MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mr_b]

Judson jumped out to a quick lead and the Vikings battled back to pull even despite cold shooting from both teams (around 37%).  Just before the break, the Eagles nudged ahead, 36-33.

The second half was all North Park.  The Vikes regained the lead early in the half, then with a 46-44 advantage (at just under 12:00 to play), Joe Capalbo canned three consecutive treys to build a lead that would not be threatened again.  The Vikings outscored Judson 50-30 in the second half, largely due to 8 three-pointers and more effective free throw shooting.

Once again, Nick Williams led all scorers with 19, but major contributors were Antonio Stevens (14 points, 2 threes) and Capalbo (12, all on threes); Jason Gordon (12) and Dan Oziminski (9) each hit three shots from downtown.  Jay Alexander, Jorge Gonzalez, Capalbo, and Oziminski came off the bench at key junctures to provide some spark on defense as well as offense.

For Judson, Dewayne Robinson scored 17, Steffan Williams 15, and Chris Oates, 14.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

A tale of two halves.

North Park's guards threw up some of the wildest layup attempts without any chance of going in a complete lack of basketball team play in the first half versus Judson.  Only Judson's own ineptness kept the Eagles from a bigger lead.

In the 2nd half the Vikings guards took the trey attempts they forsook in the openning twenty minutes.  The results were quick and deadly.

Jay Alexander had another monster game, his nine points were understated, but not his defense, or his 12 rebounds.

Playing point guard Dan Ozminski proved once again off the bench that he is a steadying influence on a team that would rather play helter-skelter and shake and bake, then a patient half court game.

North Park is going to have to improve on its abyssmal defense, which found the Eagles' guards flying towards the basket for layups or fouls.

A win is a win, but thank heaven Joe P's second half treys woke the team up in time for a convincing victory, but they'll have to play way better in CCIW play if they want to contend.

Other than layups the Vikings showed nearly no inside game at all on either end of the floor, with Ventura and Gonzalez both conspicuous by their inability to perform at either end of the floor.

DoS

[Gregory Sager]

It was a tale of two halves in the crackerbox tonight. In the first half, NPU didn't do much of anything right. The Vikings didn't pick up Judson's very adept guards in transition; they didn't square up on their jumpshots; and they didn't finish around the basket. On top of that, they went a horrific 4-11 from the charity stripe. It almost seemed like a miracle that the hosts were only down by three at the intermission.

In the second half they basically ran Judson right out of the gym. The Eagles only go seven players deep (they suited up nine, but the other two didn't come in until the outcome was already decided), and Paul Brenegan's game plan was to wear down the Eagles with North Park's superior depth. The game plan worked, largely because a very good night on the offensive boards (15 total offensive rebounds, the vast majority of which came in the second half) forced Judson to defend in the halfcourt for extended possessions. NPU's penetrate-and-kickout game began to give the perimeter shooters good looks, and as Mr. B detailed the treys started adding up for the Vikings.

Nick Williams led the Vikings with 19 and 8, but I would've given the game ball to Antonio Stevens tonight. He held Judson star Rocky Robinson, who came into the game averaging 23 and 8, to a 17 and 6 night (on 6-15 shooting from the field), with help from Jason Gordon when Stevens was out of the game. At the offensive end, Stevens did a great job of getting to the basket and finished with 14 points. Gordon and Joe Capalbo had 12 apiece, Dan Oziminski had 9 points and 7 assists (with only two turnovers), and Jay Alexander had yet another outstanding all-around game, finishing the evening with 9 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and only one turnover.

Judson, which fell to 5-4, is actually a decent team, especially considering how shorthanded the Eagles are. They've tended to be a very sorry-looking outfit in recent seasons, but with Robinson back after a year's hiatus they are now pretty dangerous. The Eagles are actually comparable in talent to teams such as North Central and Chicago. However, the Eagles don't have a fraction of the discipline and cohesion of the Cardinals and Maroons, so when NPU began to pull away with its second-half run the Eagles started throwing up bad shots and stopped playing hard on every defensive sequence. They're also probably one man short of having a well-rounded rotation, especially since their primary big man, Ilija Bojanic, isn't in particularly good game shape.

Best stat of the night: 20 assists and only 12 turnovers for the Vikings. That's especially noteworthy on a night in which starting PG Bruce Durham didn't have a good game. Give Oziminski and senior veterans Gordon and Alexander a lot of credit for that strong A:TO ratio.

[mr_b]

I noticed that Judson has 6 seniors on their roster.  Imagine the turnover for next season!

[sac]

A tale of two halves.

It was a tale of two halves in the crackerbox tonight. .................

This is some sort of sign.............good, or bad?.......but its a sign.

