MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[pantherpride06]

Nice shoutout by coachwgh.  Always feel good about those.

[Mac Attack]

First class comment from a first class coach and program. The MacMurray players had nothing but praise for the LeGrange team, facilities, and experience.

"Playing to the death" is a Coach Hettinga trademark. His teams were that way at Olivet and they are that way at MacMurray. His teams maximize their talent and then perfect ways to "equalize" other factors - such as hustle, team defense, good ball movement, making the extra pass to get a better shot, offensive rebounding, etc. If a player buys into that philosophy, he will have every chance to contribute. If he doesn't, it would probably best to focus on another activity besides basketball. That's the way it should be.

LaGrange was ahead by 26 early in the second. But by never giving up and "playing to the death,", MacMurray cut it to four with four minutes left and trailed by only four with 55 seconds left. That's all you need to know about this season's edition of MacMurray's team.

Thanks again, coachwgh!

[fcnews]

That is obviously a major typo, Mac. FU has never been confused with Defense University.

[hopefan]

    fc   HOWEVER  - It was a good laugh to start the morning with 

See you over in the dungeon tomorrow afternoon!

[fcnews]

We'll see ya there Hope. Also, "IF" FU hosts, I'll have the dinner catered with wine and party favors. LOL

[Mac Attack]

Wonder where the NCAA got is information on Fontbonne?

[hopefan]

PURPLE hats, napkins and paper plates!!

[pantherpride06]

If Greenville host, I'll take you all to either Crossroads (All you can eat Chicken on Wednesday), Brietes Again, or the Powhatan....  All pretty good.  I may attend the dinner even if Greenville doesn't make it if you guys dont mind!

Pride

[hopefan]

actually had a thought of going all the way up to Eureka to see Maryville play Eureka, then on up to chicago to see UC and Wash u, but getting home at 2 or 3 just is not appealing.

So  off to the equally entertaining confines at Blackburn to see Fontbonne, then perhaps a stop on the way home to see see a drop in class and watch D2 UMSL vs SIUE 

Everyone have a great time at the games and give us a report - but you won't hear from me until later tonight.

[Mac Attack]

Be careful, hopefun. One of these days we'll get you up to Highlander Land for a Mac game!

Will report later this evening on the MacMurray-Westminster game. I almost feel like if MacMurray doesn't win today, the win at Webster will be cancelled out. But on the other hand, it's a long conference season and there will be plenty of ups and downs along the way - so it's probably best not to put too much currency on any one game this early in conference play. I think 12 wins will get a team into the post-season tournament. With a win today and Principia coming up, MacMurray could be a third of the way there with a win today. Let's hope for the best.

Looking forward to game reports from everyone tonight.

[pantherpride06]

Good luck to everone.  I'll report later as well.  I am in charge of Game Management today so I can't report the score every 3-5 mins like I usually do.  Ill get half-time reports and ending score and write-up later!  Have safe travels.  We'll see you all later tonight!

[hopefan]

I'll also mention we won't hear a report from Yjak  -  he's off to the southeast watching a weekend of basketball at his alma mater, Randolph Macon.

Mac you had me in the mindset that if the BC - FU game was a dog, I'd dash up to Jville and catch the end of the Mac game, but Yahoo says 49 miles , an hour and 20 minutes from Carlinville  -  too far.

Funny thing is, long ago (1993-94), my first son got a visit to Mac (early 90's) for football/basketball - he opted for (whoooda thought) Hope.   He went up himself, had a good time.... but the program was hurtin'

[Beaver_SID]

~Report from BC~
Fontbonne def. BC 97 78

Fontbonne came out firing, BC came out flat.

All 5 of fontbonne's starters score in double digits.
Storandt - 13pts, 6-9, 9rebs, 1 blk
McCoy- 17 pts, 4-7, 3-4 from 3pt., 6-6 FT, 4 rebs
Branch- 15pts, 6-14, 3-10 3pt, 6rebs, 4 ass
Fogerty- 22 pts, 9-12, 1-1 3pt, 3-5 ft, 8 rebs
White- 24 pts, 9-15, 4-7 3pt, 2-2 FT, 8rebs,

Fogerty and White led the Griffins, with most of their points coming in the first half.

