MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Dennis_Prikkel]

for the 37th consecutive season no undefeated conference champion

[mr_b]

north park tied for first in the conference - and the veil of the temple was rent.

Could be... as I am fast approaching post #666.

[CCIWchamps]

Tim McCrary with 31 pts leads Wheaton over IWU 66-65. IWU was down 64-58 with 53 secs left when Doug Sexauer hits a jumper. Wheaton turns it over and fouls Jordan Zimmer who hits 2 ft's to make it 64-62. Wheaton turns it over again and Sean Johnson hits a trey to give IWU the lead with 12 secs remaining, setting the stage for Andrew Jahns winning bucket for the game-winner with 1 sec left.
McCrary added 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks to go with his 31 pts. Ben Panner was the only other Wheaton player in double figures with 14 pts.
IWU was led by Sexauer with 23 pts and 6 rebounds. Sean Dwyer and Ed O'Callaghan both had 10 pts.

Great game at Wheaton.  Really fun, especially that Wheaton held on.
Let's just say it now: McCrary is a gamer.  He really controlled the first half for Wheaton to keep them in it and ahead when needed.  His double-doubles are routine.
And how IWU's guard keeps hitting big shots down the stretch, I don't know.  But I'm glad Jahns hit his last.

[usee]

Big win for Wheaton tonight at King Arena where they remain undefeated this season. I had a feeling they would play IWU tough at home as they limited them to 65 pts and 41% from the field. The story was the group of Sean Johnson, Travis Rosenkrantz, Sean Dwyer and Jordan Zimmer went 9-35. Ben Panner harassed Sean Johnson all night and he was 3-15 from the field. In spite of this, Johnson showed just how dangerous a player he is as his 3 ball from the left corner was heavily contested by Panner and there aren't many players who will make that shot with 10 seconds to go in an opponents gym. That gave IWU their only lead of the 2nd half at 65-64. Panner pushed the action and his fadeaway inside the FT line was an airball. Jahns was running the baseline and caught the ball under the basket and his  reverse lay up won it at the buzzer. Tim McCrary was an absolute beast and carried the Thunder for long stretches tonight he actually had 31 pts and 12 rebounds with his 4 assists (he had 17 and 8 at halftime). IWU was led by Sexauer and his 23 pts. Wheaton fronted the post and contested all outside shots. IWU's passing led to a lot of layups and 11-14 from the field for Sexauer. The Titans shot 5-15 from the arc and 10-16 from the FT line.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I, and I suspect most, had already virtually conceded the POY to Steve Djurickovic for the next two years.  Has anyone else noticed that McCrary has a huge lead in scoring (Steve is one point behind Raridon for second) AND a big lead in rebounding?!  (Steve does have a big lead in assists.)

When do the rumors begin about McCrary taking a scholarship to Northwestern (or wherever)?!

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 58, Elmhurst 53

* Ro Russell: 16 pts, 4 asts
* Shaun Collins: 11 pts
* Emmanuel Crosby: 9 rebs
* Issa Avery: 7 rebs

* Dustin Bainter: 16 pts, 10 rebs
* Zach Boyd: 14 pts, 7 rebs

OK, let's see a quick show of hands from everybody who thought that North Park would be in first place more than a third of the way through the CCIW season.

If Saturday's win was a Rembrandt, tonight's was hotel art pried loose from a wall of the Ramada out by the airport. Undersized Elmhurst uglied up the game in a serious way tonight, which was understandable as it gave Scherer's boys their best chance at a win. But NPU sure helped. The Vikings shot free throws as though they were wearing oven mitts (6-14, 43%). They were burned continuously by Bluejays cutting baseline for easy layups. And they gave up way too many offensive rebounds to an Elmhurst team on whom they had about two or three inches and ten to twenty pounds at every position but point guard. The 'jays, who really did play with a lot of moxie tonight and who never let NPU get comfortable (the Park never got a lead bigger than 49-40 with 7:40 remaining), did plenty of floundering on their own. EC came into the game dead last in the league in three-point shooting, and the 'jays made it even worse tonight by going 1-16 from downtown. They're now 13-78 (.167) from beyond the arc in CCIW play this year. Holy cow!

