MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Me too -  An all day seminar, and then come home to find a lake in my basement due to a failed water conditioner tube ....   I have many comments regarding Wash U - Font as well as other SLIAC performances of Wednesday... maybe a little later today.......

[Titan Q]

I can offer a summation of the game, since I broadcast it on the "Internets".

Washington won 82-65, but not without a bit of a fight from a game Griffin bunch.

Wash-U jumped out to a couple of 10-point leads at 12-2 and 17-7, but Fontbonne used 3-point shooting to go on a 15-5 run to tie the game at 22-22 with 7:14 left in the first half.  Freddie Fleming and Jarrett Buford made 4 of the 5 treys for the Griffins in the first half to pull even with Wash-U...but the Bears answered with a 12-0 run of their own to go up 34-22, and the halftime edge for the Bears was 36-27. 

I was following a couple of trends for Fontbonne, to see which would be most pivotal.  One, when the Griffins committed 15 or more turnovers in a game, they lost 4 contests this season.  Two, when they made 8 or more treys, they secured their two victories.  Fontbonne made 5 treys in the first half last night, but also had 12 first-half turnovers.  That gave Wash-U an 11-2 edge in points off of turnovers.  Spencer Gay was unstoppable, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the first half for the Bears.  Tim Cooney added 9.

To start the 2nd half, Fontbonne zipped out to a 10-2 run that cut the Washington lead to 38-37 in the first 2 minutes.  But, Gay had a 3-point play with 17:14 left to give Wash-U a 41-37 lead...and from there, the Bears went on a 15-2 run to forge a 56-39 lead; fueled by Dylan Richter's 3-point explosion (5 treys and 17 points in the 2nd half).  The lead grew to as many as 22 before the final 82-65 outcome.

Richter had 23 points total, Gay 22, and Cooney 14 for Wash-U; and Ben Hoener had 10 assists to go along with his 4 points.  Fleming had 13 points off the bench to lead Fontbonne, followed by Buford's 11 and Raymond Woods had 10 points.  The Griffins' leading scorer, Saliou Dioum, had only 7 points, 5.5 points under his average.

Fontbonne can shoot 3s pretty well (8 total), but it was outscored in the paint 20-8 in the first half, and the 19 turnovers were the eventual undoing for the Griffins.  For Wash-U, the obvious eyebrow-raiser was Richter's career-high 23 points.  He shouldn't be expected to reach that total every game now, but if he can contribute double-figure scoring on a consistent basis, the Bears' prospects in conference play improve considerably.  Two tough tests await them...at Wheaton Saturday, and hosting Illinois Wesleyan on the 18th before the holiday break. 

Jay, I have watched a lot of your video broadcasts over the last 2 seasons and enjoy your work.  You do a very good job on the call.

And while I did not like them at first, I've grown to enjoy the nicknames.  Sean Wallis, "the chief surgeon"..."Toth the Terrible"..."Spencer (Gay) for Hire."  Etc.

Keep up the good work.

[hopefan]

First, I'll vent... Afterall, that seems to be what I'm known for.....
Fontbonne's performance vs Wash U.... some interesting aspects, some poor aspects... I have one critical thought and it's time to bring it up... I saw something out of Asst Coach Patrick McCoy last night I liked... A Fontbonne Sr missed a 3 pointer in the 2nd half, put his head down, jogged maybe 3 steps towards the defensive end as Wash U took the rebound and went for a fast break layup.... Coach McCoy let him hear about it, and the sr saw virtually no court time after that.....  GOOD....  I find it very difficult to support a team that is not giving 100%, supporting each other, caring about TEAM as compared to individual.... Bench decorum last night was at both ends of the spectrum... Wash U kids supportive of everyone, Fontbonne players barely acknowledging each other when they come off the court.  The Assistant Coaches need to provide some energy to the timeouts and the bench, and there needs to be some slaps on the butts on that bench....  what I saw last night was indifference.....
When someone comes off the floor, especially when they've had a poor performance, it would be nice to see an assistant greet him with encouragement or coaching, rather than staring at their feet, or his teammates acknowledge him to help him out...

