MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Westmin (h) beats Spalding
Mac (h) beats Prin           this is the only game that impacts hopefan standings, as Mac is still considered a non contender
Greenville beats Iowa Wez (h)
Webster beats Fontbonne (h)
Eureka (h) beats Blackburn


hopefan standings after Saturday 1/27/18 games

for now, splitting the league into 7 contenders, 3 non contenders (Mac, Fontbonne, Iowa Wesleyan)

Contenders are expected to win at home against everyone, and not lose to non contenders at home or away

+1 for a road win vs a contender
-1 for a home loss to a contender
-1 for any loss to a non contender


Greenville   +1   Won at Webster

Eureka          0   won at Westminster, lost to MacMurray

Westminster  0   lost to MacMurray, won at Spalding, lost at home to Eureka, won at Webster

Webster      -1   lost at home to Greenville, lost at home to Westminster, won at Principia

Principia      -2  lost at home to Webster, lost to MacMurray

Blackburn  -2   loss to Iowa Wesleyan, loss to MacMurray     

Spalding     -3       lost at home to Westminster, lost to MacMurray, lost to Iowa Wesleyan

[Greek Tragedy]

Brief reviews...don't want to overshadow The Man.

Looking at the boxscore, it looks like Principia couldn't get anything right in the 1st half, scoring just 26 points, down 12 at the break. They outscore Mac 46-36 after intermission, but fall 74-72. Goodman fouls out while playing just 18 minutes! My pickup of Micah Paulson pays off with 41 fantasy points, while posting 26 pts and 7 boards. Davidson records another double double, barely, 11 pts and 10 boards. Principia is 8-24 from 3-point land (Paulson was 4-9), while the team missed 7 free throws. For Mac, Davis had 24 pts, Corbin had 17 and my recent waived SLIAC guy and picked up by Grizzlies, Brent Long, went for 14 pts and 10 rebs, good for a ho-hum 26 fantasy points.

Eureka blows out Blackburn 103-76. The hosts outscore Blackburn by 11 in the 1st half and then 16 after the break for the easy win. Feehan goes off for 41 and 7 with 6 3s on his way to 59 fantasy points. Hank Thomas chips in with 21 pts, 5 rebs and 4 dimes while Bennington has 13 off the bench. Ferrell and King lead 3 players in double figures with 19 pts and 16 pts, respectively, but it's not nearly enough.

Webster holds on for a 79-73 win on the road over Fontbonne. Wilcox has 21 for the winners as Johnson and Crespo each add 14 apiece. McCann is the only one to show up for the hosts with 20 pts., although he missed 6 free throws.

Kobe Wands returned to the starting lineup and helped Westminster to a 74-61 win over Spalding. Wands has 15 pts and 7 rebounds while Caywood leads the way with 19.  Ellis is the only one in double figures for Spalding with 23.

Lastly, Greenville has no problem with Iowa Wesleyan as the run off with a 140-113 win after building a 28-pt halftime lead. 7 Greenville players score in double-figures including 4 of the 5 starters. Bonney and Bateman have 19 and 16 each, while Dix has 16 pts, 6 rebs and 4 assists. For the visitors, Butler almost gets a triple double with the line of 33 pts, 11 rebs and 8 assists. He does cough it up 6 times, but still records 49 fantasy points for me the others that used him in the One and Done Fantasy League. Fernandes has another great game against Greenville with 26 points and 13 rebounds after putting up 29 and 13 the previous meeting. Drey plays and has 15 pts and 7 rebounds but there's no sign of Elijah Johnson.


Greenville.........9-3   12-7   
Eureka.............8-4   13-6   
Westminster......8-4   12-7   
Webster............7-5   10-9   

Principia...........6-6   7-11   
Blackburn.........6-6   10-9   
Spalding...........6-6   8-10   
MacMurray........5-7   9-10   
Iowa Wesleyan..4-8   4-15
Fontbonne........1-11  3-16

[hopefan]

I can't do any better than that Greek....

My one comment was that I couldn't have done any better with some of my pregame comments...

EC-BC      "I think EC wins this one...."       EC wins

Spalding - Westmin     "Westmin, maybe by a lot..."    Westmin wins by 13

WU-FU     "it will be close, it will be exciting, but Webster can't lay an egg in such a critical game, can they?"   Webster wins in last minute

GC-IWU    "IWU not enough depth to compete, Greenville should score 140..."     my coup d'etat...  GC 140-113

Mac-Prin   Well, on this one I questioned who would stop Goodman.. he stopped himself by being in foul trouble all day...

[hopefan]

Here it is... Hopefan's All Conference teams taken from his highly scientific valuation ratings per game... conference games only

Note... I have brought Kobe Wands back in.. and on the first team..he has played half the games, and his valuation rating per game is significantly higher than the individual who had the 5th most total valuation points

Feehan Eureka
Butler IWU
Long Mac
Davidson Prin
Kobe Wands Westmin

Wilcox Webster
Ellis Spalding
Dix Greenville
M Paulson Prin
Scott BC

Williams Spalding
Goodman Prin
Tankins Webster
Woodcock Fontbonne
Carter Wands Westmin

Interesting notes for those that give a rip...