BC has shown they have some real problems thus far.
Howard- 16pts, 7-16, 0-6 3pt, 2-2FT
Hammond- 22pts, 7-17, 4-9 3pt, 4-4 FT, 2blks
Allan- 4 pts, 2-7, 0-3 3pt, 4 rebs, 3steals
Dehority- 9pts, 3-3, 1-1 3pt, 2-2 FT (only played 9 minutes)
but yet....
Smith- 1-7, 0-1 3pt 2pts, and played 18 minutes

FU-had only 6 points scored from their bench

FU- 41 rebs
BC- 29 rebs

FU- 58.7% from the floor
BC- 43.5%

FU- 45.8% from 3pt.
BC- 24%

FU- 75% from the line
BC- 92.3%

BC has some real issues to address
1) Hamond not using his height to help the team on defense. I havent seen Zeb play defense all year. plus, I havent seen any help underneath on offense.

2) Allan is ice cold, he seems to become complacent in being the passer instead of the shooter.

3) Players are in the game doing nothing but running up and down the court. Missing shots, not going for rebounds, giving up the baseline.

I dont know, but if things dont shape up in Carlinville, there will be nobody else to blame except the Administration. All the way from Coach to AD to higher adminisration.

1 new AD + 2 New Coachs (Basketball and Football)= losing seasons after good ones, with having key players returning....

[Mac Attack]

MacMurray 73   Westminster 70

Terrific game. You missed a good one, hopefan. MacMurray grabbed the lead early and led the entire first half. Biggest lead was nine points. Robertson and Greene hurt the Jays inside, and Whalum did the damage outside. Davis was strong for WC early, especially against Mac's man to man. When Mac switch to a 2-3 zone, he would disappear. Mac led by two at the break. Highlanders led for most of the second half, but Jays went ahead by two with about five minutes to play. As was the case in the Webster game, Mac responded with some outstanding play at both ends. Whalem and Compton hit BIG shots for Mac down the stretch. WC found the range from the 3pt arch to get back in the game. They have several nice shooters who REALLY warmed up in the second half. Whalum hit 3-4 free throws in the last 15 seconds. Jays missed a wide open 3 pt at the buzzer that would have tied it.

Davis is a very solid post player for WC - but he seemed to have issues with some of his teammates and at point got into a pushing and shoving match with a Mac player. Lots of talent, but not sure how focused he was......

Great team effort for MacMurray and a big, big win. With Principia coming up, Mac might be looking at a 4-0 start in SLIAC play. Two of the wins have come against teams that the coaches picked to finish at or near the top.

But not all is good news. Mac lost Greene to what appeared to be a bad ankle injury with about 12 minutes left in the game and he didn't return. Robertson also looked like he may have injured his hip or back, and missed several second half minutes. Mac was able to win by going deep into their pretty thin bench. With tough games coming up next Friday and Saturday at Greenville and Fontbonne, these two players will have to be close to 100%.

Congratulations to Coach Hettinga and the Highlanders for their 3-0 SLIAC start and their fifth win in their last six games. You have a lot to be proud of - and a lot to look forward to.

[Mac Attack]

From the SLIAC scoreboard:

Saturday, January 6   
Eureka d. Maryville * 75-63
Greenville d. Principia * 91-58
Webster d. Lincoln Christian * 65-63
MacMurray d. Westminster * 73-70
Fontbonne d. Blackburn * 97-78

Standings

MacMurray 3-0
Greenville 3-0
Eureka 3-0
Webster 2-1
Westminster 1-1
Fontbonne 1-2
Maryville 1-2
Principa 0-2
Lincoln Christian 0-3
Blackburn 0-3