MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Titan Q]

TBF, I posted this on CCIW Chat after the scrimmage (Nov. 1)...

IWU defeated Blackburn 97-63 in the two varsity halves this evening.  Scoring was...

Zach Freeman 20
Keelan Amelianovich 17
Adam Dauksas 17
Chris Jones 14
Jason Fisher 12
Steve Schweer 4
Mike McGraw 5
Darius Gant 3
Andrew Freeman  3
Matt Arnold 2


Blackburn hit a 3 to start the 1st Half, but quickly it was 23-7 Titans and never a contest after that.  IWU just had way too much size and athleticism for the Beavers.

[hopefan]

I noticed in the box score of the Blackburn - Western Illinois game (Blackburn was beaten BIG) That two crucials for them did not play - Essington and Barnett - with Djedovich, I figured they were the team to beat in the SLIAC this season - Where are they??

[Titan Q]

Here is that boxscore...

http://www.wiuathletics.com/boxscores/2136a.htm

Western Illinois 80
Blackburn 38

WIU is improving as a program - they're picked to finish 4th in the Mid-Con this season.  Oral Roberts, Valparaiso, and IUPUI are picked ahead of them but the Leathernecks seem to have the "sleeper" tag.  I guess they better be improved - they host Indiana and they play on the road at Kansas!

Give the Beavers credit - they scrimmaged the #1 rated team in Division III, played an exhibition vs a DI, and in the non-conference they face Millikin, Wash U., D2 Missouri-St. Louis, and Aurora.  They'll be ready for the SLIAC schedule. 

[Mac Attack]

Watched MacMurray scrimmage Eurkea today, at Eureka. Highlanders took early lead but gradually fell behind. Lots of substituting for Mac, very little for the Devils. Eureka led 56-36 after first 20 minutes. Second 20 minutes completely different story. Mac's shots started falling and the defensive pressure started wearing down the Devils. Highlanders finished the second 20 minutes ahead 50-30... so it was 86-86 after 40 minutes. Highlanders won the "OT" 13-7. Several players looked good for the Highlanders, including Whalen, Hipshir, Compton, and two freshmen - Greene and Robertson played very well, particularly on defense and rebounding. Robertson led the team in scoring. Mac played five in, five out every two minutes, and played about 20 kids. Although there were a few poor decisions on one pass, one shot for 25 feet, I was impressed with the ball movement and the half court defense. Room for improvement with ball-handling.  Highlanders open next Friday night at Millikin.

[hopefan]

Maryville plays an exhibition vs St Louis U on Monday night at the Savis.

I'd love to see Maryville be competitve; ie within 30, so as to open the eyes of the blind St Louis public to the positives of D3 hoops, but it will be tough. I saw St Louis U vs UMSL and they were good vs a fair D2 team - it could even be more lopsided vs Maryville.

Of more importance to the team is to get pumped for the weekend doubleheader of SLIAC vs HCAC.  It's a major opportunity for SLIAC contenders Maryville and Webster to show off the conference level of play vs Preseason 1-2 teams in the HCAC Transy and Hanover.  Anyone who reads this should drum up business on campus - it'd be great to see some kind of crowd at these games!

[hopefan]

Maryville goes down to SLU in last night's exhibition, 81-52, but what an upper for Maryville!!! 
After a dismal first half, which went worse than I expected as nothing would drop for Maryville, they came back (albeit vs the Billikin Bench players and freshmen) to actually win the 2nd half!  a number of positives bode well :
1) the return of Steve Bash  -  playing as he did two years ago when he was conference MVP, Bash worked his tail off against the larger and quicker Billikins.  time after time he made strong moves to the hole, only to be rejected - those shots won't get blocked at the D3 level - he looked GREAT.
2) Just as impressive was Matt Regan - shot lights out in the 2nd half, but just as impressive was his fearlessness going to the basket - again, a number of shots blocked or altered that will be layups against D3 competition.
3) Ryan Klein played as he did two years ago -when he plays with Bash, he no longer has to be the go to guy, turnovers and forced shots are reduced significantly.  I still feel he has great natural talent and could be a 12-15 pt per game, 8-10 rebound per game player.
4)Depth - bench players looked better than last year - Rezebeck looked solid in the middle and healthy after all the injuries last year - Steinke, McCarthy give the needed added size off the bench.  Elwell and Hebl at guards starting are solid (though will Hebl be of better service off the bench?)  Holland and Turpin flowed into the game nicely last night.

Really looking forward to the weekend games vs Hanover and Transy - will be interesting to see if Maryville (and Webster) can play at that level.

Fellow SLIAC fans - the season starts in 3 Days - does NO ONE SHARE MY ENTHUSIASM???   Let's get this board cookin'!!!!!!!

