March 2, 2001

By Gary Rubin

Kentucky Wesleyan Edges Southern Indiana in Powerhouse Matchup

In one of the marquee games of the year, Ray Harper's No. 4 ranked Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers went to Evansville last week and knocked off Bruce Pearl's No. 2 ranked Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 91-89. USI saw KWC open the game with a 5-0 run and never could get it on track in the first half as the Screaming Eagles went into the locker room trailing 47-37. The Panthers extended that lead to 14 points on three occasions in the second half.

However, when junior guard USI LaJuan Christon stole an inbounds pass and converted it into a lay up, the Eagles capped off a 27-12 run, giving them a 79-78 with 3:30 to go in the game. KWC proved to be too tough, though, as USI fell to 23-2 overall and 17-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. USI still clinched the regular season title in the GLVC with a win on Saturday. The two teams could meet again this coming Saturday in the GLVC tournament finals.

Around the Country

The only unbeaten team during the regular season in the NCAA hails from the Division II ranks. Adelphi, 26-0, completed the regular season without a blemish in the loss column. Head Coach Jim Ferry's Panthers made their tremendous run by playing on both ends of the floor. Adelphi outscored New York Collegiate Athletic Conference foes by more than 20 points a game during league play, finishing first in the NYCAC in offense (86.7) and defense (64.7).

The race in the expanded Northeast-10 Conference was won by Saint Michael's, which finished two games ahead of nationally-ranked Massachusetts Lowell and Saint Anselm. Head coach Tom O'Shea's St. Michael's team climbed to fifth in this week's NABC/Division II Bulletin Top 25, jumping five spots from last week thanks to a number of losses from other teams.

Arkansas Monticello head coach Charlie Schaef worked his magic this season in one of the toughest leagues in the country. Schaef, now in his second season at the helm of the Boll Weevils, turned last year's 10-16 team, which finished fifth in the standings, into a 19-7, Gulf South Conference West division regular season champion. Monticello, one of the top seeds in the league's postseason tournament this week, closed the regular season with six straight wins and finished a game ahead of traditional powers Delta State and Henderson State. And look out next year, the Boll Weevils have only three seniors on this season's roster.

The Pacific West Conference is the site of one of the most important games this season. On Saturday night Brad Jackson's Western Washington Vikings visit Ken Bone's Seattle Pacific Falcons in a winner-take-all matchup. The winner claims the PWC West division title and also earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The victor would have a better power rating than the Pacific division champion, Alaska Anchorage, and thus would move into the postseason tournament. If Western Washington wins, it could host the Western regionals in Bellingham.

When Florida Southern lost its coach and best player before the start of practice, many wrote the Moccasins off for this season. What did they do? New head coach Tony Longa guided FSC to the regular season title in the Sunshine State Conference, finishing a game ahead of Eckerd and Tampa.

In the CIAA, Johnson C. Smith (22-4), led by head coach Steve Joyner, stayed in the Top 25 most of the year and edged another nationally-ranked team, Ricky Duckett's Winston-Salem State squad, in the Western division. JC Smith won eight of their last 10 games to claim the title.