MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BunchTime]

Wow....Mac is on pace for close to 100 against a solid Eureka team!  Pretty impressive!  Thanks for the updates Mac...I have ESPN live updates up following other scores and there is not much difference between that and Mac's updates!  I wish all the scores were updated as such! 

[Mac Attack]

Final

MacMurray 106
Eureka 89

Mac led from wire to wire. Scored the first 12 points of the game and never looked back. Played with a sense of urgency we havn't this season. Will need to do it again Friday night against Greenville - and Saturday against Fontbonne. Highlanders played great team basketball tonight at both ends of the floor. Really needed this one - and they got it, against a cery well respected Eureka squad.

Coleman goes 18-18 free throws. Has to be some kind of school and/or SLIAC record.

Compton - 25 pts (season high)
Coleman - 24 pts
Whalum - 16 pts
Greene - 12 pts
Robertson - 9 pts
Bench was outstanding tonight. Michaels, Schmidt, Polston, Long, and Hipshir all played very, very well. Made a big difference.

Robertson held Tarpley to one point in the first half. He finished with 14, but almost all of it came late in the game when the Devils were all but done. Darnell had 32 and Peffer 21, most of it from long range. Eureka didn't pound it inside and take advantage of their size, choosing instead to play a perimeter game.

With Webster losing, Mac is right back in the title hunt - and with the sweep of Eureka, that has to be a key tie-breaker the Highlanders can put in their back pocket, if needed.

What a week-end coming up.

[BunchTime]

Webster loses tonight 85-80.  The one thing that sticks out is Spinner was 2-13 and 1-9 from 3 accompanied with 7 turnovers.  Not his best game!  And Daryl is making me a believer that Hoggatt should garner serious consideration for POY.  Tonight he had a monster game -- 32 points, 14 boards, and 2 blocks!  When he is not in foul trouble I believe he may very well be the toughest guy in this conference to stop.  I think when he does get in foul trouble he becomes less assertive and more content with just going with the flow.

[hopefan]

Sorry to notify that Hoggat suffered a possible concussion in the last couple minutes of the game... Webster had a great comeback, cutting a 12 point margin to 4 with the ball, but a crucial bad pass went across the midcourt line for over and back, Greenville scores on the next possession, and that's the game.
Spinner and Turk had rough nights, but the crucial was poor free throw shooting (16-28), and a defence that seemed a step slow all night - many open 3 point shots for Greenville .  Greenville had great balance in scoring - Taylor, Conquesr Simmons, Hensold all double figures and West 16 off the bench all in the 2nd half.   Greenville with 11 3s.

Sure hope Hoggat is ok

As most of you know by now, 4 teams with 4 losses (FU, EC, WU, Mac), GC with 5, WC with 6....  Everyone has big games this weekend  .. I've got a feeling a few miles to be driven this weekend......

[BunchTime]

Thanks for the update Hopefan, though not welcoming news that I want to hear!  Man, I sure hope they don't lose him --- though he has a couple of days to rest up!  It would be awfully tough to replace 20 and 8.  This conference never fails to have many of us holding our breaths right down to the wire.  Just when I thought Webster might create some seperation, as did Eureka too, they both lose and keep things interesting for about 6 teams!  Should make for a fun ending though!

[C-111087]

Well, I saw the Greenville-Webster game, and it was definitely a good one. It went down to the wire. Webster had a chance to keep it closer or possibly build on some leads it had, but atrocious free-throw shooting turned out to be their killer. Greenville did not shoot particularly well from the charity stripe either, especially down the stretch. Their defense was not much to marvel at either as Hoggat dominated for a good part of the game, and three-pointers were pouring in as well. In the end though, Webster began to finally go cold from beyond the arc, and Greenville was able to hold them off for a five point victory, 85-80. Congrats to the Panthers and hope that Hoggat is okay.

[fcnews]

The Sun shines bright in "Griffin Nation". Nice little three game run. beat GC 90-75, BC 93-75 and from the "who woullda thunk it" category, Beats WC 79-53.

Just like it was discussed in Florida, after the U of Tampa loss. They were told that they were the most dangerous 2-7 team in the conference and forget about the 2 last secon losses to EC and GC. Let's go home and get ourselves in position to win this thing. 8-2 in '07.

Tonight it looked like WC was not going to let Fogerty score 36 again. They doubled him and White went for 21 in the 1st half. White had 29 (7-11 from 3's) and 8 rebs. Fogerty and Branch helped in the 2nd Branch hit 4-5 3's and Fogerty ended with 16.

Kurz played well 17 pts and Davis was the only other player in double digits w/ 13 pts. and 3 rebs.

FU won the boards 40-26 (allowing just 7 Off. Rebs.) Had a season low 10 to's to WC's 12, and 11 steals to 4.

