A great game and atmosphere last night.  The game's most critical time came midway through the first half.  Gamble had been sitting for 8 or 9 minutes already and Raridon went to the bench as well with two fouls (though mainly for rest at that point).  The score was 22-21 Wesleyan and NCC took a time out with 9:07 on the clock.  Out of the timeout, the line-up on the floor consisted of Brandon Williams, Jack Merrithey, Jack Burchett, Vince Kmiec, and Aaron Tiknis. 

At the time, I mentioned to my friends, "I don't think these five have ever played together this year..." It really felt like Coach Raridon was trying to steal about 3 or 4 minutes with offensive threats Gamble, Raridon, and Rosenberg on the bench and I think if he could have gotten to the four minute mark with the score still within a possession or two, he would have been happy.

Instead "Little" Jack hit a quick 3, Vince had a huge steal out front for an easy lay in.  A couple of quick empty possessions followed for both teams before Zimenik was blocked by Tiknis which led to a run out and another 3 by Merrithey.  The patched together line up had went on an 8-0 run in less than a minute of time and save for having to stave off a Victor Davis comeback in the second half, NCC was pretty comfortable for most of the rest of the way.

A huge minute in the game for a "unique" combo of players.

6:30 PM CST Friday in Salem.  Good luck Cardinals!

Quote from: Titan Q on March 12, 2013, 08:27:56 AM
Saturday will be IWU's 7th NCAA tournament game vs a D3hoops.com top 3-ranked team in pre-Salem rounds.  All six previous games were on the road too...


2012 (Round 2 @ Hope)
IWU 108
#1 Hope 101 (2OT)

2010 (Round 2 at Wash U)
IWU 75
#1 Wash U 70

2006 (Round 3 at Lawrence)
IWU 71
#1 Lawrence 68

2004 (Round 2 at Hanover)
IWU 77
#2 Hanover 67

2003 (Round 2 at Wash U)
IWU 85
#2 Wash U 73

2001 (Round 4 at Chicago)
IWU 77
#1 Chicago 68


To get to Salem, the Titans will have to keep an amazing streak alive.

Wow, that's very impressive.  Thanks Titan Q for the info. (Though I'll just prefer to look at it as they've never beaten a #3 ranked team before Salem )   Should be interesting in that they are playing a team who has already ended a different impressive streak of theirs this season.

Quote from: D-3 watcher on March 11, 2013, 06:09:34 PM
Q,
That fan friendly stuff went out the window when it's IWU coming to town. There is another 5 to 6 hundred to be had.

My guess is the "sectional rounds" have a higher minimum (though IWU charged $7 for their first round game).  But again, no Host Operations Handbook to consult.

Quote from: Titan Q on March 11, 2013, 03:57:05 PM

Quote from: AndOne on March 03, 2013, 03:51:44 PM
Another question for those more familiar with the inner workings of the NCAA............

Given that we are in the national tournament phase of the season, and game details are no longer controlled by the individual schools, would you not think that there would be conformity between game sites?

Specifically, why would tickets have been $8.00 at UWW yesterday, $7.00 at IWU, and only $6.00 at NCC?
Looks like NCC is the more fan friendly institution.     

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/3/11/MBB_0311131556.aspx

Tickets will be available for sale in the North Central athletics office in Merner Field House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and will be $7 for adults and $4 for senior citizens, students and children.


What happened to the fan friendliness?

Preemptive St. Patty's Day cleanup tax for in and around Merner?

Quote from: TitansIWU on March 11, 2013, 03:06:11 PM

Quote from: NCF on March 11, 2013, 02:49:11 PM

Quote from: D-3 watcher on March 11, 2013, 02:42:04 PM
I have heard that IWU gets 1/3 of the gym.
And even though its technically the NCCA gym, I don't think they get into seating all that much. The one rule is, that IWU fans get the seats behind the IWU bench. And as we know, that's not an option.

It's not an option for Cardinal fans either-just get there early-first come first seated.

Unless it's a decent seat, then it's NCC athletic booster only.

I don't mind sitting in the balcony, just hope that thing can hold a full crowd without swaying too much.

