MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Hugenerd]

I just wanted to say congrats to Coach Eslinger on his first win tonight as a head coach.  Caltech pulls out a 77-69 home victory over Polytechnic.  Hopefully this will be the first of many wins, but I am sure he is happy getting that first win under his belt tonight.  Who would have guessed that Caltech would get a win before Chicago?

[OxyBob]

Is CalTech going to get their first win tonight?

The answer is Yes!

Eyewitness report from Pasadena:

Caltech 77, Polytechnic 69

CIT: Matt Dellatorre 27 pts, 10 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals, Travis Haussler 19 pts, 12 rebs, 2 assists, 5 blocks, Ryan Elmquist 14, Wei Li 11
NYU-Poly: Arjun Ohri 25, Andre Robinson 17 pts, 7 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals, Anthony Mottola 10

Halftime: CIT 40-24
Rebounds: CIT 38-36
Records: Caltech 1-10, Polytechnic 0-10

Very entertaining game between Caltech and NYU-Poly. CIT got off to a quick 7-0 lead and never trailed in the game. Arjun Ohri's 3-point play brought the Fighting Blue Jays within 7-5, but that's as close they'd get the rest of the night. The Beavers took a 26-12 lead on Travis Haussler's layup at 9:30, stretched the lead to 18, and led 40-24 at the break. In the second half, CIT led 52-37 at 12:25, but NYU-Poly scored 11 straight to close to 52-48 at 8:40. Wei Li's 3-ball broke the scoreless spell for CIT to push the lead back to 7, and the Blue Jays didn't get closer than 4 the rest of the way. The Beavers won it at the free throw line by sinking 28-for-33, while NYU-Poly was only 10-for-20, and missed several chances to close the gap by clanking their FTs.

For Caltech, the Beavers had 4 starters in double figures. Matt Dellatorre scored 27 points on 6-for-13 FGs and 13-for-14 from the line, and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Travis Haussler played a very strong game in the post with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and had 5 blocks. Ryan Elmquist had 14 points on 4-for-6 FGs and 6-for-6 FTs, and made a key basket on a put back with 3 minutes to go. Wei Li scored 11 and hit on 3-for-5 on 3-balls. For Polytechnic, Arjun Ohri played a strong game with 25 points on 10-for-18 FGs and 3-for-3 from the line. Andre Robinson scored 17 and had 7 boards, and Anthony Mottola had 10.

I've now seen Caltech win its last 3 games. I saw CIT break its 207-game losing streak to D-III teams against Bard on 01/06/07, I saw them break an 18-game losing streak against Gallaudet on 12/17/07, and I saw them break a 30-game losing streak tonight. Fear the Beavers!

Not every post merits a smart-ass response.

Just as my posts don't merit a condescending "there, there" pat on the head from one of the self-appointed mavens of college basketball, while repeating what I already said:

SCIAC teams usually struggle against GSAC schools, which is traditionally tough from top to bottom, save for maybe Hope International and Vanguard.

OxyBob

[OxyBob]

UCSC beating La Verne?  UCSC is actually winning a few games this year...maybe it's because they can actually play a few home games this year...

After chatting with several SCIAC coaches, the consensus is that UCSC is better than usual. It looks like in the La Verne tournament this past weekend that Tufts didn't take La Verne seriously and lost to the Leopards; Cal Lutheran saw Tufts lose to ULV, didn't take the Jumbos seriously, and lost; and La Verne saw Santa Cruz lose to CLU, didn't take the Banana Slugs seriously, and lost. What I want to know is how is it even possible for someone to take a team called the Banana Slugs seriously?

OxyBob

Dear OxyBob,

Good question.

Sincerely,

Pomona Sagehens and Whittier Poets

[Titan Q]

Just as my posts don't merit a condescending "there, there" pat on the head from one of the self-appointed mavens of college basketball, while repeating what I already said:

Bob, I can't help how you read what someone posts, but I can tell you that a "condescending 'there, there' pat on the head" was the furthest thing from my mind when I last posted here.  All I knew at the time was that you had mentioned the SCIAC's record vs the GSAC twice recently:

It hasn't been a very good nonconference season so far for the SCIAC. Only Claremont (7-3) and Cal Lutheran (8-3) have winning records. The SCIAC is only 33-49 overall (.402), including 1-4 vs. UC Santa Cruz (which has got to be unprecedented), 0-7 vs. Chapman, 0-9 vs. NAIA-1 GSAC teams,

Score from 12/30:

Point Loma Nazarene (NAIA 1) 81, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 74

SCIAC falls to 0-8 against the GSAC. Rats.
OxyBob

I was just trying to post an opinion.  That's it.  I'm not sure it was reasonable for me to have gone back to November 28 to read your post about the GSAC (that you quoted above), or to otherwise have known your 30-year history of following the GSAC, going back to Westmont. 

