MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

Hopefan - T. Lovette is in the best shape I've seen him. Let's hope he stays injury free and can contribute 6-8 minutes a game. So. Mike Riva, 6'6, is still making great strides to fill the void left by the graduation of John Dressler.

Let's hope the kids that Hopefan said are missing from MU's roster, left on their own choice. Anyone have Deimeke's #?

[hopefan]

A shame we no longer have the inside line on what' going on over at Maryville  -  wish Bash or Elwell would start posting so we could find out what's going on......

[fcnews]

BLA - I am more than sure MU will be tough to beat. Let's not forget they had a 10 pt. halftime lead in the SLIAC Championship game. And, only graduated one player.

The top three spots should be a coin toss. The question is who wants #4?

[y_jack_lok]

I can't help thinking that we are overestimating the STL schools and understimating the non-STL schools. I think we are going to be surprised by several of the non-STL teams in the conference this season, and that perhaps more than one tourney spot will go to a non-STL school.

[y_jack_lok]

Casey Holland was Maryville's loan senior last year

Who was he on loan from?

[hopefan]

got me 

[fcnews]

Stop the presses!!! Westminister beats SIU-E 73-72. Score shown on SLIAC website.

[Titan Q]

Stop the presses!!! Westminister beats SIU-E 73-72. Score shown on SLIAC website.

http://www.siue.edu/ATHLETIC/MBB/20082009/1101.html

http://www.siue.edu/ATHLETIC/MBB/20082009/SIUE1X.HTM


A really impressive win for Westminster.  SIU-E has a lot of players that CCIW schools tried to recruit the last couple of years and couldn't even get close to.  Like Aaron Garriott (Bloomington Central Catholic), Mark Yelovich (Mt. Zion), and Kevin Stineman (Stevenson H.S.) who were H.S. seniors last year.

It is worthwhile to note that SIU-E graduated its top 4 scores, and 6 of its top 8 scorers from '07-08.  They are a team playing an entirely new cast...and they are pretty young.  Looks like Westminster is a veteran team.  Regardless, a very impressive win for Westminster and the SLIAC.

Here are the guys who played for both teams last night...

SIU-E
G Barry Wellington, 6-0/170 Jr
G Aamir McClearly, 6-1/165 Jr
F Mark Yelovich, 6-5/200 Fr
F John Edmison, 6-5/190 Sr
C Nikola Bundalo, 6-10/240 So

Aaron Garriott, 6-3/170 Fr - 19 pts, 5 reb, 4 assists
Stephen Jones, 6-0/170 Jr
Terrance Williams, 7-0/210 Fr
Denykco Bowles, 6-7/210 Jr


Westminster
G Jason Warncke, 6-1 Sr - 22 pts, 5 reb, 3 assists
G Stanley Crawford, 6-2 Jr
F Buddy Sodeman, 6-3 Sr
F Ky Millard, 6-4 Jr
F Mike Crawford, 6-6 Sr

Kurt Kovach, 6-4 So
Adam Mallette, 6-6 So
Jake Vislay, 6-4 So
Ty Cochran, 5-10 Sr
Kurt Kuschel, 6-5 Sr

[y_jack_lok]

Congrats to the Blue Jays. Webster plays an exhibition against SIUE on the 14th. I expect SIUE will be better prepared by then.

Looks like there is going to be a huge battle for the four SLIAC tourney spots this season.

[hopefan]

Well, looks like my league predictions may already be topsy turvey

TQ  Westminster is far from a veteran squad - only one returning starter...Warnicke; Sodeman, Millard, one of the Crawfords saw time off the bench, other Crawford is a JC transfer

I forecasted Westminster 7 of 9 with all the new starters...

Westmin... FANTASTIC JOB!!!!!!!

[ac slater]

It's obviously hopefan hasnt seen Westminster play. They are top 3 in conferece if not the best.

[hopefan]

yep AC, you are correct, have not seen them play - hope you will provide info on Westmin if you are close to the program......

[y_jack_lok]

It's obviously hopefan hasnt seen Westminster play. They are top 3 in conferece if not the best.

Probably, almost certainly, nobody has seen everybody play at this point in the pre-season, so a case can be likely be made for six or seven teams to be in the top three. As for who is the best -- that's why they play the games. Whle FU is likely to be considered #1 in conference entering the season, Westminster's exhibition win over SIUE has to make people think more seriously about them. Until that game they have probably been written off as a "maybe" to make the SLIAC tournament, just based on the number of starters they lost from last season. This is going to be a very interesting season!

[BunchTime]

FYI... Webster has posted the "season preview" on their website.  It can be found by clicking on the following link:  http://www.websterathletics.com/news/2008/11/3/MENSBASKETBALLSEASONPREVIEW200809.aspx

It appears as if Coach Bunch is not at all pleased by his teams' failures to get to the NCAA Tourney despite their success in recent years.  I like this attitude.  I am confident that he will have his team hungry for a long awaited NCAA Tourney appearance. 

I am looking forward to getting these games underway.  Should be a another great season!

[4theLoveoftheGame]

Westminster definitely set the tone for the SLIAC this season. However, I wouldn't jump to saying they are possibly the best team in the conference just yet. I saw them play and they took several rushed and contested shots, most of them just happen to go in. Don't get me wrong, it was a huge win for Westminster, proving that they aren't a team to be overlooked. Especially their point guard, #4. He appeared to be the only one NOT playing scared. I thought he played a solid game, handling the SIUE pressure with ease. Overall, Westminster beat a very good team and definitely opened some people's eyes.

I look forward to seeing how Webster competes with SIUE tonight.