In terms of floor seating disparity, I think it's not as dramatic as we're making it in terms of "decent seats".  The baselines are the same... A 50-50 split.  One is for NCC and one is for the visitors.  Then the near sideline seats are 2/3rds NCC and 1/3 visiting team.  The visiting seating starts a little past the top of the key and continues to the baseline seats.  This isn't much different than any other gym I've been too.  Obviously the big issue is that there are no seats behind the benches which is where the majority of visitor fans typically would sit.  Obviously it's a free for all up in the balcony.

If there are 800 people watching the game at court level, it's probably a 500 vs. 300 split between home and away which is much better than what you would normally get (maybe the section behind your own bench going up and a baseline vs. the 3 other sections and another baseline) in a typical layout.

There will be a home court advantage.  That's the spoils of being the host.  (Though I'd still be interested in what the NCAA says about the subject)

Quote from: emma17 on March 11, 2013, 02:19:38 PM

Quote from: SevenTen on March 11, 2013, 10:37:27 AM

Quote from: havej on March 11, 2013, 09:52:02 AM
...regarding NCC's tenacious defense against the Warhawks, how much zone did they play?

Whitewater took their largest lead of the second half, 46-41 with about 8:00 left on the clock.  Gamble was already on the bench with 4 fouls and it looked like the game was a possession or two away from being the end of the season for NCC.  Instead Derick Raridon worked his way to the line for 4 straight free throws and NCC fell back into a zone around the 7:30 mark and didn't really come out of it for the rest of the game.

The zone really wasn't all that effective at stopping the Warhawk's possessions in its entirety.  They went 6 of 12 including a couple of big threes by Harris for the final 7:30 BUT it did do three important things:

1) It took the Warhawks a few possessions to figure out how to attack it.  This gave NCC the opportunity to get back in the game and close the gap at 48-48.  (UWW settled for 3 or 4 long range jumpers in their first possessions after NCC went zone).

2) It took a lot of pressure off the dribble drive penetration and off of Gamble and Tiknis from having to try to fight through screens and guard Harris out at the 3pt line (where they were picking up a bunch of their fouls pushing through screens).  UWW had been getting to the free throw line pretty regularly before the zone and afterwards, they didn't see the charity strip again in the final 7 minutes.

3) It limited the number of possessions left in the game.  With significant foul trouble, you want longer possessions and the Cardinals are normally very efficient in the half court (They went 5 for 5 from the floor in the final 7:30 and 9 of 12 from the line).  Instead of the dribble drive and FTs or layups after 10 seconds... it became a bunch of 25 to 30 second possessions which played into North Centrals hands.

All in all it was just the tweak needed to stem the tide, throw UWW off their game for a few possessions, and get the crowd back into it for the final few minutes.

Great summary.

Thanks!  Congrats to the Warhawks on another great season.

Quote from: iwumichigander on March 11, 2013, 01:23:47 PM
Hangar, according to North Central web site, "permanent seating 1200 plus six portable bleachers set up around main basketball court"

Did not find total capacity as yet

Take these numbers for what they are worth but these were from the box scores of some of the most attended games in recent memory that NCC hosted.

UWW - 3/9/13 (2nd round at Benedictine) : 1685
IWU - 2/19/13 (Final game of regular season): 1700
Augustana - 2/24 (CCIW Semi-Final 2012) : 1778
Centre - 3/2/13 (1st round) : 1850
Wheaton - 2/25/2012 (CCIW tournament final 2012) : 2050
Wheaton - 1/5/2013 (#1 vs. #8 at that time this year): 2050

My guess is official capacity is 2050 but I'm not sure if that's counting standing room as well.

Some SID has to read this board and have a Host Operations Manual and can put the section on ticket allotment and preferred seating up on here right?  It's not fair if only the players get to battle it out on the court... we fans need to be able to scrap over who has to sit behind the Hangars posts and who has to watch the game from the rafters. 

Quote from: havej on March 11, 2013, 09:52:02 AM
...regarding NCC's tenacious defense against the Warhawks, how much zone did they play?

Whitewater took their largest lead of the second half, 46-41 with about 8:00 left on the clock.  Gamble was already on the bench with 4 fouls and it looked like the game was a possession or two away from being the end of the season for NCC.  Instead Derick Raridon worked his way to the line for 4 straight free throws and NCC fell back into a zone around the 7:30 mark and didn't really come out of it for the rest of the game.

