MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

IWU gets Augie on Friday night, first game.  Then, North Central comes in against Carthage.  I think NCC the more dangerous team right now, even with a lower seeding.  Of course, Augie beat IWU only a few days ago.  A tough road to the championship game and to the AQ. 

I still have IWU vs. Carthage, again, on Saturday night.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Maybe the most underrated part that we leave out: North Park's Tristan Arneaud missed a fast break layup with maybe about 30 seconds left that would have totally changed the calculus of that ending, then proceeded to foul Terrance Moncrief, who hit both free throws to make it 91-89 and setting up the photo finish.

I felt terrible for Tristan for rimming out that cherry-picker layup attempt, but, as my broadcast partner Aaron Coleman said, "That's why you use the backboard."

Good job on the call as always tonight, Greg!

Thanks, Lucas!

[Gregory Sager]

A lotta thank-yous to send out:

* To Rico Powell, who made his one and only season as a Viking a memorable one. For all of his multitude of basketball talents, in the end it'll be the combative fierceness he demonstrated, both on the floor underneath the basket and off the floor trying to overcome his injuries, that I remember most about him.

* To TJ Gardner and Taijon Barry, a couple of guys who came in as juco transfers a season ago and were basically stuck playing supporting roles off of the bench. This season they earned the chance to be big-minutes guys and to make something of their senior years, and they each grabbed that opportunity with both hands. They were two of the biggest reasons why North Park outperformed the CCIW preseason prediction for the Vikings so dramatically.

* To Kyren Gardner, who also came in as a juco guy two years ago and announced his arrival in startling fashion with that crowd-gasp dunk at DePaul in the preseason exhibition game. Kyren really started to round out his game at the end of this season; it's just a shame that he doesn't have another year left to build upon it.

* To John Gaines, who struggled with a hand injury suffered in December and couldn't really get himself going, and finally had to pack it in, have a cast put on, and call it a season: Thanks for your efforts, and for being so supportive of your teammates even after being sidelined to street clothes.

* And especially to the trio who arrived at Foster & Kedzie three years ago and represent the most seasoned of the Vikings seniors: Preston Bax III, Lance Nelson, and Davante Robinson. Preston was the defensive ace at the front of the press and the team's wild card; Lance is one of the best glue players to ever wear Vikings royal blue and gold; and Davante arrived as a spot-up sharpshooter and ended up being a lot more than just a one-trick pony thanks to all of the hard work he put in to make himself a more complete player. Thank you, especially, gentlemen, because you were here for the entire ride from the point when Sean and Ed took over the program and started breathing new life into it with that memorable 2022-23 run to the Sweet Sixteen.

Again, thanks to you all for your hard work and your efforts. God bless you, and lots of happiness ahead for each of you.

[Wildcat]

Last night I attended the Augustana vs Elmhurst basketball game in Rock Island.The Vikings played extremely well and won in convincing fashion. Dominating the statistics in every category, my hat goes off to them. I wish them well in the coming days.Please correct me if I'm mistaken. But doesn't the CCIW make announcements before all of the games about something called good sportsmanship? Last night a group of what appeared to be the Augustana swim team. Harassed the Bluejay team by stripping down to their speedo swim suits,while they were shooting free throws. It's clearly seen on the YouTube video of the second half. What was most disturbing was the fact that the Athletic Director did nothing about it. So much for showing any class at your venue.Yet you expect everyone else to behave properly.The entire section of bleachers should have been ejected from the game instantly. An embarrassing performance took off some of the glow of the basketball teams outstanding effort.

[mwunder]

IWU gets Augie on Friday night, first game.  Then, North Central comes in against Carthage.  I think NCC the more dangerous team right now, even with a lower seeding.  Of course, Augie beat IWU only a few days ago.  A tough road to the championship game and to the AQ. 

I still have IWU vs. Carthage, again, on Saturday night.

IWU'70

Game 1: Augie v IWU. The teams split over the season. IWU won by 30 at the Shirk. Augie won by 9, five days ago at home.  Since the humbling loss at IWU, Augie has gone 7-2. IWU is 5-3 since that game. IWU is 3-0 on neutral courts, Augie hasn't played a neutral court game this season. IWU led the conference in PPG and Points Allowed and outscored opponents by 11 PPG during the conference slate. Augie was number 2 in the conference in Points Allowed.  I'll take Williams, Roper, and Wilmsen over Knuth and Ambrose in this one, but I see a close game. The Rock Island Vikings are playing very good basketball right now.

Game 2: With my knack for reverse-predictions this season, I plead the 5th here. NCC scares me A LOT.

[markerickson]

North Park lost its last six games with five to a team that finished below .500 in conference play.  In those five losses, North Park's hyped defensive scheme gave up 102, 86, 90, 97, and 94 points or 94ppg!

