After a relatively tame Day One, we didn’t really expect the madness to start yet. There were only 6 conference tournament games on tap Wednesday night, and 4 of them were on the home courts of the favored teams. But, whenever you rule out the madness, the madness gets you. And, The Challenge is fully underway with what-if’s and big losses. For Day Two, Lohse continues his dominance (though he did actually get one wrong). But, he does have to share the spotlight with Lynch, as they tie for today’s title.
DAY TWO SCORES:
34 – Lohse
34 – Lynch
30 – Bry
30 – J
30 – Teddy
26 -Doogan
26 – KA
26 – Waters
16 – Ina
16 – Lil Lohse
12 – Alexi
12 – Stri
OVERALL STANDINGS (days won):
92 – Lohse (2)
78 – Teddy
72 – Lynch (1)
70 – Bry
70 – Doogan
68 – J
60 – Ina
58 – KA
56 – Alexi
54 – Waters
44 – Lil Lohse
40 – Stri
PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS:
In the great Patriot League, you never know what is going to happen. And, we did get a gigantic upset on the first night.
#1 Lehigh 64 – #8 Army 45. A game that was close at the half (Army actually led 20-18 at the break) turned into a blowout win for the League’s top seed. Everyone got this one right.
#4 American 62 – #5 Navy 60. A Navy three-pointer got the Midshipmen within 1 point with :07 seconds left, but they couldn’t finish the job, as American (led by Stephen Lumpkins with 29 points and 15 rebounds) held on and will now travel to top-seeded Lehigh for a semifinal on Sunday. J, Doogan, and Waters all missed on this minor upset pick. Waters was hit real hard, as he had Navy winning this whole tournament.
#7 Holy Cross 67 – #2 Bucknell 64. And, here it is. Madness! Holy Cross, 7th place in the regular season, rolls into Bucknell and knocks off one of the favorites to win the whole thing. The Challenge was rocked, as Alexi and Lynch both lost their PL champion picks. Bry, Stri, and both Lohses had Bucknell in the finals. The big winners were Doogan, Waters, and KA, who had this upset. And, the biggest winner may turn out to be Teddy, who not only picked HC to win this game, but he also has them winning on Sunday and going to the finals.
#3 Lafayette 73 – #6 Colgate 65. The biggest beneficiary (other than Teddy) of the Holy Cross win was Lafayette, who now gets to host Sunday’s semifinal game, after their 8-point quarterfinal win over Colgate on Wednesday night. KA, Alexi, Stri, and Bry all missed on this upset pick. J and Doogan dodge a bullet, as they have Lafayette winning this whole thing.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS (prior PL titles):
26 – Teddy
22 – Doogan (’08)
22 – KA
22 – Waters
12 – Ina
12 – Lil Lohse
12 – Lohse
12 – Lynch
8 – Alexi (’09)
8 – Bry
8 – J
8 – Stri
ATLANTIC SUN QUARTERFINALS:
The first day of the A-Sun quarters featured the top two seeds in action in their quarterfinal games. And, the Madness got started before most of American had even left work.
#8 Kennessaw St. 72 – #1 Lipscomb 69. MADNESS! The strange 2:30 front-end of a double-header led to the elimination of the top seed in the A-Sun. Down 69-68 with :19 seconds left, Kurtis Woods hit what proved to be the game-winning bucket for the 8-seeded KSU Owls as they shock the Atlantic Sun and The Challenge in one fell swoop. Amazingly, four contestants (Bry, Lohse, Lynch, and J) all hit this upset pick. Lil Lohse and KA lost the most with this result, as they had Lipscomb winning this tournament. No one has KSU going any further.
#2 Jacksonville 76 – #7 N. Florida 69. About 5 hours after watching the top-seed get eliminated, the #2-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins took care of business, knocking off 7th-seed N. Florida. They will now get a day off before taking on the winner of #3 Belmont and the hosts Mercer. Not one of the 12 contestants picked N. Florida in this one. The most happy with this result are Lohse, Lynch, Waters, Alexi, Ina, and Bry, who all have Jacksonville winning this tournament.
ATLANTIC SUN STANDINGS (prior A-Sun champs):
22 – Bry
22 – J (’08, ’09)
22 – Lohse
22 – Lynch
4 – Alexi
4 – Doogan
4 – Ina
4 – KA
4 – Lil Lohse
4 – Stri
4 – Teddy
I dominate the Atlantic Sun!