I thought about trying to be different and analyze one of the less talked about college basketball games this week, but ultimately I decided to go with the marquis match-up.  Of course I'm referring to the second meeting of the season between Williams Baptist College and Central Baptist College.  When these two NAIA Division I Basketball schools from Arkansas get together on the hardwood, it's almost always an instant classic.  And it's going to have to take some divine intervention for me not to be sitting courtside when they tip-off Thursday night at seven.  Actually, it might be eight, because that's what the Central Baptist website lists the start-time as.  I'm going to be there by seven just to be safe, though, because Williams Baptist seems to be the only school that has updated its website since the beginning of the season and they say seven.

Anyway, as we all know, Williams Baptist is led by Coach Jeff Rider and he'll look to bring his team back from the dead after not winning a game throughout all of December.  A victory against Central Baptist might be the Eagles' best chance to resurrect the positive outlook his team had to start the season.  Diaper dandy point guard Elisha Harris will try to get the ball inside to 6'3" sophomore forward Shane Jordan out of Marmaduke HS.  Ain't nothin' funny about this dog, though, as Jordan and the Eagles will try to avenge a 73-57 crucifixion at the hands of Central Baptist back in November.  If there were an underground betting scene that put out a line for NAIA games, I'd almost definitely take Williams Baptist and the points. In addition to Jordan, Chance "Don't call my brother 'Community Chest'" Smith from Bono, AR will also be settling down in the post.  U2, would have a hard time covering him if you played for Central Baptist.

What about that Mustang squad?  Again, this team is going to be a little harder to break down because their school's webmaster seems to have been resting since the seventh day of the season.  We'll start by looking at top management and athletic director Jeff Riddle.  Riddle me this, Jeff Riddle.  How can a Christian men's basketball team use "Mustang Basketball:  Together We Attack" as its motto.  Call me a Central Baptist heretic, but that sounds a little devilish to me.  I guess I am more of a Williams Baptist disciple, though, so I'm going to be biased in that regard.  Moving on, the key to this game for the Mustangs is whether or not 6' 7" Senior Center Shawn Stone can stay out of foul trouble.  I don't mean to judge, but I think the big man needs to fal-well and not risk having to head to the bench early on.  Also key to Central Baptist's success will be the play of guards Bo Martin and Tym Edwards.  Martin dishes the ball off about as well as anyone the NAIA has ever seen. And just like the Mustangs' traditional pre-game meal of a loaf of bread, there are plenty of helpings to go around, with Martin always finding a way to feed everyone the rock.  He's also got chilled wine in his veins at the line:  Bo knows the granny shot.  Let's not forget about Edwards, however, as nobody can handle adversity quite like this kid can.  In the previous meeting at Williams Baptist, the Williams Baptist student section had a field day with "Cagney and Lacey" chants when William Baptist's announcer let go a Freudian slip and referred to the 6'2" junior as Tyne Daly.  Senior forward Lamar Eslinger had to put up with the heckles all game long, too.  Who could have known by naming a gay character Lamar, the makers of "Revenge of The Nerds" would have such a far-reaching effect on black men all the way into the next century.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have been in emotional purgatory for the last forty days and forty nights while waiting for this game to start.  Let's hope it lives up to the hype caused by all of the people proselytizing about it over the last few weeks.  My pick?  In a miracle finish, Williams Baptist takes it, 3:16 to 3:15.

I'll be back before the deadline with a preview of another game.  Take care.

Info for this game's preview collected from these websites:

http://www.wbcoll.edu/athletics/mens_basketball/

http://www.cbc.edu/AthleticsMensBasketball/Roster.htm