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Posted March 7, 2002

Tables turn for this year's road warriors
Haven't we heard this story before?

Perhaps were a year too early in tabbing the Cabrini Cavaliers as the sleeper team of the NCAA Tournament. A 90-foot buzzer beater influenced us into thinking that Cabrini was a team of destiny. A first-round loss to Kings Point ended their 2001 dance early.

But that was as impressive as the four consecutive road victories that the Cavaliers racked up on the way to their first Sweet 16. To get to the Final Four, Cabrini (19-11) will have to win twice more on the road, getting through Elizabethtown and then the winner of the Catholic-Clark game, on Catholic's home floor.

"We've been on the road so long that it looks like home to us,'' said Cabrini head coach John Dzik. "Being on the road is hard. The home team has a tremendous advantage. But being on the road is not a big issue for us. We just play. We're adaptable. We're probably even better off being on the road then at home now."

Cabrini has shown the ability to play whatever style its opponent desires. The Cavaliers ran up-and-down the floor in an 85-73 win against Kings Point in the first round, then beat a William Paterson team that played at a deliberate pace, 47-43. Those were big wins for a program in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, which could easily be dubbed "a small mid-major league" if using Division I terms.

"We're not the powerhouse,'' Dzik said with a laugh, "but we're not the weak sisters either."

The funny thing for Cabrini is that it wouldn't even be here but for a huge play saving a loose ball by guard Gary Goldman, who then nailed the game-winning 3-point shot in the final 20 seconds of Cabrini's 71-67 PAC title-clinching win against Neumann, also on the road.

The Cavaliers entered the PAC playoffs on a three-game losing streak, but recovered with a strong postseason. There have been many important contributors to this run, most significantly junior point guard Kris Pittman scored the Cavaliers last seven points in the win against William Paterson. There have also been big plays from forwards Brian Wood and Ty Teasley and guards Tim Gordon and Goldman, who made the biggest of them all.

"Here we are talking Sweet 16, but if we don't get that shot, we're talking about men's lacrosse on this campus right now,'' Dzik said. "It's been a thrilling ride game-by-game. At this point, I think our chances are as good as anybody else."

THE OTHER ROAD WARRIORS: Only one other team won twice on the road to advance to the Sweet 16 — the Ohio Wesleyan women's squad, one that we tabbed as a good choice to make a run like this a couple of weeks ago, and another that was profiled on this site last season. This too is the same-old-story, as OWU won four road games in 11 days last season to get to the Final Four. Teams like this make for a good choice. In the last two seasons, 13 of the 16 sectional hosts failed to get to the Final Four.

The Battling Bishops (21-7) really got going this season once senior forward Katy Sturtz returned from winning a national championship in soccer. Sturtz was equally valuable in soccer as she was in basketball, scoring the only goal allowed by top-rated The College of New Jersey all season in the national quarterfinals, then notching the title-winning goal in a 1-0 win against Amherst in the finals. On the court, she's averaged 15.4 points per game on 55% shooting, as well as 9.0 rebounds. Freshman frontcourt mate Kelly Heil has replaced Jessica Viertlboeck, leading the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg.

Interim coach Lianna Coutts has done a fine job in her first season, as head coach Nan Carney-Debord took a sabbatical, guiding a team that was displaced into a New York-dominated bracket to wins against Buffalo State and Ithaca. OWU will face St. Lawrence for the right to go to the sectional championship on Saturday.

THEY'VE COME A GREAT DISTANCE: Nobody's had to travel a greater distance than the Lewis & Clark men's team from Portland, Ore., that flew more than 2,000 miles to win at Mississippi College last Saturday, then have to make the trek to Carthage this weekend. The Pioneers are a high-flying bunch, an appropriate label for a team that has five players averaging double figures in points and four of their top five shooting better than 50% from the field.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

Previous columns
2007-08 columns
March 6: Faith restored
Feb. 27: John Jay, Cinderella
Feb. 21: No safety net
Feb. 14: Ursinus better enough
Feb. 8: Hope-TMC on collision course
Jan. 31: Plattsburgh's big shot
Jan. 24: UMD answers call
Jan. 18: Like Bosko, like son
Jan. 11: Keystone stakes
Dec. 13: Unstoppable
Dec. 7: UWW aiming deeper
Nov. 30: Coach's shadow lingers
Nov. 15: Strong duo
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