Pickle Classic: Ohio Valley (W. Va.) preview

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on November 16, 2006 1:47 PM

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If Ohio Valley University is able to duplicate its start from last year, the Fighting Scots could be leaving Mount Olive Saturday with a Pickle Classic Championship.

Ohio Valley makes its debut appearance in the Pickle Classic, taking on tournament host Mount Olive Friday at 8 p.m. at Kornegay Arena in the first round of the 41st Annual Pickle Classic. Chowan takes on Coker in opener at 6 p.m.

In 2005-06, Ohio Valley finished with an overall record of 6-22 and a record of 3-15 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). The Fighting Scots lost 13 of their final 14 games.

But Ohio Valley, which is located in Vienna, W. Va., may have had hopes of a 20-win season rather than a 20-loss season after opening the year with overtime wins over a pair of strong Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools.

Ohio Valley defeated Shippensburg 64-62 in overtime in its season opener. Shippensburg, the PSAC Tournament runner-up, would go on to earn a top 20 national ranking and a berth in the NCAA II East Regional, falling to Mount Olive in the first round.

OVU then went on the road to post a 72-68 overtime victory at Slippery Rock. The Fighting Scots were off to a 2-0 start, but unfortunately for them, they would win only four more games the remainder of the season.

But there is optimism in the Ohio Valley Camp as the Fighting Scots return three players who averaged in double figures last year: 6-0 junior guard Stephan Camberis, 6-8 junior center Chris LeBorious and 6-4 sophomore guard Sean Michael.

LeBorious is a transfer from St. Francis University (Pa.), where current Mount Olive Director of Athletics Jeff Eisen previously served as AD.

Ohio Valley has not shied away from tough competition. The Fighting Scots played exhibition games against Division I The Citadel and Tennessee-Chattanooga, and have regular season games scheduled against Division I Campbell and High Point.

Ohio Valley becomes the fourth WVIAC team in the last five years to compete in the Pickle Classic. Charleston and Davis and Elkins were in the 2002 Pickle Classic, and Bluefield State played in the 2004 Pickle Classic.