MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[kiko]

North Central 78
Elmhurst 71

I gotta remember to look at the schedule... I was just getting ready to tune in assuming a 7p tipoff.

From the box:

North Central led by 20 at the half, but the Jays pecked away and got within 5 at 57-52 with 10 and change remaining.  Over the next two minutes, Will Clausel hit a pair of threes and a layup to push the lead to 65-52 and put the Cards in command for good.

Tommy Koth with 23
Will Clausel with 16
Connor Raridon with 15 and 12 rebounds
Mike Pollack with 10

No Matt Cappelletti today

Elmhurst:
Jake Rhode with 18
Derek Dotlich had 14

If you had told me three months ago that the Sons of Warden would close out a 12-4 CCIW campaign with a game where Tommy Koth and Will Clausel were the top scorers and produced half of the team's offense, I'd have looked at you sideways.  Kudos to those two for stepping up down the stretch when the team has zero margin for error.

[Gregory Sager]

No Matt Cappelletti today

Sure there was. He was wearing his Will Clausel mask and borrowed Clausel's jersey, from what I could tell.

[GoPerry]

I'm sure Elmhurst gave it everything today trying to close the regular season with a win.  However, if given a choice, I'm sure they'd choose a 30 min trip to play Wheaton at King over a 2 hr bus ride to Bloomington to play IWU.

[voxelmhurst]

Though Elmhurst's clawback from 20 points down to 5 was admirable, this might have been the most disappointing game of the season for the Jays. At halftime the FG% was NCC 67% and Elmhurst 30%. Elmhurst couldn't establish an interior game, and aside from the stretch which saw NCC's lead recede to 5, the Jays outside shooting wasn't there either. As mentioned, NCC did very well to move the ball around (Raridon and Meredith combined for a 10:3 assists/turnover ratio) and get points from different positions.

Elmhurst will go in as the #6 seed and play in Wheaton Tuesday night. Unless Elmhurst pulls off some upsets in the CCIW tournament, I think it's fair for Elmhurst fans to be mildly disappointed in how this season turned out. They started 4-0 in CCIW play, but went 3-9 in their final 12 conference games. Granted, there were tremendously close, tough losses on the road to Augustana, Wheaton, and Wesleyan, as well as a home loss to Wesleyan by just 2 points. Most will say this year has been another stepping stone for Elmhurst, but when one considers that this is a team graduating 2 starters, including their top 2 rebounders and second leading scorer, next year's team will have some riddles to solve down low.

[kiko]

I'm sure Elmhurst gave it everything today trying to close the regular season with a win.  However, if given a choice, I'm sure they'd choose a 30 min trip to play Wheaton at King over a 2 hr bus ride to Bloomington to play IWU.

This is sort of the opposite of Titan Q's POV that he would rather play Augie than Aston Francis...

[Gregory Sager]

Behold the power of the media.

I have the sound on the AC @ CC game, because the MU students calling the NPU @ MU game are unlistenable.

Not more than two minutes ago, Carthage PBP broadcaster John Weiser called out AndOne (although not by his handle; he referred to him as "a chatster on the CCIW message board") for his comments here the other day about Bosko being disengaged on the bench Wednesday night. After raking Mark over the coals for a few moments, he came back to him about fifteen seconds later and said, "... and I know that that chatster is listening to this game tonight."

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin 79
North Park 62

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 81
Carthage 67

[Gregory Sager]

MU 79, NPU 62

Toby Marek: 16 pts

Elijah Henry: 17 pts, 6 rebs
Zach Fisher: 17 pts
Davante Harrell: 13 pts
Jordan Cunningham: 9 rebs
Jack Marinko: 5:0 a:to

As one would expect from two teams at the bottom of the standings playing out the string, neither team played particularly impressive basketball tonight. It was a competitive four-point game until about the nine-minute mark of the second half, when MU went on a 15-2 run, after which NPU just seemed to capitulate. Millikin used its size well, scoring most of its point in the paint and absolutely dominating the boards to the tune of 40-26.

