MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[buf]

Point gets a huge win at #7 Elmhurst, 62-53.  Point got off to a 25-8 lead and held off an Elmhurst rally.

[bgbacker]

EC-LX ... good crowd...pretty good game...too many fouls. Blugolds a different team w/o Shea, but shared the ball well. They had 20 assists on 23 baskets. LX still missing inside game on both ends. Mane is an incredible shooter.

Two weeks of rest will help Shea and the other "Black & Blu" Golds get better.

Colin Boone is underrated. I'm not saying he's a superstar, but he is underrated.

Stoutguy is overrated! I'm not saying he's a "dog", but he is overrated.

By the way, all Blugolds' games are now available a few days afterwards "ON DEMAND" at www.sportsradio1400.com

[Greek Tragedy]

Here's Point's game story on their big win against Elmhurst!

And just for fun, here's Elmhurst's point of view

I was told Beamish got hurt and didn't return...no word on the game review about his injury.  Boxscore says he played 16 minutes.

BTW, I know I've been a critic of Jerome Wotachek, so I'll give him props when he deserves it.  He played 30 minutes tonight and scored 7 points, but added six rebounds, good for 2nd on the team. 

Rortvedt was again cold tonight, 1-11, but pulled down 11 boards and also led the team in steals with 3. 

[John Gleich]

Pretty big win for the Pointers over a good Elmhurst team tonight. BOX SCORE

I was worried going in because Point has struggled going against teams with dominant big men.  I had never seen Ruch from Elmhurst College, but from what the CCIW fans said about him, he seemed like he was going to be a load.

Elmhurst took the lead at the beginning of the game, scoring pretty easily on a layup.  On Point's first three possessions, they got a turnover and there were two 17 footers from Wotachek that missed, and I thought that Point was going to be in for a long night.  Point did get on the board, though, with Rortvedt('s only...) jumper.  EC came down and scored after a couple of offensive rebounds (again, I though... could be a long night...), and they were pounding it inside to Ruch.  But Point rattled off the next 17 points, three 3's and a layup by El Amin and two layups by Beamish, and Point jumped to a 19-4 lead.  They extended the lead to 25-8, and it looked like the rout might be on... but Elmhurst scored the last 10 points of the half to make it 25-18.

A few things that I noticed early on.  Point was just blowing by the Elmhurst defenders off the dribble and getting wide open passes to layups or wide open 3's for the first 14 minutes of the half.  Elmhurst was pounding the ball inside to Ruchs, and Wotachek did an absolutely superb job keeping Ruch in front of him and making Ruch shoot over him.  He got lots of help from his teammates, though, not giving Ruch much room to work with.  Another key was that Jerome pushed Ruch away from a good posting spot on the floor.  He was either pushed too wide or too high... and this also meant that the other Pointer defenders were that much closer to choke down and influence his move, poke the ball away, or get the outright steal.

Elmhurst adjusted, though, with the close of the half.  They cut down on the driving lanes and Point turned the ball over 4 times in the last six minutes of the first half (they only had 8 TO's the whole game).  Point went 7 minutes without scoring from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second, and it was due to two factors.  First off, I think that they had been able to score a little too easily early on.  Thus, when it wasn't quite that easy, they weren't prepared for it.  But also, Elmhurst really turned up the defensive pressure and the intensity.  Point had been the hammer for the first 16 minutes, and Elmhurst got some momentum back and took advantage from the 5:26 mark, when Strzemp hit a 3.  That stopped the bleeding for the Bluejays... and caused a little purple blood to be spilled!

Speaking of purple blood... Bryan Beamish went down again tonight with a knee problem.  It happened about 1/4 through the second half, I think, and he went to the bench, and then the locker room, and didn't return to the game.  He was up and walking on it after the game, but walking and playing are two completely different animals...  Pete Rortvedt was clearly not back to form either... in terms of his shot.  He hit Point's first basket with a little over 2 minutes gone... and then missed his next 10.  I think that the Christmas break will do him some good, as Point doesn't play again until next Saturday night against Edgewood, then they get another 10 day break before playing Carroll.

