MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Obviously, Game,  I hope YOU are right.....  I'm rooting for a SLIAC win as much as you....

[Gregory Sager]

I guess I was pointing one finger at myself. I had high hopes. I heard Westminster had the size to match up. They beat Elmhurst on the road.

Not to be a killjoy, but Elmhurst is 6-15 on the year and is currently in last place in the CCIW with a 1-9 record.

[hopefan]

Furbug - remember to find out about Nick Jones if you're on campus today!!!!   I'm thinking of going over to fulton on Wednesday and your answer could help me to decide whether to go or not!!!!    Anyone else on the nick Jones question would be appreciated!!!

[ec_fan14]

Saturdays EC vs Webster game was very entertaining. Eureka got a big win to almost secure them a tournament spot, now the only question is where will it be held.  Best guess looks like it will be in Fulton with Westminster only having 1 loss with 4 left to play.

1st half Eureka came out with intensity.  They definitely threw the 1st punch taking a quick 14-3 lead on the gorlocks.  Nick Jones hurt his hand and from what i heard it is probably broken.  There was a play when Zasada stole the ball and went on a fast break vs Jones.  Jones contested the shot and kind of pulled his hand down awkwardly.  He didnt play the rest of the game.  The first 5 min of the game were played at Eureka's pace.  After that Webster slowed it down and got back in the game going up 1 into half time

2nd half Eureka came out and jumped on Webster again just like they did to start the game.  I dont think the Red Devils trailed the whole second half once they got the lead.  Drew Moore from Webster had a chance to step up and prove his was 1st team all conf. material and really disappeared the whole game.  With Jones out I thought he would have done more than he did ( 2-8 fg 8pts 5reb).  I would definitely move him off my 1st team list.

Westminster gets a scare vs Greenville but hangs on.  Mac loses to Spalding and moves into a tie with EC for 2nd, not sure who would have the tie break 

Looks like its gonna be 1st-WC 2nd/3rd-EC MC 4th-WU unless Greenville can win out and hope Webster loses 2 games....without Jones it could happen they play Westminster Spalding and Fontbonne still

[hopefan]

Thanks Ec, I guess that answers the question regarding Jones - now it's a question regarding how severe the injury is and whether he'll be able to play regular season or conference tourney...

Also, the tiebreak between Mac And eureka will be inconsequential if things end that way  -  they'll play each other on a neutral court (Westmin) no matter what a tiebreaker says as the 2-3 teams.

IF Jones is out, Amazingly, Greenville could still have a shot at 4th place....  Webster is two up on them with 4 left, but with Westmin, Prin, Spalding, and font left, and no Jones, Webster will likely be 1 and 2 with Fontbonne left.  At the same time, if Greenville beats Prin and Blacburn, losing to Mac, they'll have picked up a game.  SO, on the last night, if Greenville beats Eureka, and Webster lost to Fontbonne, they'd finish tied, and Greenville has the tiebreaker as Webster lost to Mac twice.    It's not too likely, but certainly possible.......

BUT   let's hope Jones is ok    Furbug, we need a prognosis......

[iwumichigander]

I guess I was pointing one finger at myself. I had high hopes. I heard Westminster had the size to match up. They beat Elmhurst on the road. Is walking through their conference and then the regional ranking. I had my hopes pretty high. Just would like to see a draw without a #1 in front of it.

My Bad. I thought this would be a better team to get a good draw with a only one in region loss. Just looking to put a W in the SLIAC column.

Does Westminster really have a chance to win "a" NCAA game? Are we getting our hopes to high? The win at Elmhurst showed they could go on the road. And, I know they are down this year.

In fairness, I would not use Elmhurst as a comparison this season.  Currently (6-15, 1-9 CCIW), Elmhurst did not have the talent in the pipeline to replace their very talented graduating senior class; nor, is it apparent it has resolved the lack of an effective point guard from last season.

As to #8 Regional Ranking (through games as of Jan 31), I have doubts based upon historical SLAIC results that Westminister will continued to get ranked.  The OWP and OOWP rankings against remaining SLAIC opponents simply does not work in Westminister's favor.

SLIAC will get one team in the NCAA tournament, its automatic qualifier.  From a conference perspective, you should want to be sent out of region where you will have better match-up possibilities and thereby avoid the Midwest, Great Lakes or West Regional teams in the first round. 