A big thank-you from me personally to Veggie Tangen and Cardell Simmons for all of their effort and hard work over the course of their North Park careers, and best of luck to them in their futures as they graduate in May.

[Yogao]

Augie's depth held up in this game. Martin and Benning both picked up their third fouls with 8 minutes left in the first half and then their fourth at the 5 and 10 minute marks respectively in the 2nd half.

Carthage wasn't as fortunate with Baltimore and Johnson both getting in foul trouble before following out with 2 and 1 minutes left in the game. 

Bosko was "fully engaged" in the game tonight, and the PA announcer took a shot at Augie's fans reminding them that Bosko has won more championships on Augie's floor than they have.

[Gregory Sager]

Bosko was "fully engaged" in the game tonight, and the PA announcer took a shot at Augie's fans reminding them that Bosko has won more championships on Augie's floor than they have.

Actually, that was the PBP broadcaster, John Weiser, who said that, not the PA announcer. As I alluded to earlier, John was in a feisty mood in the radio booth tonight at Tarble.

He also had a great postgame interview with Bosko, who unequivocally stated that he'll be back next season. Another interesting declaration by the dean of CCIW coaches was his statement that in the second half of this season Aston Francis was the best CCIW offensive player he's ever seen. He was quick to point out that Francis wasn't the best player, since he turns the ball over a bit too much and doesn't always play defense (I'm paraphrasing Bosko here), but that's nevertheless an enormous compliment, because Bosko's been a part of this league all the way back to the 1969-70 season, when he was a freshman guard for North Park.

Speaking of which, he also pointed out something I hadn't considered -- as of January 1 next season, he will have been a part of CCIW men's basketball in seven different decades, 1960s into the 2020s. That's pretty impressive, and I'm sure that he's going to point out to Dennis Bridges on the golf course this summer that that's now two more decades than Bridges was around for.

[Titan Q]

Not more than two minutes ago, Carthage PBP broadcaster John Weiser called out AndOne (although not by his handle; he referred to him as "a chatster on the CCIW message board") for his comments here the other day about Bosko being disengaged on the bench Wednesday night. After raking Mark over the coals for a few moments, he came back to him about fifteen seconds later and said, "... and I know that that chatster is listening to this game tonight."

The great thing is that since NCC won today, we know AndOne will post tonight.  So we'll get to see what he says.  (Had NCC lost we'd have to wait a while.)

[Titan Q]

Speaking of which, he also pointed out something I hadn't considered -- as of January 1 next season, he will have been a part of CCIW men's basketball in seven different decades, 1960s into the 2020s. That's pretty impressive, and I'm sure that he's going to point out to Dennis Bridges on the golf course this summer that that's now two more decades than Bridges was around for.

I guess Dennie should counter with his efficiency.

CCIW Wins
* Dennie = 421
* Bosko = 298

[Gregory Sager]

Speaking of which, he also pointed out something I hadn't considered -- as of January 1 next season, he will have been a part of CCIW men's basketball in seven different decades, 1960s into the 2020s. That's pretty impressive, and I'm sure that he's going to point out to Dennis Bridges on the golf course this summer that that's now two more decades than Bridges was around for.

I guess Dennie should counter with his efficiency.

CCIW Wins
* Dennie = 421
* Bosko = 298

Bosko's always got the trump card:
* Bosko = 5
* Dennie = 1

[Titan Q]

Speaking of which, he also pointed out something I hadn't considered -- as of January 1 next season, he will have been a part of CCIW men's basketball in seven different decades, 1960s into the 2020s. That's pretty impressive, and I'm sure that he's going to point out to Dennis Bridges on the golf course this summer that that's now two more decades than Bridges was around for.

I guess Dennie should counter with his efficiency.

CCIW Wins
* Dennie = 421
* Bosko = 298

Bosko's always got the trump card:
* Bosko = 5
* Dennie = 1

We are counting assistant coach titles?