NCC's offensive rotation led to many wide open shots.  Kudos to the Cardinals for finding the open man.  I cannot explain why the slow afoot Helwig was able to repeatedly shoot open-look treys.  He went 7-9 and missed his lone interior shot.

Having gone 6-3 when attending a Viking game this year, I saw one ref repeatedly favor the opposition during three games.  Others around me also commented about this.  Last night repeated...even a kid around 11 y/o commented about this.  During one game, when I sat behind the NP bench, Coach McGhee "chatted" with this ref. Last night, the flock of NCC fans who sat five feet from me did not even whimper about the refs...even when Moncrief obviously earned his fourth PF.  Regardless, not using the backboard on a layup represented a cardinal sin.  Leaving Helwig open perplexed me.  Even the NCC fan next to me questioned why Helwig, NCC's leading scorer for the game, was allowed to take the last shot.

Overall, this North Park team exceeded expectations.  Thank you, Vikings.

[Green Beer]

Even the NCC fan next to me questioned why Helwig, NCC's leading scorer for the game, was allowed to take the last shot.

Overall, this North Park team exceeded expectations.  Thank you, Vikings.

"A dagger to the heart of the rose," a great man once said.

[Greek Tragedy]

In defense of NPU. Helwig was hardly "open" for the winning 3. He was trailing the play and when he received the ball the defender was right there and Helwig seems pretty far out too.

[GusD]

When Ethan received the pass the closest defender was about 5 feet away. As he brought the ball up to shoot, the defender jumped  toward him, diminishing the distance by about half before Ethan let the shot go from around 26 feet.

[Stertorous Thunder]

When Ethan received the pass the closest defender was about 5 feet away. As he brought the ball up to shoot, the defender jumped  toward him, diminishing the distance by about half before Ethan let the shot go from around 26 feet.

Unless they're bear hugging him, Ethan Helwig will probably still get off a semi-decent shot against any defender.

[Stertorous Thunder]

The Drew Gaston & Terrance Moncrief Show was fantastic - but just barely not enough for North Central to upset Carthage tonight. The Carthage MVP was the cameraman who permitted the out-of-bounds call to be overturned on replay.

[lmitzel]

The Drew Gaston & Terrance Moncrief Show was fantastic - but just barely not enough for North Central to upset Carthage tonight. The Carthage MVP was the cameraman who permitted the out-of-bounds call to be overturned on replay.

Honestly, it was the right call to overturn it. Looked pretty clear off Gaston to me.

My beef is more so with Carthage's PA announcer. Not because he stole my thing (which, to be fair, I also stole from a guy who announced a middle school tournament I played in in Elgin forever ago) but because I was under the impression that the CCIW Tournament was supposed to be more of a neutral site thing and there was a clear imbalance in three calls between the two teams.

Obviously not pointing at that for the outcome; Carthage played just better enough to win. I'm just a little bitter because I've played nice in all of my CCIW Tournament games and now I'm questioning everything.

Rant over. Congrats to Carthage on a hard fought win. And congrats to NCC on a good season. Going to miss Ethan, Drew, and Terrance.

[Stertorous Thunder]

And congrats to NCC on a good season. Going to miss Ethan, Drew, and Terrance.

As a Wheaton fan, I'm required to give the surface impression that I dislike all things North Central, but Helwig, Gaston, and Moncrief were a great senior class to watch.

So many athletic conferences are comprised of haves and have nots. The fact that North Central finished sixth this year with that much talent is a testament to the depth of the CCIW and why I tune in every season to watch this hidden gem of high caliber basketball.

[bopol]

Congrats to IWU for winning the CCIW tournament.  Awesome D yesterday.

[iwu70]

With IWU getting its third chance at Carthage, they take full advantage on Carthage's home floor, and win the CCIW Tournament Championship and the AQ, 79-60.   (Yes, get to 78 and play awesome defense, and usually win the game). 

For Carthage:

Brooks 20
AJ Johnson 17
Ryan Johnson 7

CC at 32%/25% from three/ 77% from the FT line.

For IWU:

Roper and Funk coming back to life, at an opportune moment.

Roper 27 and 7
Funk 12 and 9
Colak 12
Fridman 9
Boldt with 8 rebounds

IWU at 50% / 48% from three / and 88% from the FT line.  Good offense too.

IWU wins the rebounding line 48-25 and the bench points line 23-2. 

IWU now 22-5 on the year.  Carthage in to the D3 dance too, as an at-large bid.

I hope IWU is finally rounding into full form at the right moment.  We'll soon see.

Congrats to Coach Rose and all the team on the CCIW Tournament Championship.

IWU'70