MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hotshot_8617]

My point is that outside of the SLIAC, most SLIAC teams struggle. Inside the conference it is a dog fight each and every year and I love watching the drama unfold each year.

I think it is great that the schools in the SLIAC are all very competitive with each other. Even Prin has its moments. I do think the money at some schools like Wash U is improtant to there success. Bigger budget, more assistant coaches = better recruiting.  Principia is a bit misleading because according to their web site, they accept no federal aid for their students; Pell Grants, ect.....so they have to have a big endowment to survive. I would say their athletic budget is more in line with a Maryville or Webster than a Wash U.

I am a SLIAC fan. I just don't believe in BS for the sake of BS. Let's call it like it is.

Once again I will stick to my original statement that Fontbonne is the best team in the conference by far. Most years over the past 20, they have had the best players. Several years ago they struggled and they didn't have as good of players. I am sure there are reasons, but the talent was down in 05 and 06. Now the talent is back up and so is Fontbonne. If that offends someone (FC) I am sorry. Just the way I see it.

I am pulling for the Griffins tonight because I want to see the Tournament in STL and not Fulton. Selfish, I know, but true. If Fontbonne wins tonihgt, I predict they will tie West. with three conf losses and the Tournament will be at Fontbonne as they will win the league by tie breaker. If the Bluejays win toningt, it is good as a done deal, trn in Fulton and I am too old to travel that far. Go Griffins.

Out the door to Maryville. Hope someone keeps us updated with scores from Fulton.

[y_jack_lok]

Congratulations to Coach Bunch on recording his 100th win as Webster's head coach. I notice, also, that this was promptly submitted to D3hoops.com as it is already posted in the "Milestones" section of the website.

Actually, I read it here and added it this morning once I was able to confirm it against his bio on Webster's site.

Thanks for taking the initiative on that one, Pat. And since you got a glimpse of the Webster athletics website, I'd just like to put in a plug for it as being among the best looking and user friendly athletics websites that I visit. You see a lot more of them than I do, but I think it is quite attractive and functional.

[fcnews]

Fontbonne wins by 12, after trailing by 8 at half. Chris Forrest did not dress and Rapp and Zeollner played sick.
Big stat of the night: FU 14 to's 1st half only 4 in the 2nd

Is this considered a quality road win. Considering WC was 13-2 going in and ranked #29 bu Massey.

[hopefan]

Another fun trip to Fulton - I was so pumped after two exciting games that the trip back to St Louis was a breeze (Yjak, I didn't come close to hitting a deer or fox this year)..... Unfortunately I don't feel quite as lively today.....

Enjoyed some time spent with Westmin  Associate AD  Terry Logue - very proud of his new floor and bleachers, and some nice words from him regarding my writings of last weekend.  Also got a short stint once again in the Presidential Box  -  Had to admire the spirit of Westmin President Forsythe as he sat with me surrounded by Fontbonne fans, but still cheered robustly for his Westmin Bluejays.

Ahhh  and the dance squad was great again.......

To the game...  as FC said big deficit right off the bat for the Griffs with Chris Forrest out with the bug  -  Coach Mckinney Started small with Ben Rapp taking Forests spot in the lineup - I didn't think this would work too well,  but instead of Westmin taking advantage and pounding the ball inside, they seemed to go more perimeter than they did vs Maryville.  Westmin looked to be in great shape at halftime, up 8, and fogerty with 3 fouls, Storandt with 2.  They maintained that level of lead for several minutes in the 2nd half - Fontbonne needed a spark and they got it in Frosh Nolan Zoellner - Three hoops. 2 of them 3's in just a couple minutes, and Fontbonne fought back to tie at 49 with 12 minutes left - they took the lead for the first time at 54-51 on a 3 point play by Brian Fogerty, but a warnicke 3 tied it at 9:30.  Rapp and Branch had big 3's to extend the Font lead to 6 at 6:30, Frank Sheetz had a nifty reverse layup to keep it at 6 at 5:30....  the play that pretty much sealed it was at 4 minutes, Fontbonne up 6, a scramble for a loose ball, Mike Riva is fouled AND Jason Warnicke gets a bad cut on his nose when diving for the ball.  Warnicke has to leave the game not to return (he had been Westmin's main 3 pt threat) (hopefully we're not talking anything more serious than some stitches for warnicke, not a break) and Riva,who has seen little action this year sticks both Free throws  -   Fontbonne up 8, and it never got closer.