In the second half, Elmhurst kept their intensity up and Point seemed to be back on their heals a bit.  The ball movement that had created open looks was not there, and when the Pointers had an opportunity to drive, the Bluejay defense cut down the passing lanes and Point was forced to kick the ball out to a non-scoring option or to put up a tough shot.  Elmhurst cut the Point lead to 2 three times but couldn't ever tie it or take the lead.  I think getting back to that point took some of the energy out of Elmhurst and they were tired.  I also think that Point snapped to and realized they had a game on their hands and really started taking care of the ball and making possessions count... because from 14:37, the last time EC cut it to 2, Point drew 7 fouls over the next 4 minutes.  They also shot 8 ft's, making 7 of them, which was good because they didn't score a bucket in that stretch.  At the 10:45 mark, it was 41-38, and Point got 4 steals in the next 7 minutes, getting 7 points of TO's and bringing it back up to a 9 point game.  They made 9/12 free throws in the last 3 minutes to seal it.

A couple of random thoughts on the game...

Ruch only had 2 points in the first half and ended up with 14.  Point did great against him in the first half and enough against him in the second half to not let him take over the game.  Like I said, Wotachek did a great job on him in the first half.  I the second half, Ruch got better positioning in the post (in deeper, closer to the basket), and Elmhurst's guards spaced better.  That gave him some room to work with, because Point's defenders couldn't pinch as easily.  It kind of bothered me (as a big man) watching Ruch though... he didn't use the backboard on his shots inside.  He missed a few, especially early that I thought could (should?) have gone, but he banged it off the back of the rim.

Burks was a non-factor for Elmhurst.  He came in averaging 19 points per game and ended up with 7. 

Pete Rortvedt, though he only made one shot for Point was NOT a non-factor.  He pulled down 11 boards, he had a couple of assists, and he got three steals.  He was his usual self, flying around, making plays.  When you see the way that kid throws his body around the floor, its no wonder he has had so many injuries... but he's an inspiration to his teammates and you can really see how it picks the team up.  I just hope he doesn't give up his body in a way that will do any permanent damage... he's got the rest of his life to live!

El-Amin was hot early and cooled off a little bit (especially after Elmhurst realized that he was the only one who was really "on" tonight), but he made quite a few hustle plays too.  He's generally the smallest guy out on the floor, but he has so much heart and he's just so darn quick.

Jerome Wotachek had a really, really good game tonight.  He ended up with 7 points on 3-7 shooting, but two of those were jumpers early in the game... the rest of his shots were all inside, and though he missed a couple tough ones inside, he was cutting towards the basket when his teammates drove instead of floating (Iserloth style...) around the perimeter.

Point really hit the offensive glass hard tonight, grabbing 14 O boards.  Many of these were the tip-out variety, and Pete and Jerome each were credited with 4 apiece.  Elmhurst didn't help their own cause, though... Point for 4 "team" rebounds, and I remember at least 3 of these where it looked like Elmhurst was going to run down the rebound, but they either tipped it out of bounds or simply dropped the ball out.

One other thing that I really liked to see from SP was that they pushed the ball quite a bit.  This led to 12 fast break points (though two of those were in the last few second... El Amin got a long rebound and there was nobody in front of him, as he took it the distance).  Wotachek really ran the floor hard and got a few baskets off of the break.  I think this is something Point can do to really exploit their quickness, especially with a guy like Moses who is such a good finisher inside, and an athletic guy like Jenkins who can outrun the other big guys down the floor.  Coach Bennett used to tell us to push the ball smartly.  ... What this meant was if we had something to take it, but if we didn't, then don't force it.  Of course, if we thought we had something, and took it, and didn't get the bucket, it wasn't smart, but...


All in all, this was a really good win for Point.  I liked the effort they put forth and I think this Pointer team is going to do nothing but get better as this year goes on!

[Greek Tragedy]

Eau Claire 71, La Crosse 66

Platteville 69, River Falls 62 (happy, UWRF? lol :-) )  Wrong boxscore link!

correct boxscore

Oshkosh 64, Stout 62

Whitewater 82, Superior 72

boxscore

[UWRF]

OS- Thank you I didn't realize that!!

