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CoBL-Area D-III Power Poll: Jan. 21, 2020

01/21/2020, 3:15am EST
By Josh Verlin


Widener senior Jared Peters (above) put together a triple-double this week as Widener won its fourth straight game. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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It’s time for our next in-season update to our D-III Power Poll! 

In case you forgot, unlike our old D-III Power Rankings, this year’s rankings are voted on by a panel of 15 area Division III coaches and SIDs, then compiled by the CoBL staff. This week’s voting revealed a few tiers: a clear No. 1, six teams behind them who were included on just about everybody’s ballot –– and then a free-for all, with seven teams getting serious consideration for those last three spots, and a couple more picking up votes as well. 

Look for the next update to this Power Poll on Mon., Feb. 3.

This year’s voting panel: John Baron (Head Coach/Gwynedd Mercy), Justin Baxter (Head Coach/Bryn Athyn), Pat Doherty (Head Coach/Haverford), Andy Edwards (SID/Ursinus), Scott Guise (SID/York), Robert Hughes (Head Coach/Rosemont), Tim McDonald (Head Coach/Cabrini), Casey McGarvey (SID/Elizabethtown), Mike McGarvey (Head Coach/Lycoming), Laurence Messler (SID/Immaculata), Dan Mouw (SID/Eastern), Jason O’Connell (Head Coach/Cairn) Alan Seretti (Head Coach/Dickinson), Jon Tanous (Head Coach/Penn State-Abington), Adam Van Zelst (Head Coach/Arcadia)

Next to each team's name is their Power Points ranking (PP) in parenthesis. We took the average of their votes with an assigned point scale (10 points for 1st, 9 for 2nd, etc.). So a team with a Power Point rating of 6.5 was picked on average between 4th and 5th; a team with a power point rating of 3.1 was picked on average just above 8th place, etc.

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Receiving Votes: Albright (10-6, 5-2 MAC Commonwealth), Ursinus (8-7, 3-5 Centennial)

Dropped out: Ursinus (10)

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10. Gettysburg College (Last Poll: 8; Power Points: 1.47)
Record: 10-5 (4-4 Centennial)
Standout Stars: Nick Antolini (16.8 ppg/6.3 rpg), Alex Leder (15.3 ppg/4.7 rpg)
Update: The Centennial Conference is an absolute dogfight, especially in the middle of the pack, as Gettysburg (and a few others) are proving over the last few weeks. The Bullets picked up nice wins over Ursinus (at home) and Dickinson (on the road) since our last update, but also lost by 29 at Haverford and then on a last-second 3-pointer in double-OT against Washington College in a 100-99 heartbreaker, which spoiled a 28-point, 11-rebound effort from Antolini. Now to move past that they host a super-talented Hopkins squad on Wednesday before a trip to Muhlenberg Saturday and F&M next Wednesday, and a visit from No. 1 Swarthmore on Feb. 1.

9. Lycoming College (RV; 2.36)
Record: 12-5 (5-3 MAC Commonwealth)
Standout Stars: Dyson Harward (12.1 ppg/8.3 rpg), Mo Terry (10.9 ppg/4.8 rpg)
Update: It took a Ryan Hollis 3-pointer at the buzzer, but Lycoming’s win streak hit three after an OT win at Arcadia, having previously knocked off Hood by one and Lebanon Valley by 22. They need that momentum with Commonwealth leader Widener coming to town on Saturday, with the whole week to prepare for the Pride; they’ll then play at Messiah (Jan. 29) and at home against Hood (Feb. 1) before our next poll goes out. Mike McGarvey’s group is set up to close strong, with five of their last eight at home.

8. Muhlenberg College (5; 3.47)
Record: 11-4 (4-4 Centennial)
Standout Stars: Dan Gaines (15.9 ppg/4.5 rpg), Matt Gnais (11.2 ppg/3.5 rpg)
Update: The Mules have hit a bit of a speed bump, going 3-4 in their last seven, including 2-2 since our last update; there’s no shame in losing to Swarthmore, but an overtime road loss at F&M (on a last-second jumper) could hurt when it comes to postseason seeding. Muhlenberg’s got a pair of home games next in Washington College (Jan. 22) and Gettysburg (Jan. 25), then trips to Dickinson (Jan. 29) and Johns Hopkins (Feb. 1). Gaines has been on fire recently, with back-to-back 30-point efforts against F&M and in a Jan. 15 win over Ursinus; they also won at McDaniel on Jan. 11.

7. Haverford College (4; 4.79)
Record: 11-4 (6-2 Centennial)
Standout Stars: Jesse Turkson (14.2 ppg/9.3 rpg), Joe Wujciak (9.8 ppg/4.0 apg)
Update: The Fords have dropped their last two games after running their record to 11-2, losing at No. 1 Swarthmore (71-53) and then at McDaniel (77-69), the latter the result of an uncharacteristic 7-of-23 (30.4%) shooting performance from 3-point range and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the line. They’ll play three of their next four at home, but that includes a visit from No. 15 Johns Hopkins on Jan. 25, and they have an always-tough trip to Ursinus after that on Jan. 29. After that are three more road games, so it won’t be easy for this group to re-establish momentum after their strong start.

