MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

SLIACFAN · January 16, 2012, 04:25:21 PM

Exactly, that team is not a 3 point shooting team and that is how they lose games. They forget about all of their size, which could dominate this conference and resort to shooting from deep. Better figure that out soon or they wont be having too much success...

hopefan · January 17, 2012, 01:59:08 AM

Eureka sneaks by Spalding 63-61.... HUGE win for Eureka keeping them at 2 losses and above the pack that has 3 losses.... gives Webster a little more to think about.....
love the play by play that accompanies the box score of many of the games... besides knowing that Mark Lessen had a huge game with 24 points and 11 boards from the box score, we can see that 6th man Austin Nicholas hit a huge 3 with 2 minutes left to break a tie, and that Spalding had the last possession down 2, called a timeout to set up the final play, but turned it over with 2 seconds left, never getting a shot off....

hopefan · January 17, 2012, 12:00:32 PM

Can Prin get a win tonight vs Fontbonne.... I don't think it will happen... Fontbonne did a good job of defending Mark Lessen the other night with Lisch muscling him... the same defense could slow down Kenny Sydness, and I think Fontbonne matches up very well elsewhere......

hopefan · January 18, 2012, 05:30:02 AM

Fontbonne gives Prin a real spanking, 99-74.... Great for Fontbonne, things must have really come together... shame on Prin, this was a game they should have been able to compete in.... the play by play shows it was lopsided from the opening tap....

hopefan · January 18, 2012, 08:20:35 AM

We are approaching mid season.... who are candidates thus far for POY based on performance in conference games?

Prin.. no matter what the accomplishment, no one from a winless squad
Blackburn... Julian Lott has not played well enough to get wins
Fontbonne... no one
Spalding... Jametrius Brasher averaging 14 ppg, 8 rpg
Greenville... Markeith Brown averaging 19 game, clearly a go to guy; Jonas McBride averaging 16 ppg, played very well in Westmin game
Mac.... at this point in time, no one seems close to POY level
Eureka... Dustin Fritsch at 17 ppg, 7.6 rpg; Mark Lessen at 14 ppg, 8.6 rpg
Webster... Stefon Whittingham 16 ppg, 8 rpg
Westminster.... Joe Prophet at 12 ppg and 5 rpg has done a heck of a job in the last several weeks after hardly playing early in the season...

As you can see, no single player seems to stand out above the rest.... seems to be wide open...

hopefan · January 18, 2012, 03:22:43 PM

Very Quick thought on tonight's games...

Eureka at Blackburn... Should be a high scoring affair on the small court... Eureka should win by alot unless they decide not to play defense...

Webster at Greenville... Rooting for Greenville to make the standings more interesting... but I don't think they match up too well unless AJ Hilliard has made a quick recovery... with Hilliard, i'll give Gville the win on the home court, without, Webster stays unbeaten in conference.... either way I look for a good game...

Mac at Westmin... Mac with Burton or not? or does it matter? Mac hasn't beaten anyone since beating Greenville on Dec. 3, except winless Prin and 1 win Dominican.... Westmin plays very well at home... I think Westmin wins this one.....

MacHighlander · January 18, 2012, 07:38:39 PM

Tonight's winners, IMHO...

Eureka - too many better players, Probably close for a half, then Eureka pulls away.
Greenville - Greenville comes to play, wins a barnburner down the stretch.
Westy - Mac seems to be drifting, offense looks disoriented at times. Would love to see Mac steal one on the road, but they'll have to play much better at both ends of the floor and get consistent production from their top players to compete for a play-off spot.

MacHighlander · January 18, 2012, 11:10:36 PM

I missed this one by a mile, and am glad I did. BIG win for Mac tonight...69-56 over Westy.

Jays led by two at the half and then the roof must have fallen in or Occupy Fulton moved in. Highlanders outscore the Jays 42-27 in the second half.

Slagle busts loose for 22 points and 10 boards. Burton plays six minutes and doesn't score. Nice contributions off the bench from Bishop and Whitlock, both with 14 pts. Prophet with 17 the only player in double figures for the Jays.

Other scores:

Eureka 84 Blackburn 62
Webster 45 Greenville 45 Halftime

MacHighlander · January 18, 2012, 11:14:59 PM

Webster wins 87-86 at Greenville. This was a nice win for the Gorlocks. Hard to see them sliding back to the back at this point. Still some tough road games ahead, but these are the kind of road wins championship teams are known for.

y_jack_lok · January 19, 2012, 12:26:10 AM

Quote from: MacHighlander on January 18, 2012, 11:14:59 PM
Webster wins 87-86 at Greenville. This was a nice win for the Gorlocks. Hard to see them sliding back to the back at this point. Still some tough road games ahead, but these are the kind of road wins championship teams are known for.

