MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[J-Kidd]

Eh, jus figured i would give the update on G-ville.  They played Eureka College earlier tonite and looked very good in the first half.  The press defense was forcing a lot of turnovers and confusion for Eureka, and G-ville was hitting their shots.  G-ville took a 10 pt. lead into halftime.  The second half was a complete different story.  Eureka seemed to figure out the press and beat it easily, and G-ville went through several long stretches where they couldnt put any points on the board.  Those chunks of several minutes without buckets has been a problem of G-ville for most of the season.  Eureka ended up winning the game 84-74.  Eureka hit their free throws at the end and that sealed the deal.  Starting point guard Bryson Taylor and backup shooting guard George Atchison were held out of the game for G-ville due to coach's decision.  Thats it.  Get at me with any questions or whatever.

[fcnews]

Someone can spend a whole lot more time doing that research then I will. I stand corrected! I am still missing the point. What difference does it make. Their the same team that played Webster in the past. Your point is ?

FC beat St' Louis Christian (8-3) tonite 82-53. The same STL Christian that beat School of Pharmacy( for comparison purposes only ). Fc was lead by McCoy with 23 (3-6 3's) and 5 assists 7steals. Ryan Kirkpartrick had 18 (9-13) and 9 boards, Justin Storandt had 12 (6-9) and 6 boards, Brian Fogerty had 8 pts and  4 rebs in 15 min. FC held STLC to 35% fg and 1-11 from 3's. Much better defensive effort.

Note: All four are freshmen

Next Up Licoln Christain

[Daryl L Lloyd]

FC: I think Hopefan was asking if the win is part of the official record for Fontbonne, nothing more.  I dont think he was implying that it was a weak win, rather just questioning the ruling on the record.  I remember Webster used to wipe the floor with the seminary kids years back, but the last time they played (Webster still won easily) but Concordia was a much improved team.  These fish appear to be performing well for FC, Good luck to you guys the rest of the way. 

[fcnews]

Thanks DL. - It's a fun season. Record could be better, but a good bunch of kids. FC has a winnable Lincoln Christian then things turn, Wash U - Hilo - Cal St.- Monnterray. Then Jan. brings hope. I do think by Feb. win Conference Tournament time starts these freshmen will have to accounted for. If they start beleiving they can win ( and several sliac teams will help that ) then watch out.
The size is there to compete with any sliac school. Scoring should not be a problem. Hopes are for this team to lead the sliac in overall rebounding. The big question mark remains "Maturity", and only playing will help that. No news on the semester break waiver wires to talk about, yet.

All I want for Christmas is a 25 year old point guard ( haha )

[yjacklok]

I'm sure the folks who operate this website can give a definitive answer to the question of whether or not games played against Concordia Seminary count in the official records of the D3 schools they play. My understanding is that D3 schools are allowed a total of 25 regular season games beginning with the first date in November that it is permissible by NCAA rules for D3 schools to begin regular season play and ending with the last date of the regular season. If a D3 school plays Concordia Seminary (or any other non D3 opponent) in that time period, then those games count against the 25 games allowed. This is my 5th season around here.  In the other years that SLIAC schools have played Concordia Seminary during the regular season the game has been counted in the won-loss record of the SLIAC school.

[hopefan]

Slow week in the SLIAC this past week and this coming week, guess the regular writers have little to talk about.  I am interested to see if Fontbonne's youngsters and MacMurray can continue the SLIAC's dominance of Lincoln Christian -  only Prin lost to them.  Maryville faces a tough task on Thursday at Mo Bap - will be a good game if they play as well as they did in the 2nd half vs McKendree.  Blackburn vs Robert Morris is also a good measuring stick...RM is coming off a 2 point win over Milikin, who beat Webster badly.  Next Saturday's games are tough ones, as Blackburn and Fontbonne serve as presents under the tree for UMSL and Wash U, While Westminster and Mac should be competitive in games with North Park and Central (Iowa). 
Saw IWU clobber Wash U - hard to imagine our SLIAC champ, or a SLIAC all star team for that matter, matched up against IWU in March.

