By Mark Simon
D3hoops.com

Two years ago, Gustavus Adolphus’ men’s team turned it on in mid-January, winning 11 out of 12 games entering the NCAA Tournament and rode the wave all the way to the closing seconds of the national title game.

Those amongst the hottest teams in the country this season have gotten to that point via different routes. As we went searching for a couple that fit the bill, that we felt are capable of making significant marks this postseason, we found two that provide a sharp contrast in approach in Wartburg and Mississippi College. Both are on big winning streaks and believe that they are playing as well as anyone in the country.

“We’ll know a lot more come March,” said Wartburg head coach Dick Peth, whose Knights enter Thursday with a 12-0 mark in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 18-3 overall. “We don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows."

The Knights have won with a roster that returned 12 players, eight of them regulars, and four starters from last season’s squad, and are shooting for their fifth consecutive 20-win season. Their 12-game win streak is the longest since the school won 12 in a row during the 1969-70 season.

Wartburg’s strength is familiarity with each other and consistency. The Knights have a good blend of inside and outside play. Junior point guard Jason Steege leads the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game, with center Nate Schmidt averaging 16 per contest in league play. Senior wing player Jordan Atchison (whom we previously profiled), who doesn’t lead the team in any category, but ranks among its best in just about every category, is the team’s third double digit scorer at 11.4 points per game.

Wartburg has also won by doing the little things, like playing team defense and taking advantage of its opportunities. In the most recent three-game stretch, the Knights won by a total of 12 points, partly because they shot 81% from the free throw line, including a perfect 15-for-15 in a one-point win against Dubuque. Having 10 players who average 10 minutes per game has allowed them to survive injuries that have shortened the bench slightly.

“Defensively, we’ve been more accountable this season,” said Peth, whose squad ranks as the league leader in fewest points allowed and turnover margin. “We’ve got some outstanding student athletes on this team, with great character, and that has led to our success.”

Tyler Winford leads Mississippi College in scoring in just 20.5 minutes per game.

Character has been key in a different way at Mississippi College, which basically replaced its entire roster from last season’s team, one that had eight seniors and won the ASC East. The Choctaws replaced its top unit with an 11-man rotation featuring nine junior college transfers. The success has stuck. Mississippi is 18-2 overall, has won 11 straight to clinch another East Division title, and will host the American Southwest Conference tournament. This is the school’s 17th consecutive winning season, some of them at the Division II level.

“We always had a lot of depth,” said head coach Don Lofton. “We’ve never had a situation like this in the past. If you had told me we’d be 18-2, I’d have thought you were an idiot. The thing I was most concerned about with was our character and chemistry. It’s unusual to have this kind of camaraderie with a new team. That we only have one senior (point guard Jason Walker) excites me as much as anything.”

The recruiting effort needed to procure that many quality players may have hurt Lofton’s golf game (he’s formerly coached that sport), but have paid immediate dividends. The nine came from seven schools, with Missisippi Delta and Jones Junior College supplying two players apiece. Kids who were formerly rivals a year ago now find themselves as teammates.

Mississippi College’s top 11 definitely fit the definition of balanced attack. Only one player averages double figures in scoring (6-5 freshman Tyler Winford, whom Lofton called the team’s biggest surprise, at 12.5 points per game) and more than five rebounds per game (Lonnie Vazquez 5.4), but the squad scores more than 75 points a night and outrebounds its opponents by a plus-seven margin. The depth stretches all the way down the bench to fifth forward Marcus Evans, who may only see a few minutes per night, but is an amazing 32-for-39 from the field (82%, mostly via layups and dunks).

“We have a lot of role players on this team,” Lofton said. “They’ve accepted their role because they like to win.”

Mississippi is positioned quite nicely to make a run, not only towards a league title, but maybe one that stretches to Salem as well. With four games remaining, they can make sure everyone is well rested for the league championship They already know that they’ll be putting an order in for some rings, again. It’s just a question of what kind.

“We’ve won eight in a row now,” Lofton said. “We haven’t decided what to put on this one yet. We have rings that say ASC Champs, ASC East Champs, NCAA Tournament, on them. We want to be able to put national champs on one someday.”

SO MUCH FOR PLAYING SPOILER

Had you looked at the NESCAC men’s basketball schedule during the preseason, you would have figured that Tufts had a chance to play spoiler, and nothing more in hosting Trinity and Amherst in the final weekend. The Jumbos lost four starters from a team that went 8-17, 2-7 last season, so there was no expectation of the amazing set of circumstances that have the Jumbos at home, and in control of their fate heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

If Tufts (14-8, 6-1) can upset both Trinity and Amherst, admittedly an extremely difficult challenge, the Jumbos will earn the No. 1 seed in the league postseason tournament, and be an unlikely first-time NESCAC champion.

The Jumbos win because they can score, to the tune of 82.6 points per game, best in the league. Senior forward Reggie Stovell (18.3 points, 9.9 rebounds), who hit a buzzer-beater to beat Wesleyan, has had a terrific season. Two freshmen have also made a significant impact — guard Ryan O’Keefe (16.5 points per game in last six games), and 6-3, 270 pound forward Jake Weitzen, who has wowed with his shooting touch (55% from the field, 44% from 3-point range), supporting the efforts of the likes of sophomore point guard David Shepherd (back after knee surgery last season), and forward Brian Kumf.

Tufts doesn’t have any real standout non-conference wins, and its lone league loss was to last-place Connecticut College, but that’s all pretty irrelevant at this point. What matters is that Cousens Gym could be a real fun place to be this Friday and Saturday if the Jumbos can play well.

