CTC Day 2 Recap: Alexi Moves into Second Place with Near-Perfect Day

Alexi only missed one game last night, including coming up with a nice upset pick.  But, the leader, Ina, also only missed one game, so he was not able to take over the lead.  It was a pretty exciting night on the hardwood.

SUN BELT OPENING ROUND:
Five games in the Sun Belt last night, all on home floors led to some real exciting basketball.  Despite the fact that four of the five home teams did prevail, all five were very competitive.  The biggest margin of victory last night was 9 points.  Ina and Alexi both went 5-for-5 last night, including picking the mild upset.  Stri had the worst showing, only getting 2 correct.  No one took major damage, as everyone still has their 4 semifinalists remaining in this bracket.

• #4 N. Texas 79 – #5 Florida-Atlantic 73.  The big upset pick by Bry and Waters scared the other competitors, as FAU got within 2 points with 48 seconds left, but the #4 seed held on at home for a 6-point victory.  Waters loses a bit more, as he had FAU winning two games in this tournament.  Stri dodged a bullet, as he has N. Texas going to the finals.
• #5 Middle Tennessee St. 69 – #12 Arkansas St. 62.  Another big upset was narrowly avoided, as Arkansas St. could not hold on to a second-half lead at MTSU.  Doogan, Lynch, and Stri all missed out on this upset pick, with Doogan and Lynch losing a semifinalist in Arkansas St.  MTSU holding on is good for Bry, who has them moving on to the semis.
• #6 S. Alabama 62 – #11 New Orleans 60.  Our first hint of Madness this March came in Mobile, AL, as Domonic Tilford hit two free throws with :07 seconds left to break the tie and send the Jaguars into the quarterfinals.  These free throws helped Bry and J the most, as they have S. Alabama in the semis.  They hurt Stri and Waters, costing them the upset points for this game.  Neither of them had UNO going past the quarters, though.
• #7 Denver 66 – #10 Louisiana-Monroe 57.  Another hard-fought tight game that was eventually won by the home team, as Denver moves on into the second round to face #2-seed AR-Little Rock.  Only J lost this game, as he had LA-Monroe pulling off the upset.  This was a real good result for Lynch, who is the only one that does not have AR-Little Rock going to the semis–he has Denver there.
• #9 Florida-International 71 – #8 Louisiana-Lafayette 69.  The Ragin’ Cajuns just could not come back from a 9-point deficit at halftime (FIU shot 62% in the first half), though they gave it a valiant effort on their home floor.  The Golden Panthers hang on and will now face #1 Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals.  Waters, Alexi, J, Ina, and Bry all correctly picked this mild upset.  No one has Western Kentucky losing in the quarters.

PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS:
A pretty exciting night in the Patriot League, including the biggest upset of the CTC so far–in overtime.  No one went perfect here last night, but Lynch and Doogan did lose 3 of the 4 games.

• #1 American 78 – #8 Lafayette 56.  The one game that was not supposed to be close certainly lived up to its billing, as the best team in the conference defended its home floor with a 22-point drubbing of Lafayette.  Everyone had American winning this game.  In fact, everyone has American winning this tournament, except Waters.
• #2 Holy Cross 75 – #7 Bucknell 56.  Holy Cross defended its home court with a 19-point win, ending the season of an underachieving Bucknell team.  Only a 7-point halftime lead turned into a pretty convincing win for the Crusaders.  Both Lynch and Doogan lost not only this game, but also a finalist, in Bucknell.  Waters kept his title hopes alive with Holy Cross moving on.
• #6 Colgate 64 – #3 Navy 59 (OT).  Navy stormed back to erase a second-half deficit and send the game to overtime, but Colgate staved off the Midshipmen in the overtime session, scoring the biggest upset of the conference tournament schedule thus far.  Only Alexi profited directly from this victory, as he did pick Colgate to pull off the upset.  Both J and Stri lost a finalist pick in Navy.
• #4 Army 53 – #5 Lehigh 50.  The Army defense held Lehigh to 28% from the field and 6% from 3-point land, giving them a shot to take on the #1-seeded American Eagles in the PL semifinals.  Despite being favored at home, only Waters and Ina picked Army to win this game.  The news is even better for Waters, as he has them going to the finals.

ATLANTIC SUN QUARTERFINAL:
There was only one game in the A-Sun last night and it was good for about a half.  The other two quarterfinals are tonight.

• #2 E. Tennessee St. 90 – #7 Stetson 76.  ETSU turned a 3-point halftime lead into a 14-point quarterfinal victory last night, beating Stetson in Nashville.  Kevin Tiggs had 37 points, and Mike Smith had a double-double to lead the Bucs.  Doogan, Stri, and Waters all took the underdog Stetson squad, so missed this pick, but none of them had the Hatters going any further.  J and Lynch are happy that their A-Sun champion pick survived the first test.

DAY 2 SCORES:
Alexi-34
Ina-28
J-22
Bry-22
Waters-20
Lynch-14
Stri-12
Doogan-10

OVERALL SCORES:
Ina-80
Alexi-74
Bry-66
J-66
Waters-64
Stri-44
Doogan-42
Lynch-38