MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[gordonmann]

Announcing the All Stars at the half, you'll be happy to know the Augie student section booed Juwan Henry.

They did something pretty funny at the break. Jett Speelman, who's the all-time D3 leader for free throws and finished his senior season at Denison, had a contest shooting FTs against a five year old who was allowed to shoot from anywhere.

The Augie fans chanted "Have-a-heart" before the contest began and then "You-hate-kids" after it was over.

[Gregory Sager]

Announcing the All Stars at the half, you'll be happy to know the Augie student section booed Juwan Henry.

LOL! I would expect nothing else from them.

I'm sure that Juwan grinned from ear to ear when he heard those boos.

[Gregory Sager]

Has D-Mac been hanging out with the Wheaton broadcasters? He keeps calling Augie's shooting guard "Sore-tee-yo", too.

[gordonmann]

He did! He's an easy player to like. Big smile all the time.

[Gregory Sager]

Babson 79
Augustana 78

Tremendous game, exciting finish.

[Augie6]

What a great game and what a great season for Augie basketball.  Although I know they will be tremendously disappointed that they fell just short, they battled the whole way and had a chance to win at the end.  Great players make great plays and that's what Flannery did on the block at the end.  Can't wait for next season to see how this group continues to grow and mature. 

[4samuy]

I would have liked coach Brennan to congratulate Augustana for a great game in the post game interview as most coaches do at all levels.  I will say that since he's never been in the position as a national champ, I will give him a pass.

[Titan Q]

Tough one.  Great season and great tourney run, Augustana! 

The Vikings will be crazy good next year.

[Gregory Sager]

It seemed as though every time Augie made a great play or sank a big shot, Babson would make a quick response. That changed in the final minute, when the Beavers missed three -- count 'em, three -- front ends of one-and-ones in the final 21 seconds. But Flannery made a tremendous play after missing the second front end to get back and pin an Ebel layup attempt to the backboard with a couple of seconds remaining, a play that ended up being the play of the game -- fittingly, as it was the capstone of the career of one of the greatest D3 players of his generation.

The blocked layup aside, Ebel was very strong today, with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Johnston had 15 in his final game, Orange added 14, and Benning chipped in 11. Dylan "Pronounce My Els" Sortillo led everybody with nine boards, and Martin had five blocks to go with his seven rebounds.

And so the CCIW comes up short yet again, and Augie is the bridesmaid for the fourth straight time in national championship game appearances. You can't take anything away from what the Rock Islanders did, however; this was a tremendous postseason run, and, frankly, I didn't really think that they had it in them. It wasn't just that they lost three straight to end the regular season and back into a three-way tie for the CCIW title after it had looked like they were going to waltz away with the league trophy; it was the way that Illinois Wesleyan waxed them in that final game of the regular season that made me think that the Doggies just didn't have the juice to get it done. They proved me and a lot of other people wrong. Congrats on a fantastic tournament run to the Grey Men.

[markerickson]

During Augie's win yesterday, the announcers mentioned that 75% of the D3 programs are planted in the northeast and 66% are located east of the Mississippi.  I'm sure the NCAA takes that into consideration, along with proximity to a major airport and venue capacity.

[kiko]

During Augie's win yesterday, the announcers mentioned that 75% of the D3 programs are planted in the northeast and 66% are located east of the Mississippi.  I'm sure the NCAA takes that into consideration, along with proximity to a major airport and venue capacity.

I would not call the Roanoke airport anything close to "major".  And it tends to be quite expensive to fly into.

There was a great article published ~ a year ago which talked about how the local community leaders have reinvented Roanoke over the past 20 years.  One of the things mentioned is how far Roanoke is from major metro areas.  Charlotte is three hours away and D.C. is four -- anything beyond that (Atlanta, Nashville, Pittsburgh) starts to get into the six-hour range.

One thing that Salem has proven over the years is that the tournament can be quite successful in a location that is very much off the beaten path.

[markerickson]

I just assumed it was near one, being on the east coast.  My bad.

[oldknight]

Someday there will be a student section that will figure out that the "Overrated!" chant actually diminishes what their own team is doing.

But that day won't be today.

I've never understood why fans of the winning team would disrespect their team's victory. If the fans had an ounce of wit they would chant "Un-der-rat-ed."

[iwumichigander]

Thoughts - good run by Augie.  It just looked like Augie did not have their legs under them tonight which sometimes happens to the team playing the last game the night before.

I did think Augie should have gone inside more and stayed inside rather than kicking out for three that were not falling.  And, boy was I wrong.  I thought the coat would be off I the first five minutes.
It made it through the entire first half  

And, the 30 point loss to IWU - Mrs IWUMich and I thought Coach G would use that as motivation at in the rest of the way and I will bet he did.

Roanoke - Salem is a community that does pretty much go all out for NCAA events. Aside from the venues and hotels, there are folks that have worked every tournament and take a lot of pride in so doing.  And, the community runs events downtown that help pass the time other than when you I one of the numerous libation establishments!

Babson went to their go to guy and Flannery stepped up as he has so many times in his career. 

[iwu70]

Congrats to Babson on their national title.  Great game, down to the last seconds.

And, congrats to Augie on a tremendous post-season run, doing the CCIW proud.  Just one good possession short.  Tough loss no doubt, but in the broader scheme of things, a tremendous run, great season and unexpected achievement, far far far beyond expectations for Augie this year.  Yes, they will be crazy good next year.

Congrats to Jordan Robinson on his first-team All-American honor.

Season in the books.  Time to sign off for now.

Keep us all posted on recruitment news . . . seems Augie and NCC will be the expected top contenders next season.  IWU has to find some new answers, esp. in the post area with Seibring, Amman, and Bausch graduating.  Good guard play returning, but the Titans will need some new size and some new anchors in the paint.  Beasley can bulk up, be very good, but he is not enough  New Titans will need to emerge for the new cycle.

IWU'70