Thursday's Madness

Seeing as championship week has officially started, we are going to be doing a new daily madness segment. Here, you can find the daily scores and schedules for every conference tournament game that day as Trizzle will once again be taking over BIAH. For a full schedule of the conference tournaments and a listing of the automatic bids, click here.


TEAM OF THE NIGHT: Colgate

In the best game (and only real upset) of the night, the sixth-seeded Colgate Raiders upset third-seeded Navy 64-59 in overtime. The Midshipmen jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, and led most of the way, heading into the break with a 28-23 lead. Colgate would go on a 9-0 run at the start of the second half, taking their first lead of the game. It would go back and forth the rest of the way, with Navy's OJ Avworo finishing a lay-up with 1:32 left to tie the game at 54 and send it to OT. In the extra frame, Navy jumped out to a quick lead, but the Raiders would go on a 6-0 to take a 60-56 lead. With 1:20 left, Avworo got an and-1, making the free throw to cut the lead to 60-59. But Yaw Gyawu was fouled on the ensuing possession, hitting both free throws. Navy would miss a number of three pointers, but Colgate could not extend the lead as they missed four straight free throws themselves. Eventually, Gyawu would hit two with 1.8 seconds left to seal the upset. Ben Johnson led Colgate with 22 and 10 rebounds, while Gyawu added 20 and 8 boards.

PLAYER OF THE NIGHT: Derrick Mercer, American

Maybe it was because I saw the game live, or maybe it is because he is a spitting image of Ty Lawson, but I came away so impressed with Mercer. For the game, he finished with 20 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers while shooting 9-13 from the field. When the Eagles needed him to score, he did, going for 14 in the first half and scoring 4 points in the 9-0 run AU used to open up a 50-30 lead after the break. Maybe the reason I came away so impressed is because he, in fact, is just that good.


Wednesday's Results

Patriot League Quarters:
- #1 American 78, #8 Lafayette 56
- #2 Holy Cross 75, #7 Bucknell 56
- #6 Colgate 64, #3 Navy OT
- #4 Army 53, #5 Lehigh 50

Sun Belt First Round:
- #4 North Texas 79, #13 Florida Atlantic 73
- #5 Middle Tennessee State 69, #12 Arkansas State
- #6 South Alabama 62, #11 New Orleans 60
- #7 Denver 66, #10 Louisiana-Monroe 57
- #9 Florida International 71, #8 Louisiana-Lafayette 69

Atlantic Sun First Round:
- #2 East Tennessee State 90, #7 Stetson 76


Thursday's Games

Atlantic Sun First Round (Lipscomb's Allen Arena):

- 3:30 PM: #3 Belmont vs. #6 Mercer
- 9:30 PM: #5 Campbell @ #4 Lipscomb

Big South Semis (at Radford's gym):

- 6:00 PM: #3 Liberty vs. #2 VMI
- 8:00 PM: #4 UNC Asheville @ #1 Radford

Missouri Valley First Round (Scottrade Center in St. Louis):

- 7:05 PM: #8 Drake vs. #9 Indiana State
- 9:35 PM: #7 Wichita State vs. #10 Missouri State

Northeast First Round (campus sites):

- 7:00 PM: #8 St. Francis (NY) @ #1 Robert Morris
- 7:00 PM: #7 Wagner @ #2 Mt. St. Mary's
- 7:00 PM: #6 Central Connecticut State @ #3 Sacred Heart
- 7:00 PM: #5 Quinnipiac @ #4 Long Island