City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Here’s a look at our Division II Super 7 after two weeks of the regular season (preseason rank in parenthesis):

Others to Watch: Bloomsburg (2-2, 0-2 PSAC), Chestnut Hill (1-2, 1-0 CACC), Goldey-Beacom (1-2, 0-1 CACC), Holy Family (1-3, 0-0 CACC), Lock Haven (3-1, 1-1 PSAC) Mansfield (3-2, 1-1 PSAC), USciences (1-3, 0-0 CACC)

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7. Millersville Marauders (OTW)
Record: 2-1 (2-0 CACC)
Last Two Weeks: @ Goldey-Beacom (L, 74-69), *@ Loyola (Md.) (L, 79-66), vs. Edinboro (W, 79-71), vs. Mercyhurst (W, 69-66)
Star Watch: Conrad Chambers (Jr./G) -- 18.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg

Update: Perhaps the surprise of the early season are the Marauders, who are already halfway to their overall and league win total from last year under first-year head coach Casey Stitzel. It’s certainly helped having Chambers, a 2014 Chester grad who’s having a breakout season after spending one year at Morgan State (20 points in 14 games) and then one at Navarro College, a junior college in Texas, where he averaged 5.4 ppg. Redshirt senior Cornell Yarde II, now in his second year at Millersville after beginning his college career at IUP, has upped his scoring average from 10.7 ppg a year ago to 16.7 ppg through the team’s three Division II games. Now it remains to be seen if Stitzels and the Marauders can keep it up.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Lincoln (Nov. 26, 2 PM), @ Wilmington (Nov. 30, 8 PM), @ Seton Hill (Dec. 3, 3 PM), @ California (Pa. (Dec. 4, 3 PM)

* = Game does not count in standings

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6. Wilmington Wildcats (OTW)
Record: 3-1 (0-0 CACC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. NYIT (@LIU Post, W, 75-70), @ LIU Post (W, 83-77), vs. Pace (W, 75-65), @ Morgan State (L, 88-73)
Star Watch: Tyaire Ponzo-Meek (R-Sr./G) -- 19.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.8 apg

Update: Against Division II competition, Wilmington is 3-0, which is good enough to lift them into the first actual power rankings of the season. As expected, Ponzo-Meek is doing the heavy lifting, just like the 5-11 Wilmington native has done for the last three seasons; he’s scored a minimum of 17 in each game so far, shooting a nifty 83.9 percent from the foul line, and rebounds quite a bit for a guard of his size. This year, he’s gotten a nice boost from JUCO transfer Nick Richards, who spent the last two years at Kirkwood (Iowa) CC and is averaging 17.5 ppg and shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range through his first four games under Dan Burke. Beware, though -- Wilmington got off to a similar hot start last year, opening up 4-1 before an eight-game losing streak set the Wildcats on the way to a 9-19 season.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Bloomsburg (Nov. 26, 3 PM), @ Shippensburg (Nov. 28, 7 PM), vs. Millersville (Nov. 30, 8 PM), vs. Philadelphia University (Dec. 3, 3 PM)

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5. West Chester Golden Rams (4)
Record: 2-2 (2-0 PSAC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Notre Dame College (@ West Liberty, L, 96-87), @ West Liberty (L, 117-91), vs. Gannon (W, 73-63), vs. Clarion (W, 92-67)
Star Watch: Malik Jackson (Soph./G) -- 23.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Update: West Chester started off with a bang, playing two tough road games -- including one against the preseason No. 1 team in the country, West Liberty. So we’re not going to ding them for two defeats there, especially with Jackson sitting out the first game; once he returned for the second, all he’s done is score 23, 23 and 24 points. Backcourt mate Matt Penecale (14.3 ppg, 5.5 apg) is off to a strong start as well, and their fellow sophomore Mike Jolaoso is averaging 12.0 ppg off the bench after a deep reserve role last year. This is a very young rotation, with its top four scorers all underclassmen and quite a few other freshmen and sophomores in the rotation, so it’ll be interesting to see how they maintain their momentum throughout the early portion of the schedule.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Bowie State (Nov. 26, 3 PM), @ Bloomfield (Nov. 29, 7 PM), @ Slippery Rock (Dec. 3, 3 PM), @ Edinboro (Dec. 4, 3 PM)

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4. Philadelphia University Rams (6)
Record: 3-1 (1-0 CACC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. District of Columbia (W, 83-78), vs. Franklin Pierce (W, 65-55), @ Goldey-Beacom (W, 70-54), @ Molloy (L, 79-74)
Star Watch: Kaison Randolph (Jr./G) -- 20.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg

Update: The Rams saw their three-game win streak to start the season snapped on Sunday with a five-point loss at Molloy, the result of allowing the Lions to shoot better than 51 percent (30-of-58) from the floor. As expected it’s been Randolph, a 6-3 wing out of Pennington (N.J.), who’s shouldered the load offensively, scoring 25 in each of the team’s first two games and 21 against Molloy. His teammates picked him up against Goldey-Beacom, getting 16 from redshirt senior Andre Gibbs, who’s averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.0 rpg in his return from a torn ACL suffered last preseason. Also back is redshirt sophomore Jordan DeCicco, who spent last season running a business with his brother; the 6-foot guard is averaging 10.5 ppg and 4.8 apg. The inter-league game against Kutztown will be one of the first that could cause a major shake-up in the power rankings.