[ECsliac15]

OK... as for Nick Jones..saturday against you EC Jones was chasing Zasada after a steal they both went up Jones pulled his hand down early after it collided with the back of the rim. He sat the rest of the game out and went and got x-rays after the game. they confirmed he broke his middle and ring finger on his shooting hand is likely out for season. As for the game friday i think defensively without Jones WU is a different team prior to his injury Kameron Bell had barely touched the ball after the injury no matter who was on him he seemed to get whatever he wanted. however Drew Moore did not guard him. As for Moore i agree with ecfan he was unimpressive especially with Jones out. its going to be interesting to see how it goes for WU the rest of the year. also i say a comment about ortwerth not playing much either i think that was due to him just struggling the second team for WU came in and are really what kept WU in it until EC caught fire. looking forward to see how the WU GC race for fourth will pan out.

[hopefan]

Something that was just pointed out to me last night is that Fontbonne is also only 2 games behind Webster in the loss column...  indeed, if Webster falters with the loss of Nick Jones, they too have the opportunity to rise....  And Fontbonne's win over Westminster would be key in most tie breaker situations.  Webster's performance against Westminster may not tell us much as they continue to get used to the loss of Nick Jones (assuming info on these pages is correct), but shockingly, the Game vs Prin on the 16th could be huge.  Do they have enough offensive punch to beat the 9th place team..... 

What has to happen for Webster to stay in the 4th playoff spot?  Two guys have to take over... Drew Moore and Scott Restoff....  They both have to become aggressive offensive players and go to the basket.   Ortworth is doing all he can, if he gets his 10 or 12 points, I'm happy.. but Restoff and Moore are the guys who have to step up..    Anything from Bradfish and Meeh is a bonus.

Obviously if Webster plays down to 8 losses by going 1 and 3 the rest of the way, Fontbonne and Greenville at least have a chance......

[hopefan]

C'mon guys....  this is the fun time of the year.....

[ac slater]

Congrats to Ky Millard on having the most wins than any player in the history of Westminster men's basketball.

Pretty impressive considering that I think they've had a basketball team for 95 years at Westminster.

[hopefan]

Big game Webster at Westmin.....   bigger game Fontbonne at Mac....   If Webster can't pull off the improbable upset, but Fontbonne does....   things become much much more interesting.....   Greenville gets to sit back and watch, and root for Westmin....

Does ANYONE think Webster could win at Westmin tonight.... especially with the supposed absense of Nick Jones?

[I_HAD_GAME]

Just a while back the discussion was, "will Fontbonne get their fifth win against Blackburn?". Now it's a big game at MacMurray? If Fontbonne dismisses the conference leading scorer's 20 points and beats 1.2.3 straight, does that say something about the level of competition this year? Kudos to the Griffin team for stepping up and showing some school pride. But, Fontbonne has 5 games against teams they already have loss to. @Mac @Spaulding @Prin ?

It would be nice to see Coach McKinney get number 800. For a while I thought it was going to be tough to get this year.

If the Bluejays I saw at Fontbonne show up. Webster has a good chance. I have not seen the Westminster team that's 11-1.

Webster needs to re group and find their mojo.

[hopefan]

Somehow, things have turned at Fontbonne - perhaps a team unity improvement is more critical to getting wins than 20 points per game.   Fontbonne is showing they have the talent level I thought they had in replacing those 20 points.... 

All I'm saying is the obvious.... if Webster has 6 losses after tonight, and Fontbonne and Greenville have 7, with 3 games left, it has become MUCH more interesting...

And if you've seen Webster play, you know how much Jone's contributions mean - as an all around asset to the team, not just points.... his contributions will be extremely difficult to replace  -  that's why the two capable of  doing it (in my opinion) Restoff and Moore have to step up.  They will likely have a very difficult time tonight - though Coach bunch has made me eat crow many times....

[I_HAD_GAME]

Fontbonne has gone from the "The Abyss and as HS_PG said, "Not much talent looking down the bench", to a team everyone is looking at. It couldn't have anything to do with coaching.

MacMurray better drive a stake through Fontbonne's heart to night. I would not want to be the #1 seed, if the conference let's the 'Ol Coach and his boy's get up off the deck.

Hopefan - Like Fontbonne replaced Branch's 20 pts, Webster should be able to do the same, without Jones. I think that alot will depend on a guy like Ortwerth. Webster doesn't have to face a dominant post the rest of the way. As a senior Ortwerth should be able to score more. Whitcombe being a senior has a lot to play for and he was able to contribute last year. You don't replace. The rest need to step up.

[hopefan]

Hopefan - Like Fontbonne replaced Branch's 20 pts, Webster should be able to do the same, without Jones. .

I'm not so sure that's a good conclusion....