[Gregory Sager]

A tale of two halves.

It was a tale of two halves in the crackerbox tonight. .................

This is some sort of sign.............good, or bad?.......but its a sign.

It's the Christmas season, so everyone's got Charles Dickens on the brain, I guess.

At least I resisted the temptation to go with, "It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves" as my opener.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Confound it, Greg, I type too slow - you stole my punch line!

[mr_b]

Confound it, Greg, I type too slow - you stole my punch line!

"It was a dark and stormy night at the Crackerbox..."

[Gregory Sager]

"It was a far, far better half that they did than they have ever done. It was a far, far better locker-room rest that they went to than they have ever known."

Well, maybe not, but I have to get all of the Dickens out of my system.

[NPC-Alum]

Better to be quoting Dickens than Snoopy, Greg.

It appears at this point that what NP needed this preseason was a couple of games against teams with real post presence.  Haven't seen that thus far and the  CCIW teams (Elmhurst, Augie) with real post offense will be tough.

[Gregory Sager]

Better to be quoting Dickens than Snoopy, Greg.

It appears at this point that what NP needed this preseason was a couple of games against teams with real post presence.  Haven't seen that thus far and the  CCIW teams (Elmhurst, Augie) with real post offense will be tough.

I was thinking after the game that I'd like to see NPU play a team with a big, strong low-post player before the Vikings have to face Dain Swetalla on January 9. Knox doesn't appear to have one, and I'd be amazed if either CSU-East Bay or UC-Santa Cruz did, so it appears that the only real test against a quality big man that North Park will have between now and Augie's arrival in the crackerbox will be when the Vikings face RMC-Springfield's Corley Lee a week from tomorrow down in the capital city.

[sac]

Well in the category of my own personal amazing insomnia

http://edschool.csueastbay.edu/departments/kpe/I.C.Sports/basketballmen/roster.html

Is 6-8 ok?

http://www.goslugs.com/teams/basketball/men/mbbroster.html
http://www.goslugs.com/teams/basketball/men/mbb.html

How about 6-9?

[Gregory Sager]

The 6'8 kid from East Bay State, Greg Walker, has posted only 8.0 and 5.5 numbers against indifferent competition, so something tells me that he's not the second coming of Greg Oden. As for the Great Big Banana Slug, 6'9 Niel Brennan, he's posted 6.0 and 3.2 numbers thus far. His 6'7 running mate, Jacob Moore, is at 6.6 and 5.4 on the season.

I'll be kind and simply say that I'm not going to put any of these guys in the same category as RMCS's Corley Lee, a very solid 6'6, 220 center who can beat you in a number of ways -- posting up, driving, or jumpers.

[tjcummingsfan]

Now granted I don't know much about the tournament, or conference, but Judson's big man Bojanic had a pretty good last couple weeks...  care of the Judson website:

"CCAC Player of the Week

Elgin, Ill.- For the second time in three weeks, the Judson University men's basketball team has been given the CCAC Player of the Week award. Senior Ilija Bojanic was given the award for his performance the past week in three games played.

Bojanic was named the Judson Tournament MVP this past weekend as he helped the Eagles to wins over Indiana-Northwest and Davenport University. He averaged 19.0 points in the two tournament wins while boasting averages of 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games overall during the week.

Bojanic opened the seven-day stretch with a 12 points and seven rebounds in a 91-70 setback to Saint Xavier University. He closed out the week with his best all-around performance, totaling 21 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists in the title game of the tournament versus Davenport."

[Gregory Sager]

Davenport's OK, but those of us who have chronicled IU-Northwest's dreadful streak of butt-whippings at the hands of Millikin throughout that senseless annual series that was (mercifully) brought to an end after last season can attest to just how bad IUN is on the hardwood. The RedHawks were 1-7 going into tonight's game at Bethel (IN), and considering how good an NAIA program the Pilots have been I'd be absolutely amazed if IUN isn't now a 1-8 basketball team.

After the first few minutes of tonight's game I thought that Bojanic, who's about 6'8, 225, was going to be absolutely dominant in the low post. He looked unstoppable, especially since he hit a 16-footer that led me to believe that he was going to try to draw his man outside as well as post him up. However, the Vikings simply ran Bojanic right off the floor, and he proved unable to handle Nick Williams' quickness when the shorter and more wiry Williams posted him up.

Bojanic ended the night 3-12 from the field and made a pair of FTs, and six of those eight points came within the first three minutes of the game. The other two points came on a layup before the game was seven minutes old. After that, he was dead weight for the rest of the night. His stat line for the second half: zero points (on 0-4 shooting) and four rebounds.

I was much more impressed with Judson's other big man, Chris Oates (who is a deceptively quick 6'5, 230).