[Mac Attack]

Mac fans are ready to go!!! Players and coaches have worked very, very hard in the off-season and it shows. This will be a team that plays hard every night, will never quit, and when they shoot well, the Highlanders will be right there at the end. Not a big team, but certainly a team that will play 94 feet for 40 minutes. They will press, they will fast break, and they will score. The defense is MUCH improved, as is the ball movement and rebounding. Lack of size will be a factor, but several newcomers hit the boards hard at both ends of the floor. Look for solid performances from Compton, Whalum, Boyer, Kowa, Hipshir and Eberhart. Rookies to watch are Robertson, Sanders, Greene, Workman, and Birch. Millikin will be a tough first game opponent, but the Highlanders are ready to go "full throttle."

[yjacklok]

"so as to open the eyes of the blind St Louis public to the positives of D3 hoops"

I'm glad someone else recognizes this problem. The SLIAC schools, and the conference, need to be more agressive about garnering media coverage. I'm sure it's an uphill battle, but it's one that needs to be fought.

[fcnews]

Your SLU and some Wash U, look at the poor coverage UMSL get's and their our D2 local representitive. Could it just be a bad sports publication and media atmoshpere . Fontbonne has tried hard to get it's programs covered.

[hopefan]

Thought I'd see who is playing this weekend:

As already mentioned, Webster and Maryville open the weekend with a 1-2 punch of Transy and Hanover from the HCAC.  These could be very good games.  I'm intimidated however after reading TitanQ's praises of Hanover in the CCIW and HCAC rooms.   Any win for the SLIAC teams in these games will be big.

Blackburn and Greenville play in a tourney at Dominican - vs Dominican and Concordia Ill.   I notice the Blackburn Roster and the introductory article on the Blacburn site has no mention of 2nd team all conf guard Essington or leading Rebounder Nick Barnet -two huge hits if they're gone.

Fontbonne plays at a tourney at Moody Bible in Chicago - opening against Milwaukee Engineering.

Westminster hosts their Classic  -facing Hendrix and Rhodes of the SCAC

MacMurray opens at CCIW opponent  Milikin

Principia doesn't get started until the weekend after Thanksgiving.

[iwumichigander]

Hopefan - Hanover is every bit as good as Titan Q notes.  You can always expect Hanover to play tough defense, hit threes and be disciplined on both ends of the court.  Hanover plays bigger and stronger than their size.  Very good in their spacing and positioning under the boards.

Transy is also very good and their recent addition to the HCAC makes that conference a little tougher for everyone in it.

[hopefan]

Funny - all the D3 games I've seen back to when D3 started - I've never seen Hanover or Transy - I look forward to the weekend!  (Note why I haven't seen them - they never played out east in the 70s'; They never played Hope in the 80's, I don't think they played Wash U in the 90's, and I've gotten pretty lazy past 2000)

[yjacklok]

Re: local media coverage of SLIAC sports. Not only do we compete with SLU and Wash U, we also compete with Mizzou, Illinois and all the high schools in the area. If Fontbonne has been aggressive in attempting to get its sports covered and been unsuccessful, then things ae even worse than I thought. I'd be interested in hearing the persepctive of the SLIAC conference staff on this matter.

[hopefan]

On the other hand yjaklock, compare the activity on our SLIAC board with the activity on some of the other boards -- CCIW, MWC, MIAA all extremely active - the SLIAC board pales in comparison.  Last season as I remember it, there were only 3 regular posters on the board - a fellow from Webster whom we haven't heard from lately, FCnews, and myself.  I Try to keep things flowing (see how much I've posted since last February) but rarely does anyone chime in.  At least it appears we now have a MacMurray fan in MacAttack, and hopefully yourself.  No one from Blackburn has responded to my questions regarding their missing personnel, and I don't know that we've ever heard from Westminster or Prin.  Once in a blue moon we get a Gville rep.  Do you go to SLIAC games?  If so, write 'em up here this season.  WELCOME

[yjacklok]

Yes, I go to SLIAC games -- mostly Webster. This will be my 5th season. While it's interesting to read the dialogue about what's happening in the conference -- what teams and players are doing well, etc. -- I'm also interested in the bigger picture. The SLIAC is among the weakest D3 athletic conferences in the country, seldom sending a team past the first round of NCAA tournaments. Witness what happened to Fontbonne's volleyball team and Webster's soccer teams last weekend. So what has to happen to get the conference moving up the ladder and onto a more level competitive footing with other conferences around the country? I don't know. Hopefully somebody wiser and more experienced will have some ideas. That's why I wondered in my last post what the SLIAC conference staff might have to say about this.