MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ecreddevils]

EC just tears up BC...really surprised just how far down Blackburn is. I tried to look for any glimmers of hope for the future, but really didn't see any.  Hard to really take anything away from the game regarding EC as the level of competition was so low.

[hopefan]

ecred... exactly as you say.. BC is about one hoop better than Prin, and BC has a Full  roster!!!!.. At least EC didn't let down last night and that's a good sign, and it looks like JK is getting back to speed....

Tonite's game Spalding at Webster is one  of those 'Biggest Games of the Year', until the next biggest game comes along...  a bad omen for Webster, Westmin beat Greenville badly, yet Webster needed OT to beat Gville.. well, I think (hope) Coach Bunch is just setting us up...  what's on the line?  well, as mentioned, Webster has their playoff fate in their own hands.. beat Spalding and they are just about locked in... but lose, and they'll have to sit back and root for an EC win over Mac in order to back into the conf tourney...  Westmin will be rooting for Webster, as a Spalding loss means that Westmin still would be alive to tie Spalding for the Conference championship.  EC is rooting for Spalding, as that would pretty much lock a tourney spot up for them no matter what happens to them at Mac, as they hold the tiebreaker over Webster.  But if Webster wins, the EC-Mac game becomes a winner takes the last tourney spot game.   Mac doesn't care.. their game with EC is everything to them... win they are in, lose they are out...

Incidentally.. the Spalding - Webster Ladies game is huge in that conference tourney spot battle... a loss will hurt Spalding much more than it will hurt Webster....

and in the men's game... Best players have to come up big.. Robinson and Smith need GREAT games.. Danny Zehner and Cody Bradfisch have to battle on the boards more than ever, Jarrod Huskey has to play Demetri Brasheer even and not be flopped to the floor more than 2 times, Hollis Edwards (definitely my favorite Gorlock player) needs to defend like never before, and Dietrich Sooter needs to take an early shot, and whether he makes it or not, not shoot again the rest of the game....

Go Gorlocks... let's keep things interesting.....

[ecreddevils]

ecred... exactly as you say.. BC is about one hoop better than Prin, and BC has a Full  roster!!!!.. At least EC didn't let down last night and that's a good sign, and it looks like JK is getting back to speed....

Tonite's game Spalding at Webster is one  of those 'Biggest Games of the Year', until the next biggest game comes along...  a bad omen for Webster, Westmin beat Greenville badly, yet Webster needed OT to beat Gville.. well, I think (hope) Coach Bunch is just setting us up...  what's on the line?  well, as mentioned, Webster has their playoff fate in their own hands.. beat Spalding and they are just about locked in... but lose, and they'll have to sit back and root for an EC win over Mac in order to back into the conf tourney...  Westmin will be rooting for Webster, as a Spalding loss means that Westmin still would be alive to tie Spalding for the Conference championship.  EC is rooting for Spalding, as that would pretty much lock a tourney spot up for them no matter what happens to them at Mac, as they hold the tiebreaker over Webster.  But if Webster wins, the EC-Mac game becomes a winner takes the last tourney spot game.   Mac doesn't care.. their game with EC is everything to them... win they are in, lose they are out...

Incidentally.. the Spalding - Webster Ladies game is huge in that conference tourney spot battle... a loss will hurt Spalding much more than it will hurt Webster....

and in the men's game... Best players have to come up big.. Robinson and Smith need GREAT games.. Danny Zehner and Cody Bradfisch have to battle on the boards more than ever, Jarrod Huskey has to play Demetri Brasheer even and not be flopped to the floor more than 2 times, Hollis Edwards (definitely my favorite Gorlock player) needs to defend like never before, and Dietrich Sooter needs to take an early shot, and whether he makes it or not, not shoot again the rest of the game....

Go Gorlocks... let's keep things interesting.....

Great write up--I'm hoping for and predicting a Spalding win tonight.  Having a dogfight with Mac just to get in is NOT a good scenario for EC. 

