MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[pantherpride]

yjackloc - thanks.  i didn't mean to come across sarcastically.  After re-reading my post, it does sound that way a little...

Good Luck teams today!

[fcnews]

Here's my picks-
FU gets a W
BC wins, sorry Pride.
Mac runs into trouble at WU, WU with a win to stay in the hunt.
The tough one - MU wins if Bash plays 20 minutes, if Steve can't go then WC gets a big win.

Good Luck to All and safe traveling.

[pantherpride]

I'll give my line on today's games too.

Blackburn d. Greenville : I think my boys will come out and play, but BC is just a very disciplined team.

Fontbonne d. Principia : Sorry, is that even a question?

Maryville d. Westminster : Could be barn-burner.  Westminster played well 2nd half vs. GC.  So, I could be interesting.

Webster d. MacMurray : Toss Up.  I'll take Webster.

I'd like to give a shoutout to the GC Women's team which has new life in them with some things that have transpired throughout the lower tier of the SLIAC.  If my ladies can take care of business the next three games, they could get the fourth seed and salavage a long season.

[pantherpride]

That's right.  Ask and you shall recieve.  The Greenville Panthers UPSET UPSET UPSET the Blackburn Beavers in HJ Long 61-55.  Greenville had 4 in double figures with Bryson Taylor, Ben Hensold, and Christopher Simmons with 11 and Matt Greene with 14.  For Blackburn, Zeb Hammond had 18 and Todd Stevens with 12.

Greenville led at half by 6.  It was a 10 point game with 11 minutes to go.  The Beavers went on a 12-5 run through until the 2 minute mark, then Greenville hit some big shots from Bryson Taylor and Christopher Simmons!  GREENVILLE 61 - BLACKBURN 55.

[yjacklok]

Conragts and thanks to the Greenville and Westminster for keeping the conference race interesting.

[yjacklok]

Oops! Typo. Congrats -- but you know what I meant.

[grahamsmith]

ok so what if Eberhart was wrestling someone, and if Kowa punched someone in the face at Webster.  So what, i still love you guys and you will be real contenders not only this year but next year as well....the students at mac seem to be hostile at least these guys found a positive outlet, otherwise they could have hurt someone important

[Mac Attack]

This was one Mac really needed. Will have to win out and hope Westminster stumbles, which could happen. No margin for error. Weird game. Got down as much as 15 in the first half, but cut it to one with about three minutes left to play. Got a couple of huge baskets in the second half from freshmen Workmen and Schmidt that relly helped, but Spinner and Hoggatt were just too much. As evidenced by recent Mac wins, when they shoot well they can win. Looked to me like they shot about 33% on the night, which is fatal to the Highlanders. Huff had a real good game, as did Robertson. But Eberhart, Compton, and Hipshir really struggled and that made a huge difference. Give Webster credit. Rough, tough game, and Mac gave it their best shot. Rebounds and turnovers were about even, so it really came down to making shots and Mac flat didn't shoot very well. It's also becoming more and more apparent that giving players a lot of minutes who don't score or rebound has been a huge negative for Mac this season. Defense and effort is very, very important. But players have to be able to score and/or rebound as well - or be terrific ballhandlers and passers, and honestly, Mac plays some guys quite a bit who really don't contribute much in the scorebook. If a team has a couple of dominant players, it can get by with "role players." Unfortunately, that's not the case with Mac. Mac has had some tough, close losses this season, and a break here and a call there and this could have been a team above .500. Good luck down the stretch, Mac!

[fcnews]

Big Congrats to Panther Pride and the boys. A little Central IL. bragging rights. I haven't seen the box score or seen a post from Hopefan. Interested in knowing if bash played. I wouldn't want to draw WC first game of the tournament. They do have a legit chance to win it all.