Elmhurst threw at least two, and often three, players at either Emmanuel Crosby or Nick Williams every time that they touched the ball in the low post. And, unfortunately, the Vikings bigs did not do a good job of recognizing where the double-teams were coming from, and the kickouts were for the most part ineffective in finding the open man. One time that they did, however, was crucial: With the Vikings up by three with under four minutes remaining, Crosby got the ball on the right block, turned to back in Aaron Schroeder, and instead kicked out to Shaun Collins in the same corner of the gym where Williams had hit his huge trey in overtime on Saturday. Collins, who otherwise had a pretty uneven game, buried the triple. NPU kept a two-possession lead for the rest of the game.

Rob wanted to give the Charcoal Delights Player of the Game award on the air to Roshawn Russell, who continues to play dynamite ball for the Vikings. I opted instead for Issa Avery, who came off the bench to take most of Nick Hoekstra's minutes (Hoekstra was icing his leg on the bench for most of the game) to really spark the Vikings at both ends of the floor. As the play-by-play guy Rob prevailed, so Ro Russell got the CDPOTG.

We stayed on the air to carry the last half-minute of the IWU @ WC game, which we reported off of Wheaton's live stats, so that we could confirm for our viewers that NPU was knotted at the top of the standings with IWU and Carthage by the end of the night's action. Believe me, it was fun to say "first-place North Park Vikings" ten or twenty times.

Now the Vikings have to go to Bloomington for a Sunday matinee and prove that they're not satisfied with what they've accomplished thus far. But, hey, who can argue that they've already accomplished quite a bit more than anyone thought they would?

Kudos to Elmhurst on a gritty effort. But bigger kudos to a North Park team that fought through some less-than-spectacular ball to pull out a giant-sized victory tonight on the long road back to being a CCIW-contending program.

[Gregory Sager]

Speaking of Sidearmstats, I had the IWU/Elmhurst livestats up Sunday from here in Tempe.  Edmond O'Callaghan made a basket before halftime and it said he "silenced the crowd with that basket".  Another possession Sean Johnson "dialed up a trey from long distance."  What's the deal with the color commentary from the software?

That was brought up last week after the NPU @ NCC game:

Does anyone else find the North Central live stats page kind of annoying with terms like "rain maker" and "cleans up the glass" and "dials up a three from long distance" to name a few? 

It is annoying, and if I ever meet someone from Sidearmstats it'll be the first thing I mention. However, I do think that Sidearmstats is an upgrade over the software and format used by North Park, Carthage, Augie, Millikin, etc., in that the Sidearmstats format is much more comprehensive and gives vital game info (team fouls per half, timeouts left, etc.) that the other format doesn't.

http://athletics.internetconsult.com/features/livestats.aspx

http://athletics.internetconsult.com/contact.aspx

I sent a "ticket" inquiring about it...

I clicked on your link, PS, and discovered that the company behind Sidearmstats is located in Syracuse, NY, in whose suburbs I was raised. Considering how just about every corporation located in Syracuse is either folding or moving out of town as fast as it can (a problem shared by most upstate New York cities), perhaps I should lighten up on the criticism and just be thankful that a Syracuse company is putting out a product that seems to actually be successful enough to keep them in business for awhile.

[thunderstruck88]

Video clip of the final 21 seconds of the Illinois Wesleyan - Wheaton game. Includes Sean Johnson's 3-pointer to give IWU their first lead of the second half and Ben Panner's pull up jumper to set up Andrew Jahn's put back layup as time expires. I especially enjoy watching the crowd reactions to the two baskets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4

[theseguysaregood]

Video clip of the final 21 seconds of the Illinois Wesleyan - Wheaton game. Includes Sean Johnson's 3-pointer to give IWU their first lead of the second half and Ben Panner's pull up jumper to set up Andrew Jahn's put back layup as time expires. I especially enjoy watching the crowd reactions to the two baskets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4

Clutch shot at the end of the game by Sean Johnson and IWU isn't in the game if he misses that shot, but watch the clip and focus on the defense being played the last 10 seconds off the ball and how Jahn's got the rebound.

I think it is a great little snippet that shows the Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde nature of their team.

[CCIWchamps]

Video clip of the final 21 seconds of the Illinois Wesleyan - Wheaton game. Includes Sean Johnson's 3-pointer to give IWU their first lead of the second half and Ben Panner's pull up jumper to set up Andrew Jahn's put back layup as time expires. I especially enjoy watching the crowd reactions to the two baskets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4

Clutch shot at the end of the game by Sean Johnson and IWU isn't in the game if he misses that shot, but watch the clip and focus on the defense being played the last 10 seconds off the ball and how Jahn's got the rebound.

