MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[albionbritfan]

Albion wins 64-58, letting their opponent back in the game for the second game in the row after taking a double-digit lead into halftime.

Congrats to K on not giving up and playing a hard-fought game in the second half.  The biggest culprit was tepid shooting by Silas and Gibbons (5-22 from the field) and 7 turnovers by Way.

Crawford had another big night, 28 points and 15 rebounds.  He earned almost all of his second half points at the free throw line, going 10-14 for the game. Not bad for the big guy.

[MIdoubleA]

77-51 the final in Holland with the 2nd and 3rd stringers playing the majority of the second half.

[NW Hope Fan]

51, Adrian's lowest score of the season I believe.

[NW Hope Fan]

I'll look for Billy Collins Jr. to break out of his funk, for some reason Glen V is the only coach that forgets to tell his team about Billy's offensive skills.  In Adrian's last five games against Hope, three which Adrian won,  Collins' is averaging 20.6 points per game against Hope.  In the three games Adrian has won, Collins has went for 22, 31 and 20 points.

No such luck as Collins ends with 0-4, 0-1 with 1 rebound to his name.

[albinomascot19]

The attendance at Albion games has definitely tailed off.  It seems there is no life to the crowd.  I was disappointed that people werent getting into the game.  Hope and Calvin definitely have a passion for basketball, and props to both of them.  I swear I must have been one of the very few that was rooting out loud for the Brits.  I dont know whats the problem.  I thought playing at home was supposed to be an advantage.  Just have to see if there is a bigger crowd for the next game against Calvin.   I wish everyone had as much of a passion for this game as I do.  The purple and gold need to come out in full force (increase attendance), but so far I have been disappointed.   They should definitely give away Albion College shirts to everyone, like they do for Hope.

[ziggy]

... Just have to see if there is a bigger crowd for the next game against Calvin.

There will be a bigger crowd...there will be Calvin fans there!

[hope1]

hope played good tonight good dee  i think a tough one at alma saturday  it schould be a good albion calvin game to  i will have to listen to it

[calalum]

Calvin 73  Olivet 71

Calvin needed a basket by Velthouse with 1.8 seconds to play.
Olivet led at the half 41 to 35.  Calvin came back to make it close midway through the second half.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Another walk-over win for the Dutchmen tonight.  Adrian really struggled, especially in the first half.  You could definitely see the frustration of the season on the Adrian team and bench.  Kudos to Nokovich and Thorton for playing hard.  Billy Collins was a real no show - not only due to the Hope defense, but it appeared to be lack of effort.  

I have to say that I'm shocked to see that Tri-State is currently in 4th place.  If they had won their league opener (the OT game with Calvin) they would be tied for second!!!!
I guess getting rid of that run & gun offense was a good move.

[hornet fan]

The Hornets played tough tonight losing by six...

They got as close as three with the ball but could not make the big shot when needed.  It was a 12 point halftime lead for the Brits, powered by Crawford and a couple of questionable calls.  Give the Brits credit, they played tough in the first half.  The Hornets came out and played much tougher in the second half, swaying the officiating towards K a bit.  The Hornets really worked hard to get back in the game, but did not have enough to do more than knock on the door.  Though never leading after 8-6. the Hornets gave the Britons plenty to handle tonight.  It was a good game.

Pat Clancy played maybe the best game of his career, scoring 19 for the Hornets.  He was aggressive on offense, staying active.  He had a couple of nice steals and some impressive rebounds.  A couple of big shots by Herman as well to keep it close.

Crawford is hands down the best player in the league.  Phillips could be, but Hope does not require him to do as much as BC.  He is a MAN in the paint!!

Hornets have Olivet at home on Sat.  Here's to pushing that league record to 3-3...

[sac]

Hope 77 Adrian 51

Ya know that neighbor dog who's in your backyard and has bitten you on the hand a couple time.  The one you wish you could swat on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and watch it slink home with its tail between its legs.

No offence to our Adrian brethren but thats pretty much what Hope did to the Bulldogs tonight.  This was shockingly easy with a capital E.

Before 2 minutes were up Buck Riley had called two timeouts......it was 13-0 Hope before they scored.  Hope just dominated them on defense......steals, rebounds, shot clock violations.  You name it Hope did to the Bulldogs, on top of that the Dutchmen came out smokin hot from the floor.

It was 45-15 at the half.....thats a 30 point lead at halftime........the second half became an excercise in pointless basketball but they played it anyway.  Adrian's answer was to simply shoot any 3 that looked good and they made alot of them, it was really the only reason they cracked 50.   But the lead never got closer than 25.  The last Hope starter came off the floor at the 12 min mark.  From there it was just sloppy basketball but Hope's 2nd and 3rd 5 held its own against primarily Adrian's starters for a good chunk of time.

The officials must have had a plane to catch because the virtually allowed a football game to breakout down the stretch, but no injuries and only a little blood so no harm done I guess.

Billy Collins had a blanket on him all night, ZERO points and wasn't even on the floor for much of the 2nd half.

Adrian's scrappy they get their hands on a lot of passes and harass the ball handler but they are very sloppy on offense, and Hope just owned them on the glass.

Very comfortable win for Hope who in the MIAA has now won by 37, 25, 18 and 26...........and lost by 18.  Go figure.


PS Nice comeback by the Flying Dutch tonight also, I've seen 2 full women's games in 15 years, both times Hope made big second half comebacks to win 16 and tonight 10.  So ladies if you ever in a jam at halftime just give ol Sac a call and I'll show up.

PS 2  If you think men's officiating is bad try a women's game.  When is standing flat-footed with your arms straight up a blocking foul........tonight it was everytime.  I felt sorry for the Scots a little.  Alma played lights out and just ran out of gas, but you knew the Hope run was coming.

PS 3  I wish I had 1/2 of the energy of Bria Ebels.

[sac]

I guess getting rid of that run & gun offense was a good move.

It would have been a good move even if they were 0-5 in the league. 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

PS 3  I wish I had 1/2 of the energy of Bria Ebels.

I just wish you were half as cute      

[goodknight]

Andy Draayer is officially buried in a shooting slump.  He was 0 for Hope and tonight he was 0 for Olivet. Ouch.  The hamstring must be bothering him more than we knew.

Caleb Veldhouse played like a cold-blooded veteran tonight, shooting the Knights back into the game and getting the game-winning jumper with under 2 seconds to go.  The freshman once again paces Calvin with 20 points.  Solid offensive games for Snoeyink (14) and DeVries (9) down low,

KVS said in his post-game show that he was really pleased with the Calvin effort, despite the narrow win over a lightly regarded opponent, and praised the Comets for playing extremely well.

Now, gulp, the Brits and the Goliath of the MIAA.

[KnightSlappy]

The lowly Olivet Comets almost shot Calvin out of its own gym.  The D'Andres (Clement and Pruitt) were each 3-4 from downtown in the first half.  The Knights played a solid game and the comets eventually cooled down.  Caleb Veldhouse took the team on his shoulders, I thought a few times that Ricky Shilts was back wearing #10 for the Knights.  Draayer was 0-8 from beyond the arc, lets hope he is saving the 3 ball for Albion.