MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sumander]

Tommies down 2 with 4 minutes to go!

[sumander]

Scored tied with 1:46 to go at UST.

[sumander]

1:33 to go UST up 1.

[sumander]

Bethel down 1 with the ball and :22 to go? Madson time?

[sumander]

Tomcats escape with a 69-68 win!

Knight's up 4 with 2:00 to go.

[Dawg-Dude]

Van Sic with a sic three to tie!! It's mayhem in St. Peter! We're going to OT baby.

[westie]

Gusties win 71-70 in OT.  Can't believe I didn't make the trip down to St. Peter for the game!

[oldtimefan]

Exciting game to watch in St. Peter tonight.
I went to the game a Gustie fan but came away a Carleton fan. Very classy team. They should be a force the next few years in the conference.
Timely threes by the Gusties at the end pulled it out. That last one in regulation reminded me of Espenson's a few years ago against MAC,
Frankly, I found it hard to root for the Gustie team after the 1st half after seeing their shenanigans and then all the whining from the players after they would get called a few times for it. The whining paid off however, as Carleton really got homered by the refs down the stretch.
ZJ with an off night. Sutherland on fire all night long.

[Drake Palmer]

Lessons learned  -when a team plays solid, lock down defense, they can win ball games.

Hats off to the Bethel Royals. They gave as good as they got all night long & almost pulled out the win.  They led from about 8 9 minutes left in the first half & went into the lockerroom at halftime with a 38-30 lead.

In the 2nd half, UST finally caught up with them at 49-49, went ahead by 2 at 51-49, & then Bethel came back & held the lead until the final minutes of the game. When Bethel's Shane Flannery stared down a defender & drained a serious 3 with 4 seconds left on the clock, I thought this could be the end of the line for the Tommies.  But this team didn't panic & kept playing solid hardnosed defense & out-quicked their opponents on a couple of crucial possessions to secure the win.  Viau had great hands & several putback baskets.

Nicolai was money in the 2nd half from the outside & carried his teammates when everyone else was stone cold.

With more than a sense of desperation, the UST coaches put Robinson back in the game at about 8-9 minutes left in the game with 4 fouls on him & the coaches must of told him:  "Lonnie, Madson is killing us (which he was) you've got to stop him" and he did.  Perhaps the biggest stop was when he blocked a Madson fadeaway jumper with about a minute left in the game & the loose ball went flying over to Al McCoy.  Certain Gusties supporters have accused me of having certain amorous desires about young McCoy, but you can ask anyone in attendance tonight, be they a Tommie or Royal supporter, Al McCoy was a very big reason why the Tommies won.  He was on fire. I'll leave it at that & let Mose fill in the details. 

This was an occasionally sloppy, but always intense, nerve wracking, entertaining game for players & fans on both sides.  We could have been looking at a preview of next year's championship game, since both teams return their starting lineups. 

The last two games from Bethel – (Augsburg last week, & UST tonight) were the best overall games I've seen from them in about 3-4 years.   Good run Jeff Reck!
Scrappy, hard fought game tonight by UST.

[gacbacker]

From what I heard the Gusties were down 6 with under 20 seconds. Got a three from Kaus, missed one-and-one by Drake, and a three from Van Sickle to tie the game? WOW. Johnson apparently had shots in regulation and overtime as well to win it for the Knights, but couldn't get either to go.

Can't wait for Saturday's game at The Shoe.

[kel_varnsen]

Great game at Gus Young. It would be nice if the Gusties could start with a lead for a change. It's really nice to have 4 seniors to put on the floor. The experience really shows on the defensive end of the floor. Down the stretch, the Carleton shooters couldn't find too many open looks. Credit the experience of the Gusties for the discipline to play solid defense without fouling.The Gusties did a great job on the glass, too.

The whining paid off however, as Carleton really got homered by the refs down the stretch.

Any particular plays in mind?

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Back from one of the best games ever played in the Shoe. My hat's off to BU-- they played hard, gutsy ball, and did not "lose" so much as come out with fewer points. Classy play, lotta hustle, some great shots and awesome defense!  Great fan support, both teams, but the BU boys were more vocal. All in all, it was an atmosphere and excitement level that could not be captured by webcast or even telecast.

As DP said McCoy was a force, but the Man of the Night has to be Viau. The guy had a double double, nearly doubled Moberg's rebound total, led all players in scoring, rebounds and steals. he was constantly on the spot when UST needed a board or someone to grab hold of the ball. While Scott had a very of night shooting, but unlike some players having bad shooting nights, he contributed greatly to the team success with key reabounds, tips, and defense.

So for the 7th time in the past 8 years, the title game is #1 vs #2. Historical footnote-- #1 has won 5 of the 6 previous meetings between the top seeds of the 6 team playoff field for the title.  Saturday should be a doozie!!!


PI-- you can skip the Litch gbb game, at least if you think Litch has a chance of winning... I heard that Hanna Linz is in the top ten in the nation in scoring for HS girls hoops...I highly doubt she will be playing in the MIAC.

[gacbacker]

Exciting game to watch in St. Peter tonight.
I went to the game a Gustie fan but came away a Carleton fan. Very classy team. They should be a force the next few years in the conference.
Timely threes by the Gusties at the end pulled it out. That last one in regulation reminded me of Espenson's a few years ago against MAC,
Frankly, I found it hard to root for the Gustie team after the 1st half after seeing their shenanigans and then all the whining from the players after they would get called a few times for it. The whining paid off however, as Carleton really got homered by the refs down the stretch.
ZJ with an off night. Sutherland on fire all night long.

Comments like this always make me chuckle. How the he** do you know, sitting in the bleachers that Carleton was classy. For all you know, they were swearing left and right and talking trash. And please show me game film where a team didn't whine about a call or two the entire game, because I've never been to one where that happens.

[Drake Palmer]

Back from one of the best games ever played in the Shoe. My hat's off to BU-- they played hard, gutsy ball, and did not "lose" so much as come out with fewer points. Classy play, lotta hustle, some great shots and awesome defense!  Great fan support, both teams, but the BU boys were more vocal. All in all, it was an atmosphere and excitement level that could not be captured by webcast or even telecast.

As DP said McCoy was a force, but the Man of the Night has to be Viau. The guy had a double double, nearly doubled Moberg's rebound total, led all players in scoring, rebounds and steals. he was constantly on the spot when UST needed a board or someone to grab hold of the ball. While Scott had a very of night shooting, but unlike some players having bad shooting nights, he contributed greatly to the team success with key reabounds, tips, and defense....

Agreed. If Viau works with Johnny Tauer this off-season & comes back with an outside shot, next season he could be bigtime nasty.  Right now his shot is as flat as a pancake.  But the kid has got tremendous hands & made a couple of athletic catches in traffic & came back with a couple of sweet layups & putbacks.   

[big_shocker]

Nothing like a classic MIAC championship matchup.