MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Wheaton really played hard and physical on both ends of the floor, but showed an amazing ability to be unable to finish offensively.  North Central showed amazing patience which often times resulted in prayer shots before the shot clock went off, but several times they went in.

With two of the league's marquee players, Kent Raymond and Anthony Simmons, being ineffective offensively and spending quality minutes sitting on the sidelines, it was really the talent of Brandon Smith who had 22 and Dan Walton who carried the day for the Cards.  Wheaton got a nice game from Standard and a gutsy performance by Mohan, but the rest of the team had little to show offensively.

Nice win for NC.

MW

Kent Raymond's ineffectiveness was due in large part to the excellent defense played on him by Raymond Lawrence. Raymond also had 7 turnovers. In 2 games Lawrence has been primarily responsible for holding Raymond to 7 for 22 shooting.

Freshman Brandon Smith, improving with each game, actually had 23 points.

Dan Walton, arguably the BEST ALL AROUND player in the league, had 26 & 13. 

Adam Krumtinger had a nice double, double with 10 & 10.

Together Smith, Walton, & Krumtinger shot a sizzling 26 for 35---74%!

Reid Barringer, while only playing 8 minutes, did a nice job of running the offense and controlling the tempo, while handing out 2 assists w/o a TO.

NCC outrebounded WC 29/19

[AndOne]

Allright,  we have reached the halfway point of the season.  Most teams have played 7 games which is halfway.
Here is my outline:
Augie and Elmhurst are in good position right now to vie for the CCIW title.  I think these teams will finish either Augie on top, tied, or EC on top.  But I do think these 2 schools will be your #'s 1 and 2 in the CCIW Tournament.  After this, it is a mile long traffic jam with Carthage (who is playing real well right now), Wheaton (good day/bad day) and North Park (who needs to win those close ones). 
Congrats to the Cards for a big win tonight, but my gut feeling says that the Cardinals need to win most, if not all their remaining games to solidify a spot in the CCIW Tournament. 1 or 2 more losses and they might drift away, completely out of the picture.
Augie still has Wheaton and Carthage at home, and not easy roadies at NPU and Carthage.
Elmhurst has weathered past the real strenuous part of their schedule.  While there are no easy games in the CCIW, their schedule is a little easier with 2 vs. Millikin a toughy @IWU, and tough ones vs. Wheaton and @ NC.
I can see it finishing like this
Augie 12-2 or 11-3
Elmhurst 12-2 or 11-3
Wheaton 9-5
Carthage 9-5
North Park 8-6 or 7-7
but gosh,  Augie is looking real strong right now and although the score was a little lopsided tonight, beat a good Elmhurst team at home.

Don't count NCC out just yet. They lost to league leader Augie by just one, and they've beaten Wheaton, which lost to DI Northwestern by just 2 and who handed Augie their only CCIW loss, twice.

[AndOne]

A lot of us, myself included, have been doing a lot of bitching about the officiating in the CCIW this year. I feel the vast majority of our criticism has been warranted.

However, I thought the officiating crew for the WC-NCC game Wed night did a nice job. Its too bad the stat sheet doesn't give their names.

[RedMan1]

Very physical game at Carthage tonight. IWU was down by as much as 25 and still came back to keep the fans in the stands. Schlem and Bowens played great tonight. It seemed the Bowens never missed tonight. Overall, nice win for the Redman tonight. Carthage was in the double bonus with about 8 minutes left.

Also, the Carthage gym was pretty much packed tonight. IWU fans travel well, and it seems that whenever Carthage plays IWU there is a good crowd. Probably like any other game. It was good to see almost a packed house at Carthage tonight. Schlem or Freeman? Who would everyone pick to be on there team? They both played physical and well tonight.

Overall a big win for the Redmen tonight. I still would like to know what people thought of Freeman and Schlem. Schlem can shoot the three and play down low well, but Freeman might be the best player in the conference.

[knarocky22]

I'd take Freeman over Schlemm, hands down.

[usee]

It is really disappointing to see wheaton get swept by NCC. The Cards have their numer in hoops lately (swept em last year too I think).at least we have a football championship!

I wonder why Raymond sat much of the second half. Harris may have been upset over his turnovers or perhaps he was hurt?

Wheaton is going to have to be more consistent if they are going to make the conf tourney. 4 of last five at the big dogs won't be merciful.

Their only shot at the postseason is to get in the conf tourney and win the AQ. That's a tough road to hoe!

