MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[scandihoovian]

Dave Liss did not have to sit since he transferred down from D-I to D-III. He's played in all of Pomona's games this season.

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure when the stats I found showed him with only 10 games and other players with 5-6 more.  Of course, the stats link on the PP website took me to last season's cumulative box...

I'm looking forward to the CMS-CLU game tonight, and I hope Oxy can bounce back with a win over PP.

[sciac_is_fun]

Surprised not to see any posts about last night's games, so I thought I'd fill in the gap, at least with the game I saw...

CLU-CMS was a very entertaining game.  The Kingsmen came out flat at home in the first half, and ended the the half on a sour note with what looked like a knee injury to Andy Meier.  It was one of the Andrew Bynum-esque plays with a teammate falling on his leg, and Meier going down in obvious pain.  Haven't heard if and how long he'll be out. 

The game didn't look good for Cal Lu, down 37-26 at the half and without their leading scorer for the rest of the game.  But they came out after halftime looking like a different team.  They picked up the intensity big time, even getting the crowd into it, and CMS just couldn't hang.  Knudsen (27 pts), Greg Grimm (13 pts, 9 asts), Aaron Fisher (11 pts, 8 rebs, 3 big blks), and Van Klaveran (14 pts, 5-5 FG) all picked up their games in Meier's absence, and the Kingsmen shot nearly 70% in the second half.  CLU won by a comfortable margin, 80-71.  80 points was quite the accomplishment considering the kind of suffocating D CMS plays. 

This was only my second time seeing them this year, but I'm excited for what the future may hold for this CLU team, without a senior on the roster. 

For CMS, Chris Blees was impressive with 23 pts, 13 rebs, and some great athletic plays. 

[scandihoovian]

Just a few thoughts to add to sciac_is_fun's post.

I enjoyed Saturday's game immensely.  CMS looked unstoppable early on, and the Kingsmen struggled to get anything going consistently on the offensive end.  Shortly after Meier left the game, Van Klavaren picked up a third foul and things looked even bleaker.  Right before the half, a CMS player blocked a shot.  His post block celebration successfully woke up the home crowd, especially the group of football players in the front row.  I am grateful to him for that 

The Kingsmen scored the first five points of the half, and Toney's unintentionally (IMHO) banked three pointer did little to slow their momentum.  Grimm and Knudsen did a nice job slashing and attacking, Fisher had some key baskets and put in a great defensive effort, Walton was very steady at the point, and Van Klavaren did a great job underneath, especially as he was in foul trouble for the remainder of the game.

I'm impressed that Oxy almost pulled one out against Pomona, and puzzled as to why Whittier consistently struggles on the road.  Regardless, that's a nice win for the Bulldogs.

[OxyBob]

Eyewitness report from Eagle Rock:

Pomona 60, Oxy 58

Great well-played game between Pomona and Oxy on Saturday. The stands were filled, the students were loud, and the Oxy Drumline provided an extra element of fun. Pomona's first 7 baskets were 3-pointers, and the Hens led 28-22 at 7:10. The Tigers roared into the lead with a 15-0 run and led 37-28 before heading to the locker room up 39-32 at halftime. Pomona scored the first 7 points of the second half and tied it up at 39. Oxy forged ahead again and led 48-43 with 11 minutes to go, but Pomona went on a 10-0 run and led 53-48 at 7:30. After two FTs by Sean Anderson cut the Sagehens' lead to 55-53 with 1:13 left, David Liss hit a 3-ball with 49 seconds to go and Pomona had a 5-point lead, 58-53. The lead was still 5 at 60-55 but Colin Reinstadt fouled Oxy's Jack Hanley on a 3-point try with 5 seconds to go. Hanley sank all 3 FTs and Oxy still had a chance. Dave Ostrow fouled Liss, who missed on the 1-and-1. Justin Goltz got the rebound and he got the ball upcourt to Clark Gordon, whose desperation heave was short, and Pomona pulled out the victory. Good road win for the Hens and tough loss for the Tigers.

For Pomona, David Liss had 14 points and 6 assists, Jeremy Namkung had 13, Adam Chiamowitz scored 12, and Justin Sexton had 10. The Sagehens were 14-for-22 on 3-pointers. For Oxy, Jack Hanley was outstanding, scoring 23 in 40 minutes. Sean Anderson had 19 points and 6 rebounds despite playing in foul trouble for much of the game. Dave Ostrow dished out 9 assists and had 4 steals, and Justin Goltz played a strong defensive game off the bench with 9 rebounds.

