MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

So let's review all 4 games from last night...

We've talked a lot about Webster at Spalding already... likely an intense game, but Webster never got closer than 5 in the 2nd half, and each time they got there, Spalding scored, so Webster couldn't cut into the lead further.... this was really Spalding's game in the last 10 minutes.  The Spalding Brandons do Webster in.. 34 points and only 2 turnovers between them.. Another solid game for Aaron Griffin.. 16 points, 11 boards.... if he is dominating, should he have gotten more than 10 shots?  After several good efforts from the bench, they contribute little last night...

Greenville nips Fontbonne in a rout that turned into a last second game... A great effort by the Griffins fighting back from a double digit deficit in the 2nd half to having a chance to tie in the final seconds.. Comeback keyed by the aggressive play of Rich Dorhauer, Ben Kissing, Evan Johnson and Darius Rucker... and a large dose of enthusiastic coaching from Coach Hall... he didn't let his kids quit and they really busted their butts... Unfortunately a 3 point shot with 5 seconds left by Rich Dorhauer rattled the rim..  Greenville gave Fontbonne every opportunity to win the game, coming out flat in the final 20 minutes after a great first half... Three hoops in the last 10 minutes, no hoops in the last 4...  they looked in the 2nd half just like they looked against Webster, no excitement, no fire... someone on that team needs to start getting loud and angry and take charge....

Mac clobbers Blackburn... huge night for Clayton Whitlock... 14 of 17, 29 points; nice game for Hunter Sutton 5 for 6 from the field, 5 for 8 from the line..... WEBSTER, are you reading these stats?...   Sorry to digress..... Good to see Dylan Guthrie finding it too.. another nice night with 20 points... Dylan, your Grandpa has got to be loving it..... Chris J Davis goes for 21, but this was a No contest....

Iowa Wes beats Westmin...  Nice to see Verdis Lee have a good night with 18, but sorry to say Westmin may not win again in the SLIAC this year unless Prin has a couple more injuries....  Chris Fowler gets promoted to the starting lineup for IWC and goes 7 for 8 from the field, but 7 turnovers? Ugh...

[hopefan]

Hopefan standings:
For now, I'm splitting the league into 6 teams that will compete for the 4 spots in the conference tourney, and four that most likely will not..  (Top 6 are Eureka, Fontbonne, Greenville, Mac, Spalding, Webster.....  Bottom 4 are BC, IWC, Prin, and Westmin)
The 6 teams that are competing are expected to win ALL games vs the bottom 4, and are expected to win Home games against the other 5 in the top 6  (therefore expected to lose on the road to the top 6)

-1 is awarded to a top 6 team for any loss to the bottom 4, and for any loss at home to the other 5 of the top 6.
+1 is awarded for a win on the road vs a top 6

Current hopefan standings: (With another correction)

Greenville  +1   (Won at Fontbonne)
Spalding   +1   (Won at Mac)
Fontbonne( -1)   (won at Eureka) (Lost to IWC) (lost at home to Greenville)
Eureka   (-1)    (Lost at home to Fontbonne)
Mac      (-1)     (Lost at home to Spalding)
Webster (-1)    (Lost to Iowa Wes) 

[y_jack_lok]

Hopefan standings:
For now, I'm splitting the league into 6 teams that will compete for the 4 spots in the conference tourney, and four that most likely will not..  (Top 6 are Eureka, Fontbonne, Greenville, Mac, Spalding, Webster.....  Bottom 4 are BC, IWC, Prin, and Westmin)
The 6 teams that are competing are expected to win ALL games vs the bottom 4, and are expected to win Home games against the other 5 in the top 6  (therefore expected to lose on the road to the top 6)

-1 is awarded to a top 6 team for any loss to the bottom 4, and for any loss at home to the other 5 of the top 6.
+1 is awarded for a win on the road vs a top 6

Current hopefan standings: (With another correction)

Greenville  +1   (Won at Fontbonne) (Won at Webster)
Spalding   +1   (Won at Mac)
Fontbonne( -1)   (won at Eureka) (Lost to IWC) (lost at home to Greenville)
Eureka   (-1)    (Lost at home to Fontbonne)
Mac      (-1)     (Lost at home to Spalding)
Webster (-2)    (Lost to Iowa Wes)  (Lost at home to Greenville)

I thing the standings need some editing. You have Greenville winning at Webster (and conversely Webster losing at home to Greenville). Greenville looks correct at +1 with the win over FU last night. Webster should only be -1.

[hopefan]

Computer malfunction... computer being my senile brain...

