MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

What are the broadcasters going to ask Coach Schauer if Wheaton loses this one?

Mike gave a perfect response to the rather open-ended, "What a game, huh?" question he got. He rightly called it "an unbelievable basketball game," touted the CCIW for its competitiveness, and not only saluted Elmhurst for its effort but pointed out just how difficult the Bluejays have had it this week by spelling out their itinerary. And then he topped it off by thanking the Wheaton administration for making the decision to let the fans show up. And that was a great point. I 100% agree with him -- I think that the energy Wheaton's student section brought to the building tonight really did make the difference in the outcome.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie prevailed over visiting Millikin, 76-64, atoning for that horrific 25-point beatdown the Big Blue administered to the Rock Islanders at the Griz last month.

While it needs to be pointed out that Millikin was again without the services of center Cole Laurence tonight, nevertheless, Daniel Carr had an absolutely sick 25 and 18 for Augie, with three blocks thrown in for good measure.

Calvin Fisher had a nice (27 and 8 with four steals) night of his own for the Big Blue.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 84
Elmhurst 83

Tyson Cruickshank   21 pts
Cade Alioth    17 pts, 11 rebs
Nyameye Adom   14 pts
Colin Uveges   11 pts

Jake Rhode   23 pts
Lavon Thomas  19 pts
Ocean Johnson  15 pts  6 rebs
Jay Militello    11 pts

This one sort of had a little of everything.  But both teams shot a blistering 31/63 for 49.2% from the field with the 'Jays going 11/18 from trey(61.1%) vs the Thunder 11/26 (42.3%).   But then both teams went through periods of sloppy play, EC ending with 18 turnovers and Wheaton 17.

When Rhode gets hot he is something to watch.  He had a chance with 4 secs left to win the game with yet another buzzer beater but it was a miss. 

Very important to get this home win for Wheaton.

[kiko]

For North Central, this was their fifth consecutive road game in CCIW play after their blowout loss to Illinois Wesleyan.  The Sons of Warden won at Millikin, Augustana, Carroll, and Carthage while losing at Wheaton.  North Central has not played a home game in over a month.

The reward for this is that their next five games are all in the Hangar, starting with Augustana Monday evening.

[WUPHF]

What are the broadcasters going to ask Coach Schauer if Wheaton loses this one?

Mike gave a perfect response to the rather open-ended, "What a game, huh?" question he got. He rightly called it "an unbelievable basketball game," touted the CCIW for its competitiveness, and not only saluted Elmhurst for its effort but pointed out just how difficult the Bluejays have had it this week by spelling out their itinerary. And then he topped it off by thanking the Wheaton administration for making the decision to let the fans show up. And that was a great point. I 100% agree with him -- I think that the energy Wheaton's student section brought to the building tonight really did make the difference in the outcome.

If you are a coach, that is how you should end a game like that.

That last play by Adom by the way to win it...  He is really good at basketball.

[Next Man Up]

For North Central, this was their fifth consecutive road game in CCIW play after their blowout loss to Illinois Wesleyan.  The Sons of Warden won at Millikin, Augustana, Carroll, and Carthage while losing at Wheaton.  North Central has not played a home game in over a month.

The reward for this is that their next five games are all in the Hangar, starting with Augustana Monday evening.

What are the broadcasters going to ask Coach Schauer if Wheaton loses this one?

Mike gave a perfect response to the rather open-ended, "What a game, huh?" question he got. He rightly called it "an unbelievable basketball game," touted the CCIW for its competitiveness, and not only saluted Elmhurst for its effort but pointed out just how difficult the Bluejays have had it this week by spelling out their itinerary. And then he topped it off by thanking the Wheaton administration for making the decision to let the fans show up. And that was a great point. I 100% agree with him -- I think that the energy Wheaton's student section brought to the building tonight really did make the difference in the outcome.

Effective January 22, 2002, Student athletes from both the host team and visiting team are permitted to select up to four non-student guest to attend each sporting event at Wheaton. These guests will be provided to the Wheaton game staff via a pass list to the event.

Additionally, the Wheaton College athletic department is pleased to announce that a limited number of spectators from within the campus community (current students, faculty, and staff) will be allowed to attend sporting events. The capacity limit for this group is currently set at 250 spectators for men's and women's basketball games.

* As is seen on the Wheaton video, the overwhelming majority of those additional 250 spectators appeared to be unmasked Wheaton students who rushed the court in a celebratory frenzy as the final buzzer sounded signaling Wheaton's victory over Elmhurst today.

Operating under the assumption that the likelihood that more Covid germs reside on the North Central campus than do on the Wheaton campus is remote, it would be opportune for the NCC Administration to provide the same advantage to the Cardinal basketballers that the Wheaties seemingly enjoyed tonight.