I like all your player analysis, but don't understand the Sooter comment...is he inconsistent?

[hopefan]

Sooter.. you might say inconsistent.. unfortunately I find him consistent 

[hopefan]

Well sooter was inconsistant.. he actually shot pretty well. but it wasn't enough to take the Gorlocks to an upset of Spalding..Spalding dominates the last 10-15 minutes of the game and wins 73-64.. Webster had scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to get to 44-44, and it went to 49-49, but spalding pulled away from there and Webster was probably never closer than 5 points in the last 10 minutes...  no go to guy, no one could hit a shot to get things restarted, and generally Webster couldn't put two or 3 stops together to give themselves a chance...

Observation.. give me Brasheer ANYTIME. I know Lessen and Whitlock will get the awards, and Brasheer doesn't have the length they do on defense, and he doesn't even start for whatever reason.. but he is my ideal d3 center.. strong!!!!  Huskey played with a tremendous amount of heart against him last night, but when it came down to it, Brasheer made the difference in the game, along with Spaldings superior depth... WITHOUT McAfee for the rest of the season with a knee injury... shoot, they may be better without him, with everyone involved in the offense.. lots of quickness to the basket, not as much standing around...

So where do we stand

Let's make some assumptions, Spalding beats Westminster and Greenville, Webster beats Fontbonne, BC and Prin,  Mac beats BC and Greenville, Eureka beats Fontbonne...

Spalding finishes with one loss, Westmin finishes with 4 losses, Webster finishes with 5 losses, Eureka has 4 losses and Mac has 5 losses headed into the last game of the season
If Mac wins that game (at home) Webster, Mac and Eureka have 5 losses, and as discussed before, Mac would have the first tiebreaker with their sweep of Eureka, Eureka would have the 2nd tiebreaker with their win over Spalding Spalding vs eureka in the 1-4 game, Westmin - Mac in the 2-3 game
If Eureka wins that game, Westmin and Eureka finish with 4 losses and play the 2-3 game, Mac is out with 6 losses, and Spalding and Webster play the 1-4 game...

What is the most likely 'odd thing' that could happen... well what if Webster LOSES as Fontbonne, to finish with 6 losses?
If Mac then beats Eureka, Mac finishes 3, Eureka finishes 4
If Eureka beats Mac, Mac and Webster would finish with 6 losses, Webster would get tiebreaker with Mac having lost to Westmin twice.

SO, in any realistic case, things still come down to the eureka - Mac game... Mac wins, they are in, Webster is out; Eureka wins, Webster is in, Mac is out....

If I'm wrong on any of this, please let me know, I'll correct...

Word on the street... Slagle and Burton will both be back in time to get some game time next week prior to the game with Eureka.....

[WU FAN]

From a student reporter who likes reading everyone's posts:

Hi everyone,

My name is Josh Sellmeyer and I'm a senior journalism major at Webster University. I was the sports editor of Webster's student-run newspaper, The Journal, for three semesters, and am now the paper's copy chief and layout editor. I write a biweekly column for The Journal's sports section, titled "The Sporting Insider."

As you guys know, the SLIAC tournaments for both men's and women's basketball are pretty wide open this year. For my upcoming column, I'd like to get your guys' opinions of which teams you think are most likely to win the SLIAC tourneys, and why. I'd also like to know who you think the dark horses are to win the tourneys. You all know SLIAC basketball inside and out, and I'd love to hear your predictions regarding what's going to occur in the conference these next couple weeks.

I haven't been approved by the D3Boards administrator yet which is why I asked WU FAN to post this for me. If you'd be willing to give me your insights for this column, I'd greatly appreciate it. In all likelihood, I would just interview you over the phone, since we're all probably in different places. You can email me your contact information, or you can just post your information on this board, and I'll get in touch with you. My email address is JoshSellmeyer@charter.net.

Thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to speaking with you soon!

