MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[WUPHF]

I don't know if it was CBSSN or just the local CBS affiliate, but he was interviewed and says he's okay other than a bruised hip.

I hope his future potential employers see this.

You gotta appreciate the way he has handled this.

[markerickson]

My friend Wade Seifer went to block a shot back in the late 80s for North Park.  The shooter undercut Wade and he slammed his head on the court.  Wade ended up in the hospital with a coma.  Blaise is extremely fortunate.  Wade is fine these days as well, working as a regional representative for an insurance company in California.

[Gregory Sager]

Wade Seifer is my former roommate. Unfortunately, that blow to the head ended his career, as he was a senior that season and the doctors forbade him from playing once he was out of the hospital. Wade's only consolation is that he got a national championship ring out of it, as the Vikings went on to win the Big Doorstop that year.

[AndOne]

I don't know if it was CBSSN or just the local CBS affiliate, but he was interviewed and says he's okay other than a bruised hip.

I hope his future potential employers see this.

You gotta appreciate the way he has handled this.

Yep. Contrary to info I prev rec'd, I believe it was CBS-Chicago rather than CBSSN.

Blaise is a generally quiet guy who prefers to let his play do the talking. It's not surprising that he has handled the situation in a relatively low key manner.

With regard to his leaping ability, Wheaton fans will likely remember Blaise putting an Aston Francis shot back in Aston's face during the NCC @ WC game earlier this season. Something I seriously doubt Mr. Francis has much experience with. Details of the play may be understandably cloudy as it preceded the tragic play involving Aiden Chang.

[AndOne]

My friend Wade Seifer went to block a shot back in the late 80s for North Park.  The shooter undercut Wade and he slammed his head on the court.  Wade ended up in the hospital with a coma.  Blaise is extremely fortunate.  Wade is fine these days as well, working as a regional representative for an insurance company in California.

I'm sure Greg Sager will remember a similar play which occurred in the NPU Crackerbox on 2/10/10.
On that evening NCC's Jon Knapczyk had a breakaway and was undercut, (unintentionally if I remember correctly) by an NPU player while airborne. The point of contact was Jon's hip, and it turned him completely upside down causing him to come straight down on the top of his head which resulted in a very severe concussion with possible bleeding on the brain. Paramedics rushed him to a Chicago hospital where he stayed a couple of nights before being transferred to Edward Hospital in Naperville for a day or two more. As the injury occurred in Jon's senior season, it too was career ending.

[Gregory Sager]

Yep, that was a very scary moment. As you said, it was the result of a completely unintentional midair collision. I remember that, unlike the Chang situation, paramedics were there very quickly and Knapczyk was in the Swedish Covenant Hospital ER (which is only four blocks east of the crackerbox) within a very short amount of time.

[John Gleich]

Just saw a replay of a scary play in the NCC and Augie game. Blaise Meredith appeared to block a layup attempt by Crishawn Orange, but then hit his face on the backboard and then hit the ground hard. Appears to be okay and walked off the court under his own power, but that could not have felt very good.

Whoa!  May need to nominate "facial impression on basketball backboard" to Webster's Dictionary as another definition for "faceplant"

It is on Twitter with 524k views already.  And, report is he got called for a foul as well.  Hope the young guy is okay.

Here's the link in case anyone needs it.  https://twitter.com/Skubie3Mageza/status/1080664665770942464
There's a couple different versions on twitter already one with a million views and the espn one with half a million.  This might end up being the most viewed North Central highlight of all time.

I've watched this dozens of times and I only just noticed today that he was actually on his way down (only barely... just after the peak of his jump) as Orange started to jump... which catapulted him up even higher and into the backboard.

What it made me realize, even beyond the height that Meredith jumped, was the strength of Orange to propel him higher.

Pretty unbelievable play... I'm glad all parties involved are ok!

My friend Wade Seifer went to block a shot back in the late 80s for North Park.  The shooter undercut Wade and he slammed his head on the court.  Wade ended up in the hospital with a coma.  Blaise is extremely fortunate.  Wade is fine these days as well, working as a regional representative for an insurance company in California.

I'm sure Greg Sager will remember a similar play which occurred in the NPU Crackerbox on 2/10/10.
On that evening NCC's Jon Knapczyk had a breakaway and was undercut, (unintentionally if I remember correctly) by an NPU player while airborne. The point of contact was Jon's hip, and it turned him completely upside down causing him to come straight down on the top of his head which resulted in a very severe concussion with possible bleeding on the brain. Paramedics rushed him to a Chicago hospital where he stayed a couple of nights before being transferred to Edward Hospital in Naperville for a day or two more. As the injury occurred in Jon's senior season, it too was career ending.

I had a similar situation happen when I was in HS... but it was an open breakaway, so I don't have anyone to blame but myself. I made the dunk, but my momentum carried me forward and my hands slipped off the rim (so I'm told...). landed on my shoulder and my head slammed back on the floor and I was out cold for 8 minutes. I ended up at Evanston Northwestern (now Evanston North Shore) for 4 days and a severe concussion... it ended my football career and set me back a good six months in basketball too.

They don't call it hardwood for nothing!

[WUPHF]

I've watched this dozens of times and I only just noticed today that he was actually on his way down (only barely... just after the peak of his jump) as Orange started to jump... which catapulted him up even higher and into the backboard.

As many times as I watched that, I did not even notice until you mentioned it, but true...

[Gregory Sager]

Massey sez:

Augustana 80, North Park 56 (AC 98%, NPU 2%)
Wheaton 76, Carroll 69 (WC 74%, CU 26%)
Carthage 77, Millikin 74 (CC 59%, MU 41%)
North Central 72, Elmhurst 68 (NCC 63%, EC 37%)

[AO]

I've watched this dozens of times and I only just noticed today that he was actually on his way down (only barely... just after the peak of his jump) as Orange started to jump... which catapulted him up even higher and into the backboard.

As many times as I watched that, I did not even notice until you mentioned it, but true...

I wouldn't say it catapulted him but it definitely gave him a little boost and helped him maintain his height longer than expected. 

[BobbyO]

At North Park. Walker with Augie flag. Left of stage.

[BobbyO]

At North Park. Walker with Augie flag. Left of stage.

Augie up by 21 at halftime. Let's see if the can keep the gas on the pedal.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 109
North Park 64

Toby Marek: 13 pts, 3:0 a:to
Cardell Simmons: 13 pts
Matt Szuba: 11 pts, 3:1 a:to

Micah Martin: 20 pts, 7 rebs
Chrishawn Orange: 18 pts
Nolan Ebel: 15 pts, 9:1 a:to
Joe Kellen: 10 pts
Pierson Wofford: 7 rebs, 4:1 a:to

[GoPerry]

Wheaton over Carroll 79-61.  Pretty dominating performance by Wheaton.

Francis ( 28 pts, 9-15, 6/10 three) went out with his second foul 11 mins into the game and Wheaton extended the lead from 2 to 12 the rest of the half.  Nyameye Adom(12 pts, 4 asts) and Anajuwon Spencer( 8 pts) took some of the scoring load during that stretch.  It was nice to see what this team is capable of without Francis.  Having Spencer Peterson and his 230lbs available to counter someone the size of Tyler Ingebrightsen makes a huge difference defensively.

Need to keep winning.  Wednesday at Millikin where Wheaton often struggles.

* Rusty Lindsey on pbp with Nate Frank doing color was a big bonus tonight.

[kiko]

Elsewhere:

Millikin 69, Carthage 59 behind the Cheddar (as opposed to Blue) curtain

North Central 82, Elmhurst 70 as the Sons of Warden reverse a 13 point halftime deficit at the Airplane Hangar