The Kingsmen came out flat at home in the first half, and ended the the half on a sour note with what looked like a knee injury to Andy Meier.  It was one of the Andrew Bynum-esque plays with a teammate falling on his leg, and Meier going down in obvious pain.  Haven't heard if and how long he'll be out.

Too bad about Meier. He's a great player. Hope his injury's not serious and he's back soon.

After getting a road win against La Verne, Whittier stubbed its toe against Redlands in Currier, 71-67. The Poets led 37-30 at halftime, and 42-38 at 16:40, but the Bulldogs went on a 14-1 run and led 52-43. The Poets trailed by as many as 11, and got it down to 2 with under a minute to go, but Patrick Coffey and Kent Erwin hit their FTs and the Bulldogs got the win.

In the La Verne-Caltech game, it was tied 7-7, but the Leoprads outscored CIT 26-4 over a 10-minute stretch and that was all she wrote. Final: ULV 67, CIT 43.

SCIAC standings:

Pomona  8-1
Cal Lutheran  6-3
Claremont  6-3
Whittier  6-3
Oxy  5-4
Redlands  3-6
La Verne  2-7
Caltech  0-9

Wednesday's schedule, all games at 7:30 p.m.:

Caltech (1-19, 0-9) @ Whittier (12-8, 6-3)
Redlands (7-13, 3-6) @ Pomona (11-9, 8-1)
Claremont (14-6, 6-3) @ Oxy (9-11, 5-4)
Cal Lutheran (14-6, 6-3) @ La Verne (6-14, 2-7)

OxyBob

[scandihoovian]

I was wondering why it seemed extra quiet on the board this year, and then I realized what was so strange.  PP is in first place, and we have yet to have a single drive by by a PP booster pondering the place of Kats in the pantheon of small college coaching greats   What's going on?  Was there a group decision to stop drinking the Kool Aid?  Or did they all go on study abroad?

Game of the night is clearly Oxy-CMS, as the Tigers have a chance to further tighten the race for the final four spots.

[Gregory Sager]

The colorful and many-monikered character who has at various times dubbed himself HopeJV, George Bush, Oxy '03 Salem Pavers, and D3Ghetto was usually the guy who sang the praises of Katsiaficas and Pomona-Pitzer in this room. His departure seems to have left a hole in the commentary, 'hoovian.

[OxyBob]

PP is in first place, and we have yet to have a single drive by by a PP booster pondering the place of Kats in the pantheon of small college coaching greats

Ken Scalmanini, Claremont  171-99  .633
Rich Rider, Chapman & CLU  379-231  .621
Charlie Katsiaficas, Pomona  339-221  .605
Brian Newhall, Oxy  311-213  .594
Rock Carter, Whittier  175-195  .473

Always a battle when you're up against Coach Kat.

OxyBob

[Gray Fox]

The colorful and many-monikered character who has at various times dubbed himself HopeJV, George Bush, Oxy '03 Salem Pavers, and D3Ghetto was usually the guy who sang the praises of Katsiaficas and Pomona-Pitzer in this room. His departure seems to have left a hole in the commentary, 'hoovian.

You mean that there is was a guy with more lives than snoop dawg?

[scandihoovian]

The colorful and many-monikered character who has at various times dubbed himself HopeJV, George Bush, Oxy '03 Salem Pavers, and D3Ghetto was usually the guy who sang the praises of Katsiaficas and Pomona-Pitzer in this room. His departure seems to have left a hole in the commentary, 'hoovian.

Good point, but what about Fosheezie and DJ-Hyphen?  Seems like there were others too...  Or maybe they were just two more iterations of Pavers   

[West Coast Bias]

PP is in first place, and we have yet to have a single drive by by a PP booster pondering the place of Kats in the pantheon of small college coaching greats

Ken Scalmanini, Claremont  171-99  .633
Rich Rider, Chapman & CLU  379-231  .621
Charlie Katsiaficas, Pomona  339-221  .605
Brian Newhall, Oxy  311-213  .594
Rock Carter, Whittier  175-195  .473

Always a battle when you're up against Coach Kat.

OxyBob

Any idea what the records are for those coaches just in SCIAC play?  I imagine Kat would be at the top, considering how he loves to play the GSAC and go 3-8 in non-conference games.

[OxyBob]

Any idea what the records are for those coaches just in SCIAC play? 

I don't, but you're welcome to figure it out.