Next Two Weeks:  vs. NYIT (Nov. 27, 3 PM), @ Kutztown (Nov. 29, TBD), vs. USciences (Dec. 1, 8 PM), @ Wilmington (Dec. 3, 3 PM)

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3. East Stroudsburg Warriors (2)
Record: 3-2 (2-0 PSAC)
Last Two Weeks: @ Shepherd (L, 72-69), vs. Wheeling Jesuit (@Shepherd, L, 78-67), @ Concordia (W, 87-74), vs. Clarion (W, 103-76), vs. Pitt-Johnstown (W, 66-60)
Star Watch: Rasheed Moore (Sr./F) -- 15.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg

Update: Without the services of senior big man Steve Harris (12.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg) over the first two games, the Warriors dropped two close ones at Shepherd, but got back on the horse with three straight wins to close out the season’s opening stretch; he had a nice welcome back with a 22-point, 12-rebounding outing against Concordia. Though Moore, a 6-6 forward, has had a steady start, the Warriors are still waiting for sophomore guard Nick Giordano (4.8 ppg) to catch fire after the 5-11 Marple alum started off the season 6-for-25 (.240) from 3-point range. It doesn’t get much easier from here, with three true road games sandwiched around a visit from a PSU branch campus.

Next Two Weeks: @ Chestnut Hill (Nov. 23, 2 PM), vs. Penn State-Wilkes Barre (Nov. 28, 7 PM), @ Edinboro (Dec. 3, 3 PM), @ Mercyhurst (Dec. 4, 3 PM)

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2. Shippensburg Raiders (3)
Record: 4-0 (2-0 PSAC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. Penn State-Wilkes Barre (W, 94-72), vs. Penn State-Fayette (W, 98-34), vs. Slippery Rock (W, 68-48), vs. Edinboro (W, 105-73)
Star Watch: Dustin Sleva (Jr./F) -- 20.5 ppg, 12.5 rpg

Update: Helped out by a five-game homestand to start the year, including two games against lower-division opponents in the two Penn State campuses, Shippensburg is off to a very confident start as it looks to build off a 20-win campaign from a year ago. Sleva is off to a terrific individual start with four double-doubles, and senior point guard Abe Massaley has put up 21 assists in his last two games against just one turnover during that span. Building off a strong freshman year (11.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Antonio Kellem has been a reliable second fiddle thus far and then some, going off for a season-high 25 points in the team’s latest win over Edinboro on Sunday. Not an easy two weeks ahead, with a Wilmington squad quickly gaining confidence coming to town before a road trip against two of the best in the West.

Next Two Weeks: vs. Wilmington (Nov. 28, 7 PM), @ Indiana (Pa.) (Dec. 3, 3PM), @ Seton Hill (Dec. 4, 3 PM)

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1. Kutztown Bears (1)
Record: 4-0 (2-0 PSAC)
Last Two Weeks: vs. PSU-Schuylkill (W, 110-71), @ USciences (W, 83-48), vs. California (Pa.) (W, 80-65), vs. Slippery Rock (W, 88-69)
Star Watch: Ryan Connolly (Sr./F) -- 15.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .483 3PT%

Update: The Bears, our top team in the preseason ranking, haven’t been challenged over an impressive opening quartet of victories. Five players are averaging in double figures for head coach Bernie Driscoll, led by Connolly, a 6-6 stretch-forward out of Souderton; senior Josh Johnson (15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg), redshirt sophomore Anthony Lee (14.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg), sophomore Dan Cuevas (11.3 ppg, 4.5) and senior Austin Biedelman (10.3 ppg) are also at that mark, while junior Ethan Ridgeway is just behind them (9.8 ppg) while averaging a PSAC-best 7.5 assists/game. It’s a versatile six-man attack, though it’s a group Driscoll has leaned on heavily thus fars, with seven other players averaging between four and nine minutes of action. Also impressive: as a team, Kutztown has 84 assists against 42 turnovers (2:1), while opponents are 51 to 87 (.59:1).

Next Two Weeks: vs. Philadelphia University (Nov. 29, 7 PM), @ Pitt-Johnstown (Dec. 3, 3 PM), @ Indiana (Pa.) (Dec. 4, 3 PM)