Cabrini Readies For Second Round Battle In NCAA Tourney
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Cabrini College men's basketball team finds itself in a familiar position - still playing in March and getting ready for another game in the Division III NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers have advanced to the second round and this week they will travel to Delaware, Ohio, to play Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday night.
Cabrini went on the road in the first round, outlasting #16 Hampden-Sydney College down in Virginia, 80-78. Head coach Marcus Kahn talks about what he took out of that performance.
"That we can go win tough games in a tough environment on the road." Kahn tells KYW Newsradio. "We can travel a great distance and still win games against good teams. We're going to need to be able to do that again this weekend and if we advance, probably have to do it the following weekend, throughout the tournament. I think that's the biggest thing (taken out of the victory) is that we can win in a hostile environment and beat a very good team on their own floor."
Ohio Wesleyan, in addition to having one of the best nicknames in all of the land in the "Battling Bishops", brings a 23-5 record into Saturday's game. They are the champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference and they beat St. Vincent in the first round of the tournament, 84-75.
"They're very good," Kahn says. "Very similar to us, got some big guys. They're a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. I think we're going to be a little bit quicker, same way it was this past weekend. Run very similar styles of play, so it's going to be a good game that we're looking forward to playing."
Marcus Kahn Interview
Despite advancing to the National Championship game last season, positing a 22-5 record and winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference again this season, the Cavaliers have been sent packing for these first two tournament games and Kahn says that has not gone unnoticed.
"There's definitely a chip on our shoulder," Kahn says. "When the pairings came out and saw not only do we have to go on the road, but we had to go on the road to a ranked opponent in the first round, you know our guys did feel a little disrespected, knew that we had something to prove, and I'm glad for that reason. Especially after the results we had this past weekend. And then to see we have to travel again, seven-and-a-half hours in another direction this next weekend, that chip is definitely still there. So we're going to use that to fuel our fire throughout the tournament."
The Cabrini/Ohio Wesleyan winner gets the winner of Wooster and Dickinson in the "Sweet 16".
Saturday's second-round game will tip-off at 7:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