Accordingly, why doesn't NCC open Gregory Arena to the same number of members (masked of course!) of the NCC community as were allowed at Wheaton? 
Is it a question of NCC perhaps being more socially responsible than Wheaton, or are the Cardinals being overly cautious in withholding what could be a significant advantage to their athletic teams? 
Maybe there ARE more germs in Naperville than in Wheaton.
Inquiring minds want to know. 
The drama continues...................

[Titan Q]

#3-Illinois Wesleyan (14-2, 7-1) at Carthage (8-8, 1-6), 7pm, Tarble Arena...


#3-Illinois Wesleyan (14-2, 7-1 CCIW)
G - Luke Yoder, 6-0 Jr. (11.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.9 apg)
G - Cory Noe, 6-2 Sr. (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G - Pete Lambesis, 6-4 Sr. (10.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F - Cody Mitchell, 6-7 Jr. (8.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
F - Matt Leritz, 6-7 Sr. (17.4 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.4 apg)
-----
G - Lucas Heflen, 6-2 Jr. (5.6 ppg)
G - Ryan Sroka, 6-5 So. (5.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg)


Carthage (8-8, 1-6)
G - Kyle Czerak, 5-11 Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G - Crishawn Cook, 6-2 Sr. (10.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G - Fillip Bulatovic, 6-5 Jr. (18.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.9 apg)
F - Garrett Horner, 6-4 So. (12.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
F - Nemi Ostojic, 6-7 So. (4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
-----
G - Colton Sigel, 6-1 Fr. (8.6 ppg)
G - Antuan Nesbitt, 6-4 Fr. (4.3 ppg)


Video
https://www.carthage.edu/news-events/watch-live/webcast-4/

IWU Radio (Eric Stock)
https://www.iwusports.com/watch/?Live=309&type=Live

Live Stats
https://athletics.carthage.edu/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

IWU Game Notes
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/iwusports.com/documents/2022/1/23/mbb2122game17_Carthage.pdf

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage (8-8, 1-6)
G - Kyle Czerak, 5-11 Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G - Crishawn Cook, 6-2 Sr. (10.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G - Fillip Bulatovic, 6-5 Jr. (18.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.9 apg)
F - Garrett Horner, 6-4 So. (12.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
F - Nemi Ostojic, 6-7 So. (4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

If Bulatovic sustained a concussion on Thursday in practice, as Mark said, then the chances of his appearing in uniform tonight at Tarble are zero.

[lmitzel]

For North Central, this was their fifth consecutive road game in CCIW play after their blowout loss to Illinois Wesleyan.  The Sons of Warden won at Millikin, Augustana, Carroll, and Carthage while losing at Wheaton.  North Central has not played a home game in over a month.

The reward for this is that their next five games are all in the Hangar, starting with Augustana Monday evening.

What are the broadcasters going to ask Coach Schauer if Wheaton loses this one?

Mike gave a perfect response to the rather open-ended, "What a game, huh?" question he got. He rightly called it "an unbelievable basketball game," touted the CCIW for its competitiveness, and not only saluted Elmhurst for its effort but pointed out just how difficult the Bluejays have had it this week by spelling out their itinerary. And then he topped it off by thanking the Wheaton administration for making the decision to let the fans show up. And that was a great point. I 100% agree with him -- I think that the energy Wheaton's student section brought to the building tonight really did make the difference in the outcome.

Effective January 22, 2002, Student athletes from both the host team and visiting team are permitted to select up to four non-student guest to attend each sporting event at Wheaton. These guests will be provided to the Wheaton game staff via a pass list to the event.

Additionally, the Wheaton College athletic department is pleased to announce that a limited number of spectators from within the campus community (current students, faculty, and staff) will be allowed to attend sporting events. The capacity limit for this group is currently set at 250 spectators for men's and women's basketball games.

* As is seen on the Wheaton video, the overwhelming majority of those additional 250 spectators appeared to be unmasked Wheaton students who rushed the court in a celebratory frenzy as the final buzzer sounded signaling Wheaton's victory over Elmhurst today.

Operating under the assumption that the likelihood that more Covid germs reside on the North Central campus than do on the Wheaton campus is remote, it would be opportune for the NCC Administration to provide the same advantage to the Cardinal basketballers that the Wheaties seemingly enjoyed tonight.

Accordingly, why doesn't NCC open Gregory Arena to the same number of members (masked of course!) of the NCC community as were allowed at Wheaton? 
Is it a question of NCC perhaps being more socially responsible than Wheaton, or are the Cardinals being overly cautious in withholding what could be a significant advantage to their athletic teams? 
Maybe there ARE more germs in Naperville than in Wheaton.
Inquiring minds want to know. 
The drama continues...................

