MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

Good Luck to everyone tonite. No matter what we will still have a 5 horse race:

Pick Your Pony: I'm taking a long shot

Griffin Nation - A young two year old -  out of the McKinney Stables.
Ran well early but didn't break maiden till January. Has learned to win. Quick out of the gate. Coming off Stakes win at Westminster Downs. Stretching out in distance.

We're hoping the "Darby" is run at Jacksonville Downs. The same connections won the big one their in '96.

[fcnews]

Halftime FU 47 - PC -19
FU opened up on a 30-2 run.

WHERE IS MACATTACK?

[fcnews]

FU 94 - PC 42

FU's top six players did not play the last 16 minutes.

[fcnews]

Mac wins. Webster wins. Three way for first.

[y_jack_lok]

Well, three teams with 4 losses. Webster 11-4, Mac 11-4, Fontbonne 10-4. Webster & Mac complete their regular seasons on Saturday the 17th, but the other 8 teams have to play on Tuesday the 20th.

[pantherpride06]

Wow!  Let's just say the trip from Greenville, Ill. to Jacksonville, Ill. is a bear.  4 hrs of driving and 210 miles later I'm back.  Made the trek by myself.   My boys bailed.

Greenville was a force in the first half, hitting on all cylinders.  Held a 12 pt. advantage at half (Should have been 15 but Mac hit a 3 at the horn... ball still in hand but officials counted the shot.)  Second Half, both teams played well.  Greenville just missed big shots and didn't get a break here or there.  Really a 2-3 point ball game.  Greenville fouled and didn't hit shots.

Side Notes: 
Mac needs to get rid of the scoreboard that does not have tenths of a second on it.  If you are going to host the SLIAC Tourney, this needs done too.

Also, it was great meeting MacAttack.  Glad we met and spoke.  Very nice fellow he is.

Lastly, you could tell Mac was out for revenge from a few weeks ago.  The crowd was definately into it, but did yell some off-color gestures (ie: the bull$hit chant a few times.)  They also said some pretty rude things to our womens basketball team.  Nothing you can do about it, but I did want to point this out because I know my Greenville fans really get chewed on my some officials and people in the SLIAC nation (no one here that I know of.)

Mac Fans definately were into it and cheering.. once their team was on top.

Well, its coming down to the point where we have to win out and pray for help to just get in.  I hate to cheer again fcnews and I hate to cheer for macmurray.  Oh the agony!

[sully309]

Webster 76, Eureka 68

Tough defense played by Webster all night.  Kuhn was making his shots to make up for Hoggatt having a non-existent 1st half. Eureka scored 1 point in the first 7:20 and was only behind 8-1. Both teams looked jittery for the first 15 minutes. I really have a hard time seeing how Spinner has been mentined in player of the year discussion, but maybe I saw his worst game. I mean, he's a nice player and runs the offense okay and all, but...

Overall, I thought rebounding was the key to the game.  Webster was +9, with a +8 in the first half when they dominated. After falling behind by 19 with 12 minutes to go, it was fun to see Eureka cut it to 3 with 5 minutes left. A lesser team would have folded, but Webster played well down the stretch and deserved to win.

The game was called very loose until about 5 minutes into the 2nd half when there was a scrum near mid-court over a near jump ball. Then, all of a sudden, everything was being called. Players on both tems had trouble adjusting to the officials mid-stream.

There was an interesting play that set up a 7-point possession for EC in the 2nd half. Matt McComb was fouled intentionally by Spinner and made the basket. Then, he made the free throws and Tarpley made a 3 after the free throws. That cut the lead from 14 to 7 pretty quick.  The Webster fans seemed to think it was a weak call, but it looked like an obvious intentional foul to me. Either way, it was a silly foul. It will be interesting to see how the game between Webster and Blackburn turns out.

Eureka needs to get off to a good start against Westminster or at least not dig such a big hole to climb out from. It was good to see McComb return to action, though his shot was a tad off still. Hopefully he will be able to play later today. Eureka has Westminster and Greenville next. In order to get into the tourney, Eureka probably only needs to beat whoever wins the game between Westminster and Greenville to be played Feb. 20.  Unfortunately, we won't know who wins that game until it's too late. So, moral of the story, better win both!

