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SEASON 1

Recent Game Recaps

Epilogue, The Ninth: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Memories

So We Meet Again

Rte. 139 - End of the Line

Hanging On

A Championship in Pictures

This Time of Year

Dotson Leads Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen

Grizzlies Overwhelmed by Orangemen

Empire

Dribblings 12/12/2004 (Half-Rack Edition)
December 12, 2004 10:40 am ET by Kyle Whelliston
UPSETS

Southern 67, Southeastern Louisiana 65 (story) - They say "SWAC" stands for "Southern Wins Another Championship," but their hoopsters haven't Danced in 11 years. A squeaker over a SELU team that won 20 games last year will likely stoke the high hopes in Baton Rouge, and help Jaguars fans forget that upset Grambling pulled on them in the Bayou football Classic.

Morgan State 71, Maine 63 (story) - The Black Bears of the America East have made some noise around the New England small-college circuit lately, beating Rhode Island and Harvard. Their spark plug is Kevin Reed, a sweet shooter who also led the country last season in a very obscure stat: rebounds by players under 6-2. The MEAC's Bears, a team on the slow rise, shut Reed down and held Maine to 5-for-21 three-point shooting.

Washington State 49, Brigham Young 46 (story) - The Cougars (the red and silver ones) lost 81-29 to Oklahoma State eight days ago. Then they almost beat Gonzaga. The Cougars (the blue and white ones) lost to Utah State, then lost to Washington State in Salt Lake City to bring their record to 2-6. "It's very obvious right now we're not a very good basketball team," said BYU coach Steve Cleveland. It's also obvious that WSU isn't quite as bad as they appeared last week.

Dartmouth 69, New Hampshire 67 (story) - Dartmouth was one of the bottom five teams in the nation a year ago, but now they've equalled last season's win total with three. UNH had a couple of three-point chances in the final seconds, but both fell short. The Big Green don't beat UNH that often (only once in the previous five annual attempts), and the kids in Durham now have one less thing over their richer, "snootier" cross-state rivals from Hanover.

MID-MAJOR DARLINGS

Buffalo 95, Niagara 92 (2OT) (story) - Philadelphia has the Big Five, but the City of Buffalo has the Big Four. For the second straight year, the MAC's Bulls beat the MAAC's Purple Eagles in a nail-biting, pants-soiling thriller. In the second overtime period, Buffalo went up by three on a pair of free throws with two ticks left, and UB's Roderick Middleton fouled on the inbound to force two Purple Eagle free throws. Charron Fisher missed the first, intentionally missed the second, and the ball went out of bounds off Buffalo. Mark Bortz, who led the Bulls with 32 points, stole the inbound and that was that. Big Juan Mendez tried to singlehandedly lift Niagara, but his 33 points were not enough.

Pacific 72, Nevada 69 (story) - It was a seesaw battle of two 2004 Tournament Cinderellas. The Big West's Tigers unleashed a fearsome run to open the second half, but Nevada rallied to tie. Pacific pulled back ahead during free throw time, and the Wolf Pack couldn't convert a last-second three-point try from Mo Charlo. Nevada lost at home for the first time since March 2003.

Valparaiso 72, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 71 (story) - The refs settled this one. The score was tied with 12 seconds left, and Valparaiso's Jarryd Loyd brought the ball up. As UWM's Chris Hill went for the steal, the whistle blew and Loyd proceeded to hit the second of his two stripe shots. The Panthers were not able to convert in the final six seconds, and that was the ballgame. It was Valpo's first win of the season, and Milwaukee's first loss.

Ball State 80, IUPUI 73 (story) - Valpo's recent rivals in the Mid-Con fell on the road at David Letterman University. Both teams landed body blows with long and extended runs - IUPUI scored the first 10 points of the game, BSU went 28-7 to close the first half, and the Jaguars returned serve with 9-0 and 13-2 bursts in the second half. But the last run belonged to Ball State. The Cardinals are coming off a few years of dormancy, and is ready to go toe-to-toe with Toledo and Western Michigan in their campaign to reclaim the MAC West.

OTHER GAMES OF NOTE

Here are a few where-are-they-now reports on teams that have been featured in the "Dribbs" over the past week or so.

Indiana State 57, Butler 54 - The Trees are 5-2 with a four-game winning streak, and are nearing "for real" status - keep a tab on next Saturday's tilt against aforementioned Ball State. David Moss with 29.

Evansville 68, Western Kentucky 62 - 6-1 Evansville ran away from the previously unbeaten Hilltoppers in the second half, outshooting their guests 47%-39% and dominating down low with a 30-20 paint-points margin.

Jackson State 58, Stephen F. Austin 54 - SFA is down, and now their 31-game home winning streak (one behind current national leader Wisconsin's streak) is history too. Foiled again by the SWAC's second division.

Creighton 50, Nebraska 48 - Told you this one would be good. Bluejay backup guard Kellen Miliner was the hero, hitting a short jumper as time ran out. Neither team led by more than four points at any time during the game.