That being said.... two outstanding runs by Fontbonne as Jaybird said (great writeup, Jaybird) shows there is some life to fontbonne... all that life came from 1 starter, Jarred McCoy, and the bench... the rest of the starters again gave a subpar performance (though I have nothing bad to say about the effort from most of them), and I can only think that soon Coach McKinney will start playing the newer faces even more than he already is... Even MccCoy, who had a couple of nice penetrations to the hoop, had a horrible night with the ball.. far too careless... way too many turnovers... on the other hand when everyone else seems to be only floating the perimeter, he may as well do all he can with the ball...  What kept fontbonne close into the 2nd half was career nights by Jarret Buford and Freddie Fleming... Buford's night was REALLY a career night, making 3 3's, and he simply is not the kind of shooter that is expected to do that.... it's unlikely it will happen again, but it was clearly the spark the team needed... Jarrett seems to know his role pretty well, and that is to create shots for others....  Fred Fleming got more time than I've ever seen him get and did nicely once he got into the flow... usually it's a couple minutes and out for Fred... getting 'warmed up' seemed to help his game...  Frosh Eric Jenkins also got a little more time and made a couple of perimeter shots.. I'd like to see both him and Fred more to the basket..they both have the athletic ability to do it.   Woods continues to look unstoppable when he gets the ball inside... as Denny says, more minutes every game as he gets closer and closer to full game shape.......Then there is Dan Lisch... I know some shudder to see him in, but I like him..with his defensive intensity and willingness to drive, things happen when he's in... but geesh, get the 10 to 15 footer, or penetrate and dish, but lose the perimeter shots, cause they are not going in... I'm firmly convinced Dan could help font win with more minutes, if he'd just show some sense of shot selection... and the other 4 starters.. all I can say is show me... I'm a fan, but night in and night out I'm not seing winning production....

What else happened on Wednesday in a night where 7 SLIAC teams played non conf..

Greenville crushes Stl Christian... interesting in Box... all 13 Gville players get between 13 and 19 minutes of time....

Blackburn gets nipped by Robert Morris Springfield 72-70 to stay winless..poor BC has lost several games close... Brandon Roberts has another nice game 5-6 from 3's, no turnovers... BC got beat on the boards 47 - 33, and Robert Morris had 16 offensive rebounds -  al lot of second chances

Webster gets beat bad by Drury 96-72...  good sign, Drew Morre goes 8 for 11 from field, 18 points, 8 rebounds... bad sign, he has 5 turnovers ... Steffan whittingham 15 points off the bench!!

Eureka also winless losing to Concordia Ill.. 74-65 in OT... OT obviously lop sided -  I see Leppard fouled out, might have played a role in Ot..Kindred gets 23 points, but is 1 for 6 from 3's with 6 turnovers....  Lessen plays tougher, gets 10 rebounds, 12 points... that's the kind of game I expected from him coming into the season.

Spalding Crushed by Georgetown Kentucky... McAphee 6 for 21, 0-6 from 3's   ouch

Prin beats Lincoln Christian by one... nice comeback after the Grinnelll Debacle, no matter who it's against... box is not up, but article on Prin's page shows Zimmerman in horrible foul trouble and on bench for most of game, gets 8 points... frosh Ken Sydness (yeah, the little brother Sydness) is leading scorer with 16...  LCC came into game at 4-1!!!!!

I'm off to Mississippi for my 24 hour vacation tomorrow to see Webster play at Rust... lots of time to think of things to write to keep this room's readers entertained!!!!

[WUPHF]

Webster gets beat bad by Drury 96-72...  good sign, Drew Morre goes 8 for 11 from field, 18 points, 8 rebounds... bad sign, he has 5 turnovers ... Steffan whittingham 15 points off the bench!!

I would not be too concerned with this result as Drury is a strong Division II program in the ultra-strong GLVC conference.  96-72 sounds like a good performance, actually.

[hopefan]

Incidentally sat thru the First half of the Wash U - FU game with the above "WUH" - always fun to watch a game with another D3fan, especially one close to a program (WUH works at Wash U) who can provide the occasional interesting tid bit regarding current players or Alums.....

[Denny McKinney]

Nice write up Hopefan. One thing. "Dan" so far has not bought into the FU offense. 2- 15 on forced shots make it tough to find minutes. I was satisfied with the effort Thomas gave. Woods would have got a few more minutes if not for foul trouble.

The loss of Garner for that game really hurt FU's chances. Jenkins and Flemings minutes will climb. Jenkins is a Frosh who played for the first time like he was having fun.

Leaving now to take Dad down to Clarksville by van. He can have a long sleep after getting the pump unhooked this morning.

[y_jack_lok]

Webster gets beat bad by Drury 96-72...  good sign, Drew Morre goes 8 for 11 from field, 18 points, 8 rebounds... bad sign, he has 5 turnovers ... Steffan whittingham 15 points off the bench!!

I would not be too concerned with this result as Drury is a strong Division II program in the ultra-strong GLVC conference.  96-72 sounds like a good performance, actually.

Quote from hopefan" "Spalding Crushed by Georgetown Kentucky... McAphee 6 for 21, 0-6 from 3's   ouch"

As with the Webster loss to Drury, this is another "not to worry" result. Georgetown is a strong NAIA Div 1 program and are currently 12-0.

