MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[piperinsider]

Two posts.

Wow, was that fun alst night. Like OAS said, Carleton just didnt hit the shots down the stretch. They needed someone to step up like Sweeney did for UST.

Good to meet the Mafia and some of the Car fans. Good to see Willy, TH4L, KnightsArmor, Westie and fiance, but no Loco. Thanks to Johnnie Red for the burgers. They were awesome as usual.

I keep envisioning Carleton on couches holding arms waiting for the call tonight.

In the west regional, to be played Wednesday on the campus of Lawrence, the eight seed, the Carleton Knights of the MIAC.

Show Knights jumping up and down. Hopefully its a reality.

[Johnnie Red]

My thanks to OAS and piperinsider for helping get everything set up for the Stiftungsfestivities at St. Thomas yesterday. Great to see Willy and all the other posters, along with the many Carleton students who stopped by. It has been a while since I have had my hometown blasted by someone. 

Who could have picked a better location for the tailgate? What a coincidence to have a dinner going on for former Tommie track and cc coach Doc Larry Russ on campus at the same time! I got to see guys I competed against back in the early 70's and who I had not seen since then. Screw the money, the fancy house, the new car. It's all about relationships and the friends you make in life. Thank goodness so many of them have been made through sports. Priceless. 

[columbianmaffia]

good game

good times

schimek hit a couple key shots in the final few minutes

FORK for MVP...why you might ask...where would UST have been with out the silent assassin this year...if you take him away from that team i think its a bigger loss than if you would take ike out

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

What an excellent night....perfect atmosphere in the gym.! I haven't seen Schoenecker that full since 1990 vs. SJU. Carl & UST fans were awesome. Even the national anthem was great-- it had Fritz choked up, and that's a sight you don't get to see often.

Congrats to Carleton on an extremely great season and a solid game. It is a cliché, but it applies here-- it's a shame someone had to lose.  I think they will be in the NCA field, but not at Lawrence...at Stout.

Keys to the game for UST:
(1) holding Forkrud to 2 pts in 2nd half and scoreless the first 10 mins of game.
(2) defense on Phillips made him a non-factor
(3) the play of Dwyer in relief of Sweeney...5 rebs in 1st half, the most of anyone
(4) Schnettler torching the net first half, forcing Car to alter defense plan
(5) getting Ike in the flow of the game in 2nd half...8 boards in 2nd half from the big guy
(6) Sweeney's 3 at the end-- the shot that knocked the wind out of Car's sails

[ustbumkneez]

MM
To your keys, Id only add the fact that the Tommies held the Knights to only 2 FGs over the last 16 minutes of the game. Johnson forcing a lot of questionable shots (3-13) down the stretch certainly didnt help matters for Carleton.
As CM said, Shimeks buckets in the second half were huge-it was great to see him knock those big shots down, after conceding much of the scoring this season. USTs patience on the offensive end in the 2nd half was impressive; working the shot clock under 10, and finding ways to get high % shots, most notably Sweeneys two driving layups. I thought Ike did a real good job working the ball out of the doubles, and making his presence felt without pushing too much of the offensive end. I though there would be more of Melson in the 2nd half, as he gave the Knights a nice spark in the first half, and a good change of pace. Whoever gets Carleton in the first round is going to have their hands full, and UST looks like theyre poised to play their best ball of the season. Looking forward to it.

[TommieHoops4Life]

Rarely have I witnessed a game where every possession was crucial, but that was the case Saturday. As bumkneez said, UST's defense did a great job in the second half of forcing turnovers and extremely tough shots. The open looks that the Knights had just wouldn't fall, and their free throws wouldn't go down either. Sean Sweeney hits three huge shots, the last one a deep three right in Phillips' face, that was the dagger. to quote Sweeney, "from a nightmare to a dream come true" (the difference between the loss to gustavus his freshman year and winning the title as a senior.

Carleton deserves to get in because of an outstanding season, so hopefully they get what they earned.

Of all the refs to have in the MIAC championship, why Brad Panning? He was once again brutal and all the controversial calls seemed to come from his whistle. He calls an awful foul on Schnettler in the first half when Drake went over his back for a rebound. Ike grabs a board, gets hammered on his wrist... no call. He also missed a few obvious traveling calls. OAS, I may have rather seen the Sensation on the floor vs. him.

Andy Dwyer comes off the bench and provides some absolutely huge minutes in the first half. As MM mentioned, gets three boars, was in Phillips' face the whole first half, grabbed a few loose balls. His hustle was a thing of beauty. Congratulations to the Tommies and hopefully the Knights get in, but it's a tough sell to leave them out.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

TH4L-
Was great seeing you last night.... Dwyer (5 boards, not 3) is giong to be a serviceable replacemtn for Sweeney....UST is gonig to miss him more than anyone else, altho Shimek, Weaever & Peterson all are key players.

