MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[papahoops]

Another exciting game for MAC at Northwestern this afternoon with an 83-82 MAC win. In a very tight game at the end, the ref crew almost cost MAC the game by missing a clear NW goaltending call on an Abe breakaway layup that would have put MAC up 4 and sealed the game with less than thirty seconds left. The shot was clearly blocked away by an NW player over the cylinder after it had banked off the backboard. NW came down the court down 2 and MAC had a couple of fouls to give, but they failed to use them and NW nailed a clutch 3 with 6 seconds left to go up 1. After a timeout, MAC threw ball from the baseline in to TCON at halfcourt , Abe cut off TCON to get the ball with 5 seconds left and dribbled quickly to the basket and drew a blocking foul with 1 second remaining that could have gone either way. I think the fact that the ref knew he blew the goaltending call may have helped to move the call in Abe's direction. MAC obviously looked rusty after a long holiday/exam layoff, but got the job done end. Big surprise of the day was a breakout perfomance off the bench by Drake's favorite MAC name, Colin Keeley, who had a huge double/double in 22 minutes of action, including 3 for 3 from three point land.

Although I obviously am a MAC fan, I must give credit to this gritty well coached Northwestern squad. There is no question my mind that they would be a playoff team in the MIAC. I don't know about the rest of the UMAC, but this team could play with anyone in the MIAC this year.

[Drake Palmer]

(Edit: I see you beat me to the punch)

Pops (Papahoops) - nice win today!  I saw the Mac faithful just about bust a gasket on the non goal tending call on Abe's shot that would have iced the game, & given the Scots a 4 pt lead at the end of the game.   Fortunately, the calls evened out & the refs called the foul on the Hanson bros. when Abe dashed into the lane for the game winning shot attempt/FTS. 

Terrible non call on the goal tending, weak call on the foul that allowed  Abe to get ot the FT line.  Oh well.   

And finally, someone can say Colin Keeley for T-H-R-E-E!! Nice breakout game by the frosh going 3-3 from behind the arc.  In the bad news department what's happened to one of his running mates on the FY All-Name team- Trey Mullen?  I see his name is no longer listed on the roster or in the NW program today.  That's too bad.

[papahoops]

As you astutely noticed Drake, Colin Keeley's opportunity to shine was a result of Trey Mullen leaving MAC to return home to Colorado for the second semester. Don't know all the real reasons, but I do not believe the decision was basketball related. Trey had been developing into a solid front court contributor off the bench, but if Colin plays anything close to what he did today as the season progresses, he could help fill the void nicely. He isn't as strong as Trey, but can score from more places on the floor and his length makes him more of a defensive shot blocking threat. With Ranwick being limited to 5 points today, Keeley's offensive production was a life saver for MAC in this contest.

[AO]

Great game today at the Ericksen, with Mac pulling out a controversial win.  The scots made some timely shots and pulled it out at the end. 

I saw a clear advantage inside for Northwestern despite Conboy and generally better talent on the perimeter.  Abe made the offense go and if he can limit his turnover total to 1 while pushing the ball as hard as he does, they'll go far.

From my angle it didn't appear to be clearly goaltending, but upon further review with the source of the block, it was goaltending. 
The last blocking call was absolutely horrible.  Abe was completely out of control, completely initiated what little contact there was on the play, missed the layup badly and was bailed out by the stripes. Terrible ending to a great game.  Of course I would completely change my mind if Berens had hit the last second hail mary which did come quite close.

If anyone left the gym thinking Macalester was clearly better than Northwestern and therefore-MIAC better than UMAC, I would be surprised.  Best of luck to the scots, the current leaders in the MIAC, and more importantly, the snelling ave shootout.

[VOJ]

SJU wins over WW

Wow, really?  I'd consider that a huge upset.

I am not so sure I agree with you...the J's played very well, they finally had all the pieces together with Fogt back and playing meaningful minutes, he was huge in the win, WW did not defend well as the J's were over 53% for the game from the field and they fouled alot...SJU hit 24 of 29 from the line...

[AO]

fogt is good.

[VOJ]

Gusties get the win on the road 65-64 at Sprinfield...

[Willy Wonka]

Random Thoughts From a Cluttered Gustie Mind

• Sam Paulson hit a HUGE 3-pointer to put the Gusties ahead 64-62 with 1:08 left in the game. The 6-10 center was 0-0 on treys entering the game.

• Jesse Van Sickle made 1 of 2 FTs with 21 seconds left to leave the door open for the last-second loss. He was shooting 90% coming in.

