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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Barton men's basketball notebook


The disappointment of Monday night's 91-86 loss to Shaw University by the Barton's men's basketball team will linger a bit longer than a usual defeat.

The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs won't play another game until a Jan. 3 tussle at Wilson Gym against Conference Carolinas foe King College. The King Tornado are unbeaten at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the league, and will be a nice focus point for Barton's players over the Christmas break.

"As of right now, we are disappointed," senior forward Jon Hart said right after the game. But we don't dwell too long on it. We'll work hard and be ready for conference play."

Coach Ron Lievense minced few words when picking out one thing his team will need to improve on if it wants to live up to the lofty ranking it already has achieved in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25.

"We need to get tough," he said.

Senior guard Gerald Boston, who scored 20 points in the loss, said the team expected to complete the season sweep of the Bears.

"We aren't happy going into the break like this," he said. "We're going to have to sit with it for a while, then get back to work."

The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Bears on their home court in the first 20 minutes by a 19-15 margin, and had a 6-1 edge on the offensive glass.

That reversed in the second half, as Shaw's size took over for a 20-12 rebounding lead.

Making it more remarkable was that the Bears shot 17-of-27 in the second half, leaving few chances for them on the offensive side.

"We weren't as tough on the rebounds as we needed to be," Lievense said. "There were times when they ripped it right our of our hands."

Moving up

Barton moved up to No. 10 (from 11) in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll on Tuesday.

The votes were taken before Monday night's loss, so it did not factor in to the voting.

Here is a look at the poll:

NABC/Division II Men's Basketball Poll(Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 -- Regular Season Poll #3)
The weekly poll is being conducted by 16 members of the NABC, two representing each of the eight NCAA Division II regions.
All records are through games of Sunday, Dec. 2. The next poll will be released Tuesday, Dec. 11.
Team
Record
Points
1.
West Liberty (W.Va.)
6-0
393
(12 first place votes)
2.
Washburn (Kan.)
6-0
377
(1 first place vote)
3.
Metropolitan State (Colo.)
5-0
361
(1 first place vote)
4.
Alabama-Huntsville
7-1
338
(1 first place vote)
5.
Bellarmine (Ky.)
5-0
336
(1 first place vote)
6.
Western Washington
6-0
326
7.
Southern Indiana
4-0
295
8.
Seattle Pacific (Wash.)
7-1
266
9.
Cal Poly Pomona
6-0
264
10.
Barton (N.C.)
7-0
255
11.
Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.)
6-0
232
12.
Northwest Missouri State
6-0
205
13.
Findlay (Ohio)
4-1
157
14.
St. Cloud State (Minn.)
4-0
154
15.
Franklin Pierce (N.H.)
5-1
150
16.
Kentucky Wesleyan
4-0
148
17.
Indianapolis (Ind.)
6-0
131
18.
Winona State (Minn.)
6-2
125
19.
Christian Brothers (Tenn.)
4-1
116
20.
Minnesota State
5-0
85
21.
Augusta State (Ga.)
4-0
72
22.
Indiana (Pa.)
5-1
60
23.
North Alabama
7-0
41
24.
Assumption (Mass.)
7-0
40
25.
West Texas A&M
7-1
36
Dropped out: Saint Leo (20), Montevallo (21), Stonehill (23), Alaska-Anchorage (25)
Others receiving votes: Drury (Mo.) 30, Tarleton State (Texas) 25, Alaska-Anchorage 24, Winston-Salem State (N.C.) 24, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 14, Harding (Ark.) 13, Post (Conn.) 12, Tampa (Fla.) 11, Benedict (S.C.) 10, Newman (Kan.) 9, Wayne State (Mich.) 9, Chico State (Calif.) 7, Cal State-San Bernardino (Calif.) 5, Colorado Mesa 5, Missouri-St. Louis 5, Florida Southern 4, King (Tenn.) 4, Edinboro (Pa.) 3, Massachusetts-Lowell 3, Henderson State (Ark.) 2.



Tough venue

Shaw's Spaulding Gym is small, hot and loud.

It's why the Bears love playing there.

It's also why opponents fear to come.

The Bears, who advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 last season, didn't lose a game at their Raleigh home last season. This was the first home game for them in 2012-13.

"Coach (Lievense) did us a favor and gave us a home and home," Shaw coach Cleo Hill Jr. said. "Not a lot of folks will do that. Not a lot like playing us here.

"Especially as good as we were last year. It made scheduling difficult. But Coach (Lievense) he likes a good challenge, and we are thankful for him and Barton."

In all, Shaw has won 16 straight at Spaulding. The last Bears loss at home was a 48-46 defeat at the hands of Elizabeth City State on Jan. 17, 2011.

The Bears went 10-0 at home last year and 8-1 the year before.

Big man on campus

"He's a GROWN MAN."

It was a phrase uttered by many before, during and after Monday night's Shaw University win over Barton.

And everyone was referring to senior center Karron Johnson.

The Richmond, Va., native transferred from Midland Community College to Shaw and hasn't disappointed.

The 6-foot-8 big man dominated when he was on the court Monday night, scoring 27 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and showing a deft passing touch with five assists.

He had 26 points, 10 boards and and one assist in the first meeting.

Lievense called him a "grown man." So did Barton sports information director John Hackney. So did two members of the Shaw sports information staff.

Fans could be heard saying it over and over after any one of his four power dunks. He had his way most of the time, hitting all 11 shots he took, as well as making 5-of-9 from the free-throw line.

He may have had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder as play went on.

After Barton beat the Bears 77-67 to open the season, Shaw tumbled out of the rankings and hasn't returned. The team's two losses are to the Bulldogs and No. 17 Kentucky Wesleyan. Both on the road.

"It's a huge win for us," he said. "Not only is Barton No. 11 in the nation, but we felt kind of disrespected by our not being ranked.

"Plus, we don't lose here. That's a tradition we want to hold on to."

And 6-foot-4 Barton forward Jon Hart said it too. He should know, as he matched up much of the night against him.

"One of the best I've gone up against," Hart said.

"We won't see another big man like him for a while," Lievense said in an almost relieved tone.




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