Super game by Brian Fogerty (though some DUMB fouls) he really played smart offensively and pounded the boards, and Josh Branch shot very well.  Key to the victory though was great play off the Bench - Rapp came in to start, and after a pretty weak opening half where he was clearly bothered by Westmin's defensive quickness, adjusted and played well in the 2nd half - Riva and Sheetz had critical hoops/ fts, and Zoelner keyed the comeback with his 3 hoops.  Fonbonne surprisingly won the battle of the boards despite Fogerty's and Storandt's foul troubles - and the team shot very well.

As for Westmin - not a good shooting night - not many opportunities around the basket - a credit to Fontbonne's defense.  A couple people who played so well on Saturday disappeared for one reason or another last night  -  especially Mike Crawford, who wasn't heard from until late in the game when he hit 2 jumpers.  Crawford, Kueschel, Millard just didn't get it done around the basket - only Vislay was productive.....

Jake Vislay - wow - this kid is really something.........

[hopefan]

Site of the night  -  FC's new do   -  better lookin' than ever!!!

[fcnews]

Anybody with info on Jason Warnecke's condition please post. It appear to FU trainer that some reconstructive surgery maybe required and the replacement of two teeth lost.

Our prayers are with you young man.

Fontbonne's Chris Forrest was taken by his parents to the hospital in Sprinfield immediately following the game. Great time for FU to have a week off.

"Locks of Love" - Hopefan

[hopefan]

Wow  - Warnicke teeth too  -  that's a real shame - play looked pretty innocent, he must have hit the floor hard - let's hope he can recover quickly.

[juniormint]

From a team source:

Warncke suffered a concussion.  Four breaks in his nose.  Possible fracture in eye socket.  It is unclear if he had emergency surgery last night. 

[fcnews]

Just a note on ptrvious posts. It may be of note that FU was the conferences best in defensive FG%. Also ranked among the nations top 30 in the same category.

True it is not always the case.

[hopefan]

wow that's awful - wonder what the recovery time is - wonder if he'll be able to play with a mask - as I said, the play was pretty innocent, Fontbonne's Mike Riva was going for the lose ball towards the baseline, Warnicke kind of dove by him, and got to the ball first, but must have flat out hit the floor face first  -  a real shame.... I know the Westmin family will take good care of him.....

[fcnews]

Warnecke was whistled for a foul on the play and big Mike Riva canned to big ft's to strech the lead. From this posters point of view, I think the major portion of the damage could of occured because he hit the floor face first. The FU trainer said it was the worst broken nose he's ever seen.

FU was able to get the Bluejays in to a an up tempo style the second half. This is not WC's style. FU shot 73% from the field in the second half and 6-9 from 3's. FU shot 61% for the night compared to WC's 42%. WC managed to get off 16 more shots, mostly off of first half turnovers by FU.

Pretty close to a sell out at the newly designed gym. I like the look.

WC goes on the road to EC. WU is at GC. In Saturday's big matchups.

[theoneandonly]

sounds like this was a pretty intense game. Fontbonnes player went down, how is he doing now? any updates other than what has already been written on here, anyone know about surgery or anything yet?

[juniormint]

The player who went down is Westminster guard Jason Warncke.  An update: he did not have to have surgery, three breaks in the nose, will be back for the season at some point. 

Good news. 

[hopefan]

Thanks Mint  -  we're all concerned - please feed us any inf as you receive it....

[Pat Coleman]

Congratulations to Coach Bunch on recording his 100th win as Webster's head coach. I notice, also, that this was promptly submitted to D3hoops.com as it is already posted in the "Milestones" section of the website.

Actually, I read it here and added it this morning once I was able to confirm it against his bio on Webster's site.

Thanks for taking the initiative on that one, Pat. And since you got a glimpse of the Webster athletics website, I'd just like to put in a plug for it as being among the best looking and user friendly athletics websites that I visit. You see a lot more of them than I do, but I think it is quite attractive and functional.

It's like all the other ICS sites, yes. There's probably 50 schools using them and a similar number using Presto.