-- Josh

[ecreddevils]

Well sooter was inconsistant.. he actually shot pretty well. but it wasn't enough to take the Gorlocks to an upset of Spalding..Spalding dominates the last 10-15 minutes of the game and wins 73-64.. Webster had scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to get to 44-44, and it went to 49-49, but spalding pulled away from there and Webster was probably never closer than 5 points in the last 10 minutes...  no go to guy, no one could hit a shot to get things restarted, and generally Webster couldn't put two or 3 stops together to give themselves a chance...

Observation.. give me Brasheer ANYTIME. I know Lessen and Whitlock will get the awards, and Brasheer doesn't have the length they do on defense, and he doesn't even start for whatever reason.. but he is my ideal d3 center.. strong!!!!  Huskey played with a tremendous amount of heart against him last night, but when it came down to it, Brasheer made the difference in the game, along with Spaldings superior depth... WITHOUT McAfee for the rest of the season with a knee injury... shoot, they may be better without him, with everyone involved in the offense.. lots of quickness to the basket, not as much standing around...

So where do we stand

Let's make some assumptions, Spalding beats Westminster and Greenville, Webster beats Fontbonne, BC and Prin,  Mac beats BC and Greenville, Eureka beats Fontbonne...

Spalding finishes with one loss, Westmin finishes with 4 losses, Webster finishes with 5 losses, Eureka has 4 losses and Mac has 5 losses headed into the last game of the season
If Mac wins that game (at home) Webster, Mac and Eureka have 5 losses, and as discussed before, Mac would have the first tiebreaker with their sweep of Eureka, Eureka would have the 2nd tiebreaker with their win over Spalding Spalding vs eureka in the 1-4 game, Westmin - Mac in the 2-3 game
If Eureka wins that game, Westmin and Eureka finish with 4 losses and play the 2-3 game, Mac is out with 6 losses, and Spalding and Webster play the 1-4 game...

What is the most likely 'odd thing' that could happen... well what if Webster LOSES as Fontbonne, to finish with 6 losses?
If Mac then beats Eureka, Mac finishes 3, Eureka finishes 4
If Eureka beats Mac, Mac and Webster would finish with 6 losses, Webster would get tiebreaker with Mac having lost to Westmin twice.

SO, in any realistic case, things still come down to the eureka - Mac game... Mac wins, they are in, Webster is out; Eureka wins, Webster is in, Mac is out....

If I'm wrong on any of this, please let me know, I'll correct...

Word on the street... Slagle and Burton will both be back in time to get some game time next week prior to the game with Eureka.....

Excellent write up.

Weekend Predictions:

WC @ BC:  BC in a free fall, WC on a free roll...WC 85  BC 50

FU @ EC:  Something tells me FU will make this a tougher game than it should be on paper...EC must win at home and they will: EC 69 FU 66

SC @ GC:  McAfee-less Spalding still very dangerous,  expect little resistance from a GC team with no real identity right now:
SC 87 GC 61

Mac @ Prin:  Prin and Caltech should start a conference together: Mac 84 Prin 51

WU @ Dominican:  Dom. coming off a loss to really bad CUC team...I believe the NAC south is a weaker conference top to bottom than the SLIAC and WU will prove that:  WU 83  Dom 69

[Dutch32]

WEEK-TV story on Eureka's Mark Lessen: http://www.cinewsnow.com/sports/Lessen-Learned-189945391.html

[Denny McKinney]

From a student reporter who likes reading everyone's posts:

Hi everyone,

My name is Josh Sellmeyer and I’m a senior journalism major at Webster University. I was the sports editor of Webster’s student-run newspaper, The Journal, for three semesters, and am now the paper’s copy chief and layout editor. I write a biweekly column for The Journal’s sports section, titled “The Sporting Insider.”

As you guys know, the SLIAC tournaments for both men’s and women’s basketball are pretty wide open this year. For my upcoming column, I’d like to get your guys’ opinions of which teams you think are most likely to win the SLIAC tourneys, and why. I’d also like to know who you think the dark horses are to win the tourneys. You all know SLIAC basketball inside and out, and I’d love to hear your predictions regarding what’s going to occur in the conference these next couple weeks.