[usee]

I should add that the way wheaton lost is more disappointing than the loss itself. It really wasn't ever close. That's not a good sign

[dansand]

Don't count NCC out just yet. They lost to league leader Augie by just one, and they've beaten Wheaton, which lost to DI Northwestern by just 2 and who handed Augie their only CCIW loss, twice.

Actually, Augie's league loss came at Elmhurst. They won at Wheaton.

Overall a big win for the Redmen tonight. I still would like to know what people thought of Freeman and Schlem. Schlem can shoot the three and play down low well, but Freeman might be the best player in the conference.

The big difference, in my opinion, is consistency. You know Freeman's going to be there every night. On the other hand, it seems to be a bit hit-or-miss which Schlemm you're going to get on a given night. I don't think anyone questions that he is very talented; he's just not as consistently good as Freeman.

[kenoshamark]

Old School,   I remember you mentioning that you would be at the game, just didn't think to track you down.  I got a chance to say hi to Bob before the game as well.

Quite a weekend for Bosko and his family...on Friday, his son Steve lead his high school team to an upset over the first place team in their conference.  Steve had 21 points and 14 boards and leads the Kenosha County in scoring this year at 22 points per game.   Tonight Steve gets honored at the 54th annual Holy Rosary Sports Night as the high school male athlete of the year.  Quite an honor that encompasses not only athletic accomplishment but academic accomplishments. 

Steve had an outstanding year in football, leading his team to the state playoffs as their quarterback.  He was honored in the post-season with a number of conference and state recognition and he is still considering playing football at Carthage next year as well. 

Steve stands around 6'3" and has played many positions in high school but I think he will probably end up as a 2 guard at Carthage.   

[Titan Q]

The team I am the most impressed with is Augustana.  The Vikings really do not have a true superstar type player, but they sure do have a team full of guys who play hard and have accepted their roles.  Last year it was always obvious who scoring option #1 was (Rick Harrigan), but it seems like on this Augustana team there are 4 or 5 guys who can step up and beat you...and plenty of guys who don't care if they score or not (like Wessels and N. Swetalla who do a ton of the dirty work).  Sometimes the teams without a clearly defined superstar are the most dangerous.

I thought this Augie team would have trouble on the road in the CCIW and end up somewhere near 9-5 or 8-6, but the Vikes went into Wheaton and won, defeated North Central in Naperville, and won at Millikin.  They are not a flashy team by any stretch of the imagination, but they just get the job done.

Looking at the games remaining for Augustana and Elmhurst, I think Augie is in great shape to win the CCIW championship and host the tournament.  There is still a long way to go, but Giovanine and staff have done a really good job with this team.

[augiefan]

Thanks for the kind words from Titan Q on this year's Augie team. I was thinking the same thing when discussion was started about the CCIW POY, and no one on the Augie team is even being considered in the discussion. A lot of tough games left for Augie, but things are looking good right now, if everyone stays healthy.

[augiefan]

Augie is exceeding expectations, but I think NPU is the surprise team of the year in the CCIW. Most of us figured them to be this season's cellar dweller once again, but now they look like a reasonable bet to make the CCIW tourney. Augie's match up this week at NPU is a scary one for Augie fans.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie is exceeding expectations, but I think NPU is the surprise team of the year in the CCIW. Most of us figured them to be this season's cellar dweller once again, but now they look like a reasonable bet to make the CCIW tourney. Augie's match up this week at NPU is a scary one for Augie fans.

I think NPU's the surprise team of the CCIW as well, but don't forget Carthage. The Red Men were picked to finish seventh in the league by the coaches. However, Carthage is now 4-3 and sitting pretty in third, a game behind Elmhurst in the standings.

NPU is certainly playing havoc with the coaches poll, though. All seven opposing coaches picked the Vikes to finish dead last in the league. Now the 4-4 Vikes really have an opportunity to step up and stun people even further by knocking off Augie in the crackerbox on Wednesday.

[markerickson]

I'm glad to read that Lenoir played at Millikin.  He seemed to injure an ankle at the close of the loss versus Carthage.  He's a "warrior", according to Coach Brenegan.  He and the emergence of Stephano Jones should enable Jay Alexander to benefit from a mismatch.  Jay:  drive and utilize your wingspan.  Once you realize your abilities, you can dominate.  We're waiting for the breakout game!

Qualifying for the tournament would certainly exceed my expectations.
   

[robberki]

Count me as one that thought Lenoir was in some trouble, I told the people sitting around me "well, that's a week...easy".....so I guess I was wrong!
So close the last two wednesday's, will this be the day they get over the hump?