[Gregory Sager]

The Robert Morris that Blackburn will face is RMC-Springfield, of course, not RMC-Chicago. A SLIAC all-star team would have a lot of trouble with the Eagles from the main RMC campus in Chicago as well. They're 11-1 and ranked sixth in NAIA-1.

Missouri Baptist, by the way, is 10-3 and ranked fourteenth in NAIA-1.

[fcnews]

Pre - Christmas Look at the SLIAC
1. Maryville, on the the strength of it's win over McKendree, looks like the team to beat.
2. Webster with Basillio and Spinner will get it's share of wins.
3-4-5. Blackburn is having a hard time scoring points ( held 3 times for less then 52 ), looking for any semester changes here. Westminister, though talented, can't seem to win a game. FC will have to wait and see how fast these pups grow. Lincoln Christian , tommorrow,  followed by Wash U. and two D-2 match ups in Hawaii.
6. Mac - who really knows which team will show and what style will they play.
7. Greenville's off the court problems have brought this team to it's knees.
8. Principia is back to being Prin.

Just my observations.

[fcnews]

FC 72 LC 71 - Poorly played and bad decisions leads to FC winning on Brian Fogerty's basket with 8 secs. to play. FC lead by double digits till the final four minutes. Patrick McCoy, playing on an ankle that he rolled in practice Saturday, led FC with 22 (7-13 3pt), Fogerty 19, Almany 12 (4-9 3's), Kirkpatrick 16 and 8.

A Win is a Win ? Last nights game had the feel of a conference road game (which it will be next year). FC shot 8 free throws to LC's 20, horribly called game. Just when you thought you've seen it all a couple of SLIAC officating brothers flash back from the past. Are we really that desperate for officals?

As bad as last night was it proved some points of interest. Let me say now, before some one else does, FC should of won by 25. But, the last 30 seconds proved this young team could find away to win. LC doubled McCoy and the ball got into Fogerty, who finished strong to the basket, for the winner. Good thing Brian is a strong kid, he got just hammered by LC trying to prevent the basket, but no call. This team could not win the close ones last year. McCoy can and will play with an injury. You never know how that will effect kids.

A big positive was the 3 point shooting of Fontbonne. That was not existant last year. McCoy and Almany combined to go 11-22 from behind the arc. This compares to the King and Fisher and Grasle days. I'm not comparing players, just results. Shooting like this will prevent teams from zoning the Griffins and open up the end side to the big men.

Three tough road games face FC now. A rough afternoon meeting with Wash U. saturday. Then two D-2 opponents at Hilo, before returning home for Greenville and the sliac grind.

[Mac Attack]

Mac 96   Lincoln Christian 67

Highlanders played very well. Lincoln Christian didn't. Nice to see some different kids get a chance for Mac, and show themselves and the coaches what they can do with increased minutes. Lincoln didn't play much defense, and Mac had enough talented players who could run up and down the floor and get it done. Had it been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the third round. Noticed one of their best freshmen wasn't dressed out. Hope everything is OK with the player, as he is a key to Mac's future success. Lincoln Christian lost to Maryville by 37, lost to Blackburn by 32,  beat Principia by 5, and lost to Fontbonne by 1. You get the picture. Coming into the game, Lincoln Christian was 1-7, so this wasn't a "measuring stick" game for Mac. Saturday against the Central Dutch will tell us a lot more. Until Mac can beat someone with a winning record, the jury is still out. That being said, I still believe the Highlanders have an excellent shot at the post-season tournament and possibly a league title.