[Drake Palmer]

The Goose is still loose - Carleton's in!!

[Willy Wonka]

First of all, congrats to the Tommies AND the Carlies. Great game. Made me really happy I wasn't watching wrassling for work and even happier to see both get in tonight. Was also great to get out to another Stftungfest and see all the regulars - minus Loco, who was no doubt as scared to take off his mask as he was to make his picks in the right place. Or maybe he was out to eat with the other 9 MIAC coaches in a private meeting for material in his next post. Sadly, I only downed six burgers, but I was still pleased with the performance considering I put down Chipotle 1.5 hours before.

Also, good to finally meet KnightArmor. He hasn't been posting recently and I think I found out why - cussing every other word isn't allowed on here

The crowd was great. Not nearly as packed or as early arriving as the Gusties of '03, but still the best I saw this season. However, I was hoping for fistacuffs afterwards when the Tommie fans were talking smack at midcourt. Unfortunately (fortunately?), the Carlies are too smart for that to happen.

As for the game...the MIAC regular season leader in 3-pt percentage was absolutely awful. The Carlies seemed to gameplan around making Keating and Shimek beat them. Keating was good on two plays - blocking Goose and his insane save near the end - but the other 29 minutes and 50 seconds he hurt the team. Shimek hit a couple open layups and the critical jumper, but was clearly being "punked" by Kalland. It didn't exactly work, but it didn't exactly backfire either. It will be interesting to see if playoff teams follow the same blueprint.

Sweeney was as bad as Keating until about the 10 minute mark of the second half. Then he flipped the switch and was Superman. Clearly the leader of that team that everyone proclaims him to be, including defensively as he badly outplayed Phillips.

I haven't seen him play recently, but SS seemed to palm/carry the ball on almost every dribble. He was called for it once. Where did that come from?

Carleton has played three straight halves of terrible offensive basketball. Have the wheels come off? Are people getting tired? Something to watch come tourney time...

After the game I met Fork's aunt. She introduced herself and I tried to do likewise. She cut me off and was like "Oh, nice to meet you Brooke." Awkward.

Does Kalland's daughter own any pants besides bright yellow sweatpants?

[funbballer]

Of all the refs to have in the MIAC championship, why Brad Panning? He was once again brutal and all the controversial calls seemed to come from his whistle. He calls an awful foul on Schnettler in the first half when Drake went over his back for a rebound. Ike grabs a board, gets hammered on his wrist... no call. He also missed a few obvious traveling calls. OAS, I may have rather seen the Sensation on the floor vs. him.

TH4L....you are right on....Panning is one of the worst officials around. Seems like he's more concerned about who's watching HIM rather than being a good official.

He's brutal, arrogant and downright pathetic. (and now he's got his son officiating as well and is getting WAY too many important games. The kid's not ready)

But it was a great game and a fabulous atmosphere.

[Johnnie Red]

Just remember where Brad Panning is from: Norwood Young America. Home of the Stiftungsfest. His older brother and I were classmates in high school.

Congrats to St. Thomas and Carleton for making it to the NCAA tourney. So happy that St. Ben's made it, too.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central (IL) is at St. Thomas on Thursday night, with the winner going over to Appleton, WI to face Lawrence (which has a bye) on Saturday.

Carleton squares off against UW-Stout on Friday night in Rock Island, IL. The winner faces the winner of Friday's second game, either Buena Vista or host Augustana.

[columbianmaffia]

honk honk honk mr. gooseworth

honk honk honk honk mr. gooseworth

honk honk honk honk...honk honk honk honk

flying V heading into stout...im glad i get to watch em play again i was scurrrrrrrd

hopefully CAR can make up for their debacle against stout a year or two ago when they blew a late 8pt lead at stout

they need to find their groove on the O end though pretty quick

WHY DO TWO SCHOOLS THAT ARE SO CLOSE PLAY DOWN IN ROCK ISLAND ILL?

[Gregory Sager]

WHY DO TWO SCHOOLS THAT ARE SO CLOSE PLAY DOWN IN ROCK ISLAND ILL?

Wassamatta, CMob ... are your rollerskates broken? 

They got moved there because neither team is seeded highly enough to host a sub-sectional. Therefore, they're traveling fodder, along with Buena Vista.

Don't worry -- the Quad Cities are dull and not very pretty, but at least Augie's Carver Center seats 3,200. More than enough room for all of the Carleton waterfowl that choose to travel next weekend.

[columbianmaffia]

Wassamatta, CMob ... are your rollerskates broken? 

actually i am missing a wheel as many of you found out on saturday when i had them on when i was eating one of those sting burgers at UST...it is the front wheel on the right foot so it makes it very difficult to push off with my right foot because the metal frame catches the pavement and could cause a nasty spill...on saturday i managed to dodge a major spill by holding a beer in my left hand to keep me balanced