MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

The Knight Bus.  They will then use Quidditch brooms for the game itself.  Be afraid, be very afraid.  (We have come to conquer 'He Who Must Not Be Named'.)

What does Ashabi have to do with this?  To old a reference?  To vague for those who don't follow the MIAA board?

The frightening thing is that, as soon as I read Chuck's post, the first thought that went through my head was to post, "What does Gregg Ashabi have to do with IWU @ NCC?" Great minds think alike, sac.

(I used to love how every time someone typed in the word "Ashabi" it appeared as a series of red dots.)

[Gregory Sager]

The Knight Bus.  They will then use Quidditch brooms for the game itself.  Be afraid, be very afraid.  (We have come to conquer 'He Who Must Not Be Named'.)

What does Ashabi have to do with this?  To old a reference?  To vague for those who don't follow the MIAA board?

Wow. Haven't heard that name in years.

He was one of the posters whose name was literally a banned word, right? I think there was only one other.

Gregg Ashabi, who once described himself as "the loud fat guy who sits in the front row under one of the baskets in Kresge and makes life a living hell for Albion opponents," is also the genius who once said that a certain Albion player (can't remember who, might've been Michael Thomas) belonged in "the Michigan Hall of Fame of Supersweetness" ... thus giving birth to one of the MIAA room's most endurinig memes.

[Gregory Sager]

Those few of us that remember jumping Jim Borcherding (1970-1984) of Augustana, no that GG is a sunday school teacher compared to the old augie legend.  Borcherding once ran from his bench all the way out the door past North Park's bench during one augie fast break.  There is no truth that Bosko, as an assistant coach, once stuck his leg out trip JJ as he ran past the North Park bench.   

We NPC students used to call Borcherding "the Jack-in-the-Box" for the way that he could spring up high in the air from out of his chair in the wink of an eye, no mean feat for a middle-aged man. I don't remember Borcherding using language on the sidelines as salty as Giovanine's, though.

[petemcb]

You're not already on a train out to Naperville?!

[petemcb]

Good thing they didn't decide to feature the book Great Expectations, because as has been stated many, many times on this board, this FIRST PLACE, TOP SEEDED, FRESHMAN DOMINATED, UNEXPECTED, Cardinal team had none of those.

As opposed to the preseason number 4 ranked in the country Titans, who undoubtedly entered the season with LOFTY EXPECTATIONS given that they are a VETERAN DOMINATED team. But, who finished not tied for FIRST like the Cardinals, but in FOURTH PLACE, and who had to struggle to even make the conference tournament. The same team that when the current seniors entered 4 years ago, we were told multiple times would likely win the conference championship each of the next 4 years, contend for the national championship every year and, in fact, almost assuredly win at least 1 national crown if not more. The same team I'm betting that would love to switch places now with the Cardinals, have an 11-3 conference record rather than a truly "pedestrian" 9-5 mark, be the co-league champion rather than the FOURTH PLACE TEAM, and be HOSTING the conference tournament RATHER THAN DRIVING TO IT. You know, all those things that were EXPECTED of the Titans BUT THAT THEY FAILED TO ACHIEVE.             

Completely unwarranted rant aside, did we ever figure out the method of transportation that IWU will be using to get to Naperville?

+k.  That one might never completely die off.

[Gregory Sager]

You're not already on a train out to Naperville?!

Nope. I'll be following both games on the computer back here in the city. I may make it out for tomorrow night's championship game, though.

[old baseliner]

I just want to give some kudos to Chuck, the NCC assistant SID.  He took time to hook me up with NCC wifi.  My iPad gives me something to do while waiting for two hopefully great games.  We hope to see a Wesleyan victory, but no matter what, thanks for being gracious hosts.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 73
Wheaton 58

[Gregory Sager]

Only up 39-37 early in the second half, Augie went on a 12-0 run and was never seriously challenged again. The two outstanding numbers: Augie won the rebounding battle by a decisive 45-28 mark, and held Wheaton to 32% (17-53) from the field, 24% for the second half.

Kyle Nelson had 14 and 9 for Augie, and Chris Anderson added 11 points. Wheaton was led by Andrew Jahns with 17 points, while Tim McCrary fouled out with 13 and 7 and did not register any assists.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 69
North Central 57

[Gregory Sager]

Except for an eight-minute stretch at the start of the second half in which the Cards wiped out a nine-point halftime deficit and tied the game at 46-46, North Central was thoroughly outplayed. Doug Sexauer hit a triple and then a layup to start a 13-2 run for Wesleyan, and it was never close after that. Sexauer had a great game with 22 and 7, as did Koshnitzky with 18 and 8, with Johnson contributing 14. Gamble led NCC with 16, but he shot poorly from the field (7-16), missing bunny after bunny. Goldthree had 11, while Evans led all players with nine boards in his final game as a collegian.

NCC played like freshmen for much of the game, rushing shots (especially when the Cards started to fall behind late in the game), neglecting to get back in transition and giving up easy fast-break deuces, and failing to box out on IWU free throws, leading to a couple of big second-chance possessions late in the game for the Titans. IWU was very methodical and poised; the fact that the Titans answered that NCC run in the first eight minutes of the second half with a run of their own to take possession of the game tells you everything you need to know about the difference between a senior-dominated team and a freshmen-dominated team.

Augie vs. Wesleyan part three tomorrow night at the airplane hangar should be an interesting one. It's for all the marbles for the Titans, and it could spell the difference between hosting or traveling in the first weekend of the dance for the Rock Islanders.

[Mr. Ypsi]

2 consecutive OT games (each home team winning), then IWU 'blows out' NCC at the Hangar.

Tomorrow, Augie and IWU, who each won by 2 points at home; can the Hangar be 'home court' for the Titans two nights in a row?!

The only way the CCIW will get two teams into the tourney is if IWU wins, so I invite fans of all other teams to join the Titan bandwagon (I suspect it would be futile to hope Augie fans would join in )!

[Gregory Sager]

Semantics, perhaps, but I wouldn't call IWU's win a blowout. Wesleyan only led by eight with two and a half minutes remaining, and I've seen much bigger leads than that melt away in shorter periods of time. I'd call it a decisive win, a dominating win, even, but not a blowout.

[iwu70]

Congrats to AC and IWU for good wins tonight in the tourney semis.  Should be a great rubber match tomorrow evening on a neutral court.  Sexauer coming on strong . . . with good support from Johnson and a terrific game from Kman.  Keep it rolling Titans. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Semantics, perhaps, but I wouldn't call IWU's win a blowout. Wesleyan only led by eight with two and a half minutes remaining, and I've seen much bigger leads than that melt away in shorter periods of time. I'd call it a decisive win, a dominating win, even, but not a blowout.

Hence my quotation marks around 'blows out'!

Jeez - just for that I'm gonna say preseason (instead of non-conference) at least twice next year!