MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, and we’re running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

ESPN is calling Kent State a lock for the NCAA Tournament. I’ve gotta agree they’ve got a great profile and they looked awesome against the Toledo Rockets last night.

Pregame - Western and Akron both looked really impressive last night. This one should be a close hard fought game, though both teams will have trouble matching what we saw this afternoon in the women’s semifinals. The lady Ohio Bobcats beat the heavily favored Bowling Green Falcons in double overtime. Great, great game as both teams traded shots throughout the end of regulation and both overtimes. The Bobcats will face the RedHawks tomorrow at 1pm to decide the MAC Championship.

15:53 - Akron with some nice early ball movement jumps out to a quick 10-4 lead. They’re doubling Reitz down low on defense and he looks a tiny bit frustrated early.

11:45 - Akron leads 14-11. Western put together a little run at the end of this portion to close in on the Zips. The refs are going pretty easy on the whistles so far. Only 3 total foul calls. I like it.

9:58 - Reitz can’t convert at the line to make it a 3-pt play… Not to be outdone Middleton laces a conventional 3 as a foul is called under the hoop. Akron gets the bucket and the ball.

7:33 - Remember what I said about the refs swallowing their whistles? Nevermind. Suddenly we’ve got 10 fouls combined, and Zips fans are getting restless as 6 of them are on Akron. Akron still leads 21-15.

6:12 - Western with a lot of trouble getting into a groove on offense, 25-15 Zips.

4:56 - Reitz knocks another one down while getting fouled, and hits the FT. Western’s gotta get him more touches. 25-18 Zips.

1:38 - 35-24 Western takes a TO after Middleton nails a long 3 to put the Zips up 11.

Halftime - Not as close as I thought it would be so far. Akron has looked really good and they’re up 37-24. Akron has certainly been using a spread out attack, Chris McKnight and Middleton have been the players of the first half for them. Middleton is 4-4 with 11 points McKnight is 6-8 for 12. Points in the paint are even at 16. Akron is outrebounding the Broncos 16-8, leading to an 8-2 edge in second chance points. Though if you’re looking for the difference in this one check out 3-pt shooting. Akron is 5-9, Western is 0-4. Oddly enough Akron hasn’t attempted a shot at the line while Western is 8-10. That discrepancy hasn’t seemed to matter yet.

15:57 - 44-32 Akron still leads, though it’s not for lack of effort on Western’s part. The next 4 minutes should tell the story here. Western should either start closing the gap, or Akron is going to widen it.

11:56 - Or I guess there’s the third option, both teams trade buckets and it remains an Akron 12 point lead… So, maybe this will be the 4 minutes that tell the story. One way or another Western needs to start making a move here soon.

7:52 - Reitz is starting to heat up, but Akron just keeps knocking in buckets. They’re up 54-40. It’s starting to look like the Zips could just be too much for WMU to handle tonight.

5:58 - Akron shot 57% in the 1st half and they’re doing the same in the 2nd half as they’re still up 13. Tough to beat a team shooting that well.

4:59 - Why’s Akron shooting so well? Check out the assists column. Akron holds a 14-4 edge. They’re leading 61-46.

3:59 - This one’s just about over with Western down 62-49. They’ve been hanging around but have been incapable of making a run. It’s gonna take some kind of run now with only 4 minutes remaining to make up 13 points.

2:21 - Shawntes Gary with a 3-pt play and Akron takes a TO after some trouble trying to inbound the ball. 11-point Akron lead.

1:12 - Western still within striking distance, but again they can’t get close enough. Akron leads 67-59, heading to the line.

Final - 73-62 Akron wins this one comfortably. They’ll advance to the finals against the winner of tonight’s Kent State/Miami game.

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, so since it’s Thursday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

15:39 - Quick start with both teams getting up and down the floor but not necessarily converting with a lot of points. Western out to an early 9-3 lead.

13:19 - EMU does not look sharp early. McLemore hits a 3 and opens the WMU lead to 14-3. Charles Ramsey responds with a timeout.

11:52 - Eastern on a nice little 5 point run to pull it to 14-8 going into the 12 minute media timeout. Jesse Bunkley with 6 of Eastern’s 8 points so far.

7:32 - At this point Eastern just looks overmatched, especially on offense. Western leads 24-11 and if Eastern can’t find a better way to get open looks this one could be a laugher by the half. Kool with 9 points early and Western leading points in the paint 12-2.

4:36 - 27-18 Western’s lead. You can’t fault Eastern for not playing with heart. They’ve been diving on the floor countless times for loose balls and keeping this one within shouting distance.

2:00 - Eastern keeping it respectable but Reitz muscles down a board then hits a shot with a foul to open the lead to 12. Rebounds are a major factor in this one. At last count the Broncos had a 15 to 7 advantage on the glass.

Halftime - 36-23 Western leads at the half. More info coming when I get the 1st half stats. Western shooting 48% Eastern shooting 30%. That’s pretty much the difference at the half. It’s not a matter of Western shooting lights out or anything either, the Broncos have just done a better job of getting better looks than the Eagles in the first half.

Band update - Rarely do I say this, but I really like Western Michigan’s band. If somehow the Broncos and Bobcats would face off in the Finals the Q would be rockin’.

15:09 - More of the same, Western tries to pull away Eastern keeps it within shouting distance at 41-31. At this point I don’t really see a way that Eastern can score with enough efficiency or stop Western enough to close this even within 5, but there’s a bunch of time left, and it’s still a possibility. Ramsey could try going to a press maybe to turn up the pressure on the Broncos soon.

13:06 - Well, ignore that last post. Eastern with a quick 7 point run to close it to 3. The Eagles have certainly been hanging around all game when it looks like Western keeps trying to put it away. Now they’re making a run and seeing if maybe they can win this one.

11:54 - 41-38 Western leads, but you can see the Eagles getting more confident after their nice 7-point run to pull it to 3. This is the run that Western is going to need to withstand right here. Reitz with 3 fouls has been on the bench for the last sequence and is still sitting now. Interesting.

Is now a good time to point out that I picked Eastern Michigan as my potential Cinderella team? I think it is.

10:34 - Tie game at 44…

9:24 - Reitz and Kool coming up big. Western goes up 4, 48-44. Eastern with a 30.

7:47 - Western with a tiny bit of breathing room up 52-46.

6:55 - Eastern with a chance to cut it to two, blows a bunny, Western converts on FT’s, goes up 6.

4:29 - Bunkley DAGGER… Eastern pulls it within 3. WMU with a quick timeout.

Free-Throw contest alert. Every possession there’s a whistle. I’m not exaggerating.

3:14 - Bunkley clanks a 3, Western drives back down and Gary laces one. Western up 62-55. Eastern with the ball when we come back.

1:33 - 64-57 Eastern’s still hanging around but they’re going to need to nail some shots pretty soon or this one’s going to be over. Western’s been pretty solid at the line.

1:04 - Western two FT’s, Western steal, Fracalossi dunk… Western by 11. This one’s about done.

0:46 - Eastern 1 of 2 at the line. Medlock steps in front of the PG and takes a charge, Jones hits a 3, and suddenly it’s a 7 point game again.

0:23 - Again Western (especially David Kool) solid at the line. 9 point game. Western with the ball. Eastern with a solid effort today, but it’s just not going to be enough.

Final - And it ends 70-61. Shawntes Gary is your player of the game with 14 points and at last count 8 rebounds. Though I’d say that David Kool has to be right up there too with 24 points, and his solid shooting at the line really helped Western out late as this game turned into a whistle-fest.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com