Hopefan I know you won't beleive it but McCoy had a great game and held Dygert to just 2 1st half points.

Now Prin. on Friday and off to Mac on Saturday. FU now holds tiebreakers on WC and has Free roll Saturday. With a home win in hand.

[sully309]

Mac 106, Eureka 89

Eureka was a step slow to start and fell behind 12-0. I didn't get the stats sent to me, but I believe the closest EC got was 21-18 before another 10-0 Mac run made it 31-18. EC played them pretty close the rest of the way, but the start was too much to overcome.

This game proved what I had already suspected, Mac's athleticism is a tough match up for my Red Devils. You would think Eureka would have been able to exploit the Mac interior "D" with their size, but the 12-0 deficit really seemed to turn the game into a perimeter game. Eureka did not get a good game from any of the big men and missed McComb's quickness and leadership as he sat out the entire 2nd half.

It wasn't all Eureka having a down game, of course. Hats off to Farrid Coleman going 18-for-18 at the line. That was mighty impressive to watch. As was the stellar play of the Mac bench, especially in the first half. Several key players were sitting out for Mac when they built their 19 point lead late in the 1st half. Compton was a huge factor, going 5-7 on three-pointers. But Eureka cannot be outrebounded 33-26 and allow the other team to go 36-42 at the line and still win games.

It was great to see Peffer return to form and Mark Darnall go off for 32 points, so there were some positives for Eureka. But quite frankly, this was not a good game for EC at all. But there is no reason to panic. Eureka played poorly against Mac the first time and rattled off 6 wins in a row.  I think tied for 1st place with 3 out of 4 at home the rest of the way sounds pretty good to me. Hopefully this game shows the Red Devils that nothing will be handed to them this season.

[Mac Attack]

MacMurray is in the same boat that Eureka is - tied for first with three of their last four games at home. But I think that and $1.00 will get you a cup of coffee somewhere. If Mac plays with the intensity and urgency it did last night, it has a chance to win the whole thing. If they don't, they could be a team that swept the potential regular season conference champions and still not make the post-season tournament. I still like Eureka's chances on winning out and finishing 14-4. They have the size, quickness, and ability to beat anybody, anywhere. Fontbonne, Webster, and MacMurray will have to finish strong, and I think they will - although Fontbonne still must play at MacMurray and at Webster. But, like Eureka, they have size, quickness, and talent. Very dangerous team right now. And Greenville still is in the hunt, with some crucial games on their plate - if they win out, they're in. As I've previously stated, if Mac gets to 12 wins, I think they're in. That means we have to win two of the next four. With Greenville, Fontbonne, and Maryville left at home and a trip to Blackburn, the Highlanders can do it. Just need to put it all together, like they did last night. My crystal ball says one team finishes 14-4, and two finish at 13-5, and one ends 12-6. And the post-season tournament will be played in Illinois - just a hunch.

[hopefan]

What a situation for everyone with the Darin Hoggat injury

First and foremost I'm sure everyone hopes he's ok - hoops not even taken into consideration.  For those not at the game, it was such a bizarre happening  -  yjak, Pantherpride, me  - all of us watching the game and we couldn't see how Darin got hurt.  He went up for a shot, got fouled withwhat looked like a normal shooting foul, I looked down at my scoresheet to mark the foul, look back up, and there's hoggat lying on the floor, bleeding from the mouth, nose area.  I simply have no idea if the contact that hurt him was from an opposing player, or if he hit his head on the court, or if he got stepped on/kicked after he was on the court.  There was definitly no sign of "foul play"  - as I said, the three of us couldn't tell how he ended up injured.

So  - wow - if he is out for the Eureka game, it's a darned shame...  Webster all of a sudden will be limited offensively, and undersized against a bigger Eureka team.  Let's face it, Hoggattt is a huge part of Webster's offense.  He scores when he's one on one, and generally speaking only when defenses collapse on him do Spinner and Kuhn score big.  Spinner probably could concentrate on scoring more, but Kuhn's game seems almost totally perimeter shooting after receiving the skip pass.   Somebody will really have to step up big - bigger than they have all year - if Hogget is out this weekend.  Turk will need to find his shot, Hredlicka will need to score more, Steigenmeier and Nicholds and Whitcomb will have to play much more vital roles, more minutes, fewer turnovers.

If anyone of our readers can keep us abreast of Hoggat's status, it would be appreciated.
Sure hope things are ok

[pantherpride06]

Final from Greenville, Ill.