[thebeav]

This is my first post, and I have decided that Blackburn needs a supporter on this page also. I have been in close contact with Beaver Basketball the past 4 years. Since there has been a lack of coverage on the Beavers this year I'll try to sum up what's been taking place this far. BC entered the season with high expectations following last years run to the NCAA. Nick Barnett was ruled to not have eligibility left to play basketball in the second semester and John Essington had to leave at semester also so neither played the first semester. The Beavers are, as usuall, a guard oriented team but even more than last year. Lack of a true post presence hurts more on offense than defense. Djedovich and Stevens still firing 3's with success w/out as much space as last year due to lack of inside game and Essington's penetration. Newcommers Zeb Hamilton (JuCo) and Zack Allen (JuCo)are major contributors. Hamilton is a slashing athletic 3 (playing 4 & 5 for Beavers) yet is shooting a tremendous amount of threes when he can get to the rim if he wants. Allen is now running the show and very good at this aspect. Many more assits than turnovers. Team will live and die by the three...if they're on no one in conference will beat them (see Eureka game) but if they're slightly off it could be a long season (Wash U). Hopefully I can add to the SLIAC discussion throughout the year.

[hopefan]

beav -welcome, great writeup - hope we'll hear from you often.  I know what you mean about the inconsistancy Blackburn is showing - I've seen lots of it from Webster and Maryville too.   I really feel that the conference race could go any direction, so January/February should be a blast.  Maryville's experience should rate them a favorite, but as you say, if Blackburn, Webster, Mac, Fontbonne bring there A game, they are all capable of challenging too.  If Maryville doesn't pull away, I think the winner of the conference could have 4, maybe even 5 losses.  Looking forward to Blackburn - Maryville matches-  Djedovic kills us!!!

[thebeav]

I would like to see how everyone feels at the break period of the season. Who seems to be the top contenders? I will start at the bottom and work my way up. It seems obvious, unless mid-season transfers, that GC and PU will be battling for 2nd to last place. I have a feeling Westminster will get it together at some point and notch some solid SLIAC wins. The fourth place, and tourney spot, will be between WU and Mac, these seem like two evenly matched teams and it will be a close call to which one gets the bid to the Conference tourney. At this moment I'd pick BC as the 3rd seed but they could bump all the way to the top once the team gets use to playing w/ each other under Coack K's motion offense.  FU is in the second slot w/ newcommers leading the way, if they mature in SLIAC play they will be tough for anyone to beat. MU seems to be the leading contender at the moment...big win vs. a down McKendree team but still a solid team for any SLIAC school to beat. I would like to add that I have read through the 15 pages of posts and I am not thrilled w/ the Beaver bashing! Granted, this is a new season but the treatment BC received after winning the conference tournament seemed a bit harsh. They were the only team that was not beaten by a conference team twice. Beat WU twice, once at WU. The only win Webster had was due to a horrible start by BC and a Djedovic injury. Additionaly, those who bashed the Beavers losing in the tourney should know...I went to the game at Hanover...BC was up by 8 w/ 5 mins. left in the first half when Essington severly sprained his ankle and the lead disappeared only after that. With Coach K at the helm running his offense and 3's firing all over the place BC could be a handful for conference teams and possible NCAA opponents once again. Oh and by the way...I'm not bias! haha

[fcnews]

Beav - "Bias" is welcomed, if you weren't we wouldn't have you here. Welcome to the board.

[Daryl L Lloyd]

Welcome to the SLIAC board beav.  As FC said bias is always welcome here, makes it more fun that way.  Sorry to hear your not thrilled with the beaver bashing (although I have yet to find a post I would call that).  As a blackburn fan of course you felt some posters sentiments regarding BC's SLIAC tourney win over WU were "a bit harsh." The fact is they won the tourney game over Webster with some hot hands, and got squashed by Hanover.  Anyway you look at it a 20 point loss is a thumping, plain and simple.  As you stated the 3's firing all over the place can come back and hurt BC on nights their shots arent falling, especially with no post game (as it seemed to last year in the NCAA).  Itll be interesting to see how BC handles the post games of MU (Bash) and WU (Hoggatt) without Barnett.