MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU had a nice 19-0 run in the second half to pull away in this one.  Final IWU 77 George Fox 65

GF playing without two key players, scorers.

For GFU:
Moore 12
Sorensen 11
Powers 10

Only 11 for 41 from three -- basically with no paint or post presence at all.

IWU winning the rebounding line 44-24

For IWU:   A huge second half for Helflen

Heflen 17 (all in the second half)
Wilmsen 17 and 8
Bazzell 9
Mitchell with 9 rebounds

IWU 14-31 from three, or 45%.  Another good game from the arc.

So, Greg, you were right about winning both of these games out West, much-needed for the Titans, but I can't say IWU "wiped the floor" with anyone in the Pacific-Northwest.  They weren't easy games, the poor records of the two opponents notwithstanding.  Always amazes me at this point in the season how many lay-ups the Titans missed, how much sloppy ball handling against pressure, easy strips of the ball, and the number of senseless TOs and stupid plays by the guys in Green.  Just not crisp, confident or high-quality basketball.

But, a win is a win, esp. on the road, after that horrific, discouraging loss vs. #7 Wheaton.  IWU can play like that, and then play loose and ragged like tonight.  Seems to be the MO for the season. 

Back to CCIW play, and a weekend road trip to Carver and a game vs. Augie.  I'm sure this team will want to get home, sleep in their own beds and rest up before the weekend trip to Rock Island.

Non-conference games FINALLY in the books (with no thanks to the weather or Southwest Airlines).

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

But, a win is a win, esp. on the road, after that horrific, discouraging loss vs. #7 Wheaton.  IWU can play like that, and then play loose and ragged like tonight.  Seems to be the MO for the season.

For much of this season, especially lately, Illinois Wesleyan could be described by the old sports phrase, "A team that plays to the level of its opponent." The Titans since late December have hung tough against high-quality opponents such as Wash U, North Park, and Wheaton, while looking indifferent against lesser teams such as Chicago, Millikin, and the two NWC outfits.

[iwu70]

Greg, agreed.

The pine-sitters are not getting any chances to play in garbage time, of big wins or big losses.   

IWU now 10-8, with a game at Carver on the weekend.  We held Dan Carr to 6 points last time, but doubt that will happen again this weekend. 

'70

[Gregory Sager]

I'm super-psyched to be welcoming back Aaron Coleman, our old commentator, to the broadcast tomorrow night. AC, who will be on board for several of our remaining men's basketball broadcasts, is of course a former Viking and has always been very proficient at providing color commentary. He is the son of legendary North Chicago HS head coach Gerald "King" Coleman, so AC likely knew the difference between an upscreen and a downscreen and could diagram a play before he was in kindergarten.

I'll be interviewing newly-hired NPU men's and women's golf head coach Jack Haberkorn at halftime, which will be an education for me as well as viewers in learning exactly what being a D3 golf coach entails.

Thinking of Joe Hakes today reminds me of one of my favorite stories that Joe used to tell. Back in the day, when Joe in classic D3 fashion wore about a half-dozen hats on the North Park campus -- he was a dorm director and P.A. announcer as well as the head coach of as many as three different sports at a time in the early '80s -- the crackerbox was usually very crowded during North Park men's basketball games, particularly in January and February against CCIW opponents. The night in January 1982 when Augustana, then undefeated and the top-ranked team in the nation according to the AP poll, came to town and lost to North Park on a halfcourt buzzer heave by North Park point guard Mike Gordon, is remembered to this day in vivid detail by those of us who were in the building to witness it.

Joe's favorite part of that game in retrospect, though, had to do with the size of the crowd. Two busloads of fairly well-lubricated and hostile Augustana fratboys upped the size of the crowd even further, pushing people in the stands into the restricted area behind the scorer's table where the P.A. announcer and his spotter sat. Joe always said that it was so crowded that he had to announce the game with his arm around some stranger who was firmly wedged in to his right. He would compare it to trying to announce a basketball game while riding one of those Japanese bullet trains where each stop has attendants in gloves who push riders into the open doors like they were sardines in a can.

[GoPerry]

I had the occasion to meet Joe Hakes when Wheaton played an away game at IIT several years ago.  I was familiar with him as an occasional D3boards poster and
was aware of his health challenges.  We had a pleasant but brief conversation.  It was my only personal encounter with him but he impressed me as a kind sort of gentleman.   Thoughts and prayers for his family.

Big game tonight for the Thunder.  It will be a huge challenge against a Viking squad very much ready for them.  Coming out with a W will go a long way to securing the #1 seed and hosting the CCIW tourney.  Of course, still lots of ball to be played.  But 2 game lead on NPU with the tie breaker will feel pretty good.  Wheaton has been very good on the road this year, better than at home really.  We'll see if their form can hold in the 'Box'.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I was a student at Eastern Nazarene College when Joe was AD at Gordon, long-time, bitter rivals.  I was, let's say, the most vocal of supporters for our basketball team and very conspicuous during the two or three times per year when ENC and Gordon faced off.  At the time, I had fallen into a tragic belief (like so many young, privileged, white men) that winning a verbal battle at all costs was the quickest way to success in life.  I was generally pretty restrained with the level of vitriol I sent towards opponents, but Gordon was a big rival and Joe definitely took the brunt of my worst inclinations.

