool-aid predictions)

W&M over GSU
NU over UD
TU over UNCW
JMU over GMU

VCU over W&M
DU over NU
ODU over TU
HU over JMU

DU over VCU
ODU over HU

DU wins.

Oh, the irony.

The Tribe played on of it’s best game of the year, and it took ODU shooting 50% from behind the arc and the Tribe misses all kinds of free throws late to give them the win.

In a game where everyone pitched in, Nathan Mann and Laimis Kisielius led the team with 11 and 10 points. Kyle Carrabine was hot from 3 and scored 9, while AP had a uncharacteristic 8.

David Schneider got back into the swing of things this game, scoring 6 in 21 minutes. Alex Smith, too, had a nice game, scoring 4 and getting 7 rebounds.

The Tribe will probably face Georgia State at noon on Friday, in the 8/9 game. We will face JMU if they pull the upset over Hofstra tonight, but with the 2 convincing wins I’d rather play GSU.

GO TRIBE!

64-57

The Tribe was down as many as 25 in the second half, but behind Adam Payton’s 20 points the Tribe moved the lead to single digits. AP also had 4 steals, and was 9-15 from the floor.

Smith and Mann also pitched in well, with 9 and 8. Both had 6 rebounds, and Mann had 3 assists.

If the Tribe hadn’t shot so badly, to the tune of 32%, in the first half, they may have made this a game. It really never was close, partly due to Dominick Mejia’s 16 points going 6-11 from the floor.

We’ve got ODU on Saturday in the last game of the regular season, so here are the tournament scenarios.

Tribe win

+NU win(against GMU)+Towson loss=5th seed
+NU win+Towson win=7th seed
+NU loss+ Towson win=7th seed
+NU loss+Towson loss=6th seed

Tribe loss

+NU win+Towson loss=8th seed
+NU win+Towson win=8th seed
+NU loss+Towson win=7th seed
+NU loss+Towson loss=7th seed.

The Tribe’s third CAA title of the year, and the Women’s Swimming and Divings first ever CAA title.

Congratulations!

Quite possibly the worst game of the season. Jay Colley laid out the excuses pre-game, that Stein, Kisielius, and  Mann had the flu, that we had a long trip, didn’t have time to shootaround. But either way, if you don’t come to play anybody can hang an L on you.

2 players came to play, Peter Stein and Adam Payton. Payton scored 16 points to go along with 4 rebounds. Stein scored 10 in 21 minutes, but had 4 fouls and only one rebound.

Then we had a fall off. Mann had 5 with 4 rebounds. Sumner and Darnell had 4 each(Sumner’s were actually very nice). Trumbower, Kisielius, and Smith had 2. There’s the scoring summary.

Sumner was the only other bright spot, and had a very nice mid-range jumper and blocked a Fairfield shot and took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up off a spin move. We need to develop him this year through increased game time, and by mid-season next year he will be great.

A couple other nice stats: 2/16 from 3. 7 assists, 15 turnovers. The Tribe shot 41% from the field, but in the end it didn’t matter. Our first half offense was ghastly, scoring 13 points, and in the second half we could get a stop. Fairfield was lights out from 3 in the second half, and that was the one thing the Tribe couldn’t overcome.

The only good news is that this game means very little to the Tribe. W&M has 1 more loss on the schedule, and a win would have locked up a winning season, but the Tribe is still where they were in the CAA after the Drexel win. We are tied for 5th, and have a very solid shot at holding that spot, or at least ending the season with the 6th seed.

Go Tribe!

So I was just reading an article about the Commonwealth Cup, a competition between UVA and VT using a point system to determine which University is better overall in athletics. Duke and Carolina have the “Carlyle Cup”, so I thought I’d match up W&M with our biggest foe, JMU, and see who has been better so far this season. Each Basketball game on the men’s side is awarded one point, Football gets 2, and Women’s basketball also gets 2 total. In sports like XC and Swimming when they have meets rather than matches, the win goes to whoever finishes highest in the CAA Tourney.

