It should be no surprise to anyone at this point that the Cabrini men’s basketball team is good. A 19-0 record, 13-0 in the conference, certainly speaks for itself. Cabrini has moved up the rankings steadily as the season has gone on. At this point in time, the men’s team is ranked at No. 2 in the nation.
One might wonder how, with the only perfect record in Division III, Cabrini is not the top ranked team in the nation. The No. 1 team in the nation, Wisconsin Stevens-Point, lost their first game of the season on Jan. 5. It seemed that this would mean that Cabrini would move up to the top team. When the updated rankings came out, Stevens-Point received 14 of 25 first place votes while the other 11 went to Cabrini. It’s hard to believe how this Cavalier team does not top the rankings.
They certainly do not lack in the talent department. Senior Aaron Walton-Moss tops the Cabrini team in almost all categories. He averages 26.0 points, 6.2 assists and 11.2 rebounds per game. His point total so far this season is 442, almost 200 more points than teammate Fran Rafferty who has 290.
They have most definitely showed their dominance over teams this season. The team has reached the 90 point mark in 12 of their 19 games this season. The Cavaliers are outscoring their opponents by a wide margin, 1,739 points to 1,450. When teams come to play at the Nerney Field House, they are faced with the tough challenge of dealing with a Cabrini team holding a 19 game home win streak that can be dated back to last season.
This brings us back to the question of why the Cavaliers are not the top ranked in the nation. There are a couple of things that we can take a look at. Last week, the team had to postpone two games due to the weather conditions. At that time they were 18-0 while the current number one team, Stevens-Point, was at 20 wins. The fact that Cabrini had played fewer games is one place to look. The postponement and what looks to be a possible cancellation of the Cabrini and Wesley match-up certainly hurt. This game would have featured two top-10 teams and would have been a great test to show that the Cabrini men’s basketball team means business.
Another point that doesn’t work in the Cavs favor is that they play a weaker schedule. Stevens-Point is in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a much more difficult conference. While the Cavaliers do face tough teams, most of them come from outside of the Colonial States Athletic Conference.
Coming up the Cavaliers will play four game in six days, the first of which was a victory Monday against Cairn. These games will be very important for Cabrini and could possibly help them gain the top spot. The week off helped a Cavalier team that has dealt with injuries this season. The extra rest could be just what this team needs going in to the end of the season. Keep your eyes peeled on the Cavaliers remaining regular season games, they could be what pushes this team to number one.
