MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Make that double OT.

[titanfan]

Wow, great game!

Rhode missed a 3 for Elmhurst at the buzzer.   Wheaton wins 98-95.

[Gregory Sager]

North Central came back from a 19-point second-half deficit, but Colin Bonnett hit a layup at the buzzer to give Illinois Wesleyan a 68-66 win in the airplane hangar.

[GoPerry]

Aston Francis      45 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls, 7 tos
Spencer Peterson   12 pts, 4 rebs
Luke Peters      11 pts, 4 rebs, 3 assts, blk, stl
Ricky Samuelson     9 pts, 5 rebs
Trevor Gunter      7 rebs, 4 assts

Jake Rhode      26 pts, 4 rebs, 10 assts, stl
Jeremy Ireland      19 pts, 15 rebs
Lavon Thomas      16 pts, 8 rebs
Many other Bluejays   lots of rebounds   


After a 1 of 8  for 7 pts first half, #1 in navy blue pretty much did what he does in the 2nd half and the 2 OTs.  After a stretch of 5  straight threes from Francis early in the 2nd, Wheaton had extended the lead out to as much as 13.  But Elmhurst came back with a 15-5 run at the end of the game to tie and send it to OT.

Wheaton got really terrific games from Luke Peters and Spencer Peterson, the latter displaying some really soft touch in the offensive post the likes of which Thunder fans haven't seen from a forward in a while.  Peterson is the only man on the roster who can physically match up with most CCIW forwards.  So you need his physicality but it was great to see him have some offensive success in the paint. I'm sure Coach Schauer would love to see more.

Luke Peters, who had come into the game a woeful 7/19 from the foul line at 36%, really stepped up to go 7/10 tonight, including several critical makes in the OTs.   Add to that him having to guard Jake Rhode all night and you have that type of performance that really helped your team win.

Speaking of Rhode, as good as Francis was, Rhode was equally dominant.  His quickness, ball handling and passing just make him a ton to guard.  Plus he can shoot and score.  The latter part of the 2nd half and the OTs, Coach Baines pretty much ran everything through him and it worked to bring the 'Jays back into the game.  If he wasn't making long 3s he was driving and dishing for easy layups or and-ones.

One thing of note: I'll be rechecking when the video is made available.  But with about a minute left in regulation and Wheaton clinging to a 2 pt lead, Elmhurst committed a clear shot clock violation when the operator reset the shot clock after a Thomas desperation shot only hit the backboard. Gunter then got called for a foul.  So instead of WC ball with a 2 pt lead, EC was allowed 2 free throws to tie the game.  So good thing the Thunder went on to win it.

[GoPerry]

Wow, not exactly the best NCC defense on that layup by Bonnett.  Still a great play -  late game winning heroics for the 2nd game in a row.  Another big road win  for IWU.

[iwu70]

Wow, great game.  IWU wins over NCC at NC 68-66.

Bonnett with the winning layup as time expires.

Tale of two halves, IWU winning the first 39-23, NC the second 43-29.

Bonnett 15
Beasley 11 3-3 from trey
Rose, not really on his game tonight, 10
O'Neil 8

Raridon 20
Sorensen, coming back to form, 15
Pollach 11

Came down to the last possession the last shot, and a missed FT by Sorensen.

As good as Sorensen is, I thought O'Neil and Burdine defensively did a pretty decent job on him. 

Two great teams battling 'til the end.

Big away win for the TITANS.

IWU'70

[iwu70]

Looks like Augie escapes Carthage with a big road win, too.

'70

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan 68
North Central 66

* Colin Bonnett: 15 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists
* Jaylen Beasley: 11 pts, 5 reb
* Brady Rose: 10 pts, 6 reb, 2 assists

* Connor Raridon: 20 pts, 8 reb, 7 assists
* Alex Sorenson: 15 pts, 14 reb, 4 assists
* Mike Pollack: 11 pts, 2 reb

Huge road win for the Titans.  It would have really stung to blow this one after leading by a good margin most of the game.

The first half, in which the Titans held NCC to 28% FG and 23 points, was the best team defensive effort I've seen from an IWU team in a long, long time.  IWU came out of the locker room with more intensity than the Cardinals and really took the fight to them.

The Titans are very talented, deep, and balanced.  I really like this team.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin holds off a late Carroll rally to eke out a 57-54 win at the Griz.

Augustana gets a little bit of separation late in a game that had been close all the way to finish off Carthage, 70-61, in Kenosha.