W&M vs. JMU

Men’s Basketball-2 W&M wins gives the Tribe 2 points.
Men’s Cross Country-The Tribe won the CAA Championship, giving them another point.
Football-JMU beat the Tribe in H’Burg, they get 2.
Baseball-TBD
Golf-TBD
Men’s Gymnastics-The Tribe won at Kaplan on 2/17, giving them the point.
Men’s Soccer-The 2 teams tied in Harrisonburg, so each team gets .5.
Men’s Swimming and Diving-JMU gets half a point for beating W&M earlier in the season, and this weekends CAA Tourney will determine the second. JMU finishes off the point in the tourney.
Men’s Tennis-W&M won the first meeting, getting half a point, but the CAA Tourney will determine the other.
Men’s Track and Field-TBD
Women’s Basketball-JMU gets 2 points
Women’s Cross Country-W&M won the CAA, giving them the point.
Field Hockey-JMU beat the Tribe and gets the point.
Women’s Golf-TBD
Women’s Gymnastics-W&M beat JMU in the first match-up, and has the initial half point.
Women’s Lax-TBD
Women’s Soccer-The Tribe beat JMU in Williamsburg, earning another point.
Women’s Swimming and Diving-W&M beat JMU in Williamsburg, but the CAA Tournament will determine the second half point. W&M wins the CAA and gets the second half.
Women’s Tennis-TBD
Women’s Track and Field-TBD
Women’s Volleyball-JMU won in Harrisonburg, but W&M pulled the upset at W&M, giving each team half of a point.

CURRENT STANDINGS–8.5-6.5

Remaining points-Women’s Track and Field(1), Women’s Tennis(1), Women’s Lax(1), Women’s Gymnastics(.5), Women’s Golf(1), Men’s Track and Field(1), Men’s Tennis(.5), Men’s Golf(1), Baseball(1).

The W&M Tribe will play its first ever bracket buster game saturday, traveling to Bridgeport, Connecticut to face the Fairfield Stags. Fairfield, a small Jesuit school from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference(MAAC), is 11-17 on the season but has won 8/10. They are under a first year coach, Ed Cooley.

Fairfield is 205 in the RPI, in the 23rd MAAC conference, with their biggest win at Siena. They are rated 202 in the Pomeroy Rating, which gives them a 1 point advantage and a 55% chance of a win. Mike Greenfield has them at #220, and gives them a 2 point spread and a 59% chance of winning. They’re strongest team statistic is offensive rebounding percentage, where they are 9th in the nation.

Fairfield is -3 in scoring differential, and is led by Mike Van Schaick. Van Schaick is averaging 15 points per game, and is shooting 46% from the field along with 41% from 3 and 84% from the foul stripe. He is averaging 3.9 rebounds per game and has a positive assist-turnover ratio to boot. He is one of the top on his team with 32 steals.

Freshman foward Greg Nero is second on the team in scoring, at 9.5 points per. He leads the team with 30 blocks and is also shooting 45% from the field. He’s shooting 78% from the foul stripe, and is averaging 3.6 rebounds a game.

Another Freshman foward, Anothony Johnson, is third on the team in scoring, at 8.4 a game. He is shooting a team-high 53% from the field, and is averaging 4.9 rebounds per. He is shooting 64% from the foul stripe and has 29 blocks on the year.

Now for the Fairfield fans, a little bit of information about the Tribe.

The Tribe has had one of its best seasons in years, currently at 15-11. Highlighted by a win at Final Four participant George Mason and at home Wednesday night against Drexel, W&M is 8-8 in the CAA and competing for 5th place in the conference.

The Tribe has had 3 guards come through this year, Junior Nathan Mann, Senior Adam Payton, and Freshman David Schneider. Schneider came out of nowhere, expected to ride the pine this year, and behind an unorthodox shot is averaging 8.7 points a game. He is probably a lock to make the CAA all-rookie team. Mann, a sharp-shooter from Overland Park, Kansas, is averaging 9.2 points per game and has made more 3’s than anybody else on the team. Adam Payton, a transfer from Vandy, is the Tribe’s most athletic guard and has really stepped up in his final year. Payton is leading the team in points per game, at 13.5, steals, at 40, free throw percentage, at 87%, and rebounds, and 4.2 per game.

The Tribe’s 3 best big men this year have been Laimis Kisielius, Peter Stein, and Alex Smith. Kisielius, a native of Lithuania, is averaging 11.9 points per game, and is shooting 48% from the field and 42% from 3. Stein, a sophomore, is averaging 5.7 points per game and leads the team with 12 blocks. He is also shooting 58% from the floor. Finally, Alex Smith is averaging 5.4 points per, but has been held back due to a dehydration issue, causing him to only play in spurts.

The Tribe’s success depends on its defense, and their interior D against Drexel is what won them the game. They are one of the nations top teams at defending the 3, and if they play like they have been the last 3 games they will beat Fairfield.