The zone really wasn't all that effective at stopping the Warhawk's possessions in its entirety.  They went 6 of 12 including a couple of big threes by Harris for the final 7:30 BUT it did do three important things:

1) It took the Warhawks a few possessions to figure out how to attack it.  This gave NCC the opportunity to get back in the game and close the gap at 48-48.  (UWW settled for 3 or 4 long range jumpers in their first possessions after NCC went zone).

2) It took a lot of pressure off the dribble drive penetration and off of Gamble and Tiknis from having to try to fight through screens and guard Harris out at the 3pt line (where they were picking up a bunch of their fouls pushing through screens).  UWW had been getting to the free throw line pretty regularly before the zone and afterwards, they didn't see the charity strip again in the final 7 minutes.

3) It limited the number of possessions left in the game.  With significant foul trouble, you want longer possessions and the Cardinals are normally very efficient in the half court (They went 5 for 5 from the floor in the final 7:30 and 9 of 12 from the line).  Instead of the dribble drive and FTs or layups after 10 seconds... it became a bunch of 25 to 30 second possessions which played into North Centrals hands.

All in all it was just the tweak needed to stem the tide, throw UWW off their game for a few possessions, and get the crowd back into it for the final few minutes.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 11, 2013, 01:09:49 AM

Quote from: AndOne on March 10, 2013, 11:24:35 PM

Quote from: veterancciwfan on March 10, 2013, 08:25:29 PM
It will be interesting to see what NCC does with its floor level seating for Round 3. Will NCC be able to limit the really good seats to NCC alums (other than the end zone seats) as they did in the regular season? Or will IWU be given half of those seats? And who makes the decision, NCC, as the host school, or the NCAA? I have a suggestion. Get rid of the risers and chairs and install some aluminum bleachers with 10-15 rows on the balcony side and divide them up 50/50 to each school. I bet NCC could sell 3500 tickets for the game if capacity was not an issue. NCC has a great b'ball program and Todd Raridon is a class act and one of the best D3 coaches in the country. Too bad he can't convince the NCC administration that it's time to build a new fieldhouse.

God man, call 911 quick! Someone has slipped some mushrooms into your green Kool-Aid. 

Giving half the prime floor seats to the opposition is only going to happen in a galaxy far, far away.
Imagine the ire of NCC boosters, who have paid for those seats, the players parents, and former players who might arrive to find their seats occupied by opposing fans. Ain't gonna happen.
Your question reminds me of the same inquiry made by Tim McCrary's dad during the 2012 CCIW Conference Tourney. Ask Wheaton fans Petemcb and 74 Impala, who both appreciated my answer, what my response was at that time.

The NCAA runs this show, however, not the CCIW or North Central. Centre may not have needed a whole lot of seats but if the seating isn't equitable, there is chapter and verse within the championship handbook for IWU to challenge with.

Do they keep that manual on lock down?  It doesn't seem to be available online.  I wonder what other interesting tidbits are in there as well?  Anything about having that good butter for the popcorn and not the fake crappy stuff? 

Quote from: AndOne on March 10, 2013, 10:20:47 PM

Quote from: emma17 on March 10, 2013, 09:33:09 PM

Quote from: AndOne on March 10, 2013, 09:21:14 PM

Quote from: Naperick on March 10, 2013, 05:37:31 PM
ANDONE, any idea what caused the "near fight" in the final seconds of the game last night?  I didn't see it.  Thankfully two officials and teammates from both schools kept it from getting ugly.

Quote from: kiko on March 10, 2013, 06:44:07 PM
I only caught the final seven minutes or so of the game at Benedictine last night.  That the score was still in the 40s with six minutes left was not a surprise.  It didn't seem like any of the points came easily for either team.

- My favorite moment came in the waning seconds.  Whitewater missed a potential game-tying three (which was  shot early in the sequence and probably was not the best look they were going to get), and Jack Burchett (in on defense lest Gamble pick up his fifth) grabbed the board with :06 left.  He had the presence of mind to quickly hot-potato the ball to Derek Raridon before Whitewater could foul him.  We all know that free throws are sort of an Adventures with Jack experience, and there was a very real chance that had he been fouled, Whitewater would have gotten a second shot at the game-tying three.  Instead, Raridon hit the back end of his two shots to seal the win.

Kiko's observation leads to the answer to Naperick's question. I realize others may have a different view of the situation, but the play occurred only about 5 feet in front of me.