The players are listed in order of total valuation points, with exception of Kobe Wands...
There is a significant gap of valuation after Wands on the first team down to Wilcox on the 2nd team...
There is a significant gap  of valuation between Micah Palulson and Malcome Scott on the 2nd team
Five more players are within very close reach of the third team, and Malcome Scott on the 2nd team...one of them, Bennington of Eureka may be          re-evaluated based on valuation points per game rather than total valuation points as he was a mid year add on....

[y_jack_lok]

Webster holds on for a 79-73 win on the road over Fontbonne. Wilcox has 21 for the winners as Johnson and Crespo each add 14 apiece. McCann is the only one to show up for the hosts with 20 pts., although he missed 6 free throws.

For me Enrique Tankins was the hero for Webster with three steals in the final two minutes. First at mid court -- he takes it in for a layup to give Webster a three point lead. FU gets two free throws to cut it to one. Wilcox misses a shot, FU gets the rebound and calls time out. Tankins steals the inbound pass, gets the ball to Mike Dunn who hears Van Nest calling for the ball in the corner. Van Nest nails a three as though he's been doing it his whole career. WU up by four. On FU's next possession Tankins gets another steal and the Griffins have to start fouling. Webster only makes two of six free throws in the final 30 seconds but FU can't get its shots to fall.

Seems to me that FU has been close at the end of a lot of games but can't finish and get wins. For much of the game they looked like the better team. Webster was fortunate to pull this one out.

[hopefan]

Webster holds on for a 79-73 win on the road over Fontbonne. Wilcox has 21 for the winners as Johnson and Crespo each add 14 apiece. McCann is the only one to show up for the hosts with 20 pts., although he missed 6 free throws.

For me Enrique Tankins was the hero for Webster with three steals in the final two minutes. First at mid court -- he takes it in for a layup to give Webster a three point lead. FU gets two free throws to cut it to one. Wilcox misses a shot, FU gets the rebound and calls time out. Tankins steals the inbound pass, gets the ball to Mike Dunn who hears Van Nest calling for the ball in the corner. Van Nest nails a three as though he's been doing it his whole career. WU up by four. On FU's next possession Tankins gets another steal and the Griffins have to start fouling. Webster only makes two of six free throws in the final 30 seconds but FU can't get its shots to fall.

Seems to me that FU has been close at the end of a lot of games but can't finish and get wins. For much of the game they looked like the better team. Webster was fortunate to pull this one out.

I'd agree with both the Tankins comments and the positive Fontbonne comments...and wow, the Parker Van Nest shot... will likely be the defining shot of his career.. highest congrats to him...  and both Fontbonne and Webster are loaded with quality frosh and sophs... as I've said, if these guys all stay (and let's face it, the track record has not been good, moreso at Webster), what a great run we could have the next several years, and what a buildup to revitalizing the Webster-Fontbonne rivalry....

[hopefan]

Interesting to see who gets the SLIAC.org player of the week for last week... (usually awarded today, Monday)

Feehan, Butler, Wilcox, Ellis each had a very good week.... However, only one of these guys led their team to 2 wins.... Wilcox from Webster... if it was my award to give, that's who would get it... individual stats shouldn't be EVERYTHING...

[hopefan]

Interesting to see who gets the SLIAC.org player of the week for last week... (usually awarded today, Monday)

Feehan, Butler, Wilcox, Ellis each had a very good week.... However, only one of these guys led their team to 2 wins.... Wilcox from Webster... if it was my award to give, that's who would get it... individual stats shouldn't be EVERYTHING...

Shea Feehan gets it... no problem, he had the best individual week, but I would have gone the other way..😉

[hopefan]

Big game tonight, Westminster at Prin....   great matchup Kobe Wands vs Micah Paulson.....  if Prin plays smart basketball, they'd take advantage of their size, let Davidson and Ross get the ball low... but I'd imagine Paulson will be firing from 3's..... I don't expect Goodman to have a big scoring night, Westmin plays great help defense, but if he drives and dishes, that's where Davidson and Ross could flourish... I've just lost confidence in Prin... and Westmin has been such a pleasant surprise....
Game is just about a must win for Prin... too many teams playing for that 4 spot for them to fall behind... of course, Westmin wants the win too,doesn't want to fall back close to the pack....

Last game I watched at Prin (vs Webster), nice crowd, great atmosphere... "great" relative to SLIAC attendance... I hope that Coach Zimmerman can find a couple of recruits for next year to replace the two graduating seniors, keep the program going.... I always enjoy going over to Elsah, but the program needs to remain competitive... I really worry about their numbers....

[hopefan]

Prin beats Westmin by 20... who would have thought... I only saw end of game when it was already decided... stats not up yet...obvious huge win for Prin, keeps them alive with 6 losses... loss for Westmin puts them down to 5 losses with Webster. in 3rd/4th..