By the way, I went looking for Coach Kat's profile on the Pomona basketball page, but it wouldn't load. I didn't think much of it until I noticed this on that black hole of information known as the SCIAC web page:

Pomona-Pitzer Athletics Launches New Web Site

Pomona-Pitzer Athletics is pleased to announce the launching of our newly redesigned athletics website. Through a partnership with PrestoSports, the new athletics website features a sleek new design, prominent student-athlete photos, greater in-depth features, and a harmonious blend of technology and education.

http://www.pe.pomona.edu/landing/index

OxyBob 

[OxyBob]

Eyewitness report from Eagle Rock:

Claremont 55, Oxy 33

Claremont swamped Oxy. The Stags were superior in every part of the game. Claremont smothered Oxy's one-two punch Sean Anderson and Jack Hanley. Oxy's other offensive options are very limited, and the Tigers played so deliberately that the Stags knew what was coming every time. On offense Claremont pulled Oxy's big men away from the basket and then took advantage with their quicker guards to get lots of open drives along the baseline. CMS used a 13-1 run to open up a 19-6 lead, and led 35-13 at halftime. Oxy shot only 26.3% on 5-for-19. In the second half the teams played to a ho-hum 20-20 tie. I'd have to go back and check, but I'd surely bet that this was the fewest points scored in a game by a Brian Newhall team.

For CMS, Michael Bagby scored 19, Ben Bergsma had 11, and Chris Blees had 7 points and 8 rebounds. For Oxy, Jack Hanley scored 10. Claremont outrebounded Oxy 28-20.

Redlands put up a good fight at Pomona, but the Sagehens prevailed, 64-55. Justin Sexton had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Pomona, while UR's Patrick Coffey led all scorers with 22.

Cal Lutheran played without injured Andy Meier but came away with a 68-61 win at La Verne. Kyle Knudsen scored 23 and Aaron Van Klaveren had 22 for the Kingsmen. Matt Heyd led the Leopards with 17.

Item about Meier's injury from the Ventura County Star:

Meier injures knee: The CLU men's basketball team suffered a big loss last Saturday when leading scorer Andy Meier injured his knee during the Kingsmen's victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Meier, who was averaging 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds, was scheduled to receive tests results late Wednesday or today.

"It was a serious injury, and he is out for the foreseeable future," CLU head coach Rich Rider said. "It will definitely be a big blow, but we have to make up for it and accept the challenge and go forward."
...

Whittier had no problem with Caltech. Marcus Gibson and Keegan Hoover each scored 17 in the Poets' 85-45 win. Matt Dellatorre scored 14 and Ryan Elmquist had 12 points and 9 rebounds for CIT.

There's now a clear separation between the top 4 teams vying for spots in the SCIAC conference tournament and the rest of the pack:

Pomona  9-1
Cal Lutheran  7-3
Claremont  7-3
Whittier  7-3
Oxy  5-5
Redlands  3-7
La Verne  2-8
Caltech  0-10

Oxy has a slim chance of making the conference tournament, but the Tigers have to beat Whittier this Saturday and then get some help.

Saturday's schedule, all games 7:30 p.m.:

Redlands (7-14, 3-7) @ La Verne (6-15, 2-8)
Oxy (9-12, 5-5) @ Whittier (13-8, 7-3)
Caltech (1-20, 0-10) @ Cal Lutheran (15-6, 7-3)
Pomona (12-9, 9-1) @ Claremont (15-6, 7-3)

OxyBob

[hoopdville]

Question of the day, does CLU have enough depth and courage to win any games down the home stretch of SCIAC play without their warrior/heart and sole/leader Andy Meir being out with a season ending knee injury?  Will they be able to hold onto the fourth spot and make the post season tourney or fade into the Southern California sunset?   

1. PP
2. Claremont
3. Whittier
4. ? CLU/OXY/Redlands

[OxyBob]

Question of the day, does CLU have enough depth and courage to win any games down the home stretch of SCIAC play without their warrior/heart and sole/leader Andy Meir being out with a season ending knee injury?  Will they be able to hold onto the fourth spot and make the post season tourney or fade into the Southern California sunset?

Remaining schedules:

CLU (7-3): CIT, @ UR, @ PP, WC
Oxy (5-5): @ WC, @ CIT, ULV, @ UR
Redlands (3-7): @ ULV, CLU, @ CIT, Oxy

Cal Lutheran beat Oxy twice, so the only way the Tigers can beat out the Kingsmen for the 4th tournament spot is if Oxy wins out and CLU goes 1-3. Cal Lutheran went 2-2 against Caltech, Redlands, Pomona, and Whittier the first time around; Oxy was 4-0 against its 4 remaining opponents. The only way Redlands could catch CLU is if CLU went 0-4 and UR went 4-0. That isn't happening.

OxyBob

[scandihoovian]

Meier is a great player who plays with tremendous passion, but I think the rest of the roster addressed your question with an amazing second half against CMS.  There's plenty of toughness and heart still on the floor for CLU.