MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[April]

http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/

to listen or watch Wheaton vs Calvin

Speaking of superfans.... hi!

[Mr. Ypsi]

April,

Never having gone to Millikin during your era is fully understandable.  Now if you were of the Jesse Price era and never went, shame, shame!

We took great pride in turning IWU @ Millikin games into HOME games.   (Though Jesse still beat up on us as often as not.)

[mr_b]

North Park topped Case Western, 84-69, at the Trine Invitational: Box score

[iwu70]

Carthage 89, Hope 68 FINAL, Stevie D 33 pts. 10 Assists.  Wheaton's turn.  Good job NPU.  Go CCIW!

[cardinalpride]

calvin up at the half on the thunder 35-32!  Lets go thunder!

[wheatonfanaddict]

wheaton 68
calvin 56

raymond 28

hi april
miss you!

[iwu70]

Way to go Wheaton.  Go CCIW.  Good night for CCIW teams.  Let's keep it going, Titans, against Wash U tomorrow.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Cannot for the life of me find the board that was discussing the 'older' player on the Sul Ross fb team, so thought I'd post this on my 'home' board.  Forget that young whippersnapper; I have a new hero.

Roane State CC (TN) has quite a 12th man on the basketball team (AND he has scored this season) - SEVENTY freakin' THREE year-old Ken Mink!  Seems he was expelled from Lees Junior College (KY) after his freshman year (a case of mistaken identity - it's his story and he's stickin' to it ).  You get 'em, Ken!

[thunderstruck88]

Once again, defense was the calling card for the Thunder tonight. Besides Raymond's 28, Wheaton didn't have the best night shooting. Panner continues to struggle with his shot, and Calvin's size and double-team on Wiele made it difficult for the Thunder inside. Wheaton's defense was swarming in the second half- poking away numerous balls, forcing Calvin into taking tough shots and generally creating havoc on the court. A fun game to watch between two good teams. Looking forward to what the second round has in store tomorrow!

[thundermike11]

I watched most of the Carthage/Hope game and of course the entire Wheaton/Hope game.

First of all I was very, very impressed by Carthage tonight. Steve D obviously is a phenomenal player. He had 33 points tonight, Hope simply had no answer for his ability to drive and draw fouls. I was also impressed by Fendly, and I thought Schmerdiak played well. The Red Men look strong right now. Calvin should be a good test for them tomorrow.

The Thunder once again showed tonight that they don't need their "big 3" to be firing on all cylinders to win because of their stingy defense and balanced offensive attack. As the stats show, Kent was fabulous tonight. He really put the team on his shoulders and took over the game in the second half.

I was very impressed by Calvin. They shot the ball very well in the first half and played very good defense. They were able to fend off any major runs by the Thunder in the second half and were within striking distance until the final minutes. I would put them at the top of the MIAA for now. Hope looked pretty average to be honest. Their defense was porous and they really lacked any kind of offensive threat.

Congrats to Carthage and Wheaton for representing the CCIW well tonight. Let's get two more tomorrow!

[AndOne]

i]UW-Whitewater 62, North Central 54[/i]

The combined personal foul and technical foul on Reid Barringer with 40 seconds left in a game that the Cardinals only trailed by three might've indeed proved to have been NCC's undoing in this one, as UWW made all four ensuing free throws and the Cards couldn't get any closer than four points as the clock wound.

This is a difficult post because I believe poor officiating usually balances itself out in a basketball game with both teams suffering from the ineptitude.  Last night North Central suffered greatly from an official who decided his power/control/ego or whatever was more important than the game.  The call was a classic block/charge decision on Barringer.  After missing the call badly, Barringer anticipated the offensive move and was rock solid set for more than a count, the referee compounded the blunder by quickly calling a technical when Barringer offered a critical word or two.  When the game is on the line, officials rarely, if ever, call a technical in this instance.  But this incompetent...and I have struggled with identifying the man but decided against it...should never call a CCIW game in the future.  Yes, the better team won last evening, but it was not without significant help.  UW Whitewater had an 'off' game but North Central's outstanding effort and tight defense kept the game close all night.  FWIW, I too was amazed at the poor attendance at the game, especially by North Central students.  The Cardinals could be in for a long season.

All right then fans.............

Coebball excellently filed the initial report regarding the above incident.

I understand his reluctance in not reporting the offending referee's name. However, I am not gong to be nearly the gentleman he was concerning this issue. My reasoning is that this official's last, and most egregious, calls (the block on Barringer and subsequent T) were "get even" and/or "I'm the boss" calls. They allowed the ref himself, rather than the players, to possibly have determined the final outcome. Let me also state that I believe most of us have railed about a call against "our" teams over the last couple of years of so. Sometimes we were right, sometimes not. I've been guilty myself. Im most instances we, or other fans of "our" team had one opinion, and supporters of the other team took an opposing view. Neutral viewers had no opinion or didn't wish to verbalize their feelings. In this case, a group of decidedly neutral fans voiced their opinion to me that the ref was dead wrong in his actions. I will not name them, but I will say they are several members of a family very well known in the CCIW. They are not NCC fans. 