[ecreddevils]

a little bit of fun from the EC/Prin game.  Reedy is a 6' 5" high jumper for the track team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G0O5Pgp7SQ

[hopefan]

a little bit of fun from the EC/Prin game.  Reedy is a 6' 5" high jumper for the track team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G0O5Pgp7SQ

Interesting... I first tried to view this at work (I've gone back as a consultent for a couple of months), and this video was somehow distorted to a simple mess of colors.... when I got home, it viewed fine on my home computer.... Big Brother is obviously watching...

Anyway, I recognized Reedy as a kid who rarely sees court time... what a thrill, a career highlight, for him, and his willingness to remain a part of the team....  this play likely makes all the practice time worth it.....

[hopefan]

What's on tap for Saturday...

Mac at Greenville.... this is the highlight game of the day... will show us whether the addition of Deavis Johnson to Mac's program has elevated them to a true contender for the league crown... can't wait to see how Mac plays with him.. it's obviously the game I'm going to... Mac has a huge size advantage in the game.. Greenville will have to be at their best defensively to shut down the trio of Johnson, Whitlock and Sutton... if the Panthers come in soft, Mac will dominate...  defensively, I would expect Greenville to be able to slow down the scoring that we've seen recently from Mac's guards... Greenville needs a good shooting day from Daniel and Harris..if they can get a fast paced game going, it might work to their advantage with Smith and Young coming off the bench...  This is a game to get excited about..

Fontbonne at Webtser.. Which Webster will show up?   It had better be the Webster that blew out Greenville, because this is not a game that Webster should take for granted... Fontbonne looked good the other night, and that was without the services of Jarrod Greenlee, who went down with a shoulder injury early in the Greenville game and never returned... that loss seemed to spur Ben Kissing and Darius Rucker to a new level of aggressiveness, and it generated Fontbonne on to probably its best game of the year.  Still, I'm not sure they will be able to hold down Aaron Griffin if the Gorlocks decide to get the ball to Griff often enough to make him dangerous...  Wonder if Greenlee will be able to play.. he looked in considerable distress when he went down with the injury... I'd also note that Greg Gentry didn't play vs Greenville- clearly in the doghouse, if there is a change he can make to get back in good graces, he should do it.. because he could make Fontbonne even better... it's called adaptability....  Unfortunately won't be able to see this game, hoping it's a good one....   cub reporter Yjak will have to cover it on these pages...

And while I think of it... what has happened to the Webster woman's team... wow, from a very representative top 4 team year in and year out to a team that is getting beat regularly.. they need to find some players for next year....

Back to the topic of Saturday's games...  Prin at IWC... long trip for Prin.. hoping Jeff Ross recovered from injury and can play.. Prin doesn't have the depth to make up for any player loss... IWC doesn't have anyone that  can shut down Justin Ball or parker Davidson, but they throw a lot of pretty decent players into the game... I don't know if Prin can maintain that pace... If Prin can keep the pace slow, they'll compete, If IwC presses and runs, they could win easily..

Blackburn at Eureka...  Blackburn is not showing me that they are yet ready to beat a top 6 team.... I keep hoping, but... Eureka is playing much better than I expected, a real credit to the coaching of Chip Wilde...

Spalding at Westmin... in any other year, this would be a HUGE game to establish the pecking order of the Top 4.... not this year...
HOWEVER, long trip for Spalding, maybe a little overconfidence, and a big dose of shock factor from Coach Mitchell to the Jays could generate an upset...  this is the kind of game, the kind of league, where nothing should be taken for granted.

[y_jack_lok]

Fontbonne at Webtser...  Unfortunately won't be able to see this game, hoping it's a good one....  cub reporter Yjak will have to cover it on these pages...

I am not worthy of this designation. You will get better coverage from WU Fan or SliacChamp.

[hopefan]

Fontbonne at Webtser...  Unfortunately won't be able to see this game, hoping it's a good one....  cub reporter Yjak will have to cover it on these pages...

I am not worthy of this designation. You will get better coverage from WU Fan or SliacChamp.

The more the merrier!!!   I will post the Greenville - Mac score updates several times for anyone that is interested...

[Denny McKinney]

WU needs to exploit FU's serious lack of size. If they pound it into Griffin they should have no problem. If they stick to the late offensive skeem they could have a little trouble.

[hopefan]

Bad news for GC right off the bat.   Stevonte Young not playing

[hopefan]

Mac 20 GC 15

[hopefan]

Mac 42 GC 31 half

[hopefan]

Mac 73 GC 64 7mins

[hopefan]

GC comeback falls short   
Mac 90. GC 84