Should be a good game at Mac later today. For tie-breaker purposes, I hope Fontbonne wins. For travel purposes, I hope Mac wins. For fan purposes, I hope they play 8 OT's  .  Hopefan made his much anticipated appearance at Eureka. Now that he has met me, he can officially start trashing me behind my back to other posters at games.  It was great to meet him. I'm expecting frequent updates from Mac Sat...that is if he even makes it there. Word on the street is the boat in Peoria took him of all he's worth.

[Mac Attack]

MacMurray vs. Greenville was one of the best basketball games I've ever witnessed at any level. Both teams played very, very hard and both coaches  clearly viewed the game as a critical win. The Highlanders got it, but it was not without great effort. I thought both teams came out with maximum intensity and gave each other their best shot early - but MacMurray succumbed to serious foul troubles at about the 12 minute mark in the first half and things went downhill in a hurry for the Mac faithful. It went from 22-18 Greenville to about an 18 point lead in about five minutes and the Highlanders looked like you could stick a fork in them. Robertson, Compton, Whalum, and Coleman all on the bench with three fouls. Whalum hit about a 35 footer at the horn to make it 35-23 at the break. Mac came out in the second half and quickly got it in single digits, but then the Panthers pushed it back to 12. Greenville was packing it in on defense, blanketing Robertson and Greene, and letting our shooters fire away. At the other end, they did a terrific job of reversing the ball, looking for passing lanes, and taking high percentage shots. It was the perfect game plan - and then Whalum and Robertson went to the bench with their four fouls with about 12 minutes to play and the situation looked grim. That's when  MacMurray's bench stepped up. Led by Billy Long, Adam Polston, Dawson Huff, Nic Hipshir, and Nick Schmidt, MacMurray climbed back into the game with a series of defensive stops, two 3s by Polston, and some clutch FTs by Huff. Mac went ahead 52-50, but then the Panthers made their last surge to grab a three point lead again with about seven minutes to play. That's when Mac made their push. Robertson and Greene looked like they caught their second wind, the Panthers all of the sudden looked a step slow, Coleman and Whalum nailed 3s, and all of the sudden it was a 10 point game. Some big plays and big calls down the stretch, including two Greenville offensive fouls that could have gone either way. All I can say is this was a tremendous college basketball game, better than most you will see at any level. It was the loudest and rowdiest MacMurray crowd I've ever seen. Students and adults alike were fired up. I don't go for the off-color stuff. No need to do that. But besides that, Mac's fans made a difference, maybe a big difference.

Conquest had a strong game for Greenville. Ellis was a force in the second half. Don't forget, this team is every bit as young as MacMurray. The Panthers will be extra tough again next season.

Fontbonne will be a load. They clearly expended much less eneergy last night than MacMurray did. Not sure how much the Highlanders will have left in the tank. But they gave the Griffins all they wanted the first time around, leading by five with about ten left to play - and this was after blowing a 21 point lead and losing to Greenville the night before. Mac won't be intimidated.

I have to think MacMurray is one win away from the post-season tournament with three to play - but make no mistake about it. The Mac players want to win the whole thing. They feel as if most of the other teams in the conference (not Greenville) have not taken them seriously and underestimated their ability. Call it a "chip of their shoulder" or whatever, but Mac is playing like they have something to prove. By guaranteeing a better than .500 season and competing for the regular season championship, I think MacMurray has already exceeded everyone's expectations - but the Mac players and coaches want more. We'll see how it unfolds.

Finally, it was a real pleasure to meet PantherPride. He's a terrific young man with a real passion for Greenville and athletics. He will go far in any profession that he chooses.

Good luck to everyone today!

