MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Looking forward to seeing the new look Carthage Red Men this evening.   A few notes at the link below, including where you can listen to the IWU or Carthage broadcasts...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/notes07.htm

[Titan Q]

Both IWU vs Carthage games (men, women) will be video streamed on IWU.edu today with WJBC2.com audio.  It is a first test, so be patient with it.

http://www2.iwu.edu/news/live/index.shtml

[WahooThunder]

Concerning the Wheaton--North Central game tonight-----

Wondering how many minutes, if any, Raymond of Wheaton and NCC's Simmons will play and, if they do, to what degree their effectiveness will be limited by their recent injuries.

Anyone have any updated info?

Word is that Simmons won't start but may see some time off the bench.  As for Raymond, I can't say, but he would be a nice lift for the Thunder b/c North Central with or w/o Simmons will certainly be a step up from the competition they faced in New York.  If Raymond does come back it will be interesting to see how the Wheaton guards share playing time with Mohan back, Panner playing great, and Bernsten having done a good job in his absence.

[gordonmann]

Outstanding news on IWU video.

Watching now.  Very cool.

[13wapiti]

Don't want to jinx it, but this is one of the best video feeds I have seen!!!

[kenoshamark]

Here is the box score from tonights Carthage - IWU game:

http://www2.carthage.edu/athletics/mens/basketball/iwu1.htm

[AndOne]

Final Score:

North Central: 52
Wheaton:        47

[79jaybird]

Elmhurst 82
Augustana 71
Elmhurst led by  6 points early then built up a big lead in the middle portion of the game.  Augustana charged back and cut the lead to 9 but (I think) that was as close as the Vikes could get. Delp is one heck of a outside shooter and Ruch is a great presence inside. 
IMO, for some reason    Elmhurst shyed away from dishing the ball to Ruch in the 3rd quarter which helped Augie climb back into the game.  If this is an example of how every game is going to be, whoa!  It's going to be an exciting year.

[mr_b]

Final at the Crackerbox: North Park 73, Millikin 65

[AndOne]

In the North Central--Wheaton game:

NCC led 29-19 at halftime. Combination of good defense by NCC and poor shooting by the Wheaties. In the 2nd half, Wheaton rallied and actually took a four point lead with just under 3 minutes left. Wheaton's points came primarily on free throws as NCC held WC without a field goal for the final 5:34 of the game. The Wheaton starters were held to a total of 26 points. Adam Krumtinger had a strong game for NCC and led all scorers with 14 points.
Neither NCC's Simmons nor WC's Raymond started, but both played. Simmons wound up with 7 points and 3 assists including a great behind the back pass on a fast break. Raymond scored 10, but was only 3 of 12 from the field. The primary cause was the tough perimeter defense played on him by NCC's Raymond Lawrence, quite possibly the game MVP.
For the contest Wheaton shot only 32.6%, including 13.3% on threes. NCC shot 43%, and 38.5% on threes. WC was 15/17 from the line and NCC finished 11/15.   

[Ralph Turner]

Congratulations Mr B!  

[mr_b]

Congratulations Mr B! 

Thanks!  It was a hard-fought victory for the Vikes.  I'll have to review they game stats, but I believe they led wire-to-wire... perhaps the Big Blue tied North Park very late.  Jason Gordon and Joe Capalbo strung together three treys to regain the momentum in the second half.  I know Greg will have a better take on the game later this evening. 

[Gregory Sager]

NPU did indeed lead from wire-to-wire -- Millikin never got closer than 2 at 62-60 -- but (for the most part) the Blue kept the Vikes from salting it away. The reason why I say "for the most part" is because NPU was absolutely atrocious from the FT line. They went 17-31 from the charity stripe, and I think that they missed seven out of their last eight attempts. NPU had a three-possession lead for the final two minutes, and they kept Millikin from putting the ball in the basket. The Vikes simply couldn't make enough FTs to push the lead into double digits in a game that they otherwise had well in hand.

Jay Alexander led the Vikes with 14. Jason Gordon added 13, and Anthony Lenoir had a very hard-earned 12 and 8. Stephano Jones had a very solid game off the bench with 9 and 6. Drew Gensler led Millikin with 18, but it took him 17 FG attempts to get those 18; NPU freshman Antonio Stevens did a terrific job of shutting down the Millikin star in the second half. Byron Graven and Vincent Brock had ten apiece. The Vikes outrebounded MU, 36-23, and outshot them from the field, 51% to 45.5%.

Not pretty, but a win's a win.

[Titan Q]

IWU/Carthage was really an outstanding basketball game.  Two dead-even teams playing very hard and both making a lot of big plays.  IWU got a big game out of Darius Gant, who had 21 pts on 10-15 from the field.  Andrew Freeman had 17 & 5 and Zach Freeman scored 18 2nd half points to finish with 20 & 12.  (Zach only played 10 minutes in the 1st due to foul trouble.)  Zach was great down the stretch and really carried the team to the finish line, after the rest of the cast kept the Titans in the game.

Maybe the biggest key to this game for the Titans was that they hung in there the final 10 minutes of the second half with All-American candidate Zach Freeman on the bench with 2 fouls.  Zach picked up his second with 10:18 to play and IWU down 22-21.  IWU got solid performances off the bench from Brett Chamerinik and Jason Bloom, and Gant and A. Freeman were great during that stretch.  The Titans went into the locker room up 38-36 and you could feel all of the momemtum with IWU, knowing they'd get Z. Freeman back in the 2nd.

I was really impressed with Carthage -- they look so different from the last couple of years.  Whereas the Red Men in 2004-05 and 2005-06 looked to me like a bunch of parts that didn't fit together, this year's Carthage team is, well, a team.  A few thoughts on their players who stood out to me tonight:

Brian Schlemm is a ton.  At 6-7/240 and very skilled, he is just so hard to stop.  He finally seems to have his head screwed on straight and ready to have a 1st Team All-CCIW type season.

Milos Vukosavljevic has a chance to be a great CCIW player.  He has to be one of the best pure shooters in the league.

Joe Higgins is a really good defender -- maybe behind only Drew Wessels as an on-ball, perimeter defender.  IWU has a 2-guard playing the point this season, and Higgins really made the Titans pay with a hand in forcing 6 Andrew Gilmore turnovers.  Higgins really can't do anything offensively, but as a "pure point-guard", he's solid.

Neb Franciskovic is a very nice post player off the bench.  I be tempted to find a spot for him in the starting lineup and go big.

Trey Bowens is going to keep getting better this year.  He didn't have a great game tonight vs IWU, but something tells me he will have a pretty good year.


I think Carthage is a legitimate CCIW title contender...especially considering how balanced the league is this year and the fact that there doesn't seem to be one great team.  I'd be shocked if the Red Men aren't in the conference tournament.

[Titan Q]

The Pantagraph article on the IWU/Carthage game:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/01/06/sports/122419.txt