MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Greenville 110 Elmhurst 98. Elmhurst threatened all 2nd half. GC pulled away last 2 minutes. 2 bombs from Kenny Greene were the dagger. Elmhurst Rhode brought them back in 2nd but went out with knee injury with 8 minutes left. Elmhurst 43 turnovers also shoot poorly from line.

[hopefan]

Saw Rhode after the game. Did not look good. Limping badly.

[hopefan]

Yikes.  Half Westminster 41 Milikin 20    Westminster shooting VERY well.

[WUPHF]

Webster was in the game against Drury, Washington University and now IWU. Down by two points with 10 left to play...

[WUPHF]

IWU pulling away...

[hopefan]

Westminster.... Obrien, Tabb, and a bunch of good guards... Up 24 with 6 mins left.  That's enough for today

[Titan Q]

Webster was in the game against Drury, Washington University and now IWU. Down by two points with 10 left to play...

And definitely not a fluke.  Webster is a good team.

IWU coach Ron Rose talked about the Gorloks on WJBC's pregame yesterday (about 21:20 on the video player - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/iwu/portal.htm?eventId=318782&streamType=video).  After watching Webster, I'd echo everything he said there about how challenging their matchup zone is, their athleticism and quickness, how tough a matchup Hunter Ward is, etc.

I don't know what the rest of the SLIAC looks like this year, but I have to believe Webster will be right in the middle of the championship picture.  They've now lost to NCAA D2 Drury by 7, #20 Wash U. by 1, and Illinois Wesleyan by 13 in a game that was just a 2-point margin with 9:58 to play.  The Gorloks definitely create challenges for opponents on both ends of the floor.

(Postgame interviews with Andy Stempel and Ron Rose start at about 2:00:00 - many comments about Webster there as well.)

[WUPHF]

Agreed on Webster...not a fluke...

This could be one of the more interesting years for the SLIAC.  Webster is very good but probably not the best team in the conference...  Time will tell.

[iwumichigander]

Re: Webster vs IWU. Did not see the entire game but Webster looked good.  Athletic, quick and from my viewpoint not spelling team with an "i".  Defensive movement was better than good.  Lacks some size.  Needs more work on the offensive end which, if they put it together a little more, are going to be a tough out.
I thought IWU was going to give this one up but to their credit found their poise , made a run and put the game away.

[hopefan]

Westmin beats Elmhurst this afternoon... with a Greenville win over Millikin tonight, the SLIAC will SWEEP the SLIAC-CCIW Challenge on the Men's side.....don't ask about the women's side, which was totally lopsided in the CCIW's favor.  Whoops, had to modify this statement..Greenville women beat Millikin women on Saturday night!

AND

Steven Soukup goes for 40 in Iowa Wesleyan's double OT win over Marian (Wisc.)

AND

Kendall Davis goes for 37 in Eureka's win over Rockford!!!  Box Score amusement in that game.. look at the starters... 3 starting guards got 47 shot attempts, 2 starting forwards got 5... best bet for those forwards is to hit the offensive boards.. don't think there are going to be too many entry passes coming their way!!!    But that is not a criticism, rather a + for doing what it takes to win... anxious to see EC play!!

[hopefan]

Webster loses to Aurora by double digits... I've stated my opinion which is 180 degrees from TQ and IWUMichigander... (NO offense, you 2)... I look at a couple of the individual lines in the box score and just shake my head....

[hopefan]

Feeling bad for MacMurray as Coach Creal is as passionate about the game as any coach I know... the graduations, the loss of 3 juniors to be who would have contributed (each for non-basketball reasons), the loss of starting point guard Mike Cameron to injury has decimated the amount of available talent... IWU on Tuesday could be ugly, but hopefully things can come together in the Cavallo Classic next weekend..

Also VERY disappointed in Principia's start... the talent is there and there is actually a little depth... but looking at the box scores so far with the poor 3 point shooting despite the coaching change... I've got my fingers crossed that things can still get better by the time conference games begin... How does Justin Ball get only 9 and 7 shot attempts this weekend? I will say the box today vs St. Scholastica showed significant points from the paint and far less 3 point attempts.. that's the right direction...

[y_jack_lok]

Webster loses to Aurora by double digits... I've stated my opinion which is 180 degrees from TQ and IWUMichigander... (NO offense, you 2)... I look at a couple of the individual lines in the box score and just shake my head....

Curious to know whose lines in the box score you are referring to. From the box score it seems that the story of the game could be about defense by both sides. Webster turned the ball over 20 times which could be tough defense by Aurora. Aurora hit 16 of 32 three pointers, which suggests to me great ball movement to get open looks against the zone. Zones seem vulnerable to this. But I was only following live stats, so would need to hear from someone who was there.

Message me if you don't want to post your thoughts here.

[hopefan]

Webster loses to Aurora by double digits... I've stated my opinion which is 180 degrees from TQ and IWUMichigander... (NO offense, you 2)... I look at a couple of the individual lines in the box score and just shake my head....

Curious to know whose lines in the box score you are referring to. From the box score it seems that the story of the game could be about defense by both sides. Webster turned the ball over 20 times which could be tough defense by Aurora. Aurora hit 16 of 32 three pointers, which suggests to me great ball movement to get open looks against the zone. Zones seem vulnerable to this. But I was only following live stats, so would need to hear from someone who was there. 

Message me if you don't want to post your thoughts here.

hopefan will put it out there... exactly what I mentioned before... Hunter Ward gets FOUR 2 point shot attempts. In my mind, that's like saying, "was he even dressed for the game?" Ward should watch Romo Tabb of Westmin or Shane Smith of Greenville... Athletically, the 3 are in the same boat.. SUPERIOR.. but compared to those 2, Hunter stands around on offense 75% of the time.. those two don't. Adam Etter, your best Potential scorer from the top of the key, 2 shot attempts... the sub guards, Odjo and Dortch, who are not particularly good shooters, get 8 and 6 attempts.. and the two guys that really play.. Moore and Milligan...aren't taking care of the ball and turn it over 10 times.  In my mind, this is just a continuation of last year, and that wasn't pretty... I don't know, maybe the competition was too good the first 3 games, but Bunch deserves better...

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Thanks. I agree that it would be nice to see Etter taking more shots.