Another weekend, another walloping.
Well, four wallopings really.
This time, the unfortunate victims were the men’s and women’s squads from Emory University and Case Western Reserve University.
The last time I wrote this column, the ladies went first. So fellas, this time it’s your turn.
The story of the last few games, in my mind, has been Chris Jeffries establishing himself as the go-to guy on the team, and possibly the most dominant player in the UAA.
Just look at the numbers.
Jeffries went 9-9 from the floor for 20 points Feb. 7 against NYU, and then he dropped 25 and 20 points in the games this weekend. Even his free throw shooting has improved, going 17-21 over the last two weeks. Jeffries is beginning to remind me of former WU basketball star Chris Alexander, and that is a very, very good thing.
It was almost comical watching Emory play defense Friday night. The players literally screamed like banshees as they ran up and down the court. In fact, some of the Eagles’ defenders found it necessary to scream, “Ball! Ball! Ball!” as they watched our point guards dribble. This, of course, came to a stop when half of the fans at the Field House began to make fun of them.
It didn’t help matters that Emory’s starting power forward, Clayton Fuller, was a dead-ringer for “Simon” from the WB’s hit drama 7th Heaven (He’s the younger boy with the blond mop-top). And the crowd let him know about it, too, chanting “Seventh… Heaven” whenever he touched the ball.
The Bears are beating their opponents by an average of 21.6 points a game this season, so you can imagine that the tempers of opposing teams occasionally flair up. Most notably, Rob Keller and Emory’s Rashawn Allen were involved in a bit of a scuffle Friday night over the possession of a loose ball. I’ve heard of “having a bull’s-eye on your back,” but this is ridiculous.
Is Scott Stone hitting the “freshman wall”? Nah, the reserve point guard is just unaccustomed to facing defensive presses as intense as Emory’s. After a sharp shooting pair of games last weekend in which he went 6-8 from 3-point land, Stone was 0-4 this weekend.
The blowout Friday night was so severe that even freshman Ian Ashcraft-Williams saw his first minute of action on the year.
The sooner the better in my opinion.
In case you haven’t noticed, there are nine graduating seniors on this year’s team. We are going to see a lot of fresh faces next year, so what better time than garbage time for them to start getting experience?
Oh, and I have to mention this: Jarriot Rook, seven blocked shots on Sunday? Are you kidding me? He now ranks 9th all-time in that category in Division III history. Granted, Manute Bol blocked 8 shots in a quarter (twice), but Jarriot’s only 6-7; Manute was 7-7.
And now on to the ladies…
What can I say? This team is well coached, disciplined and executes its game plan to perfection almost all of the time.
Want a telltale sign that this is a deep team?
In Friday’s contest against Emory, ten players scored five or more points, yet six players never even got to take off their warm-ups. No starter on the team averages more than 23 minutes per game, and the bench brigade, led by Kelly Manning (11.5 ppg), scores 46 percent of the team’s points.
Maybe Laura Crowley read my last column, because she has been on fire of late. In her last three games, she has gone 16-30 from downtown. She’s taking a lot more shots and making a lot more shots, and apparently, what’s good for the “Crow” is good for the Bear; WU has averaged 89 points over the last three games.
This is definitely a team of runs. No matter how close a game is at halftime, the Bears always seem to come out smoking in the second period. How many times have we seen a 15-3 or 18-2 run fresh out of the locker room? Whatever coach Nancy Fahey is saying in there, it’s working.
On a sadder note, Case Western starting guard Keesha Allen was taken from Sunday’s game by ambulance early in the second half after she dove for a loose ball and a WU player landed on the back of her neck. It is not yet known how serious the damage is, but Allen was unable to move while lying on the court.
And finally, the “Milestone Update”: Okay, here come the gory, yet impressive numbers.
The Bears wrapped up a sixth consecutive UAA title and gained an automatic bid to the 2003 Division III NCAA Tournament. Coach Fahey is one win away from 400. Sunday’s win marked the Bears’ 76th consecutive regular season home win, 53rd consecutive regular season victory and 31st straight University Athletic Association win.
Geez… I haven’t even gotten to class on time two consecutive days this semester.