[Greek Tragedy]

Prin beats Westmin by 20... who would have thought... I only saw end of game when it was already decided... stats not up yet...obvious huge win for Prin, keeps them alive with 6 losses... loss for Westmin puts them down to 5 losses with Webster. in 3rd/4th..

Wow. Considering Westminster beat them 73-53 before, that's a huge surprise. I benched Paulson for this game to play him Saturday. I hope he didn't have a huge game!

[Greek Tragedy]

http://www.principiaathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?id=4549&path=mbball

All 5 starters in double figures.

Micah Paulson with 19 (3-10 from 3) fouls out playing 37 minutes.

Jeff Ross with the big game. 17 pts, 9 rebs, 6 assists.

Goodman with 15 pts and 10 rebs.

Davidson with 13 pts (3-5 from 3), 14 rebs, 6 assists (4 TOs)

Brennan Paulson 10 pts, 4 rebs.

Only 10 total turnovers, but just 6-17 from the line. Goodman and Sellers combined 2-12 from the line. Ouch.

Kobe Wands has 19 pts and 6 rebs. Caywood the only other player in double figures with 10.

[hopefan]

What an absolutely beautiful box score for Prin...especially the contributions from Jeff Ross and Brennan Paulson..  Ross 17, 9, and 6 in a critical game is just superb, but where has that been in the past.. I really think he has the talent (gosh, how many times have I said this in the past?) to contribute like this every night... taking some of the burden of the Big 3... Brennan Paulson will have to play in the shadow of his brother's numbers, but his consistent hard play should never go unappreciated... the kind of 5th man any coach would love to have on his team... Payton Sellers hasn't been the same since he returned from his injury, wonder if he is still hurting....and very cool to see sub Daniel Hoffman get a 15 foot shot and make it... he and Nick Jacobs have seen about 10 minutes of action ALL YEAR, it must have felt great to see the ball swish thru...

As for Westmin... what happened?   34% from the field, crushed on the boards... a night that defines how the SLIAC is running this year.. teams are unexpectedly very hot... or VERY cold....

This game does not affect hopefan standings... Prin still 2 full games behind Westmin and Webster, will need to win on road to catch those guys...

[hopefan]

With the teams bunched in the middle of the standings, and MacMurray making a belated run to add to the fun, every game is a big game for one, or both teams...

Eureka at Webster... Eureka won earlier, Feehan had a big game back from injury, and they didn't have Bennington... Would appear EC would be a big favorite in this game, but that's the kind of situation where Coach Bunch often has the Gorlocks pulling the big surprise... EC looked so good in dismantling Blackburn, but if they play run and gun with Webster, it might stay interesting... (BUT... EC by 15)

Fontbonne at Greenville... first matchup was ugly this one should be too...

Mac at Spalding... Mac scored the upset win at home, faces another must win situation traveling to Spalding.. the first game was tight, low scoring... and Kendall Davis had not yet found his way... with him playing well, I really think Mac can take this one....Spalding on a 3 game losing streak.. body language was awful in beating by Greenville... have they packed it in?... loser of this game is out... but if Mac wins, they have the necessary momentum to challenge...

Blackburn at Iowa Wesleyan... IWU scored the stunning win at BC... an absolute must win for BC in the rematch.. lose, I don't think they can recover far enough to get the conference tourney spot... IWU, playing for pride, and the fun of being a spoiler....

[Greek Tragedy]

Eureka and Webster:  Eureka has to get their swagger back after dropping two of their last three games. Feehan had a huge game the last time out, so if Webster commits to defending him, Hank Thomas will have to shoot better than 5-16 the previous meeting. Bennington, after a hot start, has cooled recently and he'll have to make some shots for Eureka to duplicate their win at home. In their last four games, Webster has lost back to back HOME games and then followed up with two road victories, so it'll be interesting what Webster team shows up. Eureka by single digits.

Fontbonne at Greenville: This may not be the blowout everyone expects. Fontbonne actually led Greenville at the half in the reverse fixture. I've never been to a SLIAC game before, so I'm not sure if the home court advantage is that important. But Fontbonne will be without DeLine, supposedly, so it'll be up to the rest of the youngsters to produce. 147-138 last time out and it would be entertaining to see another track meet. Greenville has won 5 of 6, so the train will keep rolling, but I think the winning margin will be less than 15.

MacMurray at Spalding: Look who's won 3 in a row now. MacMurray is on a tear and looks to keep the momentum going at Spalding. Kendall Davis is a new man, so look for him to continue to help out Long. They did beat Spalding by 4 at home and that's when Davis was a lost soul. Spalding has dropped three in a row, but all 3 have been on the road. They'll try to get some home cooking to keep their tourney hopes alive. I can see MacMurray pulling out another close one and continuing their improbable run to a tourney spot.

Blackburn at Iowa Wesleyan:  Blackburn is in a tailspin losing 4 of their last 6, so they'll need to get back on track on the road. Iowa Wesleyan actually beat Blackburn on the road the last time they played, so IWU may actually be the favorite here. They probably can't get into the conference tourney, but with Butler and Drey, they could really bury Blackburn's hopes. IWU by single digits.