I haven’t been approved by the D3Boards administrator yet which is why I asked WU FAN to post this for me. If you’d be willing to give me your insights for this column, I’d greatly appreciate it. In all likelihood, I would just interview you over the phone, since we’re all probably in different places. You can email me your contact information, or you can just post your information on this board, and I’ll get in touch with you. My email address is JoshSellmeyer@charter.net.

Thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to speaking with you soon!

-- Josh

If any poster can help Josh with some info please do. In 2011 He wrote one of the best articles I've read about my Pops. He puts A Lot of thought and facts research and time into his writing. I appreciate the time he spent talking with my Pops and Mom. Good Luck Josh.

WITHOUT McAfee for the rest of the season with a knee injury... shoot, they may be better without him, with everyone involved in the offense.. lots of quickness to the basket, not as much standing around...

I totally disagree with this comment. McAfee is the one player in this conference who has proven he can put a team on his back and win a game. He may have been in a shooters slump lately. But, a true shooter can snap out quickly. I read about his injury this morning and felt sick to my stomach. This young man put a lot into this season. He sat out last year to be able to make one run for the tournament. Hate to see this happen to any player, let alone a 5th year senior. His experience will be badly missed.

I will agree Spalding will be tougher to prepare for. Rather then knowing who they had to stop, coaches will have to give everyone equal attention.

[WUPHF]

I was checking stats on NCAA.com and noticed that Clayton Whitlock is 8th in Division III in field goal percentage connecting on 63 percent.  Mark Lessen is 9th with 62 percent.

Skylar Tolson is currently ranked 9th in Division III for three point field goal percentage, connecting on 47 percent.  Luke Bishop is 47th with a 40 percent rate.

[hopefan]

ALMOST upset of the ages... Fontbonne leads Eureka most of the way, but Eureka wins it in the last minute, 68-66

so let's go south to Carlinville

UPSET of the AGES.......... BLACKBURN  76...  Westmin  72!!!!!!!!!!!  how the heck??

This means that if there are no more upsets, and Mac beats Eureka, there will be 4 teams with 5 losses... and I think Eureka would be vulnerable as Westmin would be 4-2 (swept Mac), Webster 3-3 (split with other 3), Mac 3-3 (swept EC, swept by Westmin), and EC 2-4 (swept by Mac)..............  the Westmin loss has appeared to put Webster in regardless of the Mac Eureka outcome (tho Webster still has Fontbonne) and Eureka in a must win situation vs Mac.

[Dutch32]

UPSET of the AGES.......... BLACKBURN  76...  Westmin  72!!!!!!!!!!!  how the heck??

Looks like Blackburn inputted the final score wrong.  Now shows Westminster won 76-72 (box score included).

[hopefan]

  ... not the first time this has happened..... and EC fans have got to be happy, Webster fans disheartened...  EC back in regardless of Mac - EC result, Webster out with Mac win

Westminster (Mo.)     72     Blackburn     76     Final   just to show no senility involved

and now

Westminster (Mo.)     76     Blackburn     72     Final

[y_jack_lok]

Webster with a non-conference win at Dominican in Chicago. Had a 19 point lead in the first half but went to halftime up only by 7. Had a couple of 13 point 2nd half leads, but looked like they weren't really into the game and couldn't extend beyond that. It's gotta be tough to go on the road (300 miles) for a non-conference game this late in the season. Dominican just wasn't good enough to pull it out. The Dominican announcer was excellent, could identify every Webster player without hesitation.

[ecreddevils]

... not the first time this has happened..... and EC fans have got to be happy, Webster fans disheartened...  EC back in regardless of Mac - EC result, Webster out with Mac win

Westminster (Mo.)     72     Blackburn     76     Final   just to show no senility involved

and now

Westminster (Mo.)     76     Blackburn     72     Final

EC is in with a win at Prin?