Years later, when I began to post on these boards under my real name - either he figured out who I was or under the weight of guilt, I told him, and apologized.  His response was wonderful.  Paraphrasing, he said essentially, "I do remember.  It was hurtful.  But I've spent a lot of time around college students and I certainly do not hold those things against you now that you did back then."

After I started writing for the site, I worked with him again for a story on IIT, when he was there.  I brought up the interaction and apology and he genuinely seemed to have forgotten the whole thing.

Joe was beyond a class act and a tireless advocate for Division III sports.

[Gregory Sager]

Joe thoroughly understood that the secret to working with college students was to have a long memory when it came to funny stories and a short memory when it came to student misbehavior. One thing I've heard over and over again from his former players was that he took a very gracious attitude towards the kinds of unwise and thoughtless things that 18-to-21-year-old males say and do as a matter of course every day. Knowing that your past mistakes won't be held over your head once you've owned up to them goes a long way toward making you appreciate, and learn from, your coach.

[tjcummingsfan]

NP 66 Wheaton 63.  There's a big win for NP!

[lmitzel]

Augie 75, NCC 74

Expletive.

[GoPerry]

North Park  66
Wheaton 63

Tyson Cruickshank  23 pts, 7 rebs

Marquise Jackson,  25 pts

A well deserved home win for North Park tonight.  Their quickness and speed simply make everything tough on an opponent on the defensive end.  This is especially true if you play with any tentativeness at all – which the Thunder did. 

At King Arena on Jan 4, the Thunder had 15 turnovers all game vs NPU.  Tonight they had 15 giveups in the first half alone, 25 for the game, a -14 margin resulting in the Vikings putting up 19 more shot attempts than Wheaton.  Except for Cruickshank, the Thunder were totally intimidated by the Vikings quickness and were tentative and back on their heels all night.  They kept trying to dribble the ball up one on one and failed multiple multiple times.  Whenever they passed the ball up across half court they did so with zero stress.

Cruickshank was great but couldn't carry it all.  Jackson was near unstoppable. 

I'll echo others that it is a tremendous oversight that North Park is not getting any votes.  One possible explanation is that voters aren't watching their games?  I can think of other possible reasons too that have less legitimacy.

A very good chance these two teams will meet again this season.  Only a matter of where.

[kiko]

Augie 75, NCC 74

Expletive.

From the looks of things, this was a game that nobody wanted to win.  Poor play, not smart play, what-were-you-thinking shots... it ran the gamut.  In the waning seconds, North Central gifted the win to Augie, who promptly gifted it back, only for the Cardinals to immediately hand it right back to the Vikings, this time for good.

Each of the teams on the floor tonight was inconsistent.

North Central looked great for about the first 18 minutes, then everything was a struggle.  We finally found Mitch Lewis' kryptonite tonight, and it is a player of Daniel Carr's caliber.

Augie looked like a bottom-three CCIW team for that opening stanza, then you saw in the second half .what they can be when things click.

As for the third team on the court tonight... I challenge anyone to articulate the standard for what was and was not a foul in this game.  And I doubt even the three guys in striped shirts could tell you.  The only thing consistent about it was that it was maddeningly inconsistent.  And it left both teams incredibly frustrated throughout the evening.

This was a bad loss for the Cardinals.  When you have a 3-6/5-13 team down by 14 in the first half on your home floor, that is not a game you should lose, period.  North Central really needs to both play better and figure out how to finish a team off when they have them reeling.  This is not the first time this season a Cardinal opponent was apparently, in the words of Miracle Max, only mostly dead, and clawed back from a deep deficit for a win.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 66
Wheaton 63

Marquise Jackson: 25 pts, 4 stls
Shamar Pumphrey: 6:1 a:to, 3 stls
Jalen Boyd: 7 rebs
Quillin Dixon: 5 stls

Tyson Cruickshank: 23 pts
Nick Schiavello: 14 pts
TJ Askew: 9 rebs
Eli Considine: 8 rebs
Andrew Williams: 8 rebs

Wheaton came into the game ranked 16th in the nation in lowest turnover average (10.7).

Wheaton turned the ball over 25 times tonight.

Nineteen of those 25 turnovers were North Park steals.

That tells you what you need to know about the outcome.

Great CCIW basketball game between two really, really good teams.

[iwu70]

Congrats to North Park for their big win over Wheaton.  Now, they should get some votes!   Quickness kills and North Park has the defensive quickness.  IWU came close on Wheaton, but North Park got it done tonight.  Great game.

IWU'70

[mr_b]

Congratulations to the Vikings for this signature win against a ranked opponent.  I hope Massey's HALgorithm takes note because a lot of other people sure are noticing the Vikings.

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst defeated Millikin 75-73 in an absolute dogfight of a game. John Ittounas finished with 24 for Elmhurst, with some big buckets down the stretch. Both teams really went at each other and it was one of the better played Elmhurst/Millikin games of recent memory.

The Bluejays have clawed, or perhaps more accurately, have flown back to .500 in CCIW play. This is also the first time Elmhurst has won back-to-back conference games this season.

During the broadcast it was mentioned that Wes Hooker has been out per concussion protocol these last two games, but is expected to return for Elmhurst's next run of games, all of which are on the road (Wesleyan, North Central, Carroll).