Basketball

St Joseph's - Drexel

Bad basketball in a great venue, The Palestra.  St Joes wins by 20.

Wake Forest - Air Force

Wake wins.  They actually have quite a home win streak with me in the Joel.

American - Jacksonville

Another close game was my reward for making the trip up to Northwest DC for this game between lowq majors from the Patriot and Atlantic Sun Conferences.  What was really surprising about this game is that neither team employs a spread offense - they both try to get the closest shot possible.  Sadly neither one of these teams scores very often even when taking mid-range shots.  This was a one possession game down to the stretch when the Jacksonville Dolphins opened up a 6 point lead.  Utilizing defensive pressure and clutch free throw shooting, the American Eagles (not kidding) eventually won this game 52-50 on free throws with 2 seconds left to play.  Tickets were $12 and the crowd was sparse.

Loyola (Md) - Vermont

Made the trip up to Baltimore to see this twi-light tipoff.  Had never been to the Vampus of Loyola College - seemed very nice, suburban setting.  Reitz Arena is in the same building complex as the student center and lots of other amenities.  Very small with just seating on the two sides, maybe 30 rows up.  $5 gets you in the door!  Free parking!  And I saw a hell of a low major game.  Game lead rarely over 3 pts for either side most of the game and a last shot chance at victoru.  Might have seen the second best player in Vermont Catamount history - Marqus Blakely - and he's only a sophomore.  This team probably isnt good enough to win the America East this year - but with the PG and 3rd scoring option returning next year they might be primed for a return to the NCAA Tournament in 09.  The best comparison that I can make for this Blakely kid would be 90% Jamaal Levy with 10% poor mans Julius Erving.  Sadly, he missed a few shots goiing to the rim in the final minute and fouled out on a necessary hack with 10 seconds left.  The Trimboli kid that is on pace to break Sorrentine's assist record did not impress me at all - even though he had 14 pts and 9 assists.  I just did not see him leading his club.  That was true for Loyola as well, apparently the big gun is Gerald Brown, but he put up a bagel and hus backcourt mate hit like 7 of 8 from behind the line... ok... he had 5 or 6 of them from a good 25 foot out amd they were these big arching shots that just came out of nowhere.  Loyola also had a little meat in the paint, including Hassan Fofana who I remembered from the University of Maryland.  Its odd, he averaged 10 minutes a game as a freshman in the ACC nad now is coming off the bench for a bit under that as a fifth year senior in the America East??  Oh, the other crazy thing about this game is that the opposing head  coaches were college roommates at Catholic U in the 80s.  Mike Parker, what are you doing for me??  Also, last thing, saw the tournament banner for the only appearance in school history (over 75 years) and it was 1994 which is the year that Skip Prosser coached there.