no road dogs (or: how i learned to stop worrying and love the three-ball).

The road teams last night were roadkill in the Summit League as all the home teams prevailed, causing some minor shifting in the standings.

The scores:
* North Dakota State 74, Oakland 77
* UMKC 62, Western Illinois 77
* South Dakota State 63, IPFW 73
* Southern Utah 66, IUPUI 88

Nowhere was that more evident than Indianapolis, where Jags guard Gary Patterson made a statement for Player of the Week. He was unconscious from beyond the arc, finishing with 37 points on 11 three-pointers to lead IUPUI to an 88-66 win over Southern Utah.

Speaking of three-pointers...over in Rochester, Erik Kangas of Oakland hit a clutch three-pointer to stave off North Dakota State, 77-74, and move the Grizzlies up to third place. The Grizzlies overcame an early 14-point deficit to defeat the Bison.

Western Illinois and IPFW staged home wins to basically keep pace with one another for the #4 seed in the tournament. The Leathernecks used balanced scoring--five players with double-digit points--to put away the 'Roos. DeWitt Scott of the Mastadons dropped 25 points to lead all scorers in the win over SDSU.

In looking at this weekend's games, conventional wisdom would suggest nothing will happen to cause any major shifts in the standings. But don't tell that to the underdogs. Saturday's games:
* South Dakota State @ Oakland
* Centenary @ Oral Roberts
* UMKC @ IUPUI
* Southern Utah @ Western Illinois

Current Standings
1. Oral Roberts – 9-0, 14-5
2. IUPUI – 8-2, 16-5
3. Oakland – 6-4, 11-10
4. North Dakota State – 5-5, 11-10
4. Western Illinois – 5-5, 10-11
4. IPFW – 5-5, 8-13
7. Centenary – 3-6, 9-12
8. UMKC – 3-7, 8-15
8. Southern Utah – 3-7, 5-16
10. South Dakota State – 2-8, 7-14