On The Horizon

Jim Squire

Previews – February 18th – 22nd--HoriZone Roundtable
Horizon League recap Feb. 9-15--Mid-Major Madness

Title Chasing: A Look at Each NCAAW Conference--Basket Under Review

Horizon

Green Bay: 15-2

Green Bay is the first team to have the #1 seed secured and will at a minimum share the Horizon League title.

Meaningful Games to Watch This Week

2-19: Youngstown State @ Northern Kentucky

Green Bay could lock up the outright Horizon title with a loss by Youngstown State in this game. Otherwise, they can lock it up themselves on Saturday.

Cleveland State Men's Basketball Makes Short Trip to Youngstown State--csuvikings.com

Teams of The Week: Don't Badger Us--Basket Under Review

DETROIT MERCY

The work that HC Mark Montgomery and staff are doing this conference season in Motown is substantial. This program is in the midst of a multi-year renovation project. The Titans raised money by getting paid to play Notre Dame, UIC, Michigan State. DePaul and others. A road win at Niagara was the program's lone non-conference win vs. a D1 opponent. The battle scars, organic development, and situational lessons learned in those games have helped Detroit Mercy compete in the Horizon League, despite rougher KenPom/Torvik ranks.

Entering this past week, UDM was 7-7 in league play and had a golden opportunity to avenge a two-point home loss against league-leading Wright State. The program had lost seven straight against the Raiders, and Montgomery said, "We've been taking it on the chin every time we play Wright State."

Thanks to a late "double-stagger curl-curl" coming out of a T.O., well-designed, I might add, the ball landed with Tyler Spratt. Spratt's strong take to the cup and finish helped put Detroit Mercy up for good.

Legend Geeter's rebounding and offensive contributions were also critical in the road upset. Ryan Kalambay received a lot of praise for his big blocked shot down the stretch.

The Titans remembered they still needed to keep winning as Youngstown State came to town on Sunday. When the game was in the balance, the Titans raced out to a 15-point lead with around seven minutes remaining. A very impressive display as Detroit Mercy eventually did secure a 76-70 win to sweep the series against the Penguins. Six different Titans finished in double-figured and the team was deliberate with the basketball, only turning it over seven times in the game.

This Titans team is suddenly 9-7 in Horizon League play. The Horizon Tournament provides the Top Five teams with home games and a direct path to Indianapolis with one win. Currently, the Titans would be the six-seed but are within a couple of games of first place, unbelievably. None of this would be possible without the season-defining week they just put together. Remember The Titans.