Unfortunately don't think we're getting restrictions lifted tonight barring an 11th hour reversal. All the documentation I've gotten for tonight says that they're still only allowing pre-approved home spectators.

That said, the band is supposed to be playing tonight, and they get into it pretty good, so we'll have at least some more crowd support compared to prior evenings.

[USee]

I don't know the percentage of NCC students who commute vs live on campus but I know the Wheaton Campus has a large percentage in campus housing and they have been in a virtual bubble for the whole year with some restrictive policies that govern on campus life. The administration must have felt comfortable with whatever measures they have in place as well as the incident levels of students to allow them to attend.

I was pleasantly surprised the administration let students attend at King Arena.

[Next Man Up]

Carthage (8-8, 1-6)
G - Kyle Czerak, 5-11 Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G - Crishawn Cook, 6-2 Sr. (10.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G - Fillip Bulatovic, 6-5 Jr. (18.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.9 apg)
F - Garrett Horner, 6-4 So. (12.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
F - Nemi Ostojic, 6-7 So. (4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

If Bulatovic sustained a concussion on Thursday in practice, as Mark said, then the chances of his appearing in uniform tonight at Tarble are zero.

When I said he sustained a concussion "a couple" days ago I was generalizing/estimating. My source wasn't sure of the exact day and said "this week in practice," so it could have been as long ago as last Mon, the 24th.

Part of the NCAA Concussion Protocol is a section referred to as Return-to-Sport. There are six "steps" in this segment of recovery, and each is expected to take at least 24 hours to clear. Assuming that segment would begin the next day, it would seem logical that the soonest a return might occur would be 7 days from onset. This would seem to raise the possibility of Fillip returning this evening. However, there is also a section of the Protocol called Return-to-Learn, and the Return-to-Sport segment technically isn't supposed to start until a student-athlete returns to full classroom learning without accommodations.

[Next Man Up]

I don't know the percentage of NCC students who commute vs live on campus but I know the Wheaton Campus has a large percentage in campus housing and they have been in a virtual bubble for the whole year with some restrictive policies that govern on campus life. The administration must have felt comfortable with whatever measures they have in place as well as the incident levels of students to allow them to attend.

I was pleasantly surprised the administration let students attend at King Arena.

There are about 2,600 undergraduates at NCC with about 1450 living on campus. So, quite a large segment of the student population resides off campus.
I would also be pleasantly surprised if the NCC Administration allowed students to attend Gregory Arena events, but I am quite sure no such surprise is on, or even slightly over, the horizon. 

Players, coaches, cheerleaders, dance team, and pep band members may each list up to 4 guests to be approved for admission.

[Titan Q]

IWU has made nice changes to spectator policy for basketball and volleyball:

-Up to 50% capacity at the Shirk Center.
-Spectators required to adhere to masking policies set forth by IWU, the CCIW, and IL.

This allows opportunities for many more fans to attend IWU games.

[Titan Q]

Carthage (8-8, 1-6)
G - Kyle Czerak, 5-11 Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G - Crishawn Cook, 6-2 Sr. (10.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G - Fillip Bulatovic, 6-5 Jr. (18.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.9 apg)
F - Garrett Horner, 6-4 So. (12.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
F - Nemi Ostojic, 6-7 So. (4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

If Bulatovic sustained a concussion on Thursday in practice, as Mark said, then the chances of his appearing in uniform tonight at Tarble are zero.

Steve Djurickovic said on the Saturday postgame that he will play today.

[GoPerry]

I don't know the percentage of NCC students who commute vs live on campus but I know the Wheaton Campus has a large percentage in campus housing and they have been in a virtual bubble for the whole year with some restrictive policies that govern on campus life. The administration must have felt comfortable with whatever measures they have in place as well as the incident levels of students to allow them to attend.

I was pleasantly surprised the administration let students attend at King Arena.

There are about 2,600 undergraduates at NCC with about 1450 living on campus. So, quite a large segment of the student population resides off campus.
I would also be pleasantly surprised if the NCC Administration allowed students to attend Gregory Arena events, but I am quite sure no such surprise is on, or even slightly over, the horizon. 

Players, coaches, cheerleaders, dance team, and pep band members may each list up to 4 guests to be approved for admission.

That could add up to quite a few approved spectators. But practically speaking it won't amount to as many fans.

For Wheaton, their case count thus far this semester has been pretty low and peaked about a week ago.  They had isolation facilities for over 100 ready to go but it topped out at 69 iso students and is now down to 32 and falling.  All this on their Covid website. 

I'm not sure if the stats drove the decision but it certainly helped.