MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[sac]

Washington & Jefferson got a taste of what the CCIW is all about, as Elmhurst impeached the Presidents, 95-70, at Faganel this evening. Ocean Johnson had 22, Wesley Hooker had 20 and a 6:0 floor game, Lavon Thomas had 15 and 8, Dom "the Consigliere" Genco contribued 10 and a 4:0 a:to ratio, and Jake Rhode was content to play decoy, dishing out a 7:2 floor game and picking up three steals. Jonathan Zapinski and Bryce Drews had 8 and 7 boards, respectively.

Elmhurst will host Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow night. The SCIAC has never defeated the CCIW in a D3 tourney game, and I wouldn't count on that trend being reversed tomorrow night.

If memory serves one of the most intriguing matchups from the 2020 tournament that didn't happen was Elmhurst v Pomona-Pitzer in the Sweet with St. John's/St. Thomas in the other half of the bracket.

Pomona hit some crazy buzzer beating three to knock off Emory in round 2.

[iwu70]

A very formidable match up for the Titans tonight in UW Lacrosse.  They are big, strong, experienced and run an offense that looks crisp, like the Wash U sets.  Their stats almost match IWU like a mirror . . .  so, it should be a good one.  IWU must work its offense through Leritz, through the paint, in and out, to get open look 3s for the perimeter shooters.  They did that well vs. Franklin in a relatively easy win last night.  Lacrosse had a real struggle to put away a very fast, feisty Heidelberg team that almost got the upset.  Heidelberg had 3-4 excellent, quick perimeter guards with superb trey shooting, esp. #11.  What a player off the bounce.  Lacrosse really just barely won the game in the last minute or so . . . the difference overall in the game being better rebounding.  I hope this tough game tired Lacrosse out a bit, as they surely had to work much harder in advancing than IWU did.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Good luck to Wheaton and Elmhurst tonight, too.  Sure would be nice to see three CCIW teams in the Sweet Sixteen!

'70

[Next Man Up]

NORTH CENTRAL RECRUIT

North Central has won an intra-CCIW battle, and secured a commitment from 6'8" Yorkville HS F Justin Jakstys.
Justin was only looking within the CCIW and, in addition to NCC, he was also being pursued by Carroll, Elmhurst, and Illinois Wesleyan where his father played.

https://twitter.com/JakstysJustin/status/1499500270203588613/photo/1

https://twitter.com/chilandprephoop/status/1442173821767884802

[Next Man Up]

Elmhurst         76
Pomona-Pitzer 70

Wheaton 63
WashU    61

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 63
Wash U 61

Nyameye Adom     22 pts, 7 rebs
Cade Alioth    17 pts, 11 rebs
Tyson Cruickshank,  13 pts  5 rebs
Luke Anthony ,  8 pts

Jack Nolan  20 pts 
Kevin Davet  16 pts, 6 rebs
Hayden Doyle   11 pts

What a win for the Thunder.  It's been a long time since Wheaton has played Wash U and I honestly can't remember the last time we beat them in a game that mattered this much. 

It was a classic back and forth battle.  Both teams making some unbelievable plays offensively and defensively.  Credit the Thunder after going down  by 7 pts with 3 mins remaining and not panicking.  They stayed patient, really clamped down defensively and Alioth made some huge plays in the last minute for the second game in a row including a trey that gave Wheaton a one point lead with a minute left. 

I thought a big key was putting a taller and longer Nick Schiavello on Nolan for several possessions when it looked like Nolan was about to take over with about 7 mins remaining.  He was having no issues getting away from Collin Uveges.  But it was tougher for him to shoot over the taller defender and those were the last points Nolan had.

Two really excellent and well coached teams but only one can advance.  Nolan will be and should be an All American shoo in.

Now on for a rematch with IWU and most certainly back at Shirk since Emory lost?   

Note:  JayBird Jay Murry, I love your silky smooth and very balanced call on the play by play.  Thanks for repeating the score continuously also since the video scoreboard operator had it incorrect for the last 3 mins of the game.  Also, the camera operator forgot to pan back to Wheaton's end when Alioth was shooting free throws -arghh!

[Gregory Sager]

NORTH CENTRAL RECRUIT

North Central has won an intra-CCIW battle, and secured a commitment from 6'8" Yorkville HS F Justin Jakstys.
Justin was only looking within the CCIW and, in addition to NCC, he was also being pursued by Carroll, Elmhurst, and Illinois Wesleyan where his father played.

https://twitter.com/JakstysJustin/status/1499500270203588613/photo/1

https://twitter.com/chilandprephoop/status/1442173821767884802

I remember his father Tom. We used to call him "Eyechart" when he played for Wesleyan.

