MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Alma, MI...

Alma 67
North Central 66

http://alma.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/boxscores/20151206_mrgt.xml


Alma is picked 4th in the MIAA...NCC is picked 4th in the CCIW.

I've been saying for weeks now that Alma is a very, very good team. Elmhurst knows it; North Park knows it; and now North Central knows it, too.

Next Saturday it'll be Wheaton's turn to find that out.

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to NPU sophomore Jordan Robinson upon being the third Viking to be named CCIW Player of the Week this season.

[sac]

North Central 63. Stevens Point 49


Looks to me like Augustana is a tiny bit better than the top 5 Cardinals.  😉

[badgerwarhawk]

Wheaton: 72
Warhawks: 80

[GoPerry]

UW-Whitewater 80
Wheaton 72

Jeremy Berntsen (25pts, 7/9FG, 3/4 3pt, 8/9FT, 3 rebs, 3 ast) and Michael Berg(20 pts, 13 rebs) had big games for Wheaton tonight but didn't get much from anyone else.  The Warhawks closely guarded Ricky Samuelson very tightly anywhere beyond the arc as he managed only 5 field goal attempts, no clean looks.  Although the score was close, the Thunder were behind practically the whole game; briefly led by 1 or 2 in the 1st half and were only down by 1 after 20 mins.  Wheaton missed their 1st 6 shots coming out of halftime and went down by 9 pretty quickly but fought back to tie it with 9 mins left.  After a Whitewater make, a stop, and a make, UWW led the rest of the way.

Can a team be fun and frustrating to watch at the same time?  The ironic answer is a definite yes as that's what the experience has been with this Thunder team.  Once again, they played hard even if not always disciplined.  They played a good team aggressively without being intimidated despite their relative lack of experience.  And they have enough skill to stick with solid, more veteran teams on a weeknight road game even if they really struggle to finish things out.

No- they aren't winning.  They've lost 4 straight, 2 of which Wheaton had a chance to win late(Hope and tonight) .  It's beginning to feel much like last year where we lost numerous close games not being able to make that one big shot or get that one defensive stop when needed(finishing).  But in spite of the results, I like watching this team.

I hope I like them on Saturday at King (vs Alma).

[AndOne]

Turning in a superior defensive effort earlier tonight, the NCC Cardinals took down the defending national champions, and currently ranked #9 Wisconsin-Stevens Point by a 63-49 score. If not for several unforced errors, and the inability to convert an acceptable number of opportunities from the FREE throw line, the margin of victory could easily have been even wider over a team which certainly does not appear to be the nation's ninth best.   
The Cards limited the visitors to 27.6 shooting (16 of 58) from the floor as they defeated a top 10 ranked team for the second time this season.
After sinking the first basket of the game, UWSP never led again. NCC limited their visitors to 18 first half points, taking a 26-18 lead into the locker room. They eventually extended their advantage to 19 points in the second period, primarily on the strength of two double-doubles. 6'8" Alex Sorenson put up a game high 20 points, and collected 12 rebounds. However, the #1 star of the night was the Cards' Erwin Henry who seemed to ignite things on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor while registering 18 points and pulling down 10 boards.

[AndOne]

North Central 63. Stevens Point 49

Looks to me like Augustana is a tiny bit better than the top 5 Cardinals.  😉

Often things are indeed as they look, sac.
But, looks can sometimes be deceiving. 
On paper, Augustana looked to be a tiny bit better than the Cardinals on 2/4/15 too.
That's why they play the games. 

[Gregory Sager]

Last night Elmhurst continued to treat the MIAA like General Sherman treated Georgia, smashing Olivet by a score of 106-67. Bryant Ackerman led five 'jays in double figures with 24 points. Since that narrow buzzer-tip-in win over Alma a week and a half ago, the 'jays have gone on to beat Adrian by 32, Albion by 23, and Olivet by 39. All of those games were played at Faganel, but home cooking doesn't explain away that kind of dominance.

[AndOne]

Recent financial reports out of the EC business office indicate that Elmhurst's water bill is down condiderably lately. Sources attribute a large percentage of the reason for the lower bills to the fact that the basketball team no longer has to shower following home contests, several of which have resulted in victories of the "walkover" fashion. 

[Titan Q]

IWU starting guard Brady Rose (10.5 ppg, 3.7 apg, .419 3-point) will be out 2-3 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.  Tough loss for the Titans.