[Gregory Sager]

As good as Sorensen is, I thought O'Neil and Burdine defensively did a pretty decent job on him. 

Sorenson ate those guys up. He had a 15 and 14 double-double, and he shot 6-8 from the field. He also dished out four assists to only two turnovers.

The duo that pulled IWU's chestnuts out of the fire were Beasley and Bonnett.

[titanalum94]

One of my biggest takeaways from the Titans this season is the offensive improvement of Jaylen Beasley. Last season shot a mild .250 from three (11/44) and this season is up to .441 (15/32). Very impressive on the glass as well.

[lmitzel]

This one hurt, even though North Central didn't really deserve to win after the way they played in that first half, but they did a great job coming back. I'm haunted by a couple blown layups during the comeback thatcpuld have changed things, or a little help defense of Bonnett's layup.

I'm also going to be seeing Jason Gregoire (edited after seeing the replay) in my nightmares after his assassination attempt great hustle play for a loose ball that saw him have to jump over the table right in between me and Clark Teuscher. Everyone is okay, and I can now cross that sort of hustle play off my bucket list. Reluctantly.

As good as Sorensen is, I thought O'Neil and Burdine defensively did a pretty decent job on him. 

Sorenson ate those guys up. He had a 15 and 14 double-double, and he shot 6-8 from the field. He also dished out four assists to only two turnovers.

The duo that pulled IWU's chestnuts out of the fire were Beasley and Bonnett.

I went "Oh crap" after every Beasley three attempt, given what he did at Wheaton the other night. We were even talking at the table that NCC needed to keep going back to Sorenson.

[Titan Q]

One of my biggest takeaways from the Titans this season is the offensive improvement of Jaylen Beasley. Last season shot a mild .250 from three (11/44) and this season is up to .441 (15/32). Very impressive on the glass as well.

And he gets every rebound in the vicinity.  His ability to elevate to grab a rebound is impressive.

He has had a great senior season so far.

[Titan Q]

As good as Sorensen is, I thought O'Neil and Burdine defensively did a pretty decent job on him. 

Sorenson ate those guys up. He had a 15 and 14 double-double, and he shot 6-8 from the field. He also dished out four assists to only two turnovers.

The duo that pulled IWU's chestnuts out of the fire were Beasley and Bonnett.

O'Neill and Burdine did an outstanding job on Sorenson in the 1st half though -- 2 pts, 1-2 FG.  It was key in building that big 16-point lead.

2nd half Sorenson was great.

[Gregory Sager]

Aston Francis      45 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls, 7 tos

I've gotta stick up for my boy Colin Lake by pointing out that Francis only had 29 at the end of regulation.

Speaking of Rhode, as good as Francis was, Rhode was equally dominant.  His quickness, ball handling and passing just make him a ton to guard.  Plus he can shoot and score.  The latter part of the 2nd half and the OTs, Coach Baines pretty much ran everything through him and it worked to bring the 'Jays back into the game.  If he wasn't making long 3s he was driving and dishing for easy layups or and-ones.

When it's all said and done, Jake Rhode's going to be the best Elmhurst point guard I've ever seen in my thirty years of following this league. That knee injury last fall might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him, as he got an extra year to gain some muscle and to observe from the bench the way that this league works, while still getting in a few early games to get his feet wet before he got hurt. His decision to take that med red and come back this season as a freshman, with the intention to pay for the extra year of school, must've made John Baines do cartwheels.

One thing of note: I'll be rechecking when the video is made available.  But with about a minute left in regulation and Wheaton clinging to a 2 pt lead, Elmhurst committed a clear shot clock violation when the operator reset the shot clock after a Thomas desperation shot only hit the backboard. Gunter then got called for a foul.  So instead of WC ball with a 2 pt lead, EC was allowed 2 free throws to tie the game.  So good thing the Thunder went on to win it.

I don't think it was that cut-and-dried. It was really close. One thing to keep in mind is that, unlike a game clock, a shot clock will always hold the last second counted until the next second fully passes. There could've been an extra 8/10ths or 9/10ths of a second there. And pressing that trigger at the scorer's table on an in-bounds play is always tough, especially when it's on the far side of the baseline and there's some screening going on. Anybody who has ever worked as a shot clock operator (I've done it a few times over the years) knows that it's the most thankless job in basketball. It's like being an offensive lineman in football -- nobody notices you unless you screw up.