NAIA TOURNAMENT: IF IT’S DAY 3 IT MUST BE ROUND 2 – UPDATED ALL DAY LONG

Well, last night wrapped up the first round of the NAIA basketball tournament. Today kicks off Round 2. I will once again remind people who aren’t familiar with this tournament that all the games are played at the same venue that’s why the games start at 9am ET, 8am in Point Lookout, MO, where they’re playing.

TOP SEED KNOCKED OUT – GAME 7 – OZARKS BOBCATS 71  WALSH CAVALIERS 66    UPSET OF THE TOURNAMENT!!! WALSH WAS THE NUMBER ONE OVERALL SEED AND JUST FELL TO THE BOBCATS! POSSIBLY OVERCONFIDENT, THE CAVS FELL BEHIND BY AS MANY AS 17 POINTS AT TIMES IN THIS GAME, THEN HAD TO SCRAMBLE IN THE SECOND HALF TO INCH CLOSER! THEIR STELLAR SEASON IS OVER PREMATURELY IN THE SHOCKER OF THE WEEK!   Personally I think the Bobcats were inspired by the chance to give their fellow feline teams an even more impressive lead over the canine teams.    CAT NICKNAMES: 9-4     DOG NICKNAMES: 2-3 

GAME 6 – NORTHWOOD (FL) SEAHAWKS 65  DAKOTA WESLEYAN TIGERS 58   Northwood took huge leads early but wasn’t able to put the Tigers away and it nearly came back to bite them as DWU pulled within 6 at times.      CAT NICKNAMES: 8-4     DOG NICKNAMES: 2-3 

GAME 5 – INDIANA WESLEYAN WILDCATS 84  OREGON TECH HUSTLIN’ OWLS 63    Who would have expected Indiana Wesleyan to so thorougly crush Oregon Tech? The outcome isn’t nearly as surprising as the final score.   CAT NICKNAMES: 8-3     DOG NICKNAMES: 2-3 

GAME 4 – MCPHERSON BULLDOGS 77  WARNER PACIFIC KNIGHTS 58   The Bulldogs, feeling the massive burden of keeping their fellow canines in the running, stepped up big with this rout. Or, looked at another way, the Knights simply proved the old adage about teams that pull upsets in the opening round getting crushed in the 2nd round.      CAT NICKNAMES: 7-3     DOG NICKNAMES: 2-3 

GAME 3 – CORNERSTONE GOLDEN EAGLES 82  IOWA WESLEYAN TIGERS 70    The Cornerstone juggernaut keeps rolling along. Don’t be deceived by the final score. This game was all Cornerstone, who led by as many as 20 points at times. After 2 tight games to start the day this was Day 3’s 1st blowout.    CAT NICKNAMES: 7-3     DOG NICKNAMES: 1-3 (Don’t forget we’ll be going by winning percentage, not a flat count so the dog nicknames are still alive. )

GAME 2 – ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS 76  BELLEVUE BRUINS 74    Round 2 is off to a tremendous start with 2 nail-biters in a row. Credit the Cougars with dealing with the pressure and pulling off the upset.    CAT NICKNAMES: 7-2       DOG NICKNAMES: 1-3      

GAME 1 – DAVENPORT PANTHERS 78  BLACK HILLS STATE YELLOW JACKETS 74 IN OVERTIME      This first OT game of the 2011 tournament continued the level of excitement by last night’s closing game. The story of this riveting game was Davenport getting small leads and BHSU pulling even. The score was 63 apiece at the end of regulation and OT was not disappointing. In the end clutch free-throws made the difference for the Panthers.    We might as well call this Meow Madness the way cat teams are doing. This upset now makes our cat vs dog stats: CAT NICKNAMES: 6-2       DOG NICKNAMES: 1-3