• The much-maligned (of late) Gustie defense got a game-winning stop to end the game. That's almost as encouraging as the current 5-game winning streak.

• GAC was able to win on the road despite shooting 32% in the first half and getting a 1-9 performance from Wittwer. Having six players score 7 points or more is the key for the Gustie/anti-Bethel mindset.

• Springfield guard Jamaal Gibbs must have given GAC fits, which isn't terribly surprising. He finished with 17 points, 7 dimes, 4 boards and 2 steals while playing 38 minutes and not committing a single turnover.

And, back to work...

[Greek Tragedy]

SJU wins over WW

Wow, really?  I'd consider that a huge upset.

I am not so sure I agree with you...the J's played very well, they finally had all the pieces together with Fogt back and playing meaningful minutes, he was huge in the win, WW did not defend well as the J's were over 53% for the game from the field and they fouled alot...SJU hit 24 of 29 from the line...

Not sure what to think now that St. Norb's smoked St. John's by 19, 75-56.  I have not seen the boxscore on that one.

I admittedly no nothing about St. John's, what I do know is that Whitewater is really good.  They did beat Stevens Point!  I also know that St. Norbert isn't real good, but "OK".  They did take Augustana into OT and they lost to Oshkosh at home by just 10 (while Whitewater lost on the road to Oshkosh by just 6). 

Kudos to the Johnnies on beating a  7-1 Whitewater team yesterday and I'd consider your post if they would've beaten a Green Knights team that was just 4-5 with really no "big" wins that stand out and two close losses to solid teams (Oshkosh and Augustana).

I stand by my statement that St. John's beating Whitewater was a huge upset, IMO.

Game Story

Box Score

[Drake Palmer]

Go figure.  After knocking off 15th ranked UW- Whitewater yesterday, it seems the Johnnies came out flat against St. Norberts' & lost 75-56.  VOJ – we'll be looking forward to your "mostly" unbiased post game report tomorrow.  Safe travels.

Looking at the boxscore I'm wondering if Norbert's wasn't quicker than the Johnnies?  Their starters aren't particularly tall, yet they went to the FT line 22 times & converted on 19 FTs.  They also shot a blistering 53% from the 3-pt line making 8 – 15 trey attempts.  Johnnie FYs Chris Schwartz & Aaron Burtzel both end up in foul trouble with Schwartz fouling out & Burtzel picking up 4 fouls.

The Johnnies shot an unusually cool 5-19 (26%) from behind the arc, & overall only made 41% FGA.  For the season they had been averaging 50% from the floor & 39% from the 3 pt line.

OS - VOJ usually can be found wearing bright, cardinal red Johnnie sunglasses so his views of a game might be slightly skewed.  Slightly.   
************
Willy -- that was one of the first things I noticed when I read the GAC game story. I'm wondering if we might have a candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year in 6-8, 6-9 soph post Sam Paulson of Gustavus?  Last year, he was an unheard of former D-1 recruit, doing a very good impersonation of a tall stick of lumber on the far end of the Gustie bench.  Fast forward a year later, & not only is he starting, but now he's knocking down treys?  I'm guessing the shot clock was winding down & he was caught with the ball in his hand.  The "oops" trey aside, Paulson is having a solid season thus far as he's averaging 58% FGA, 5.4 RPG & a decent 9.3 PPG.  Now about that hair?

Nice win Gusties.

[Greek Tragedy]

Looking at the boxscore I'm wondering if Norbert's wasn't quicker than the Johnnies? 

Whitewater guards Myles McKay and Matt Goodwin are as quick as they come.  Not sure what happened to the Johnnies today.

[columbianmaffia]

the lakers went with the 2002-2003 Carleton basketball shorts look tonight

[sumander]

Big news this morning out of the Concordia camp. Coach Siverson has announced his resignation effective the end of the season! It will be very interesting to hear the reaction of the Cobber backers.

[sumander]

Now for the double post.....J's get a nice in region win over WW on Saturday. Then lay an egg against St. Norberts.

Drake, along the line of your post about STN being quicker than the J's how much of a factor do you think it was that the J's played essentially 6 guys against WW?  Schwartz played 38 minutes, Lieser 39 minutes and Brink played 40.  This would also go a long way in explaining the poor shooting percentage (tired legs).

VOJ, looking for you thoughts?

Before I forget, How about a shot of +k to the usual suspects
in celebration of:

[sumander]

Now for the trifecta:

Local, A little birdie told me that UND's Emmanuel Little put on a dunking exhibition against the Beavers on Saturday. Any hilight reel stuff or were they all pretty routine?