Greenville 85, Webster 80

Greenville: 30-64 (46.9) FG // 11-23 (47.8) 3FG // 14-22 (63.6) FT

Simmons: 13 pts, 8 ast
Hensold: 15 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast
Conquest: 13 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast
Taylor: 9 pts, 0 reb
Williams: 3 pts, 3 reb

West: 16 pts
Hobbie: 5 pts, 5 reb
Ellis: 9 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast


Webster: 29-72 (40.3) FG // 6-28 (21.4) 3FG // 16-27 (59.3) FT
Stiegemeier: 0 pts, 0 reb, 5 fouls
Spinner: 6 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast, 7 to
Hoggatt: 32 pts, 14 reb
Regan, K: 3 pts, 3 reb, 7 to
Hrdlicka: 9 pts, 5 reb

Turk: 11 pts
Kuhn: 12 pts, 5 reb

Holy Smokes!  What a game.  Really neck & neck the entire time.  Not sure Webster had more than a 1 point lead the entire game.  Panthers turnovers are down a little with 19 but still had some outlandish mistakes that could have hurt.  Webster helped miss free throws early.  Greenville almost gave it back missing free throws of their own in the closing minutes.

Greenville has a nice core group of guys starting to show during this mini-win streak.  Hensold starting to come back around with a nice performace.  Simmons showing leadership on the floor with the 8 assist, Conquest doing his normal thing, Taylor lying in the weeds, Mr. West having his biggest game since the hand injury, Hobbie coming in and giving good minutes and points, and Ellis just monsterous on the boards.

With that in mind, going to Mac and trying to knock off another front runner will be tough.  Doing it at Mac isn't an easy task either.  I'm going to travel to watch the game.  MacAttack couldnt find it in himself to show himself I'm guessing or didn't want to??  If you want to find me, Ill be there yelling.  You know who I am!

Great weekend again in SLIAC Ball!

[Mac Attack]

I echo hopefan's thought concerning Hoggatt. Our prayers are with him. Concussions come in various forms or "grades." Depending on the "grade" and depending on how cautious Webster's athletic training staff (and the player's family) is - he may or may not play this week-end. It's not necessarily the first concussion that's the issue, depending on how serious it is. It's the potential of a second one that is cause for concern. Webster is cerainly a different team without him, but as I'm sure everyone agrees, the young man's health is the first priority.

I'll introduce myself, PantherPride. First game we got there late (driving rainstorm) and after blowing a 21 point lead and losing the game, I quite quite frankly wanted to hit the road. Big games for sure on Friday, with Greenville at Mac and Webster at Eureka. More on Saturday with Fontbonne coming to Jacksonville, Webster at Blackburn, and Westminster at Eureka. One would think the post-season picture would really come into focus on Sunday - but maybe not. The final week's games include a few more dandys - Fontbonne at Webster, Mac at Blackburn, Eureka at Greenville, and Westminster at Greenville. Will it go down to the last day? Will someone get in with 11 wins? Will Maryville, LCC, Blackburn, or Westminster sting somebody (again)? Wonder when the SLIAC had this many teams .500 or better this late in the season....

[fcnews]

Let's all pray that Darin is OK. No one wants to beat WU this way.

FU has 9 wins and still has games w/ Prin and LCC at home and MC, WU MU on the road. FU still needs to win one of three road games to get to 12 wins.

With FU holding tiebreakers over WC, this basically means the BlueJays need to win out. GC has @Mac, EC, @LCC with a huge final nite matchup with WC. GC must win 3 of 4.

If Trevor White is not the NOTY? You better come up with a strong canidate.

Not knowing the full situation with Darin Hoggett. I will say this. At FU any player with this type of injury would have to be cleared to play by the team's Doctor. I can tell you it would be a very remote chance of him playing Friday. Remember I am speaking totally from FU's perspective. A concussion with bleeding from the nose and mouth. The player does not have a whole lot to say in this situation. Or, the family and coaching staff. This would strictly be a medical and liability issue. All outside Doctors releases have to be approved by the team Doctor. Again, this is how would be handled at FU. I'm not speaking for the WU administration.

FU prayers are with Darrin!!!

[Mac Attack]

What are the requirements to be considered Newcomer of the Year? I would assume that would mean a first year player who hasn't played a second in the SLIAC prior to this year. White has to be considered a strong candidate. Farrid Coleman from MacMurray would be another.

Looks like Coleman either tied or broke a SLIAC record last night, depending on interpretation, for made free throws in a game. Reis from WU hit 18-20 against GC in 2000. Coleman hit 18-18 last night against Eureka. So Coleman tied the mark for most free throws made in a game, and broke the mark in terms of most free throws made in one game without a miss. Either way, a remarkable feat. With the SLIAC site missing two of MacMurray's games, Coleman's conference stats include 12th in ppg (White is 10th), 8th in assists, 9th in steals, 3rd in 3pt FG made, and 8th in assist/turnover margin. Pretty good year to date, and these numbers don't include two of Coleman's game.

[BunchTime]

Mac...you are correct in that the Newcomer of the Year is available to any first year SLIAC player regardless of year in school!