MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

CouldaBen · January 11, 2006, 10:33:07 PM

Darryl,

It appears there are new lights in the gym. However, it could be an illusion - as the Noise Meter is missing, and perhaps the wattage increased as the Noise Meter has been retired.

Where, OH WHERE has thou NOISE METER gone, Darryl?!?!?!

Darryl Nester · January 11, 2006, 10:35:22 PM

Rod and Gordon:

Thanks for giving me someone to talk to.

WIth Transy losing (and, I've since seen, HC and DC winning), the Beavers are alone at the top of the HCAC (3-0), followed by HC and TU (2-1), and the rest sitting at 1-2.

Eric Sweet had 18 tonight, Schwieterman 11, Anthony 9. Bergman and Sweet each had 7 boards; Schwieterman had 9 assists.

Now that the stats are posted, I can also report that Nick Kane had 11 boards. Also, I'll add congratulations to Nick, as I see that his 32 points tied his career high (which he posted at Bluffton 2 years ago).

CouldaBen-- Yes, I think they have replaced the lights. I'm not sure where the Scream Machine went to; it was taken down to make room for the new scoreboard.

RO_24 · January 11, 2006, 10:35:39 PM

That noise meter was the best thing in that gym before they took that out...

we all had a moment of silence before as they were taking it off the wall...but I think the scoreboards and light are an alright addition

iwumichigander · January 11, 2006, 10:38:37 PM

Thanks for the updates guys -- HCAC needs to get some more posters on here

David Collinge · January 11, 2006, 11:37:59 PM

I'm reading, too, Darryl, and I thank you. I can't really contribute anything this year, since I'm a couple of thousand miles away, down in SoCal, so I appreciate being kept up to date!

Gregory Sager · January 12, 2006, 01:56:26 AM

Yes, gentlemen, by all means keep the updates coming. The HCAC is too good of a league to have such a silent Posting Up room.

augie_superfan · January 13, 2006, 05:59:45 PM

I'm going to go watch the Transy vs. Bluffton game tomorrow and was just curious if anyone could give me just a quick run down about the two teams. Obviously, I can look up the stats and everything but just any other info tha you think would be good to know for someone who has only lived in the land of the CCIW and is seeing a HCAC team for the first time.

Darryl Nester · January 14, 2006, 08:23:28 AM

augie_superfan: I cannot tell you much about Transy -- in fact, nothing you cannot learn from reading their stats.

For Bluffton: Lately, it's been the Scott Bergman show (although I am not complaining about that show -- it's quite enjoyable!). But a few other players to watch (aside from Bergman, Sweet and Anthony):

Eric Schwieterman has, in the last several games, started to drive to the basket and take shots, along with his ball-handling jobs. Against CMU, he had a career-high 15, after his previous career-high had been 8. Against Franklin, he scored 11, including some stylish layups. (With his height, though, he was also on the wrong end of one or two Nick Kane blocks.)

Darren Clark has not taken many shots in the last couple of games (none against Franklin), but can be dangerous from three-point range.

Off the bench, Cunningham, Heil, Patch, Reuscher, and Juenger have been key contributors. Juenger is still not back at full strength after an ankle injury in preseason.

All I've got time for right now -- hope it's useful.

AUStudent · January 14, 2006, 08:32:22 AM

Quote from: Darryl Nester on January 14, 2006, 08:23:28 AM
augie_superfan: I cannot tell you much about Transy -- in fact, nothing you cannot learn from reading their stats.

Don't give them open looks on the perimiter and don't get bullied and pushed around in the paint and they are very beatable.

augie_superfan · January 14, 2006, 05:28:45 PM

Well I just got back from the Transy/Bluffton game. What a game it was. Transy controlled most of the game but Bluffton clawed back at the end and the final score was:

Bluffton 67
Transy 70

The difference maker in this game was Transy's ability to knock down the open 3....they finished 13-21 on the game. Also, the Bluffton big men, especially Sweet, were in foul trouble all game which created mismatches inside. Sweet seemed to get a pretty raw deal today with a few cheap fouls. Also, he had 3 fouls late in the second half and Bergman fouled a shooter and the refs charge Sweet with the foul. He then fouled out minutes later with really only his 4th foul. It was really bad and the refs didn't even take the time to huddle up and get it right.

Bluffton rallied towards the end of the game to get within 1 and they had the ball, about 25 seconds left. Bergman had the ball and just brough it up and shot a contested 3 with about 10 seconds left. He missed and then Bluffton fouled. I think it was Searle who went to the line and hit 2 free throws to make it 70-67. Bluffton had used their last timeout before the 2 free throws to set up a play. Not much of one. Bergman got it inbounds with about 5 seconds left while the other 4 players sat around and watched him bring the ball up the court and shoot a 3 with 3 defenders on him.

But that was quite a great game. If Sweet was not in foul trouble all night, I think that this game would've gone Bluffton's way.

Darryl Nester · January 16, 2006, 11:15:13 AM

augie_superfan:

Thanks for the report. A disappointing loss for the Beavers ... but it's pretty hard to complain about having only 2 losses, by a total of 4 points, at this point in the season.

FCALUM_84 · January 16, 2006, 01:47:25 PM

Now that the 1/14 games have concluded, the HCAC appears up for grabs. While Bluffton has the early lead, Franklin has gotten both the Hanover and Bluffton road games behind them. Transy, Franklin, Hanover, and Bluffton appear headed for a fight to the finish.

I was at the FC/Anderson game at FC on 1/14. JD Clampitt is a machine. 41 points. The guy rarely misses. At this point he is on my first team along with Kane, Lye, and Bergman. No sure who the other player is.

I will say this.....Clampitt carried the entire team the whole way and kept them in it until the end when he fouled out.

As a note to an earlier post, Kane had 36 at Earlham, the 32 must be his HCAC carreer best. He had 27 against Anderson. I have not seen anybody in the HCAC who can guard him one on one.

Darryl Nester · January 16, 2006, 02:19:06 PM

FCALUM_84:

Regarding Nick's career-high -- I had taken the 32 point number from the player profile information at FC's web site; I realized later that he'd improved on that number this season.

Bluffton has had their road games at Hanover and Transy, but the trip to Franklin will no doubt be a tough one. (And as Transy found out last Wednesday, you cannot take ANY road game for granted.)

RO_24 · January 16, 2006, 04:04:47 PM

AUgie I was listening to the game and they were talking about that foul towards the end of the game, and they was saying Sweet wasn't even near the play...Sometimes it takes breaks like those to win games, and it sounded like this one was a very good game to watch.

Darryl, it would be hard to complain about those 2 losses by 4 pts...tough to lose those two games by such a little margin. 3 of the next 4 being at home hopefully will help push these guys up in the standings and maybe gain a little bit of a lead.

How have the home crowds been Darryl, the attendance says it's like 450, I know that can't be possible.

Darryl Nester · January 16, 2006, 04:46:16 PM

Rod:

Taking "attendance" is pretty much an activity in estimation -- we look around and try to come up with a ballpark figure. Last Wednesday, the gym was pretty full (it was the first home game of the new semester; students had not been around since mid-December, so there was a fair amount of excitement). I'd be inclined to say that 450 was a reasonable guess -- but since I was in on the process that ended with that estimate, I'm not an unbiased judge.