[WUPHF]

...always fun to watch a game with another D3fan, especially one close to a program.

I am not sure that I am close, but thanks.  I hope to see you at more contests.  Safe travels.

[Denny McKinney]

Hello, from the Fairfield Inn Suites, Clarksville,TN. I highly recommend. Hot tub is awsome, this time of year.........
Team charter made it down fine. Mom and I brought Dad down by family van. Bed to stretch out and sleep. That damn chemo pump came off today. Side effects hit like a sledge hammer. But, nothing new.

Team breakfast this morning and shoot around at 1pm. Our game follows the Bowling Green vs APU womens game.

This non-conference schedule this year is brutal. @ Central Missouri, Wm Penn, North Park, @ Austin Peay, @ RHIT and @ Univ. of Tampa. My hopes are that the loses don't destroy the kids confidence. Might be something to the Greenville schedule.

The men will go out and give it their best tonite and so will Dad. To the FU lurkers don't worry. Dad has a switch he throws at game time. Afterwards, the team bus will return to STL. Mom and I will let Dad rest and head home Sunday.

Thanks to those who sent PM's. It warms the heart.

[hopefan]

Pouring rain in St Louis... will be a tough drive.... hope sirius is coming thru... Howard can get me to Holly Springs... if it gets too nasty, I'm likely to turn around before I hit Cape Girardeau....   Pat, I'll try....

[Titan Q]

Half:

IL College 36
Westminster 23

[Titan Q]

Final:

IL College 73
Westminster 71

[Titan Q]

Final:

IL College 73
Westminster 71

A very good basketball game in Fulton this afternoon.  Illinois College and Westminster are about as evenly matched as two teams can possibly be.

The Blueboys dominated the 1st half by playing outstanding defense and seemingly coming out with more intensity than Westminster.  They led by 13 at the break.

The Blue Jays quickly erased the deficit however, and had things tied up at 43 with about 15:00 to play in the game.  (I remember thinking that Westminster scored 23 points in the entire 1st half, but 20 in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd.)  Despite giving up the double-digit lead, Illinois College maintained a slim lead from the 15:00 mark to the final minute or so.  They seemed to always be up 2-4 points, and Westminster could just never get the big stop.

After Westminster tied it with under 1:00 to go, IC went back ahead by 2 on FT's.  After a missed Blue Jays shot, and then an IC turnover, Westminster had the ball, down 2, with :08 to play.  Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, they did not run their final play well at all coming out of a timeout.  The ball somehow ended up in the hands of 6-5 F Justin Gilmore, who was about 26 feet from the basket, between the top of the key and the left wing...with about :03 on the clock he fired an airball.

A significant moment in the game came midway through the 2nd when Westminster head coach Matt Mitchell got T'd up.  Illinois College made both technical FT's, got possession, got fouled, and made 2 more.  At the time it felt like those 4 points were huge, and that certainly ended up being the case.

Westminster's player of the game was 6-5 freshman forward Charlie Henderson.  Henderson came in averaging about 12 minutes per game, but must have played about 25 today.  (I know he was on the floor the final 15:00 or so, and must have played 10 or so in the 1st.)  I have not seen a boxscore, but I'd guess Henderson finished with about 14 points and 5 rebounds.  He scored a number of big baskets to keep the Blue Jays in the game down the stretch.  He is going to be a good player.

The Blue Jays don't really have any kind of low post game.  Jake Vislay is a very good slasher, Skylar Tolson is a very good guard, and guys like Gilmore and Henderson bring a lot to the floor, but the Blue Jays just don't have a true back-to-the-basket guy to pound it to.  I think that hurts them for stretches when the other team is playing good perimeter defense, or when shots aren't falling (like the 1st half today).

Having seen Webster and Westminster in person now, I cannot seem to find much separation there at all.  Two very different teams, but overall, very even. 

Illinois College is a pretty solid team.  They were picked 6th in the MWC preseason poll but I bet they finish higher than that.  They have nice inside/outside balance, several guys who can shoot the 3, and they play very hard on both ends of the floor.

MWC Preseason Poll
1.         St. Norbert (9)
2.         Ripon
3.         Lake Forest (1)
4.         Beloit
5.         Carroll
6.         Illinois C.
7.         Grinnell
8.         Lawrence
t9.        Monmouth
t9.        Knox

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Louisville:

North Park 81
Spalding 69

Sounds like the Golden Eagles hung tough with the bigger visitors from Chicago for the entire length of the game, or at least the first 36 minutes of it.

[Titan Q]

Final from Bloomington...

IWU 95
MacMurray 64

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/MBB/MBB2011/HTML/iwmbb8.htm

The Highlanders were led by CJ McClellan's 18 pts & 6 reb.