Welcome, once again sportz freaks to another edition of Z Money's Sportz Talk. One of my favorite times of year has come around once again, and that is the beginning of the NCAA Basketball Playoffs; more specifically, the Division III tournament. For the past two seasons, the men's basketball team here at Richard Stockton College has captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference title and moved onto the NCAA DIII tournament. This year, the Ospreys (19-6; 9-4) will look to repeat once again as division champions, and that run to the top begins Wednesday night at 7PM here at the Big Blue sports complex.
Stockton is more than prepared to tread the NJAC tourney waters as they have a ton of experience and are on a bit of a hot streak as of late. Santini Lancioni recorded his 1000th point last week against the Lions of TCNJ to cap off another winning season for the Ospreys, and Omar Smith has been a huge presence as well. Combine that with a ton of young, fresh talent and you have a recipe that could prove to be very dangerous throughout the rest of the season. While this year's version of the team is nowhere near at the level we saw last year, the Ospreys still managed to win nineteen games and win the south half of the NJAC during the regular season. Whether or not they are strong enough to get far in the NCAA's, or if they can even get through the NJAC, has yet to be seen.
Up first for the Ospreys is the same team Stockton defeated last year to win their second straight NJAC Championship: Rutgers-Newark. The Scarlet Raiders come to Stockton Wednesday night to try to exact revenge on the foe who kept them one game shy of the NCAA tournament just a season ago. In a 62-54 thriller at "Big Blue", the Ospreys scratched and clawed their way back from an early deficit against a strong Rutgers team. Eventually the home team pulled away, and headed off to the DIII tournament, where they made it all the way to the championship game, a game which they lost by just nine points.
The Ospreys haven't looked like that same team this year, despite losing just two key seniors from last year's squad. It all started in the season opener against Baruch, where the Ospreys and the Bears fought back and forth in a highly-competitive game right up until the end, a game Baruch would take on a last-second three-point shot at the buzzer. Since then, the Ospreys haven't had that same luster, but despite their decrease in perfomance, they have lost just five times since then. One of those losses, however, came at the hands of their soon-to-be opponents: Rutgers-Newark. The Raiders took down Stockton 64-53 in Newark, which also happens to be the last time the Ospreys have suffered a loss. Since then, Stockton has gone 4-0, defeating their opponents by almost 15 ppg.
Should Stockton escape Wednesday night, they'll take on either Ramapo or William Paterson, both of whom defeated the Ospreys earlier in the season. Of the two, Paterson is clearly the mush scarier foe, as they are the best team in the NJAC by a landslide, having gone 23-2 overall with an 12-1 record in the conference. The Pioneers beat Stockton 63-57 back in mid-January, a game also played away from "Big Blue". Should the Roadrunners pull off the major upset up in Wayne, Ramapo can also boast that it has already defeated the Ospreys, as it did so by a score of 85-84 on Jan. 23rd. So the Ospreys have found themselves in quite a situation, facing one team that beat them already this year, with two more opponents who did the same waiting if they win.
So the question is, will the momentum carry Stockton to its third consecutive NJAC crown, or will Rutgers turn the tables from last season's season-ending loss here in Pomona? Head on over to the Big Blue sports complex this Wednesday night at 7PM to find out!
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