Rory Cotter had been inserted into the game with only 17 seconds remaining when Eric Bryson fouled out.
Given that the stat sheet indicated he had only played 22 minutes all season, it seemed an odd choice. The reasoning among the other fans I was sitting with was that either Coach Miller subbed him in due to his being a senior possibly playing his last game or that he entered the fray to deliver a (hard?) foul. UWW trailed by 3 at the time.
With 6 seconds left, Darnell Harris missed a three attempt to tie. NCC's Jack Burchett tracked down the long rebound just in bounds, free throw line extended left. Cotter charged hard at Burchett who flicked the ball to the nearby Derek Raridon as Kiko advised. The ball was just out of Burchett's hands when Cotter hit Burchett in the chest with both palms. Raridon caught the short pass a fraction of a second before Burchett was hit, and Derek was immediately fouled. However, Burchett took exception to the blow to the chest and said something to Cotter, who then gave Jack another little shove. A stare down resulted, and it was at that point when the principals were separated by other players from both teams. 

In defense of Rory, it turns out I was sitting right behind his incredibly nice parents. I found that out when I said out loud "who the heck is this" coming off the bench for the first time in the game - in such a crucial time. His parents explained he is a dead eye three point shooter.  If the first shot hadn't been rushed, I think Rory was the second option to take the shot.
I'm sure the hard foul was nothing more than sadness and frustration mixed together.

I can fully understand that the initial blow delivered with outstretched arms was an attempt to foul Burchett before he could get rid of the ball. The 2nd contact, to which Jack took more exception, very well could have been that mixture of sadness and frustration to which you refer. I didn't mean to imply Mr, Cotter is a dirty player. Heat of the moment thing.

I just went back and watched the play (the game is archived here): http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3095812/events/1915746/archives

It looks like Cotter actually fouled and then did the two handed shove on Raridon... which Jack didn't like.  The camera cuts away before you can see the posturing.

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on March 10, 2013, 11:05:19 PM

Quote from: SevenTen on March 10, 2013, 10:58:40 PM

Quote from: WUH on March 10, 2013, 03:32:39 PM
I think Klimek and Burnett should have been prohibited from shooting from outside.  That three point attempt was one of several bad decisions down the stretch.

Am I the only one who read this quote and at first thought it was a joke about the IWU student announcers pronouncing North Central players names again?    Who would have though that there was a Burnett and Klimek on WashU and also a Burnett (Jack Burchett) and Klimek (Vince Kmiec) on North Central... but of course the latter pair only plays in the Shirk Center. 

Actually, the earlier pair have both played at the Shirk.  And the latter pair will be playing at the Hangar (alas ).  I'd love for the latter pair to be playing at the Shirk!

Well if IWU brought their announcers along then the latter pair could be sighted in the Hangar as well... but I'm guessing we'll just have to settle for Burchett and Kmiec in this game. 

Quote from: WUH on March 10, 2013, 03:32:39 PM
I think Klimek and Burnett should have been prohibited from shooting from outside.  That three point attempt was one of several bad decisions down the stretch.

Am I the only one who read this quote and at first thought it was a joke about the IWU student announcers pronouncing North Central players names again?    Who would have though that there was a Burnett and Klimek on WashU and also a Burnett (Jack Burchett) and Klimek (Vince Kmiec) on North Central... but of course the latter pair only plays in the Shirk Center. 

Quote from: veterancciwfan on March 10, 2013, 08:25:29 PM
It will be interesting to see what NCC does with its floor level seating for Round 3. Will NCC be able to limit the really good seats to NCC alums (other than the end zone seats) as they did in the regular season? Or will IWU be given half of those seats? And who makes the decision, NCC, as the host school, or the NCAA? I have a suggestion. Get rid of the risers and chairs and install some aluminum bleachers with 10-15 rows on the balcony side and divide them up 50/50 to each school. I bet NCC could sell 3500 tickets for the game if capacity was not an issue. NCC has a great b'ball program and Todd Raridon is a class act and one of the best D3 coaches in the country. Too bad he can't convince the NCC administration that it's time to build a new fieldhouse.

Seating was the same in the first round game against Centre college as it always is so I assume nothing will change this weekend.

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 10, 2013, 06:38:16 PM
Apparently you missed him being on the show two weeks ago...

He's been on at least twice this year I'm pretty sure.  Dave gets them all.