Recaps (for the sake of posterity)
Week 9
Pfieffer 75, N. Alabama 68 – In this strange game, N. Alabama’s slowdown attack and bizarre sagging 3-2 defense gave Pfieffer fits for a half as they rose to a 7 point lead, thanks to Jason Hopkins 13 1st half points. The tables turned in the 2nd half, with Pfieffer forcing tons of turnovers and N. Alabama basically hacking them nearly every time down the court – Pfieffer happily made 18 2nd half free throws en route to a victory. Pfieffer had very balanced scoring, and while Jason Hopkins played well for N. Alabama, their 4 other starters stunk it up, going a combined 6 of 21 from the field for 18 total points.
Incarnate Word 71, Erksine 59 – two traditional powers that are seeming to have down years met with the intent of changing their season’s momentum. The first half was completely ugly basketball, with bad shooting by both teams, and quite a few turnovers. IW finally looked like the powerhouse they often are in the 2nd half, hitting 7 2nd half 3 pointers and gradually pulling away from Erksine due to balanced scoring in the starting lineup.
From this point, the series was 6-4 in the CVAC’s favor.
Week 10
St. Mary’s 59, Longwood 43. Longwood wanted to keep this one ugly and doubleteam their archnemesis, Terry Coombs (who basically singlehandedly ended Longwood’s potential title run last season). While the double team was somewhat successful, and the game was truly as ugly as Longwood wanted, the Lancers' new crop of youngins couldn’t make a shot, nor could they pass the ball to one another without the ball being stolen. St. Mary’s took advantage of Longwood’s impressive offensive ineptitude and grinded out a 59-43 win. While Longwood played solid defense as they always do, St. Mary’s was patient, taking the open three only when it was available (and shooting 47% from beyond the arc)
Belmont Abbey 73, West Alabama 59 - W. Alabama needed to win by about 14 for the Heartland to take the tourney title, and they lost by that much. Bad tourney for the directional Alabama schools. West Alabama’s shooting was horrific the entire game. When they weren’t missing shots, center Joseph Anderson was repeatedly throwing passes out of bounds or having the ball stolen from him. Hixson and Freels kept them in the game with some 3’s, but Bel Abbey really dominated this one,helping the CVAC win another crown, 7 to 5