MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Don't know about anyone else but I'm a little surprised at the first half showing of the CCIW favorite, especially considering that last Fiday night Aurora trailed NIU by only 9 (33-24) at the half.

[Titan Q]

A much better showing by Augustana in the 2nd half.  The Vikings had the lead down to 11 a couple of times.  They outscored NIU  42-35 in the final 20 minutes. 

Final:

Northern Illinois 77
Augustana 63


Chandlor Collins 11
Alex Washington 9
Brett Wessels 8

Augie was just 2-17 from beyond the arc and turned it over 24 times.

[knarocky22]

As has been mentioned already, nobody on Augie looked like they had ever been on a basketball court before in the first half.  Turnovers, missed shots, not rebounding, etc.  Much better showing in the second half.  I think if these two teams played 10 times, this is by far the worst showing Augie would have.  Once they settled down they actually outplayed NIU and at least made the Huskies break a sweat in the 2nd half. 

I don't know if it was the bigger arena with a difficult shooting background or what, but Augie absolutely could not make anything from the outside.  Delp didn't have a three the whole game and actually airballed 3 or 4 shots.  The only Viking who made a three all night was freshman Mike Avallone, who had 2 or 3. 

Also, Rorer picked up 3 fouls in the first 4 or 5 minutes which really hurt.  He was about the only Viking who could match up athletically with the Huskies.

As Q mentioned, Augie had the lead down to 11 a couple of times with plenty of time left, but just couldn't get over the hump.

[Late nite]

Alex Washington was clearly the best player on the floor tonight for Augie---One of the few who didn't play scared---NIU pressured the ball in the first half and created numerous turnovers from the Viking guards---They seemed to lose some interest and played sloppy in the second half after building such a huge lead---Outside scoring was sorely lacking without a point guard to break down the defense and create open looks for the shooters---Swetalla?---a weak performance for a 3 year starter---NIU was not very big and handled the Vikes on the boards---I agree---Pretty poor outing for the conference favorite

[Gregory Sager]

I found the following story in the NIU student paper.  It talks about Michael Hart.  Also, some sad news - Zach Pancratz is out after knee surgery.  Brother Mark's career at Wisconsin-Milwaukee was limited because of injury.  I hope Jake has better luck.  Their father, Andy, was the key recruit that led to DePaul's resurgence.  Corzine went there because of him and that led to Agguire, Cummings, etc.

That is bad news, but at least he has the opportunity to redshirt and finish out his career in 2008-09.

Chicagoland NAIA power Robert Morris had to forfeit all of its games from 2006-07 for using ineligible players.  Their record is listed at 0-29...

Why am I not surprised?

Info on the Wheaton/Lewis scrimmage last week...

1st 20: Lewis 38 Wheaton 35
2nd 20: Wheaton 32 Lewis 24

Nice showing, even if Lewis was a little shorthanded. Don't sleep on the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance, folks.

[coebball70]

I made the trip to Dekalb last evening as well and, I must admit, it was a waste of time.  Both teams played quite poorly.  The difference-maker in the game was the intensity of NIU's defense.  Augie could not have played worse in the first half.  Maybe it was the jet-lag from the China trip.  Whatever it was, had the Vikings been mentally prepared to play, they would have given NIU a game.  They did play like they were 'scared' and not ready to compete, which is a surprise considering how experienced the team is.  My prediction is this game will be a wake-up call and the Vikings will dominate the CCIW this year if everyone stays healthy.  They have more size, strength, and depth than every other CCIW team.  I would like to add talent to the Vikings advantages as well, but last night it didn't show up.  I will be surprised if they have more than two conference losses this year. 

[cardinalfanrochelle]

I don't know if it was a waste of time ,but I saw one average to below average D1 school play just hard enough to beat a good D3 team who played like they were more worried about looking bad than winning, from my viewpoint and after watching the Aurora game. One player from Augustana nobody talked about was Justin Bertrand who I thought played a balanced game hit the boards, played D, ran the floor good, I watched him in High School ( Sterling ) and I don't see why he doesn't get more playing time or start. Auggie couldn't hit a 3 to save it's life. In the end NIU looked like they lost interest in the game resulting in a closer score. About playing in a bigger place that just doesn't cut it, you have to adapt to your surroundings. If the CCIW is a true physical conference Auggie should have crashed the boards better, NIU had one guy bigger than 6-7 and Auggie had 3 guys taller that played. The best thing I saw from Augustana was the full court press, they ran it good and it seemed to make NIU work harder.I'm not saying that Augustana isn't good but they can be beat on the D3 level.

[augie22]

I also made the trip to Augie.  For the most part NIU was just a tad bit strong, quicker and bigger.  This together with pg Matt Pelton not in the starting role threw off Augie altogether from the get go. 