[stoutguy]

EC-LX ... good crowd...pretty good game...too many fouls. Blugolds a different team w/o Shea, but shared the ball well. They had 20 assists on 23 baskets. LX still missing inside game on both ends. Mane is an incredible shooter.

Two weeks of rest will help Shea and the other "Black & Blu" Golds get better.

Colin Boone is underrated. I'm not saying he's a superstar, but he is underrated.

Stoutguy is overrated! I'm not saying he's a "dog", but he is overrated.

By the way, all Blugolds' games are now available a few days afterwards "ON DEMAND" at www.sportsradio1400.com

Heck, I'm just honored to be rated, overrated or otherwise.

[badgerwarhawk]

The WARHAWKS got back on track with a 82-72 win in Superior.  Superior scored first and led 3-0 on a basket by Curly.  But the WARHAWKS answered with baskets by Billy Kolinski and Myles McKay to go up 4-3 and never trailed in the contest again.  Leading 42-34 at the half the WARHAWKS let Superior get back to within 4 points with 16:03 remaining but gradually built the lead to as many as 18 points 76-58 with 4:50 remaining.  Kori Vernon, celebrating his birthday, had a double-double 22 points, 10 rebounds while Kolinski, Matt Goodwin and Myles McKay all scored in double figures with 12, 12, and 10 points respectively.  McKay also pulled down 7 rebounds as the WARHAWKS dominated the boards 33-14 including 10 on the offensive end.  Goodwin had 6 assists and the WARHAWKS tied a season low of 12 turnovers.  The WARHAWKS shot 60% from the floor.

It's great to see Kori have a breakout game like this.  He has so much talent.

The WARHAWKS will play a pair of home games this week meeting Oshkosh on Wednesday and Mount Senario the following evening.   Then it's off to Texas. 

[stoutguy]

The WARHAWKS got back on track with a 82-72 win in Superior.  Superior scored first and led 3-0 on a basket by Curly.  But the WARHAWKS answered with baskets by Billy Kolinski and Myles McKay to go up 4-3 and never trailed in the contest again.  Leading 42-34 at the half the WARHAWKS let Superior get back to within 4 points with 16:03 remaining but gradually built the lead to as many as 18 points 76-58 with 4:50 remaining.  Kori Vernon, celebrating his birthday, had a double-double 22 points, 10 rebounds while Kolinski, Matt Goodwin and Myles McKay all scored in double figures with 12, 12, and 10 points respectively.  McKay also pulled down 7 rebounds as the WARHAWKS dominated the boards 33-14 including 10 on the offensive end.  Goodwin had 6 assists and the WARHAWKS tied a season low of 12 turnovers.  The WARHAWKS shot 60% from the floor.

It's great to see Kori have a breakout game like this.  He has so much talent.

The WARHAWKS will play a pair of home games this week meeting Oshkosh on Wednesday and Mount Senario the following evening.   Then it's off to Texas. 

Huh?  Didn't they close a couple years ago?

[badgerwarhawk]

Oops, I meant Cardinal Stritch.  For some stupid reason I've always struggled to keep those two straight.   

[fredfalcon]

PointSpecial--"Brevity is the soul of wit."

[bgbacker]

Fred Falcon - well-put

[chmarx]

BW--oh that I had that much power! I don't even have a vote on city council.

Hair Worshippers--"Everybody Looks Better Bald." Including females. Just try it--cut it all off. You'll never go back.

stoutguy--Our women are coming on--beat Oskosh. Only have 2 losses, one in conference. And, they're very young.

Jville F.--I think you confused the"old guy" in WW with me--an easy confusion, actually.

Chmarx--If you travel to RF for the Lax game, I'll buy you all the beer stoutguy would have enjoyed had he shown up.

I'll have to see if I make it up there, Fred.  Right now, I barely know what I'm doing tomorrow!

Also, I went bald a few years ago due to chemotherapy.  Grew it back as fast as I could! 

[bballa1615]

Now that the season is 8 games in, who do you think will win the WIAC this year?

[Greek Tragedy]

Now that the season is 8 games in, who do you think will win the WIAC this year?

Maybe when the conference season is 8 games in, we can discuss it.  Only half the teams have played two conference games...kind of hard to tell.