MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Darryl Nester]

Thanks for the link, scottiedoug.  That was one of the more amusingly creative write-ups I've read in a while:

• "...exchanging leads like there was a Y2K08 bug threatening world chaos..."
• "...the smooth perimeter shooter and presumed Dracula enthusiast..."

[dc_has_been]

For anyone that is interested, I went to the Hope College site http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/announce2.html & at this link is shows that Defiance beat UW-Oshkosh 53-46.  If this is accurate that is a big win for DC & two losses in a row for Oshkosh.

[sac]

Its accurate, Defiance beat Oshkosh.

This link will take you to livestats for tommorrows Defiance game, and all of the RDV Classic games.

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/livestats/

[RO_24]

Not the way Bluffton wanted to go into the Christmas break, but MAYBE they will learn that they need to bring everything they have to the table every night.  Kalamazoo killed them on the boards, beat them down the court, and held them to sub-35% from the field.  BU missed numerous lay-ups.  I think it's time to bring out the Football dummy pads and do some banging while they go in for layups, because their shooting better from the FT line than they are from less than 4 feet. 

Hopefully we'll get it back, and be ready for Millikin in the Holiday Tourney next Friday. 

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

[RO_24]

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas break.  Since I'm sitting here at work bored out of my mind all day, I'll give a quick rundown of this weekends Holiday Tournament.

Bluffton won the Holiday Tournament against ODU on a last second 15 footer by Nate O.  Shouldn't have came down to that, but it did and they pulled it out, so I'm sure they are happy with the championship for the fourth consecutive year.  Friday nights game was a pretty good game, as the Beavers beat Milikin by 9.  Rufe played a very good game, he was pretty active as well as PJ Juenger.  Taylor attacked the bucket and had a good floor game, and Colt looked like he is finding his stroke.

Saturday night the Beavers played Ohio Dominican, and came out a firin.  Everyone played in the 1st half, and nearly everyone scored.   But Mr. Hyde was waiting on the court for Bluffton in the Second half.  They lost their 17 point halftime lead within 8 minutes, and only scored 25 points in the second half.  Game ended on the 15 footer at the buzzer, so that was exciting. 

2nd half of the HCAC season begins Saturday as Anderson comes to town.

No one really stood out for the Beavers this weekend, they had 5 guys in double figures on Friday ranging from 10-15 Points, and than only had 2 players on Saturday in double figures, each with 10 points. 

[Darryl Nester]

Rats -- I had nearly finished composing a long detailed message about today's results, then hit the wrong key and lost it all. Rather than reproduce all of it, here's the quick summary: road teams went 3-1 today; only one close game (TU over RHIT by 3); the Beavers are now 2-0 on the road and 0-2 at home, with both losses attributable (at least in part) to a hot-shooting guard on the other team:  C.J. Johnson's 30 for Defiance, and today Mike Russell's 37 (hitting 9 of 13 treys) for the Ravens.

[RO_24]

Any Predicitons for Tonights HCAC Matchups>

RHIT @ MSJ
Franklin @ Transy
Manchester @ Bluffton
Anderson @ Hanover

MSJ, Transy, Bluffton, and HC I believe will win... This will be the first time that the home teams would beat the away teams, but I just have a feeling. 

[RO_24]

Last night winners were; MSJ, Transy, BU and Hanover...All the home teams came out victorious last night.

Bluffton looked real good for half the game last night up by 17 at halftime, ended up winning by 13.
Any other reports from games last night?

[Darryl Nester]

The four home teams winning last night brought things a little closer to "even" in terms of home/away records:  Of the 20 conference games so far, the visitors have picked up 11 wins.  (On the women's side, home court advantage seems to be more evident: The home team came out on top 16 times out of 20.)

Last night continued the recent trend of less-than-close games: only Transy/Franklin appears to have gone down to the wire, with TU winning by 5.  The other three games had 13 and 14 point margins.  The average margin of victory for the season so far is 10.4; for the last 12 games, it is 12.7.

(Sorry, just got finished teaching my Understanding Numerical Data class, and I was in the mood to crunch some numbers.)

Coming up on Saturday, top to bottom pairings as DC and TU battle for #1, #3 Hanover hosts #4 Bluffton, #6(t) Franklin hosts #5 Anderson, and #6(t) Manchester hosts #8(t) RHIT.

[rreucher24]

AHhhh...U.N.D.; that bring backs memories of freshman year. (and a 10-16 record...ouch)

[Darryl Nester]

Wow--I had expected some closer scores today, but the halftime score at Transy is (was) Defiance 47, TU 23.  That may be final by now.  I'm listening to the Bluffton/Hanover game on the radio - with one minute left, Beavers lead 74-68.

[Darryl Nester]

Bluffton 80, Hanover 70
Franklin over Anderson, 95-77
RHIT over Manchester, 64-57 -- the closest game of the afternoon
Defiance/Transy must have gotten a late start; 10:33 to go, Defiance still leads 71-45.

Another big day for the visitors; only Franklin won at home (assuming DC does not collapse in the last 10 minutes).

[Darryl Nester]

Yikes, that Defiance/Transy game looks like it was ugly -- Defiance attempted 47 free throws in the game (with 17 seconds left on the live stats), and TU went to the line 25 times.  FIVE PLAYERS fouled out for the Pioneers.

(Maybe that game didn't start late after all...)

[RO_24]

Beavers looked good on Saturday...Hanover is a tough place to go and play at, not because of the raucious crowd that they have (all 150 people) but it's just hard to go in there and beat Hanover.  Another big week for the Beavers this week with MSJ and FC both coming to town...Need to get the Home W's because February is all on the road.

[rreucher24]

I took in the game on Saturday. Bluffton played well. Juenger went down with a knee injury and Wilson had to step up and take Robbie Brown. Brown looks much improved and looks to have lost some weight. Good coaching down the stretch gave Bluffton the win...albeit 10 months too late!!!!