With the Centennial Conference Championships just two weeks away in wrestling and three weeks off in basketball and track, this weekend’s contests offer potential postseason previews.
Women’s Basketball at Gettysburg (Saturday, 1:00)
Here are the Centennial Conference standings heading into Saturday’s games:
- Haverford 11-2
- Johns Hopkins 12-3
- McDaniel 9-4
- Muhlenberg 9-5
- Gettysburg 8-5
- Swarthmore 7-8
- Ursinus/Washington 5-8
If the order doesn’t change, Muhlenberg and Gettysburg will face each other in the first round of the CC playoffs. But both teams, who have combined to win the last three CC championships (the Mules in 2011 and 2012 and the Bullets last year) are looking to move up in the standings and avoid the 4-5 game.
Win or lose, Muhlenberg is in great position for making the playoffs. The Mules close out the CC regular season against Franklin & Marshall (1-12), Dickinson (1-13) and Ursinus, while Swarthmore, the team with the most reasonable chance of breaking into the top five, still has to play McDaniel and Haverford.
Gettysburg is the hottest team in the CC, coming into the game on a four-game winning streak, and is 7-1 at home this season. The Bullets are holding opponents to a CC-low 32.5-percent shooting in league games; Muhlenberg is third in that category at 33.7.
The Mules won the first meeting this season, 62-57, and have taken five of the last seven series meetings at Gettysburg.
Men’s Basketball at Gettysburg (Saturday, 3:00)
The men’s standings show the importance of this game:
- Dickinson 11-2
- McDaniel 10-3
- Franklin & Marshall 9-4
- Johns Hopkins 9-4
- Muhlenberg 8-5
- Gettysburg 7-6
- Washington 4-9
Six teams are battling for the five playoff spots, and these two are fifth and sixth. If the Mules win, they will have a two-game lead for the last spot with four to play. A Gettysburg win throws the playoff race into a mad scramble the last two weeks of the season. Muhlenberg still has games left against Franklin & Marshall (away) and Dickinson, while the Bullets finish the regular season with tough road games against F&M and McDaniel.
Both teams are trying to rebound from losses. Gettysburg had a three-game winning streak (which included a 54-38 defeat of F&M) snapped with a 67-55 loss at Dickinson on Wednesday. Muhlenberg fell at Haverford on Wednesday but has not dropped back-to-back CC games all season.
The Mules closed the game on a 10-2 run to win the first meeting this season, 77-69. Muhlenberg has lost its last three games at Gettysburg, last year in overtime.
Indoor Track & Field at Frank Colden Invitational (Saturday, 9:00)
The Muhlenberg teams return to Ursinus for the first time since competing in the CC Championships there last February. One of the events to watch is the women’s 60-meter hurdles, where Ursinus’ Victoria Goodenough and Muhlenberg’s Stephanie Carnevale rank 1-2, respectively in the CC this season. At last year’s championship meet, Carnevale edged Goodenough by seven hundredths of a second to win gold en route to becoming an All-American.
Wrestling at Merchant Marine with Johns Hopkins (Saturday, 5:00)
Muhlenberg freshman Jaryd Flank will be put to the test against two of the best 125-pounders in the CC. Defending CC champion Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins is 26-1 this season, currently ranked third in Division III. Merchant Marine’s Mike Mui is 16-4.