6. DeSales University (9; 5.33)
Record: 11-4 (4-0 MAC Freedom)
Standout Stars:
Update: The Bulldogs’ win streak now sits at eight after a 22-point home triumph over Del-Val on Saturday, the fifth double-digit win they’ve picked up during this current string of success. The only unbeaten team in the MAC Freedom, DeSales has road games at both one-loss squads, Stevens (Jan. 22) and Eastern (Jan. 29) coming up, plus home games against Misericordia (Jan. 25) and King’s College (Feb. 1). They’ll all have a tough time slowing down a DeSales squad that’s scored 70-plus points in five straight, getting double-digit outings from starters and reserves alike.

5. Susquehanna University (7; 5.67)
Record: 11-4 (4-0 Landmark)
Standout Stars: Lukas Yurasits (14.2 ppg/4.7 rpg), Bryce Butler (8.8 ppg/3.2 rpg)
Update: The River Hawks have won seven of their last eight games, winning all three of their games since our last update: a 20-point takedown of Goucher, a three-point OT win at Drew and a 12-point win at Elizabethtown, scoring at least 81 points each time. Butler and Yurasits each scored 19 to pace five double-digit scorers against E-town, after point guard Danny Frauenheim led the way with 17 against Drew, with four other double-digit scorers behind him. They’ve got the next three at home: Scranton (Jan. 22), Catholic (Jan. 25) and Moravian (Jan. 29), a trip to Goucher on Feb. 1 rounding out their next couple weeks.


Austin Harriott (above) and Gwynedd Mercy have moved up two slots into the No. 4 spot. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

4. Gwynedd Mercy College (6; 5.79)
Record: 12-4 (3-0 Atlantic East)
Standout Stars: Rich Dunham (18.0 ppg/.411 3PT%), Austin Harriott (10.7 ppg/6.6 rpg)
Update: The Griffins seemed to have shaken the ills that befell them over the break when they lost three of five, as John Baron’s group is now on a five-game winning streak, including three straight by double digits to open league play: at Marywood (74-61), at Cabrini (77-67), vs. Marymount (78-61). Dunahm, the team’s leading bucket-getter, scored 26 against Marywood and then 23 in the other two, going a perfect 17-of-17 from the foul stripe during those games. Coming up next: trips to Neumann (Jan. 22) and Marywood (Feb. 5) sandwiched around visits from Immaculata (Jan. 25) and fellow conference unbeaten Wesley (Jan. 29).

3. York College (3; 7.93)
Record: 12-5 (2-1 Capital Athletic)
Standout Stars: Jared Wagner (17.7 ppg/7.4 apg), David Giuliani (15.2 ppg/7.5 rpg)
Update: The Spartans have played all three of their games since our last update on the road, and to their credit they won two of those three contests, losing at Christopher Newport before beating St. Mary’s (Md.) and Southern Virginia. Now they have a chance to gain some real momentum, with their next four straight (and six of their last eight) at home, getting Wilson (Jan. 21), Mary Washington (Jan. 25), Salisbury (Jan. 29) and Southern Virginia (Feb. 1) coming to York in a stretch that will clear up a lot about the CAC playoff picture by the time of our next update.

2. Widener University (2; 8.80)
Record: 13-2 (6-0 MAC Commonwealth)
Standout Stars: Connor Laverty (12.6 ppg/6.4 rpg), Jared Peters (13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
Update: The Pride bounced back from their first (and only) loss to a D-III program, returning to conference play and ripping off four straight, topping out at 98 points in a road win at Albright last Wednesday, a game that saw six different players hit double figures for Chris Carideo. Peters, a junior guard, became the 15th player in D-III this season to record a triple-double, going for 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists –– without a single turnover –– in an 82-68 win over Hood on Sunday. They go home-away-away-home the next two weeks, playing Arcadia (Jan. 22), Lycoming (Jan. 25), Lebanon Valley (Jan. 29) and Stevenson (Feb. 1).

1. Swarthmore College (1; 10.00)
Record: 15-0 (8-0 Centennial)
Standout Stars: Zac O’Dell (11.4 ppg/8.5 rpg), Vinny DeAngelo (8.7 ppg, .462 3PT%)
Update: Not only has Swat’s unbeaten season and unchanging spot at No. 1 continued, they’ve been winning bigger as the spring semester goes on, capturing the last four (all league games) by double-digits after a couple three-point wins to open the 2020s. DeAngelo, a Sun Valley grad and freshman guard, has become a key starter and turned into a reliable scoring option, with 14 against Haverford and 15 against F&M. Ursinus, which came within two points of beating Swat in Dec., visits on Jan. 22, before McDaniel visits Swat on Jan. 25; trips to Washington (Jan. 29) and Gettysburg (Feb. 1) round out the two weeks.


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