The Basketball Report

Robert Stephens II, Featured Writer

Things are winding down in terms of non- professional hoops.

March 15, 2012 - The Final Four the NCAA Division One billion dollar machine is upon us and the first playoff games did not disappoint.

What about the NBA, The Association, home of the
Washington Wizards?

Tuesday night the Wizards traveled to Dallas to face the
Mavericks and dropped a 107-98 decision to the Mavericks. Trevor Booker led the home team with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points.

The Wizards road record fell to 3-16 on the season. The
overall record now stands at 9-32. The Wizards will face New Orleans, Atlanta, Memphis, and New Jersey on the road.

Dwight Howard has waived his opt out clause, thereby giving the Magic the rest of this season and all of next to secure his services, long term. (file photo)

If the playoffs were to be held as of Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the following teams would make the playoffs starting with the top seeds: In the East the Chicago Bulls would be the number one seed in the East. They would be followed by Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Indiana, Atlanta, Boston, and Milwaukee.

The West would feature top seed Oklahoma City followed by San Antonio, Lakers, Memphis, Clippers, Denver, Dallas, and Houston.

The League's top ten scorers are:

Kobe Bryant Lakers 28.9
Kevin Durant Oklahoma City 27.9
LeBron James Miami 27.5
Kevin Love Minnesota 25.7
Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City 23.6
Derrick Rose Chicago 22.8
Dwayne Wade Miami 22.7
Deron Williams New Jersey 22.
Monta Ellis Golden State 21.9
LaMarcus Aldridge Portland 21.5
John Wall of the Wizards is ranked 17th averaging 17.3 pts.

Down a level, let’s first take a look at some area teams that have completed their season.

The Howard University Bison went 1-1 in the MEAC
Tournament. The Bison defeated North Carolina A&T 51-50 in their first round match up. Calvin Thompson led Howard with 15 points.

In round two Howard fell to eventual MEAC Champion Norfolk State 71-61. Glen Andrews led the way with 21 points. Howard finished their season at 10-21 on the year. Prince Okoroh was named to the all conference freshman team.

The Terrapins of Maryland ended their season with an 85-69
loss to North Carolina at the ACC Tournament which was held in Atlanta.

Terrell Stoglin , named second team All-ACC, led the
Terps with 30 points.

Prince Okoroh had a solid year, resulting in All-Rookie MEAC status.

Maryland ended their season with a record of 17-15.
The Colonials of George Washington ended their season in
the first round of the Atlantic Ten Tournament dropping a 67-50 decision to Dayton.

David Pellom led GW with 18 points and 10 rebounds as they finished their season at 10-21.

George Mason fell to their rival Virginia Commonwealth 74-64 in the semi-finals of the Colonial Athletic Conference in Richmond. Mike Morrison led the Patriots with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

George Mason which refused postseason bids due to financial concerns, finished their season at 24-9.

The NCAA play-in version took place in Dayton, Ohio earlier this week and the games did not disappoint.

Western Kentucky came from behind to defeat Mississippi Valley winners of the SWAC Conference 59-58 in a thriller. Valley led most of the game but Western with a furious comeback caught the SWAC champions and put the game away.

Mississippi Valley finished their season with a record of 21-13. Western Kentucky the only team in the field with a losing record improved to 16-18. Western will now face Kentucky in Louisville on Thursday.

BYU set a new NCAA record coming from 25 points behind to edge Iona 78-75. Iona finished their season with a record of 25-8. BYU improved to 26-8 and they’ll face Marquette on Thursday.

South Florida defeated California 65-54 to advance to meet Temple Friday night. California dropped to 24-10 in their season finale. South Florida improved to 21-13.

Vermont beat Lamar 71-59 to advance to the next round of
play. North Carolina awaits the winners in Greensboro. Lamar fell to 23-12 in their season finale. Vermont improved to 24-11.

Georgetown University will represent the DC area in the upcoming NCAA tournament; the Hoyas defeated Pittsburgh 64-52 in their Big East Tournament opener which was played at Madison Square Garden in New York. They were then defeated by Cincinnati 72-70 in the semi-final
round of the Big East tournament in a double overtime thriller.

The Hoyas feature a balanced attack led by senior First Team All- Big East Jason Clark who averages 13.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Hollis Thompson averages 12.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Henry Sims averages 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as the Hoyas feature three players who average in double figures in scoring. Otto Porter who leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game is just a tad short averaging
9.5 points per contest.

Henry Sims has gone from overlooked to Third Team All-BIG EAST this season.

Georgetown finished their regular season at 23-8 and face Belmont winners of the Atlantic Sun Conference in Columbus, Ohio Friday and the tip off is set for 3:10 PM. The winner of that match up will face the winner of the North Carolina St.-San Diego St. contest.

The Big East will feature nine teams in the big dance. The Hoyas join Syracuse, Marquette, Louisville, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Connecticut, West Virginia, and South Florida.

The Big 10 and Big 12 will each send six representatives to the postseason extravaganza. Representing the Big Ten will be Michigan St., Ohio St., Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Purdue.

The Big 12 counters with Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Iowa St., Kansas St. and Texas.

The ACC will counter with five teams; North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., North Carolina St, and Virginia,while the Atlantic Ten sends four teams, Temple, St. Louis, Xavier, and St. Bonaventure.

The Mountain West also sends four in pursuit of the national
championship prize; New Mexico, UNLV, San Diego St. and Colorado St. will be in the hunt.

The SEC headed by front runner Kentucky sends four members as well, with Vanderbilt, Florida, and Alabama joining the Wildcats.

The PAC-12 sent a disappointing two teams to the big dance in California and Colorado.

American University hosted Buffalo in the College Insider.Com tournament and the Bulls pulled away to a 78-61 win over the Eagles at Bender Arena. Charles Hinkle led the Eagles with 22 points.

Troy Brewer and Tony Wroblicky chipped in with 11 points each. The Eagles finish their season at 20-12.

UDC ended their season with a 65-61 loss to Stonehill (Mass.) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division Two Eastern regional.

The Firebirds were led in scoring by Dishawn Bradshaw’s 24 points. Brandon Hubert chipped in with 17. UDC finished their season with a record of 22-6.

MEAC regular season champion Savannah St. ended their season with a 65-51 loss to Tennessee in the NIT.

In high school hoops in the state of Maryland. In Division 4A
Magruder defeated E. Roosevelt 39-36 to claim the state title. Division 3A Patterson of Baltimore beat Thomas Stone of Waldorf 86-75, and in 2A Lake Clifton of Baltimore took down Largo of Upper Marlboro 70-64.