I think it is a great little snippet that shows the Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde nature of their team.

Huge box out by Schultze.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Video clip of the final 21 seconds of the Illinois Wesleyan - Wheaton game. Includes Sean Johnson's 3-pointer to give IWU their first lead of the second half and Ben Panner's pull up jumper to set up Andrew Jahn's put back layup as time expires. I especially enjoy watching the crowd reactions to the two baskets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4

thanks for posting this - back many years ago when I was CCIW publicity director it was nearly impossible to get final scores on conference games - and now, thanks to modern technology, we have near instantaneous statistics and you tube videos to review the action.  Amazing.

[Viking Blue]

Ugly win for the Vikes last night, but a win is a win nonetheless.  I agree with Greg's analysis of Avery's play last night.  He is such an athletic player.  I actually think the stats may have been a bit off.  I seem to remember him having more than just two blocks.  But seven rebounds in limited time....he truly has a ton of untapped potential.

On a more negative note, what a disappointing turnout by the Carlson Crazies.  After invading the NP Gym with about 50 Ninjas on Saturday night, I was hoping that would carry over into another solid turnout.  Unfortunately, there were only about 10 "crazies" in attendance last night.

In a gym like North Park's, an intense crowd can make a huge difference to the team.  The intensity was lacking last night for about 75% of that game, and it certainly showed....

[markerickson]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  By contrast, the adroit Brenegan directed his vocal chords toward the refs a grand total of one time last night.  That is on par for him.  Surprisingly, I heard the NP coach counsel a player twice during the action (but not to set an offensive scheme).  NP's Collins attempted 4-5 treys from NBA range in the second half while NP held a small lead - all treys with over 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock - and missed them all. He then intentionally fouled Elmhurst with less than a minute to play...I think NP's lead was six.  Inexplicably, none of these boneheaded plays led to his removal.  Ro Russell refuses to pass to Williams, which started last year.  Joe Gonzalez, if he suited up, was a DNP.  Hoekstra got hurt early last night, and Schneidermeier is out for the year.  Excluding my first sentence, the factors cited in this post will produce a bottom four finish for the Vikings.  Painful.

I thought Elmhurst shot the ball well from two-point range in the first half, but overall I wonder if EC is more offensively challenged than Millikin.

[WUPHF]

Speaking of Sidearmstats, I had the IWU/Elmhurst livestats up Sunday from here in Tempe.  Edmond O'Callaghan made a basket before halftime and it said he "silenced the crowd with that basket".  Another possession Sean Johnson "dialed up a trey from long distance."  What's the deal with the color commentary from the software?

That was brought up last week after the NPU @ NCC game:

Does anyone else find the North Central live stats page kind of annoying with terms like "rain maker" and "cleans up the glass" and "dials up a three from long distance" to name a few? 

It is annoying, and if I ever meet someone from Sidearmstats it'll be the first thing I mention. However, I do think that Sidearmstats is an upgrade over the software and format used by North Park, Carthage, Augie, Millikin, etc., in that the Sidearmstats format is much more comprehensive and gives vital game info (team fouls per half, timeouts left, etc.) that the other format doesn't.

http://athletics.internetconsult.com/features/livestats.aspx

http://athletics.internetconsult.com/contact.aspx

I sent a "ticket" inquiring about it...

I clicked on your link, PS, and discovered that the company behind Sidearmstats is located in Syracuse, NY, in whose suburbs I was raised. Considering how just about every corporation located in Syracuse is either folding or moving out of town as fast as it can (a problem shared by most upstate New York cities), perhaps I should lighten up on the criticism and just be thankful that a Syracuse company is putting out a product that seems to actually be successful enough to keep them in business for awhile.

You know that at this very moment in the Sidearmstats board room, they are considering how to make the "fan experience" customizable.  I am thinking Choose Your Own commentator.  Dick Vitale (...baby!), Bob Knight (it's not Indiana basketball, but...), etc.

My favorite part is the momento-mo...momentum-o-meter or whatever it is called.  Because there is no way I would have known that Illinois Weslyan was outplaying my Bears without it. 

[usee]

Wheaton is now 7-0 at home this year and 4-5 away from King Arena. Their away record includes a 2-4 record on opposing floors and 2-1 on neutral floors. Three of their 5 losses are by a combined total of 5 pts including 1 OT game. Their other 2 losses are by 13 @Carthage and by 25 @Hope.