MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

WUPHF · December 17, 2015, 05:36:06 PM

It looks like Webster University is headed to Florida to play Trinity Baptist from the NCCAA and NAIA Domino's U in the Trip Sports Classic.

I had never heard of Trip Sports before so I looked and it looks as though it is a company that does nothing but organizes basketball tournaments: http://www.tripsports.com/

Denny McKinney · December 17, 2015, 06:19:29 PM

WUH - There are several companies that put on these type of tournaments. One is held in the Virgin Islands. I don't get the jest of your coment. Are you against Webster taking their kids to a warm stop to play? Domino's U.?

y_jack_lok · December 17, 2015, 06:20:04 PM

Quote from: WUH on December 17, 2015, 05:36:06 PM
It looks like Webster University is headed to Florida to play Trinity Baptist from the NCCAA and NAIA Domino's U in the Trip Sports Classic.

I had never heard of Trip Sports before so I looked and it looks as though it is a company that does nothing but organizes basketball tournaments: http://www.tripsports.com/

I discovered this a couple of days ago as well by virtue of being on the same airplane with the Rollins College (FL - D2) men's basketball team and sitting next to one of their players. They were going to Las Vegas for a tournament so I later looked it all up and discovered their tourney was arranged by Trip Sports.

The schedule on the Webster website says the 2nd game is against Ave Maria U. What is Domino's U?

WUPHF · December 17, 2015, 06:45:17 PM

Domino's U. is a nickname for Ave Maria, a Catholic institution founded by the uber Catholic founder of Domino's Pizza.

I think it is awesome that Webster is going to Florida. Every team should go on trips like that if they can.

I am sure there are many for profit companies that organize tournaments. No complaints here. Just commenting. Have they been around for a long time?

Denny McKinney · December 17, 2015, 06:54:20 PM

Thank You for the info on the Domino's ties.

Denny McKinney · December 17, 2015, 09:46:55 PM

Wash U 32 FU 30 @ half

Must be one of those " subconscious / unconscious" first half happenings.

Denny McKinney · December 17, 2015, 11:34:19 PM

Wash U over FU 74-69. I can't wait to hear Hopefan's recap of this one. Kody Ettinger 32 pts. Wow. Another one of those country kids, from down I-44.

WUPHF · December 17, 2015, 11:48:29 PM

Kody Ettinger was unconscious tonight scoring 32 points, going 6-9 from three point range and 4-5 from the charity stripe. Fontbonne struggled early, but Ettinger was the spark that got them back in to the game. Fontbonne fought hard and played a good game but Washington University eventually prevailed 74-69.

Fontbonne fought hard on the boards and I was surprised that they did not finish ahead of Washington University. Both teams finished with 35 rebounds, but the Griffins were +2 on offensive rebounds.

Washington University shot a dreadful 3-16 (18%) from three point range.

Denny McKinney · December 18, 2015, 01:15:35 AM

The biggest comment I got from someone who attended the game was they were shocked that Wash U could be ranked #21.

y_jack_lok · December 18, 2015, 01:39:19 AM

Quote from: Denny McKinney on December 18, 2015, 01:15:35 AM
The biggest comment I got from someone who attended the game was they were shocked that Wash U could be ranked #21.

That's what I thought when I saw the Wash U-Webster game, but three days later I saw the Wash U-Augie game, so I revised my thinking. Hearing abut the FU result has me wondering again. That's what makes this fun and unpredictable.

hopefan · December 18, 2015, 08:35:38 AM

It's all a mystery to me....so I'll ask the questions

How could Cody Ettinger not be playing on a regular basis prior to this? Will this earn him more minutes, and make it a little easier to overlook an early bad shot or turnover?

Trey Watkins.. ok he plays hard, but I'm still waiting for any sign at all of scoring... Williams is clearly in the lineup for Defensive purposes and to get the ball up the court.. Can Fontbonne afford to start two nonscorers?

How could Wash U not score every time going inside? Kissing was on the bench the whole game with foul trouble, Fontbonne's two BIG guys were ineffective, there were times when Fontbonne had 4 guards and an overmatched Jarrod Greenlee on the floor.. yet Hooks and Silverman Lloyd keep firing from 3's to the tune of 2 for 12... And Fontbonne's small lineup rebounds evenly with Wash U?