[oldknight]

Last night Elmhurst continued to treat the MIAA like General Sherman treated Georgia, smashing Olivet by a score of 106-67. Bryant Ackerman led five 'jays in double figures with 24 points. Since that narrow buzzer-tip-in win over Alma a week and a half ago, the 'jays have gone on to beat Adrian by 32, Albion by 23, and Olivet by 39. All of those games were played at Faganel, but home cooking doesn't explain away that kind of dominance.

I have no doubt Elmhurst is a fine club but let me temper the enthusiasm a little bit more by noting that the Bluejays have only played the predicted bottom half of the MIAA. In addition, the Jays most recent win was over a truly awful Olivet squad clearly predestined for the basement of the conference standings. Given the margin of victory over Adrian and Albion, those wins are much more impressive but it would have been nice to see what they might do against the top half of the conference. As always, time will tell if those Elmhurst wins foreshadow a great season or are merely an example of picking on the weak. 

[AndOne]

IWU starting guard Brady Rose (10.5 ppg, 3.7 apg, .419 3-point) will be out 2-3 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.  Tough loss for the Titans.

Who starts in Rose's place?

[Gregory Sager]

Last night Elmhurst continued to treat the MIAA like General Sherman treated Georgia, smashing Olivet by a score of 106-67. Bryant Ackerman led five 'jays in double figures with 24 points. Since that narrow buzzer-tip-in win over Alma a week and a half ago, the 'jays have gone on to beat Adrian by 32, Albion by 23, and Olivet by 39. All of those games were played at Faganel, but home cooking doesn't explain away that kind of dominance.

I have no doubt Elmhurst is a fine club but let me temper the enthusiasm a little bit more by noting that the Bluejays have only played the predicted bottom half of the MIAA. In addition, the Jays most recent win was over a truly awful Olivet squad clearly predestined for the basement of the conference standings. Given the margin of victory over Adrian and Albion, those wins are much more impressive but it would have been nice to see what they might do against the top half of the conference. As always, time will tell if those Elmhurst wins foreshadow a great season or are merely an example of picking on the weak.

Right, and I think that most of the CCIW fans who post here or have lurked here for awhile have a good read on the MIAA landscape, given that: a) there's always a pile of crossover games every November and December in what I typically dub "the Battle of Lake Michigan"; and b) unlike the CCIW, that MIAA landscape tends to be much more static, seeing as how Hope and Calvin have dominated the league since, oh, I don't know, roughly the era when some barefoot Dutchman hollowed out a chunk of a log and invented the wooden shoe. That's one of the reasons, actually, why what Alma's doing right now (as illustrated nicely by that buzzer-beater loss to Elmhurst) is worth making a fuss over; things change so little in your circuit from one year to the next that what the Scots are doing is something that makes one sit up and take notice.

But it's the margin in those other games that drew my attention, not the mere fact that Elmhurst won them. I expect this year's Elmhurst team to be the favorite in every game it plays on its home floor, including when Augie visits the western suburbs. But I didn't expect the 'jays to beat an improved Adrian team by 32 points. (Whether they fade in MIAA play or not, the fact remains that the Bulldogs are 6-2 right now.)  Looking at Albion's scores against Calvin and Hope in recent years, it does appear that the Brits have faded in their ability to hang with the MIAA powers; in the past, the defense that the Brits typically play usually kept scores close, but that hasn't been the case so much over the past four years or so. But this year Elmhurst did a better job of running away against Albion than did the team that played the Brits before them, D1 Wright State (Albion put on a mini-run late in that game that led the Wright State coach to put his starters back in.) Olivet? Well, that one's no big deal. The Comets will lose 20 games without breaking a sweat.

So, yeah, it's not a big deal for Elmhurst to win those games. But it's noteworthy that Elmhurst is winning them by that much, at least in the case of Adrian and Albion.

[Titan Q]

IWU starting guard Brady Rose (10.5 ppg, 3.7 apg, .419 3-point) will be out 2-3 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.  Tough loss for the Titans.

Who starts in Rose's place?

I assume that is 6-0 senior Joel Pennington (9.8 ppg, 2.7 apg, .688 3-point, .875 FT), who is a good player.

For me, the bigger question is who replaces Pennington's bench minutes...and what kind of production will the Titans get from whoever that is. 

[veterancciwfan]

My last post mentioned a "break"out game for Brady Rose. Didn't know it had a double meaning as stress fracture discovered Monday. Pennington and Bonnett will get extra minutes. And IWU has a seriously talented freshman guard, 6"1' Mark Falotico, who may get some minutes. Pennington's stat line for 6 games seems too good to possibly be true. He's averaging 17 minutes and will surely get at least 25, which was Rose's avg. IWU well protected at guard.