The Town Crier

[Wayne23]

Good RPI. You might get into the Big Dance although the low rated conference won't help. Sometimes it's better to make some noise in a minor tourney than being one and done in the big one.

[PointGuard]

Yeah, there is no NCAA selection committee respect for the Horizon League.

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament—Day 4 (Championship)
By Steve Porter

Oakland jumped out to a 7-point lead early in the game, but the Phoenix cut their lead to 35-33 at the halftime break. Then in the 2nd half, Wisconsin-Green Bay began hitting their shots while shutting down Oakland’s offense and controlling the boards and ran off to a 21-point lead. The Golden Grizzlies cut into their lead late in the game but the Phoenix came away with their 3rd straight upset victory, taking the championship 73-60. C Jamil Weekes continued to lead the way for Wisconsin-Green Bay with 16 points and 8 boards. C Rasheem Dorsett hit for 13 for Oakland.
#7 Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (13-17, 7-11, RPI 302)—33-40—73 (C Jamil Weekes-16 pts)
vs
#4 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (16-13, 10-8, RPI 166)—35-25—60 (C Rasheem Dorsett-13 pts)

The upset wins by the sub-.500 Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (now 14-17) were amazing but likely mean that they will be put in a play-in game with the winner tabbed to take on a #1 seed.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State's Player Stats
By Steve Porter

Now that the regular season is over, the 2022-2023 Penguins' stats were dominated by C Will O'Neil and PG Pat White but a closer look shows contributions by nearly everyone on the team.

[PointGuard]

Five Horizon League Teams Selected for Tournaments
By Steve Porter

On Selection Sunday five teams from the Horizon League were selected for the four post-season Division I tournaments.

NCAA Tournament Selections:
Wisconsin-Green Bay plays Campbell in a play-in game for a #16 seed.
#1 seeds: North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Georgia Tech

NIT Selections:
Youngstown State is the #3 seed in the East Region and plays #6 seed Charleston Southern

CBI Selections:
UIC is the #1 seed in the West Regional and plays #8 seed Lamar

CIT Selections:
Oakland is the #6 seed in the Midwest Region and plays #3 seed North Dakota
Detroit is the #7 seed in the South Region and plays #2 seed Kentucky (Kentucky in the CIT—oh how the mighty have fallen)

Coach KD Durst said, "After not winning the Horizon League tournament, we realized we wouldn't be returning to the NCAA tournament. But we're happy to be a part of the NIT tournament and want to make some noise within it."

[PointGuard]

CIT Recap
By Steve Porter

Round 1:

#6 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (16-14) vs #3 seed North Dakota Fighting Hawks (18-13)
North Dakota came out with a sizzling offense that resulted in the Fighting Hawks gaining a 46-39 lead at the half. Oakland fell behind by as much as 18 points in the 2nd half and came out on the short end of an 83-69 score. North Dakota hit 55% of their FG attempts including 46% of their 3-point shots. The Fighting Hawks PF Livan Walton scored 20. Oakland’s PF Keanan Cole matched Walton’s 20 points but the Golden Grizzlies his just 46% of their FG attempts and only 29% of their 3’s.

#7 seed Detroit Titans (18-11) vs #2 seed Kentucky Wildcats (18-13)
While Detroit hung with the Wildcats at the outset of the game, Kentucky gradually pulled away and took a 43-31 lead to the locker room. Detroit made things close in the latter part of the game but fell to the Wildcats 81-75. Detroit outplayed Kentucky in the game with the exception of turnovers where they made 21 to Kentucky’s 11 and free throws where they scored 10 fewer points than the Wildcats. C Louvon Coursey scored 18 and had 11 rebounds for the Titans while PG Jim Avery scored 9 and dished out 10 assists. SG Henry Hyle led the scoring for Kentucky with 14 points.

Championship: Vermont-71, Weber State-64

[Tim Moungey]

What's the conference prestige currently?

[PointGuard]

What's the conference prestige currently?

26 and hasn't varied much from that over the 6 seasons.

The type of conference that the NCAA does restrict to one participant every year in real life as well as in DDSCB.

[PointGuard]

CBI Recap
By Steve Porter

#8 seed Lamar Cardinals (18-11) vs #1 seed UIC Flames (18-10)

A porous defense by UIC let the Lamar Cardinals jump out on top in the beginning stages of the game and roll to a 48-38 halftime advantage. The lead ballooned to as much as 18 points early in the 2nd half before the Flames trimmed it a little late in the game. But UIC went down defeat by a final score of 87-75. Lamar outshot UIC 49% to 38%. SF Thurman Coursey scored 15 and PF Ross Ransom had a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds) for UIC. For Lamar, SF Dwayne Davis tossed in 21 points while PF Bryant Jones and C Lawrence Lazosky combined for 27 points and 18 rebounds.

Championship: UNC Greensboro-102, Northeastern-85

[PointGuard]

NCAA Recap
By Steve Porter

Play-in Game:
16th seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (14-17) vs 16th seed Campbell Camels (15-16)
Wisconsin-Green Bay continued their hot play leading from start to finish in this play-in game. By the end of the first half the Phoenix were on top 36-26 and then they expanded their lead to 20 before settling for an easy 81-66 victory. SF Josh Abraham dropped in 20 points while C Jamil Weekes hit for 14 points and pulled down 9 rebounds for Wisconsin-Green Bay. C Kimani Deane scored 18 for Campbell. The win sets the Phoenix up for a game against #1 seed Georgia Tech in the first round.

Round 1:
#16 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (15-17) vs #1 seed and #5 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (24-7)
Georgia Tech methodically destroyed Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Yellow Jackets ground out a 42-23 halftime lead. Then in the 2nd half they increased their lead to 31 before settling for a 73-47 beatdown of the Phoenix. Georgia Tech’s defense only allowed Wisconsin-Green Bay to hit 30% of their shots. SF Josh Abraham scored 11 for the Phoenix. The Yellow Jackets were led by SG Bernard Allen’s 24 points.

Championship: Florida-81, Wisconsin-79