Dumb play of the year.. Wash U up 6, 10 seconds left, Fontbonne fouls with a grab at the ball... Wash U player (I won't name, wouldn't want to upset anyone) throws a vicious elbow and temper tantrum in response.. Wash U shoots two, and misses two, now Fontbonne has a chance for a 5 point play due to the flagrant foul, which if they complete, unfortunately still puts them down 1. They make only 1 and miss from 3 to lose by 5. But I was very disappointed in the reaction by the Wash U bench and some of the Wash U fans in protesting the call.. the play was blatant, and the player should have been benched and chastised for the foolish reaction....One fan yelled "they were banging him all night", so it's ok to react as the Wash U player did?... BALONEY..

I disagree with the negative response to Wash U's ranking... if you saw the Augie game, they deserve to be ranked...this is FOUR games now, in the last week and a half, where the underdog SLIAC teams have shown that if a very good team takes them for granted, it's possible for the SLIAC team to PLAY... (Spalding vs Centre, Mac vs Augie, Font vs Wash U, Webster vs Wash U).. the talent level and depth may not be equal, but if one team is playing all out, and another team is on glide, it can even things out....

Kudos to Fontbonne Coaching staff for having this team ready to play

WUPHF · December 18, 2015, 08:50:16 AM

Regarding the rankings, I have thought that as well and I said that a few times this season and last, but the mistake I often make is comparing them to what I think a Top 25 team should look like, rather than the rest of the current Division III schools. If you do not follow the best teams nationally, it sure is hard to know.

And simply comparing them to the way Fontbonne played Augustana...well they are on another level in depth and experience and probably talent.

If you believe that good teams have let downs, both this and Webster would have been candidate games for sure. No excuses though, honestly, except for a few minutes, Fontbonne played very well.

WUPHF · December 18, 2015, 10:17:37 AM

Quote from: hopefan on December 18, 2015, 08:35:38 AM
How could Wash U not score every time going inside? Kissing was on the bench the whole game with foul trouble, Fontbonne's two BIG guys were ineffective, there were times when Fontbonne had 4 guards and an overmatched Jarrod Greenlee on the floor.. yet Hooks and Silverman Lloyd keep firing from 3's to the tune of 2 for 12... And Fontbonne's small lineup rebounds evenly with Wash U?

Points well taken. No argument here, but a few thoughts:

Andrew Sanders at 6'5 scored 21 points.

Marcus Meyer is definitely a work in progress and he played 14 minutes. He has not played a lot and has not taken a lot of shots. That will come in time, I think.

Jared Greenlee played 34 minutes with Jeff Smith playing 6, Zimmerman playing 10 and Kissing did play 15 so the lineup was not that small, but again, no arguments here.

Luke Silverman-Lloyd and Clinton Hooks will need to take a lot of threes in conference play. I had no problem with them taking the shots last night. They had a lot of good looks. They went a combined 2-12. Had they been falling at their season average, this game looks a little different.

In regards to rebounds, I am not surprised by the result. The Griffins looked like they wanted it more.

hopefan · December 18, 2015, 10:41:27 AM

Fontbonne at Webster, Jan 6, a Wednesday night..... all of a sudden becomes a little more interesting to me than travelling to Eureka, or Jacksonville or Mt. Pleasant that night!!!

allamericanredhead · December 18, 2015, 11:34:56 PM

First time I have wandered into the Big Bend area to catch a FC game in a couple of years. How can the Ettinger kid not be playing more? He was a scoring machine tonight. From reading on here, it seems like the new coach has had a short rope on him and when he came in tonight and turned it over right away, I was looking for the hook but he stayed in and settled down and I don't remember him having another turnover the whole game. And I would bet WU had more TOs that FC, which would have to a first for at least the last 20 years.

FC looked good, but the game had a weird feel to it, like WU was never really in serious trouble, even though they could never pull away. Too many late night cram for finals sessions? They didn't act like they cared very much but also didn't act like they were ever in panic mode. I don't think FC ever took the lead and seemed like they were down 5 to 10 the whole second half. Every time they would cut in to the lead, WU seemed to wake up and push it back to 10. I just never once felt FC was going to win the game. Just a strange feel to the whole game.

I did think that FC got the breaks with the officiating. WU normally has always gotten the reputation calls in this "rivalry" so their fans were not happy leaving the game. I heard a lot of sour grapes coming the winning side. The one with the leather coat and the bad comb over, I will assume was the dad of a WU player, was really loudly belly aching in the lobby as I was on my way out.

Glad to see FC finally gave the long time assistant coach a chance. It seemed like they had a game plan, not just the typical "lets run up and down the floor and take crazy shots but make sure we don't waste any energy on defense" that for years drove many fans nuts. They looked fundamental and disciplined, so my hat off to the new coach. Now, if he can just keep some players around for more than one semester and shut down the revolving door, then maybe FC has finally found the right path.

Glad I got out to this one.