W&M-60
Fairfield-50

The Tribe pulled off what is probably the best win in the Tony Shaver era, beating 4th-place Drexel soundly at home. In a 60-47 win that was dominated by defense, the Tribe held Drexel to 33% from the field and 1-11 from 3. Defense has been key in the Tribe’s 15 wins this season, and the trend continued tonight.

The fifth-place Tribe got a pleasant suprise tonight, with a very nice game out of the injured Laimis Kisielius. Kisielius was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 6-10 from the field and 4-4 from the foul stripe. He had a combined 6 points in his last 2 games and really came back strong.

While Adam Payton had an off shooting night, going 3-12 from the field, he made up for it by going 7-8 from the foul stripe and scoring 13 points. He also had 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Nathan Mann was also in double figures, going 3-5 from 3-point range and scoring a total of 12 points. He also had 4 rebounds and had several big 3’s.

While the Tribe won, Drexel’s big men were dominant in the post. Frank Elegar scored a game-high 18, and another game-high 9 rebounds. Chaz Crawford, too, had 9 rebounds, and scored 10 points in the paint. He also had 2 blocks, and altered all kinds of shots down low.

The Tribe kept a steady lead through the game, the peak coming with a 15-point lead with 14 minutes left in the game. The Dragons slowly came back, getting it to a 4-point game with about 2 minutes left. Then the Tribe pulled away, and late fouls gave the Tribe a nice cushion, and a 13-point win.

The Tribe travels to Connecticut this Saturday to face Fairfield in the bracketbuster, and then follow it up on Wednesday at Drexel.

The Tribe comes back home after an impressive road swing, pulling off 2 wins, and getting back on the right track. Drexel is also playing some solid ball, with 3 straight wins including a road win against Hofstra. They are 19-6 on the year, 11-4 in the CAA, and have impressive road wins at Villanova and Syracuse.

Drexel is one of the only CAA teams with at-large bid chances, partly due to their 50 RPI. They are 80 in the Pomeroy ratings, which gives them a 76% chance of winning Wednesday. Mike Greenfield gives them a 77% chance of winning, and is giving W&M 7 points.

Drexel is defined by its’ defense this season, and is 28th in the nation in field goal percentage against. They are 28th in the nation in blocks, 13th in the nation in 2-point defense(hello Chaz Crawford). Speaking of Chaz, he is 10th in the nation at % of blocks, and also 10th at offensive rebound percentage.

Drexel is led on offense by Frank Elegar, who is averaging 15.5 points per game. He also has 7 rebounds a game, and is shooting over 50% from the field. He is getting 1.2 blocks per game, which goes along with a 67% free throw percentage. He is a 6-9, 220 Junior center.

Senior G Bashir Mason is averaging 12.1 points per, and has an assist/to ratio of 1.4. He is shooting 45% from the floor and 79% from the free throw line. He is averaging 2.8 rebounds per game and 3.4 assists per, to go along with 2.3 steals a game.

Also a Senior, Dominick Mejia is averaging 11.5 points per game. He is pulling down 3.7 rebounds per game, but averages only 1.1 assits per game and has an assist/to ratio of .6. He is shooting 37% from the field and 76% from the foul stripe, and will need to come to play for DU to be on top of its’ game.

Finally, senior defensive-specialist Chaz Crawford is averaging 6.8 points per game. Crawford is averaging 9.5 rebounds per game, definitely one of the top in the CAA, and has 3.5 blocks a match. He also leads the team with a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio, very good for a big man.

Admittedly, I haven’t gotten a great chance to see them play this year. I would be ecstatic if the Tribe could pull off a split, but I’m really not sure it’s going to happen. The 2 big men will be far too much down low, and the Tribe will barely be able to hold serve with the guards. I’d be much happier about our chances if the home game came second, but you’ve gotta play with the schedule dealt to you.

Drexel-76
W&M-66

For the first time since the 93-94 season, winning 61-55. 

The biggest difference between this game and the last was a great shooting performance from Nathan Mann, going 9/14 from the field and scoring 25 points.

David Schneider also put together a solid stat line, scoring 7 to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Kisielius got 30 minutes tonight, scoring 6 and getting 4 rebounds. His ankle is still bothering him, and we need him to have any chance at upsetting Drexel Wednesday.

Alex Smith also scored 7, Peter Stein pitched in with 6, and Adam Payton got 4.

This game was a great example of how far we’ve come. W&M was the team that knew how to win late, and UNCW seemed lost.

Let’s go Tribe! Beat Drexel!