[David Collinge]

I'm not sure it was reasonable for me to [...] have known your 30-year history of following the GSAC, going back to Westmont. 

For what it's worth, I knew of it, and I'll wager that most if not all of the regulars in this room knew of it too.

[OxyBob]

For those of you who haven't seen it, Caltech head coach Oliver "Doc" Eslinger has a blog: Doc's Head Games

Score from Monday night:

Claremont 92, La Sierra 59

CMS: Michael Bagby 17, Chris Blees 15 pts and 10 rebs, Beau Heidrich 11, Austin Soldner 10
LSU: Andrew Allado 12, DePaul Williams 10, Joshua Crouch 10

Halftime: CMS 45-34
Rebounds: CMS 38-25
Records: Claremont 8-3, La Sierra 1-14

The Stags open the SCIAC season this Saturday at Redlands.

Today's schedule:
Polytechnic (0-10) @ Whittier (5-5) 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday's schedule:
Pomona (2-8) @ La Sierra (1-14) 7:30 p.m.
Oxy (4-6) @ Chapman (11-2) 7:30 p.m.

I meant to post a compliment to Cal Lutheran on its video broadcast of the Buena Vista game on Dec. 30. The picture was sharp, the camera angles were good, and, most important of all, I could clearly see myself in the stands. The announcers Joe Buttita and Chuck Muncie did an excellent job despite not pronouncing Buena Vista in Iowan. (I have just booked a trip to Argentina. I can't wait to go sightseeing in B-yoo-nos Aires.) The CLU videocast was in direct contrast to thoroughly frustrated tigersports' attempt to broadcast the Oxy-UMass game last Friday. Oxy went to all the trouble to refurbish its gym, but neglected to provide tigersports with an Internet connection or even an accessible phone jack so he could do his play-by-play. Well all know what Howard Cossell would have said.

I'm not sure it was reasonable for me to have gone back to November 28 to read your post about the GSAC (that you quoted above), or to otherwise have known your 30-year history of following the GSAC, going back to Westmont.

First, all of my posts are required reading, and should be catalogued by subject matter and memorized. Second, shocking as this may be, there are actually posters from SoCal who know something about college basketball in SoCal. There are at least two of us who even remember when Cal Lutheran was in the NAIA.

OxyBob

[Sabretooth Tiger]

I may have formerly remembered that . . . but sitting here today, I cannot specifically recall remembering that.

Must get back to my memoirs.

[OxyBob]

I may have formerly remembered that . . . but sitting here today, I cannot specifically recall remembering that.

Perhaps you misremembered, Roger.

OxyBob

[Browneagle64]

Is CalTech going to get their first win tonight?

The answer is Yes!

Eyewitness report from Pasadena:

Caltech 77, Polytechnic 69

CIT: Matt Dellatorre 27 pts, 10 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals, Travis Haussler 19 pts, 12 rebs, 2 assists, 5 blocks, Ryan Elmquist 14, Wei Li 11
NYU-Poly: Arjun Ohri 25, Andre Robinson 17 pts, 7 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals, Anthony Mottola 10

Halftime: CIT 40-24
Rebounds: CIT 38-36
Records: Caltech 1-10, Polytechnic 0-10

Very entertaining game between Caltech and NYU-Poly. CIT got off to a quick 7-0 lead and never trailed in the game. Arjun Ohri's 3-point play brought the Fighting Blue Jays within 7-5, but that's as close they'd get the rest of the night. The Beavers took a 26-12 lead on Travis Haussler's layup at 9:30, stretched the lead to 18, and led 40-24 at the break. In the second half, CIT led 52-37 at 12:25, but NYU-Poly scored 11 straight to close to 52-48 at 8:40. Wei Li's 3-ball broke the scoreless spell for CIT to push the lead back to 7, and the Blue Jays didn't get closer than 4 the rest of the way. The Beavers won it at the free throw line by sinking 28-for-33, while NYU-Poly was only 10-for-20, and missed several chances to close the gap by clanking their FTs.

For Caltech, the Beavers had 4 starters in double figures. Matt Dellatorre scored 27 points on 6-for-13 FGs and 13-for-14 from the line, and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Travis Haussler played a very strong game in the post with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and had 5 blocks. Ryan Elmquist had 14 points on 4-for-6 FGs and 6-for-6 FTs, and made a key basket on a put back with 3 minutes to go. Wei Li scored 11 and hit on 3-for-5 on 3-balls. For Polytechnic, Arjun Ohri played a strong game with 25 points on 10-for-18 FGs and 3-for-3 from the line. Andre Robinson scored 17 and had 7 boards, and Anthony Mottola had 10.

