MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[augiefan]

Calvin is not much of a team, but it's nice to rack up another road win. Transfer Brett Benning looks like a nice addition to the Augie program. I will say Augie is one of the tallest DIII teams I have seen.

[Gregory Sager]

Westminster (MO) knocked off Elmhurst down in the Griz this afternoon, 88-81, in a battle of teams that have the same nickname but spell it differently.

The game was tied at the half, but Westmo propelled itself into a substantial lead by starting off the second half with an 18-7 run over the course of the first five and a half minutes. The Jays got their lead up to 16 with 3:27 remaining, but then the 'jays came roaring back to cut it to a five-point deficit with 59 seconds left. That's as close as they ended up getting, however.

Chris Parrilli led the 'jays with 16 points, while Derek Dotlich contributed 15 off the bench. Jalen Loving added 12 for EC, while Caleb Mowry had an 11 and 10 double-double and Ryan Patton chipped in ten. Senior Tucker Harlan started at the point for the injured Jake Rhode and had a nice floor game by posting a 5:2 ratio. Rhode didn't play, and I'm curious as to the extent of the injury he suffered yesterday against Greenville. Based upon his performance in the first two games of the season, he looked like he was going to be a breakout player as a freshman. No reason why he still can't be one, of course, if the injury isn't serious.

This drops Elmhurst to 0-3 on the season. And, since I suspect that Millikin is going to get avalanched by the Greenville System later this evening, I think we're looking at the CCIW getting swept by the SLIAC in this year's challenge.

[Gregory Sager]

Carroll, however, is doing its bit to keep the SLIAC in its place and to prevent Hopefan from bursting his buttons with too much pride. For the second straight day the Pioneers smoked a SLIAC foe, knocking off Blackburn, 90-72, up in Waukesha. The Pioneers used a 13-4 run in the middle of the second half to open up what had been only a four-point advantage, and cruised to the win. Tanner Zaeske led the way with a 27 and 7 performance, as all five CU starters reached double figures; Joel Heesch had 20, Ben Widdes had 14 and 6 (and eight assists, to boot), and Kyle Keranen and Tyler Ingebrigtsen each added 11.

Carroll is now 2-0.

[oldknight]

Regarding Augustana, I watched a lot of their game vs Alma tonight.  In my opinion the Vikings are absolutely not overrated.  I will go as far as to say this - Augie is more talented this year than last year.  Now, that talent is young and/or experienced, so it is not all meshed together yet, and not always pretty.  But I believe this might be the most talented Grey Giovanine Augie team I have seen.

You know the CCIW far better than I do Bob, but you won't get any argument from me on that assessment. The Vikings are deep, athletic and big. Very impressive performance by a pretty young team.

[hopefan]

Carroll, however, is doing its bit to keep the SLIAC in its place and to prevent Hopefan from bursting his buttons with too much pride.

Believe me, the buttons have already burst (despite losing 30 pounds in the last year)   

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thanks for the info on how overrated Alma is Sager. I agree they are overrated. It is too bad Alma lost their 2 top players from last year.

By the same token Augie has no business being ranked #18, as they lost their top 6 scorers from last year and are in a total rebuild this year. So nearly every win early this year is kind of a tribute to the unlikeable Coach G's coaching skills. Happy have this one in the win column. Sorry they spoiled your day GS.

What on earth are you talking about? Where did I say that Alma was overrated?

(Also, in the interest of accuracy, as Chuck indicated Alma lost its top three players from last year -- Scott Nikodemski and the Beckman brothers -- not its top two.)

Yeah, I'm the one that said Alma was greatly over-rated.  I also suspect that Augie is greatly over-ranked, but, since they won, I'll withhold judgement.  My point was that beating Alma (even at Alma) does not necessarily show that they are NOT over-ranked.  We'll find out in the coming weeks.

Alma just lost (at home) to freakin' Finandia - yeah, they were overrated!  Currently #14, I'm guessing they won't get a single vote in this week's poll.

[4samuy]

AND, by the way, Augustanas opponent today, Calvin beat Finlandia by 41 last night.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 85
Loras 64

[Gregory Sager]

Wow. Mike Schauer just got T'ed up for protesting a bad call in the Pfund title game against Heidelberg. He pretty much boogied a bona-fide buck-and-wing all the way down in front of the Wheaton bench and halfway to the King Arena exit. You'd never know that he attended Wheaton in the era when dancing was verboten at that school.

[4samuy]

Nicely done!!  I've also heard that Wheaton has one of the highest student marriage rates in the country.  I guess you probably sneak a dance in now and then.

[WUPHF]

Westminster (MO) knocked off Elmhurst down in the Griz this afternoon, 88-81, in a battle of teams that have the same nickname but spell it differently.

I wonder why Elmhurst chose to spell it the wrong way...

[Gregory Sager]

Oakland Oaks Greenville 145
Virginia Squires Millikin 128

[Gregory Sager]

Tonight's pinball contest basketball game at the Griz not only broke the MU school record for combined points, it annihilated it. The previous high was 240, amassed by Millikin and Wheaton in a 1970 game that went to overtime. Tonight? There were 273 points scored between the Panthers and the Big Blue.

Greenville also broke the MU record for opponent points, erasing the old record of 137 set by Eastern Illinois all the way back in 1959.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 79
Heidelberg 69

[Mr. Ypsi]

Tonight's pinball contest basketball game at the Griz not only broke the MU school record for combined points, it annihilated it. The previous high was 240, amassed by Millikin and Wheaton in a 1970 game that went to overtime. Tonight? There were 273 points scored between the Panthers and the Big Blue.

Greenville also broke the MU record for opponent points, erasing the old record of 137 set by Eastern Illinois all the way back in 1959.

I noticed that the teams also combined for 76 fouls.  Did they finish the game with cheerleaders, or random fans pulled from the stands?!