This was a great game. Webster came back from 10-12 point deficits early in the first half and again early in the 2nd half. Then fell behind by 6 several times later in the 2nd half. The final three minutes or so were as exciting as it gets with each team making big shots and missing some that could have given them a little breathing room. I'm sure hopefun (oops, hopefan) will give a good rundown. The thing that can't be overlooked in the game is a technical on Greenville for subbing in a player not in the scorebook. Webster made both free throws. In a game this close that was huge.

hopefan · January 19, 2012, 12:39:57 AM

As Yjack said, great, exciting game... Coach Barber got burnt for being a good guy.... A JV player, brought up due to depleted numbers with Hilliard and Smith out.... he'd been practicing, coach rewards him with the last two minutes of the first half, and gets T'd up for it..... I KNOW whose responsibility it is to check the scorebook prior to the game, and it's NOT the head coach..... more on the game and other results.. tomorrow IT'S LATE!!!!!

SLIACFAN · January 19, 2012, 12:34:45 PM

Last night was exciting to say the least! Webster survives a scare at Greenville which could of brought the standings even tighter, but instead win by 1 and hold a 2 game lead. Nobody thought Mac would go to Fulton and get the win, but they come out in the 2nd half and just ran away with it in the last 10 minutes. Big win for them as they stay 3 games back and move up to 3rd in the standings.
Projections for this weekend...
Mac over Blackburn, but don't be surprised if it is a barnburner, last year it went into double OT. They are also celebrating 100 years of basketball at Blackburn so it could be a tough environment for Mac but they should pull it out
Webster over Fontboone, too much for them to handle
Spalding over Greenville, after the game Greenville just had and now the trip down there, I just don't see it happening...
Eureka over Prin...

hopefan · January 19, 2012, 01:40:48 PM

SLIACfan... you forgot Webster @ Fontbonne!!

More about Webster at Greenville.... The officials must have seen the Greenville Westmin game and decided they didn't want a +60 free throw game.... only total 22 FT attempts in a very fast paced physical game....

interesting ending to the game...two non calls in the last 6 seconds, could have been a whistle, the officials said let the kids play...... Webster down one, Whittingham penetrates with ball, hacked, no whistle, appears to shuffle his feet, no whistle, gets it up and in for a one point lead.... Greenville's Garcia rushes the ball up the court (he IS QUICK!!!!) pushes ball to Jonas McBride who throws up a runner that misses at the buzzer..lots of contact, could have been a defensive foul, could have been offensive, could have been after the buzzer.... no call... I'm fine with it... a whistle would not have been right...

Whittingham makes his first 6 field goal attempts... Roman Robinson virtually takes over in the 2nd half, unstoppable on drives to the basket, and one sensational dunk after driving thru traffic from the top of the key....Cory Bradfish had a tremendous 2nd half too... LEADERSHIP... POISE. he really exemplified it..
Dietrich Sooter some great dishes to Bradfish, Robinson, Smith, but wow, the shot selection was not good.... Very good standing shot, not so hot when moving, especially fading away....
Greenville.... amazing performance from people who hardly played at Westmin... Jose Garcia, 10 points, 4-4 from field; alex Mumphard 8 points including a couple of big 3's, DonDrale Campbell, seemed unstoppable around the basket, 12 points; Travis Garrison 13 points with 3 threes... Where has Coach Barber been hiding these guys?
Bottom line stats were pretty similar, but Gville had 16 turnovers to Webster 11.....

Good for Mac, bad loss for Westmin... you have to beat the competition on your home court... that's two losses at home in 7 days for Westmin... not good.... Same twosome looks to have led Mac... Slagle and whitlock with the size around the basket Slagle 22 pts, 10 boards, whitlock 14 points off the bench!!.... Bishop gets hot from the 3's, finishes with 14. Mac finished with only 7 Turnovers! Westmin now has 4 losses and trails the pack....

MacHighlander · January 20, 2012, 11:44:42 AM

Saturday's games:

Webster at Fontbonne - Have to think Webster wins big and continues to pad its first place position.
Eureka at Principia - Devils grab one on the road and stay in the post-season mix
Greenville at Spalding - Hangover from Thursday's tough home loss may be too much to overcome. Spalding here.
MacMurray at Blackburn - Highlanders should be OK, but can't wait until the second half to kick it in gear.

hopefan · January 20, 2012, 01:10:52 PM

Would be hard to disagree with the 3 obvious games, but I'm not so sure about Greenville at Spalding... They have played every SLIAC contender tight, winning and losing..... and honestly, I was not overwhelmed impressed when I saw them vs Webster.... I think Greenville survives the trip and comes home happy winners.....Greenvilles' running game and taking the ball to the baket really impreeses me.... I'll probably end up being wrong, but sometimes you gotta go against the consensus.....

Would be nice to see Fontbonne give Webster a tussle, just for the sake of the rivalry, but honestly, the matchups seem lopsided.... eureka should beat Prin by 40 if they come to play.... Mac is a little scary with some of the previous level of play, but hopefully got it back with the Westmin win and has no letdown at BC.