Anyway, the referee in question is, I believe, Bill Jacobson. The other possibility is Tom Turckes, but I believe the offender was Jacobson. The correct ref has a shaved head. From what I've heard from those I've asked, and I've not approached the NCC staff, all signs point to Jacobson, and for purposes of discussion, I'll assume its him. If it was Turckes, my apologies to Mr. Jacobson. Anyway--

Earlier in the game, Jacobson wanted to make a call against NCC, and did so. The call would have awarded the ball to Whitewater. However, he was overruled by Turckes and Norris. Immediately after NCC brought the ball over half court, he whistled a phantom call on a NCC player. Score even, or so you thought. Throughout the game, Mr Jacobson was slow to whistle obvious calls right in front of him while making several calls on action under the basket when he was the outside official, and vice versa. Players and coaches on both sides seriously questioned his judgement all night. On the final play with 38 seconds left and NCC trailing #2 Whitewater by only 3, Jacobson called a block on NCC's Barringer who had clearly been set for more than a second, as reported above by Coebball. The call even raised the UWW fans eyebrows. The second Reid opened his mouth, and there was no way he could have gotten more than one word out, the whistle and the T. It was by far, Jacobson's quickest call of the evening. As understandably asked by NCC Coach Raridon "you're calling a T on that with 38 seconds in the game?" The answer, accompanied by a distinctive smirk, was a definitive "yes." UWW then hit the 4 free throws and it was game over.

If the correct charging call is made, NCC gets the ball trailing by 3 with 38 seconds left. Who knows? And yes, I'm fully aware the Cards shot 35.3 percent (with many of the misses crappy shooting rather than great defense) and were out rebounded 35-20 by a team with 6 players taller than NCC tallest men. But, the Cardinals should have gotten the opportunity they deserved. The opportunity Mr. Jacobson had determined he wasn't going to allow them to exercise.

As I said earlier, this just isn't me bitching. Coebball's take was Barringer was set, and several fans of another CCIW team who were taking in the game voiced the same opinion to me. Mr. Jacobson failed to understand, and especially to demonstrate that the game is the show, not him.

[Titan Q]

IWU faces #1 Wash U today at 3:00pm in St. Louis.  Live video/audio and livestats links here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/25th-annual-lopata-classic

http://wjbc.com/WJBCcomWebcasts/tabid/1708/Default.aspx

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/LiveStats/xlive.htm



IWU (3-1)

G Travis Rosenkranz (6-0/175, So.) - 10.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.8 apg
G Sean Johnson (6-1/185, So.) - 12.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.5 apg
F John Koschnitzky (6-6/195, Fr.) - 10.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg
F Doug Sexauer (6-7/225, So.) - 12.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg
C Brett Chamernik (6-5/225, Sr.) - 7.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Wash U (6-0)

G Sean Wallis (6-2/185, Sr.) - 10.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 6.7 apg
G Aaron Thompson (6-4/190, Jr. - Elida, OH) - 18.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.2 apg
F Tyler Nading (6-7/200, Sr.) - 13.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg
F Cameron Smith (6-5/185, Jr.) - 7.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg
C Zach Kelly (6-7/235, Jr.) - 10.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg


The Titans are coming off laying an egg in the 2nd half, and losing, at Olivet Nazarene.  I'm interested to see how they respond today vs a great team.  Ron Rose is going to insert Brett Chamernik, a returning starter from last year who has been dealing with a foot injury, back into the starting lineup today.  Chamernik is really not healed, but he has decided to play on the injury and deal with it in the off-season.

Even after graduating 1st Team All American center Troy Ruths (20.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), the 2008-09 Bears have 3 All-American-caliber players in point-guard Sean Wallis, shooting guard Aaron Thompson, and wing Tyler Nading.  Wash U's perimeter game is about as good as it gets in Division III.  They've also been getting huge contributions from new starting center Zach Kelly, who had 18 pts and 10 rebounds vs Augustana and 23 & 9 vs Aurora.  Cam Smith is a solid role player type that always seems to make a big play down the stretch to help the Bears win.

IWU and Wash U have had some terrific battles over the years, including last season in St. Louis when IWU lost by just 3 to the eventual national champs in St. Louis.  That game was a huge confidence builder for the Titans, who went on to become the #2 seed in the CCIW conference tournament. 

As I see it, this game - like IWU's entire season - will come down to defense and rebounding.  While IWU is coming off a horrendous shooting performace vs Olivet Nazarene (3-18 3-pt, 12-24 FT), I'm confident they'll shoot it better today.  Whether or not they can defend an offensive power like Wash U though and rebound well is a big question of mine.  Wash U is shooting .511 from the field on the year and is out-rebounding opponents by 14 per game.

I think it is also critical to note that Coach Edwards' lovely wife Mary is a proud Illinois Wesleyan alum, as is their daughter Kari. 

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to Olivet Nazarene head coach Ralph Hodge, who won his 600th game vs IWU...

http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/120508aaa.html

IWU has played ONU every season for about 20 years now.  Hodge runs a great program and has been a credit to small college baskeball in the area.  Hodge gave IWU head coach Ron Rose his start in the business, hiring Rose as a grad assistant in 1992.

[dansand]

Even after graduating 1st Team All American center Troy Ruths (20.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), the 2008-09 Bears have 3 All-American-caliber players in point-guard Sean Wallis, shooting guard Aaron Thompson, and wing Tyler Nading.  Wash U's perimeter game is about as good as it gets in Division III.  They've also been getting huge contributions from new starting center Zach Kelly, who had 18 pts and 10 rebounds vs Augustana and 23 & 9 vs Aurora.  Cam Smith is a solid role player type that always seems to make a big play down the stretch to help the Bears win.

No doubt inspired by Q's "unathletic" quote. Thanks for that one, Q. 

[Titan Q]

Even after graduating 1st Team All American center Troy Ruths (20.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), the 2008-09 Bears have 3 All-American-caliber players in point-guard Sean Wallis, shooting guard Aaron Thompson, and wing Tyler Nading.  Wash U's perimeter game is about as good as it gets in Division III.  They've also been getting huge contributions from new starting center Zach Kelly, who had 18 pts and 10 rebounds vs Augustana and 23 & 9 vs Aurora.  Cam Smith is a solid role player type that always seems to make a big play down the stretch to help the Bears win.

No doubt inspired by Q's "unathletic" quote. Thanks for that one, Q. 

No problem Dan!