[hopefan]

Bash did not play, and the rest didn't work too hard at it.   Bash will play vs BC

While Webster and Westminster seem to be on an upswing heading into the final week and a half, Maryville and BC are on downers  -  Hopefully two good coaches will get them back into gear

The injury bug is just killing MU
Turpin played against Westminster as did Rezabek - both very out of kilter  -  only minutes will get them back into the swing of things.  Hebl out of synch, losing confidence...   Benny, to the hole - fake that shot and go to the basket.
Regan played like he didn't want to be there either - weakest conference game of the season for him.  Westminster's big guy killed us- Davis had 36, inside,outside, all over  -  he shoulda had 50 the way MU played defense, but WC's liberal substitutions had him on the bench - McCarthy playing softly with a bad back, Klein hurt his shoulder again, the skinny freshmen played like skinny freshmen. 
Thank goodness for Elwell

And with all this said, MU still has its biggest game of the year with BC this Wednesday... a win makes a 3 way tie for the lead, and with BC playing Westminster the following week, a tie between Webster and MU at season's end is not out of the question.  If it ended in a 3 way, BC wins the tiebreakers. 

[Mac Attack]

MacMurray 72  Knox 68

Nice win for the Highlanders, especially after the tough loss last night. Knox had beaten several teams that had defeated Mac, including Grinnell, Concordia, and Westminster. I'm pretty sure Knox had a winning record coming into this game, so that makes the victory a little sweeter. The win moves Mac to 8-14, which won't open many eyes. But considering we were 2-9 after losing to Blackburn on January 7, the team has certainly avoided a disasterous finish. With Greenville and Maryville coming to town next week, and then the regular season finale at Westminster, anything could happen. Mac needs to win all three to make the post-season, which will be a tall task. A 2-1 finish would represent a one-game improvement over last year, which I think will disappoint just about everyone.  I think a 1-2 or 0-3 finish would be a bitter pill to swallow. Downham, Kowa, Hipshir, Compton, Robertson, Eberhart, and Huff will all have to be at their best - and Brett Carroll has really helped provide quickness, ballhandling, and depth. Should be an interesting and exciting finish. Go Mac!

[Ex-BlueJay]

"Let a girl get mauled and then call a ticky tack foul in a 40 pt game with 2 minutes to go.  Typical SLIAC refs, all of them are terrible."  This is a phrase worth being kicked out of a girls game for, as a fan.   Seriously now, any referee in any level of sports from elementary school to the NBA has heard much worse remarks than this during games.  Someone needs to let the SLIAC officials know that they are supposed to be paying attention to the game anyways, and not the fans.  Unless they feel threatened, they should be men enough to ignore what is said.  For someone to take it that personal, he must have felt the comment was true. 

With that said, the Westminster men looked very good in their game on saturday.  Granted, Bash was not available and he may have been able to slow down Davis, who was unconscious from inside and out.  This win could make things very interesting down the stretch.  Im finally glad to see that the blue jays are pulling things together at the right time of the year.  Looks like this year's tournament could be a fun one.  Lets all just hope that it doesnt end up out at the beaverdome.  Nothing against blackburn, but as a basketball fan, nobody wants to drive 3 hours and hope that you are one of the 100 people who actually gets a seat. 

[pantherpride]

Ex-Bluejay:  What are you talking about?  Did I miss something? 

[hopefan]

Ex Bluejay - I agree with Pantherpride - did something happen at end of MU - Westminster girl's game???  I saw some of lady's 1st half, but left for home early.

I'm very disappointed if again officials are becoming involved with fans and vice versa  -  If this is the case at the Westminster game, as well as the Webster game where something definitely happened, it's becoming way too regular.  It already had happened at Greenville and at Fontbonne.

Officials on the court have to quit listening to the fans, and School officials need to get involved more quickly  -  it should be school administrators who control the fans, not game officials. 

   That being said, at the beginning of each SLIAC game, I believe a statement regarding expectations of sportsmanship is read.  I f a fan can't live up to those expectations, then they shouldn't attend the game.

And ex Bluejay - I obviously agree with your comments regarding Blackburn's facility.  The men's playoffs will be great - 4 evenly matched teams - give everyone a break and have it where it can be watched by the fans.   Idea - if Blackburn facility can't provide seating, how about a high school local to Blackburn?  It's not like the tourney will draw huge, but at least a HS could provide adequate seating while giving BC a non travelling edge.  Or what about the community college up that way?

[Ex-BlueJay]

This incident happened at the very end of the Westminster/Maryville women's game.  Now i may be wrong, but i definitely feel that this is not a comment worthy of being asked to leave a game, especially with 2 minutes to go.