Quakers, Yellow Jackets to play
for spot in OAC final

Top offense to meet top defense in semifinal

February 23, 2006

Happy, but not satisfied, Wilmington College will look to extend its season when the Quakers travel to Berea to face seventh-ranked Baldwin-Wallace 8 p.m. Friday in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal.

Wilmington, the No. 4 seed, advanced with a 73-64 quarterfinal win over Capital Wednesday while No. 1 seed Baldwin-Wallace took down No. 8 Mount Union, 96-84.

The Quakers bring a six-game winning streak into Friday's game while the Yellow Jackets' quarterfinal win snapped a two-game losing skid. Baldwin-Wallace, the OAC regular-season champion, closed its conference schedule with losses to Ohio Northern and Capital.

Sophomore point guard Zach Broermann (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) hit six-of-six three-pointers en route to career-high 28 points that led the Quakers past Capital. Senior forward Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) scored 17 points and led the Quakers with six rebounds. The Quakers held Capital freshman wing Nate Stahl eight points below his 15.1 average.

Baldwin-Wallace put its team balance on display in its win over Mount Union Wednesday. Five Yellow Jackets, led by Tori Davis' 20 points, scored in double figures. Tyler Sekerak and Keith Aufmuth scored 18 each, Dan Gundert added 15 and Brendan Schuler scored 14.

"When you have a player like Tori Davis who can do so many things inside, it forces teams to do things to get the ball out of the post and double-team him," WC head coach Scott Reule said. "That leaves shooters open on the perimeter, and they've got kids who are good shooters, and good shooters are a whole lot better when they're open."

Wilmington and Baldwin-Wallace split their regular-season series, with the Quakers winning 64-61 Jan. 7 in Berea and Baldwin-Wallace posting an 80-68 win at Fred Raizk Arena Jan. 21. With road wins over nationally ranked Baldwin-Wallace and Ohio Northern, the Quakers are not apprehensive about traveling to Berea Friday.

"The biggest thing for us, whether we are home or on the road, is our defensive pressure," Reule said. "We know that — wherever we are, whatever the environment — we're going to do the same thing defensively, try to take people out of what they want to do. When you go on the road and you don't let people get relaxed, it gives you the confidence that you can play with anybody, particularly because our offense plays off of our defense."

For fans in search of contrast, the Quakers and Yellow Jackets will not disappoint. Baldwin-Wallace is the OAC's top scoring team at 89 points per game while Wilmington's defense has held opponents to a conference-best 67 points per contest. The Yellow Jackets attack offensively while Wilmington relies on its swarming defense to create points through turnovers.

Davis leads the OAC in scoring (23) and is second in rebounding (8.6). Aufmuth, Gundert and Schuler all average in double figures and are among the conference's top-20 scorers.

Stirling's name is on nearly every OAC statistical category. He ranks fourth in scoring (16.9), seventh in rebounding (6.3), 11th in assists (2.5), sixth in steals (1.7) and eighth in blocked shots (0.7). Broermann's 84-percent free throw shooting checks in at No. 6 in the OAC and sophomore Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East) is fifth in blocked shots (0.9) and ninth in steals (1.6).

With the program's first 20-win campaign, first OAC Tournament home game, first OAC Tournament win and first appearance in the national Top 25, Wilmington's season has been nothing short of incredible. It's a season Reule — who is the fourth head coach the current WC senior class has played for — and his team are in no hurry to end ... something about pleased, but not satisfied.

"This has just been a blessing of a season for myself, our staff and our players, because of what they've gone through," Reule said. "We're happy to have this opportunity to play in the OAC Tournament and be able to compete with the best teams in this league."

The Wilmington-Baldwin-Wallace game will be preceded by No. 2 seed Ohio Northern against No. 3 Muskingum at 6 p.m. Ohio Northern advanced to the semifinals with a 72-59 win over John Carroll while Muskingum defeated Otterbein, 81-62. The semifinals will be live on the Internet at www.wbwc.com.The OAC final will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Berea. The men's and women's finals also will be live on the Web at http://www.teamline.cc/teampages.html?teamcode=1067 or by visiting the OAC Website at www.oac.org.