[Mac Attack]

Some stats from last night's MacMurray-Greenville game:

MacMurray

Whalum - 19 pts, 3 assists, 2 steals (All Conference Point Guard?)
Coleman - 11 pts, 7 assists
Robertson - 12 pts, 9 rebs
Compton - 14 pts, 4 rebs
Greene - 12 pts, 10 rebs, 2 assts, 2 blks
Mac bench - 19 pts (Polston had 10)
10-23 three-pt

Greenville

Simmons - 16 pts, 5 rebs, 7 assts (nice game)
Ellis - 14 pts, 4 rebs
Hensold 13 pts, Taylor 11 pts, Conquest 9 pts
Mutton - 7 rebs
5-23 three-pt, 13-22 FTs

[Beaver_SID]

Webster leads BC by 10 at the half 

WU-37
BC-27


BC shot poorly in the first couple minutes

[sully309]

EC 28, Westmin. 26 at half.

WC started out really hot, 9-11 I think and led 20-11. WC finished 10-29, so they had a huge drought. Tarpley has 13, Buxton has 8. WC 6-11 on threes keeping them close.

[sully309]

Westminster beats Eureka 81-64

Much the same game as the first meeting except Eureka did not get as big of a lead.  WC was 12-24 on 3's, Eureka was 11-29 (too many attempts). WC only had 8 turnovers.  Davis was leading scorer with 19. Tarpley had 15 for EC. I'll have the stats up shortly. More comments later.

[BunchTime]

The tourney picture is really start to clear up now!  It looks like it is a competition between Mac and Webster to determine who hosts it.  I really like where Webster is sitting right now with 2 games remaining on their schedule.  They host Fontbonne on Wednesday night, which is always a tough game, and perhaps even tougher since the stakes are very high for Fontbonne right now!  However, I don't foresee a let-down simply because they are playing their Big Bend rival...heck, Fontbonne could be coming to Webster winless and the Gorloks would still get up for a game against them, as I am sure that FC would attest to that.  That said, it will be another classic game between these 2 schools where anything is possible.  If (notice I said the word "if") they would beat FU then that would all but wrap up a piece of the SLIAC Championship as the Gorloks finish with Prin.  Although, if I am correct, I believe Webster holds the tie-breaker over Mac, assuming that they would win out also.  Mac, however, has to play at Blackburn and also finish with Maryville.  It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next 2 weeks, because as I have said before, anything in this conference is possible!

[y_jack_lok]

Congratulations to all the players and coaches on a very well played game by both Webster and Blackburn. Webster had a 16 point lead in the 1st half and a 19 point lead in the 2nd half, but Hammond and Allen did everything they could to bring the Beavers back. The lead got down to 4 at one point. Webster kept its composure and came away with a very important win.

[hopefan]

It's Saturday night and my weekend of D3 hoops travelling is complete...  it's really fun to have a number of d3 buddies who appreciate the game much the same way as I do  -  Sat and chatted with SLIAC Commish at both Eureka and Mac - spent time with Eureka SID, got to meet the president of Eureka College  (found we both spent significant time in upstate NY,) and nice chats with Coach Bunch and the Eureka Coach, then on to Saturday where I teased FCnews mercilessly regarding anything Fontbonne, saw Panther pride as he visited MacMurray quickly from a crosstown track meet at Illinois College, and traded basketball chat with Mac Attack during the game.   Finish the day off talking to yjak on the phone on the way home hearing about Webster -BC.
A great weekend   --  FC...with great willpower required I drove thru Alton with NO stops -  have to start building up positive points just in case I need to come up to MAC for the conf tourney.

One negative - At the beginning of each game, a statement  is read regarding spectator behavior at games -  I tolerate, even chuckle over, the college kids behavior - it's kids being kids.  But the last two weekends, i've seen behavior from some parents of SLIAC players that goes way beyond the limits that are set forth -  I zipped my lips today, but when My enjoyment of a game is infringed on by someone who simply isn't seeing what's really happening on the floor, screaming at the officials EVERY play, it's at the ridiculous stage.  For crying out loud, at least try to support the kids whether they're winning or losing.  I'm lucky, at this stage in my life, I can go to the SLIAC games and root for good play and close games and appreciate the competition no matter who wins.  Believe me people, I haven't seen an official intentionally blow a call yet.....   To paraphrase the immortal Billy Tubbs, try to act like a human being NO Matter how bad the officials are!!!