I've now seen Caltech win its last 3 games. I saw CIT break its 207-game losing streak to D-III teams against Bard on 01/06/07, I saw them break an 18-game losing streak against Gallaudet on 12/17/07, and I saw them break a 30-game losing streak tonight. Fear the Beavers!

Not every post merits a smart-ass response.

Just as my posts don't merit a condescending "there, there" pat on the head from one of the self-appointed mavens of college basketball, while repeating what I already said:

SCIAC teams usually struggle against GSAC schools, which is traditionally tough from top to bottom, save for maybe Hope International and Vanguard.

OxyBob

Oh, Snaps, Can some one say "Here comes the sequel to "Quantum Hoops Reloaded" (Title Copyright Mr. Browneagle64..lol, just kidding people)
Congrats to the beaves and all of the SICAC teams who have been getting W's through out these last several weeks, (Been on vacation people)

[D O.C.]

Not every post merits a smart-ass response.

To the best of my recollection, I disagree.

So does Robin Williams, I believe.

[Pat Coleman]

I'm not sure it was reasonable for me to [...] have known your 30-year history of following the GSAC, going back to Westmont. 

For what it's worth, I knew of it, and I'll wager that most if not all of the regulars in this room knew of it too.

Sorry, David. I was not aware that only regulars were allowed to post in this room.

[janesvilleflash]

Happened to come across OxyBob's graduation picture.

[tigersports]

The announcers Joe Buttita and Chuck Muncie did an excellent job despite not pronouncing Buena Vista in Iowan. (I have just booked a trip to Argentina. I can't wait to go sightseeing in B-yoo-nos Aires.)

My understanding is that "Byoona Vista" is in fact the proper pronunciation of the school's name.  I recall a Minnesotan friend living out here making fun of the Iowans' (and what Minnesotan doesn't hesitate to make fun of Hawkeye-Staters) gringo pronunciation of the school's name.

I'm happy to see former Halo announcer Joe ("It's gone for good!") Buttita finally reach that near-pinnacle of broadcasting that Tigersports has.

Btw, kudos to the Oxy athletic department for remedying the broadcast issues in the gym.  I'm informed that the gym will be ready soon, possibly by the CalLu game this Saturday.

Last btw:  we'll have the Chapman game tonight at 7:00.  www.oxybroadcast.com. 

[Hoopsallthetime]

So I think I have heard enough of you old men battling it out to see who is more important on this board. Lets try to stay focused on basketball and little less on how Oxybob has hurt your feelings and so on.

Now that the SCIAC season is about to start, I am interested to hear what everyone thinks in regards to how the teams will finish. I have seen all of the SCIAC teams play this year at least 3 or 4 times, and I have somewhat of an idea of how things will finish up. I know I may seem a little bias, but I do believe that CMS has a good chance to win the SCIAC this year. Coach Scalmanini has a great bunch of guards in Toney (SO), Bagby (JR), Faught (JR) and Soldner (SR). Lets not forget about Chris Blees as well, who has the chance to be SCIAC MVP at the end of the year. The other night against La Sierra, I noticed that it will be very tough to throw that zone defense at these great shooters. Looks like the league better be ready for a lot of screens if they want to compete with the stags outside shooting.
I think Cal Lutheran is going to be a tough team to beat as well. They have an great inside game with Meier, and a complimentary shooting guard in Knudsen and Grimm. We will see where both teams are at next Wednesday in Ducey Gym. The team who I believe is the scariest team in the SCIAC is Pomona-Pitzer. They return a few players that went abroad the first semester, and will lean heavily on them to push them towards another title. Adam Chaimowitz leads the team in the scoring, and should push the team to a better second half of the season. Let me know what you all think, and good luck STAGS on the upcoming SCIAC season.

Here is my SCIAC finish

1. CMS
2. Cal Lutheran
3. Pomona-Pitzer
4. Whittier
5. Oxy
6. Laverne
7. Redlands
8. Caltech

Player of the year:
Andy Meier or Chris Blees

First Team:
Kyle Knudsen (Cal LU)
Austin Soldner (CMS)
Andy Meir/Chris Blees
Adam Chaimowitz (PP)
Patrick Coffey (UR)

[rook]

I've also seen each SCIAC team play this year and here's how I see it.

1. CMS
2. Whittier
3. Cal Lu
4. Pomona
5. Oxy
6. Redlands
7. Caltech

I'll also go out on a limb and say CIT breaks their long SCIAC losing streak.  I can see them competing with Oxy, La Verne and Redlands.