MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

From Cedar Rapids:

Millikin 85
Coe 71

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan at Calvin, 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT...

Titans (1-0)
G - Brady Rose, 6-3 Sr.
G - Colin Bonnett, 6-4 Sr.
G - Jason Gregoire, 6-4 Sr.
F - Charlie Bair, 6-7 So.
C - Alex O'Neill, 6-9 Jr.

Knights (1-0)
G - Thad Shymanski, 6-1 So.
G - Tony DeWitte, 6-2 Jr.
F - Derrick DeVries, 6-5 Jr.
F - Alex Box, 6-6 Jr.
F - Austin Bykerk, 6-8 Sr.


Pantagraph - https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/sophomore-bair-works-into-starting-role-with-titans/article_8f851368-c515-59e7-921c-99b11004bc3c.html

Live Video - https://livestream.com/calvin-college/events/8446961

Live stats - http://calvinknights.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20181116_lia2.xml


Very cool matchup of two of the best programs in Division III.

[kiko]

Titans (1-0)
G - Brady Rose, 6-3 Sr.
G - Colin Bonnett, 6-4 Sr.
G - Jason Gregoire, 6-4 Sr.
F - Charlie Bair, 6-7 Sr.
C - Alex O'Neill, 6-9 Sr.

This will be worth at least a couple of wins over the course of the season.

[AndOne]

It seems like just last year that Charlie Bair was only a freshman. 
And Alex O'Neill was just a sophomore. 
But it also seems like just last year that Brady Rose was already a senior. 
So you just never know. 
Strange things happen down there at IWU. 

[iwu70]

AO, and likely stranger things still . . . at IWU.  One just never knows . . .

Good luck to the aged TITANS vs. Calvin and Alma this weekend.

'70

[KnightSlappy]

Illinois Wesleyan at Calvin, 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT...

Very cool matchup of two of the best programs in Division III.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm excited to see IWU in person for the first time. Unfortunately Calvin has been down for a couple of years but I'm still hopeful for a quality game.

[Gregory Sager]

Simpson 75
North Park 68

Veggie Tangen: 15 pts
Izaiah Sanders: 14 pts, 10 rebs
Matt Szuba: 10 pts, 10 rebs

[iwu70]

Close game at Calvin.

IWU leading by over 15 in the first half.
Calvin coming all the way back to within one -- several times in the last 1:32.
Titans making the FTs.

Final 68-62

Brady Rose with 34

Take-away is that the Titans didn't play very good defense tonight, esp. in the second half.

More when I see the entire box score.

A win is a win against a quality program and team in Calvin.   Titans open 2-0.

IWU'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final from Grand Rapids: IWU 68, Calvin 62.  Brady Rose had exactly half the Titan points (34), but got little help on the scoring front.  Bonnett had 10.  Bair had 10 rebounds; Baker (in only 6 minutes) had 7 rbs.

Calvin is traditionally very strong, but has been way down lately, so not yet sure if this is a good win.  But, as Mark said, a win is a win!  On to Alma.

[Titan Q]

Brady Rose is a special player.

[iwu70]

Charlie Bair again had a nice game.

IWU had trouble defending the pick and roll on the perimeter.   

Plenty of work to do, a work in progress.

Yes, Rose came alive tonight for sure -- so many weapons, so many moves, different types of shots.

'70

[augiefan]

Augie beats Alma 85-74. Ebel was top scorer with 21 points. Augie really had to work hard to win this one, as Alma looked much improved over last year and stayed in contention most of the game. We will know more about two of our conference favorites after Augie and IWU switch opponents tomorrow.

[WUPHF]

How about Carroll?  The Pios had a 5 point lead at the half...pulled to within 4 points with a couple of minutes...eventually falling to Nebraska Wesleyan, 70-64.

[crusader_nation]

Continuing the theme of CCIW teams of getting off to a slow start, Wheaton 79, Coe 77.

Francis with 26 points on 9 of 24 shooting and 4 of 13 on 3pt. His shot never really got going, and we saw more penetration from Francis. Wheaton had trouble finishing at the hoop. Luke Peters had a nice night, stepping up his inside game with 14 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

Wheaton's defense was suspect, with Coe getting too many good looks from outside. Kobe Eichelberger had 10 points, including 2 big free throws down the stretch.

A lot of work to be done by Wheaton, and tomorrow night is going to be a big early test for them. They still seem to lack any semblance of a second option when Francis struggles. They have a number of guys who have improved from last year and show potential, but they have yet to jell.

[GoPerry]

Continuing the theme of CCIW teams of getting off to a slow start, Wheaton 79, Coe 77.

Francis with 26 points on 9 of 24 shooting and 4 of 13 on 3pt. His shot never really got going, and we saw more penetration from Francis. Wheaton had trouble finishing at the hoop. Luke Peters had a nice night, stepping up his inside game with 14 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

Wheaton's defense was suspect, with Coe getting too many good looks from outside. Kobe Eichelberger had 10 points, including 2 big free throws down the stretch.

A lot of work to be done by Wheaton, and tomorrow night is going to be a big early test for them. They still seem to lack any semblance of a second option when Francis struggles. They have a number of guys who have improved from last year and show potential, but they have yet to jell.

Besides Francis' struggling a bit, I thought the Thunder played a decent game but just couldn't sustain a run to put the game out of reach.  Missed foul shots in the last minute kept the came much too close.  However, they continue to get quality minutes from the likes of Gunter, Adom, Cruikshank, Alioth.

I think Luke Peters played an outstanding game – not just the already mentioned 14 pts and 6 boards.  But also the 8 assists and all the other terrific things he did that don't get on the stat sheet.  Really solid defense and being the key to running the offense.  He'll never be the scorer that Francis is or his brother was.  But when he's looking to drive or post up, he's also not someone that can be guarded one on one which opens up all sorts of dishes and kick out opportunities.   

Perhaps Wheaton took the Cohawks less seriously seeing them go down at home to Millikin earlier this week.  And maybe guilty of anticipating this next game as they now they face #2 UW-Oshkosh tomorrow for the Lee Pfund Classic championship.  The Titans are big and athletic and will be a handful to defend.

I'm hoping for a good one and who knows - maybe even a Thunder victory?