On a positive side...it was good to see Augie scrap out the entire game.  Although they gave up many offensive and defensive rebounds they continued to be relentless in diving on the floor and playing with the Augie demeanor that will hopefully carry them far into the post season this year. 

Good Luck!

[markerickson]

Didn't Robert Morris run afoul of the rules approx two years ago regarding men's tennis?  I believe the coach's father paid European players to play at RMC?  Or was that problem with Lewis....in addition to the volleyball fiasco?

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to the CCIW's two preseason All-Americans, Kent Raymond and Brent Ruch...

http://www.d3hoops.com/all-american/menpreseason08.htm

[mr_b]

Didn't Robert Morris run afoul of the rules approx two years ago regarding men's tennis?  I believe the coach's father paid European players to play at RMC?  Or was that problem with Lewis....in addition to the volleyball fiasco?

You might be thinking of MacMurray College in 2005.  Here is part of an article with some background:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmusa/is_200505/ai_n14734387

[Late nite]

Great point---I am in total agreement with your assessment of Justin Bertrand---I should have also mentioned him---Along with Washington, he was definitely a bright spot---He won't disappear when he is on the floor---He deserves more minutes than some of the others with his hustle and relentless energy---He makes things happen

I don't know if it was a waste of time ,but I saw one average to below average D1 school play just hard enough to beat a good D3 team who played like they were more worried about looking bad than winning, from my viewpoint and after watching the Aurora game. One player from Augustana nobody talked about was Justin Bertrand who I thought played a balanced game hit the boards, played D, ran the floor good, I watched him in High School ( Sterling ) and I don't see why he doesn't get more playing time or start. Auggie couldn't hit a 3 to save it's life. In the end NIU looked like they lost interest in the game resulting in a closer score. About playing in a bigger place that just doesn't cut it, you have to adapt to your surroundings. If the CCIW is a true physical conference Auggie should have crashed the boards better, NIU had one guy bigger than 6-7 and Auggie had 3 guys taller that played. The best thing I saw from Augustana was the full court press, they ran it good and it seemed to make NIU work harder.I'm not saying that Augustana isn't good but they can be beat on the D3 level.

[north central]

I made the trip to Dekalb last evening as well and, I must admit, it was a waste of time.  Both teams played quite poorly.  The difference-maker in the game was the intensity of NIU's defense.  Augie could not have played worse in the first half.  Maybe it was the jet-lag from the China trip.  Whatever it was, had the Vikings been mentally prepared to play, they would have given NIU a game.  They did play like they were 'scared' and not ready to compete, which is a surprise considering how experienced the team is.  My prediction is this game will be a wake-up call and the Vikings will dominate the CCIW this year if everyone stays healthy.  They have more size, strength, and depth than every other CCIW team.  I would like
to add talent to the Vikings advantages as well, but last night it didn't show up.  I will be surprised if they have more than two conference losses this year. 

It seems alot of you were disappointed with Augies showing vs. NIU  but remember we must put this in perspective. To lose to a d 1 team by 14 points is pretty good for ANY d 3 team. We must remember Augie was supposed to lose to a team that should have more athleticism, size and talent. You guys should not worry Augie will be fine. In addition there are some d 3 players that dont play against d 1 players alot  so some were probably shell shocked . Also I did not see the game but it appears that NIU was the team that did not play well. D 1 teams should beat d3 teams by at least 20 points  so actually from seeing the score augie has to be pretty decent and NIU is probably go

Chicagoland NAIA power Robert Morris had to forfeit all of its games from 2006-07 for using ineligible players.  Their record is listed at 0-29...

http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/103107aaa.html

http://www.okbu.edu/news/view_article.php?id=1667


Robert Morris was ranked #1 in NAIA D1 all of last year, and was 32-0 before losing in quadruple OT in the national semifinals to Concordia (CA)...

http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/103107aaa.html

ing to be really bad this year.

There is usually always some controversey or some kind of eligibility issues with the really good NAIA school because most of them feast on d 1 transfers who are given a second chance so thats not at all surprising

[hopefan]

Just out of curiosity, how did North Central end up bringing World Harvest Bible College into their Season opening tournament?  Checked them out on Google, could not find any athletics on the site, and they are not in the NCCAA or the ACCA, the 2 college associations that bring together most of the small Bible schools in the country together....

[almcguirejr]

Just out of curiosity, how did North Central end up bringing World Harvest Bible College into their Season opening tournament?  Checked them out on Google, could not find any athletics on the site, and they are not in the NCCAA or the ACCA, the 2 college associations that bring together most of the small Bible schools in the country together....

Rod Parsley spoke these words:  "Let there be a team" and it was so.