[iwu70]

IWU survives over UW Lx in a game worthy of the Final Four -- just back and forth, a real grinder.  Lx defended Leritz well, holding him to 8 points and forcing him to pick up fouls early.  I think Leritz sat more than he played tonight.  But, the Titans hung in, played good defense and hit some key treys when the game was on the line, including one in the last minute or so by Leritz, before he fouled out.  Dramatic.  He'd had a pretty terrible game up to that point!  So it is survive and advance.  Key to the game was overall tough defense and Cody Mitchel and Luke Yoder stepping up, esp. hitting the FTs when the Titans got to the 1 and 1 and double bonus pretty early in the second half.  The Titans only pulled away by six with less than two minutes to go.

Looks like we might get more games at The Shirk -- and a fourth game with Wheaton, right?  Too bad the CCIW teams have to meet at this point in the bracket. 

Elmhurst also winning, so three CCIW teams in the Sweet Sixteen . . .  only reasonable, very deserved.  Congrats to Wheaton over Wash U @ Wash U, and Elmhurst over Pomona-Pitzer.   Great job CCIW! 

'70

IWU'70

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Who else are you going to play?  The CCIW represents a fifth of the teams remaining.

[Next Man Up]

IWU survives over UW Lx in a game worthy of the Final Four -- just back and forth, a real grinder.  Lx defended Leritz well, holding him to 8 points and forcing him to pick up fouls early.  I think Leritz sat more than he played tonight.  But, the Titans hung in, played good defense and hit some key treys when the game was on the line, including one in the last minute or so by Leritz, before he fouled out.  Dramatic.  He'd had a pretty terrible game up to that point!  So it is survive and advance.  Key to the game was overall tough defense and Cody Mitchel and Luke Yoder stepping up, esp. hitting the FTs when the Titans got to the 1 and 1 and double bonus pretty early in the second half.  The Titans only pulled away by six with less than two minutes to go.

Looks like we might get more games at The Shirk -- and a fourth game with Wheaton, right?  Too bad the CCIW teams have to meet at this point in the bracket. 

Elmhurst also winning, so three CCIW teams in the Sweet Sixteen . . .  only reasonable, very deserved.  Congrats to Wheaton over Wash U @ Wash U, and Elmhurst over Pomona-Pitzer.   Great job CCIW! 

'70

IWU'70

In looking at the brackets prior to the start of tournament play, the fact that all 3 teams have reached the Sweet Sixteen should not be surprising. I think the only question was whether WC would top WU with the Wheaties having at least an equal chance to advance.

[Next Man Up]

NORTH CENTRAL RECRUIT

North Central has won an intra-CCIW battle, and secured a commitment from 6'8" Yorkville HS F Justin Jakstys.
Justin was only looking within the CCIW and, in addition to NCC, he was also being pursued by Carroll, Elmhurst, and Illinois Wesleyan where his father played.

https://twitter.com/JakstysJustin/status/1499500270203588613/photo/1

https://twitter.com/chilandprephoop/status/1442173821767884802

I remember his father Tom. We used to call him "Eyechart" when he played for Wesleyan.

Doctor Jakstys, a family medicine specialist, was a starter for IWU in his senior season of 1991-1992.

[WUPHF]

What a win for the Thunder.  It's been a long time since Wheaton has played Wash U and I honestly can't remember the last time we beat them in a game that mattered this much. 

1998-1999
Congratulations to Wheaton on the hard fought win.

[Gregory Sager]

NORTH CENTRAL RECRUIT

North Central has won an intra-CCIW battle, and secured a commitment from 6'8" Yorkville HS F Justin Jakstys.
Justin was only looking within the CCIW and, in addition to NCC, he was also being pursued by Carroll, Elmhurst, and Illinois Wesleyan where his father played.

https://twitter.com/JakstysJustin/status/1499500270203588613/photo/1

https://twitter.com/chilandprephoop/status/1442173821767884802

I remember his father Tom. We used to call him "Eyechart" when he played for Wesleyan.

Doctor Jakstys, a family medicine specialist, was a starter for IWU in his senior season of 1991-1992.

Yes, I know. I wasn't kidding about the nickname. I followed the league just as closely in 1991-92 as I do today.

In recent years we've seen a number of children of CCIW players from that late-'80s/early-'90s era who are playing CCIW basketball for schools other than the ones that their dads played for:

Justin Bottorff of Augustana (father Jeff played for Millikin)
Garrett Horner of Carthage (father Marc played for North Park)
and, on the women's side, Allison Pearson of North Central (father Jeff played for North Park, as did her grandfather and great-grandfather)

Now we can add Jakstys fils and Jakstys pere to that list.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Bracket has appeared on the NCAA site with Case, instead of Elmhurst, as the host of that quadrant.

[iwu70]

Looks like IWU gets to host the Sectional at The Shirk!

Wabash vs. Williams at 4:30 and then IWU-Wheaton at 7:30.   

Some more fabulous games.   

'70