“We’ve won in all different ways,” said Tufts head coach Bob Sheldon, whose team recently completed an eight-game road trip that included exciting road wins at Williams, Middlebury, Wesleyan and Bates. “The biggest thing for us has been our chemistry. This team really likes each other. They’ve been playing with a little chip on their shoulder and it’s been working for us.”

BETTER TOGETHER

There’s a bit of a sibling rivalry going on with the East Texas Baptist men’s basketball team between twin brothers Cedric and Chris Isom, both guards.

Cedric is 32 minutes older than his brother, and is a junior, while Chris, who sat out a season due to injuries, is a sophomore. Both are high-impact players and good talkers. We got only two minutes into our conversation with each before the subject came up over which is the better player. Here’s the deal — they’re both pretty darn good.

“He can’t quite keep up with me yet,” said a chuckling Cedric, who entered Thursday’s game with Mississippi averaging 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds (despite being only 6-2), and 4.4 assists, all team bests. “Anytime we play, I shut him down.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” said Chris, who statistically is right behind Cedric at 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds and is an inch taller at 6-3. “He knows who ‘The Man’ is. I’m a better shooter and I’m a better rebounder. The last time we played 1-on-1 and kept score was three years ago. He cheated the whole game, and I still beat him, 18-3.”

Seriously speaking, it’s probably best that they’re teammates, because they know each other’s games so well that it’s a huge benefit. They’ve done their best to keep the Tigers in the hunt for an ASC playoff spot. ETBU is 9-11, 9-9 in league play entering Thursday in a three-way tie for second place and a playoff spot in the East Division.

“Other than the obvious found in the numbers, the fact that Chris and Ced are so close and also as competitive a pair of players as I’ve ever coached makes them so much more valuable,” said Tigers head coach Bert West. “Neither one is afraid to step into the gap and defend a teammate or also come down with some constructive criticism when it’s needed. They are true leaders in both their play and in the locker room. Having top players with that kind of leadership ability, especially two of them, is a special situation for a coach.”

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

We did the point-counterpoint thing last week for who should be the Women’s No. 1 and this week, and this week it seems timely after Illinois Wesleyan’s defeat to bring some arguments to the table for the potential top men’s squads. There are good arguments to be made in many directions. I’ll again handle one view, while Pat Coleman will provide the other.

Illinois Wesleyan: Other national champs have not run the table in CCIW
I'd be willing to come back to them when they have their full roster

UW-Stevens Point: Can’t ever count out a defending champ that returned basically its entire team
WIAC schedule makes it possible they might not even make NCAA tournament

Wooster: Past postseason performance, coupled with 21-1 mark proves Scots legitimacy
Even a win Saturday makes the decision tough because they split with Wittenberg

Wittenberg: Win Saturday means a sweep of Wooster
No. 1 just doesn't lose to No. 150 Denison, I'm sorry.

Amherst: Responded extraordinarily well to lone defeat, reeling off 14 wins in a row
Some years you could make an argument for NESCAC's best as No. 1. This is not one of those years.

St. John Fisher: There’s something to be said for being unbeaten, regardless of region.
Unbeaten, sure. Also untested. Think Connecticut College.

SNEAKER-UPPERS

Some women’s teams that have snuck up on us a bit this season. There may be some unfamiliar or surprising names in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks and we want you to be ready for some of the names you may hear.

Mount Holyoke: Interim head coach Michelle Scecina’s team plays great defense (allowing 50.7 points per game), and has a final-game showdown with Babson looming that should determine who holds homecourt advantage in the NEWMAC playoffs. That’s big since Lyons are unbeaten at home this season.

Brockport State: Rebounded from 2-7 start to win 10 of 11, share top spot in SUNYAC

Cal Lutheran: Big jump for SCIAC leaders, who won four games two seasons ago.

Greensboro: East Carolina transfer Shelby Enoch having monster season, averaging 17 points, 12.6 rebounds per game. Pride avenged lone USA South loss to Ferrum earlier in week, though they got blown out Thursday night at Peace.

ATTENTION GRABBERS

• A potential late-bloomer for the Centennial Conference men’s championship could be Haverford (11-9, 10-4), which has a chance to finish with its best league record since the 1965-66 squad (led by future University of Iowa and Cornell (N.Y.) president Hunter Rawlings) went 11-2 in the MAC South. The Fords, looking for their first overall winning record since 1995-96, have won eight straight league games, and have home wins this season against Franklin & Marshall (snapping a 27-game losing streak against them), Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg. Michael Mucci’s team has gotten strong play from a roster with five seniors. Top scorer Mark Gabriel (19.4 points per game) became the fifth player in team history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in last Saturday’s win over McDaniel.
  
  
• The first “Bring on Illinois” sign was spotted at St. John Fisher earlier this week, as the Cardinals and Illini are the nation’s only two undefeated four-year college programs. That provided a laugh, and a quick quip for St. John Fisher head coach Rob Kornaker: “We’re not quite ready for them, yet.” Things are looking pretty good for the previously profiled Cardinals, who are 21-0 heading into the final two weekends of regular season play in the Empire 8.
  
  
• We don’t hear too much from the folks in the GNAC, which tends to lose itself in the shuffle among New England’s basketball leagues, but Rivier got one of the season’s finest individual performances last week from Jeff Carpenter, in a 94-92 double-overtime win over Southern Vermont. Rivier had a 20-20 — 20 points and 20 rebounds, the first 20-20 contest in that league in nearly eight years.