MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[bulldogalum]

Tri State 82
Adrian 71

Tri State had very balanced scoring, and it sounds like they were pretty close to their season high field goal percentage.  Adrian turned it over more than 20 times, story of the year it seems like.  Collins scored 30 in the loss.

[Dark Knight]

Calvin 69-66! The knights played hard and the freshmen came through.

Veldhouse had the composure of a senior, hitting lots of big points. I think he was the high scorer for the game. Dustin Smith hit some tough shots down the stretch and had something like 10 points.

It sounded on the radio as though Meckes did a good job on Crawford; many of Crawford's points were on other defenders.

Draayer found his range, and he scored about 10 points.

It sounds as though Calvin did well on the boards; they had at least 15 offensive rebounds.

The bad news is that Soeyink went down with a sprained ankle early in the game. He was gone 30 seconds into the game, which hindered the high-screen play that they like to run.

Now there are three teams tied atop the MIAA, but Calvin has had its two hardest games away...

[hope1]

hope  beat alma  85  to 76   now they play @ tri state wed night

[hope1]

it is going to be a good 2nd half in the league race

[Picket Fence]

Did Albion peak already? Losing to Calvin at home, only beating Kalamazoo by 6.

What happened to Hope? I turned it off and they were up 21 with 4 to go.

[big_yellow_hat]

A big day for the Calvin freshman:
Veldhouse 15 points
Dustin Smith 10 points
Tyler Zoerhof 9 points 2-3 from 3 point land and 6 rebounds.

Also the double team on Crawford worked well in the second half, you could tell he was really getting frustrated.

[ziggy]

Just got home from Albion.  My thoughts after seeing Calvin, Hope, and Albion in live action...
Albion has the league's best player in Brandon Crawford but Hope has the best team overall.  Calvin was able to coral Crawford and the Brits just didnt have enough around him to put Calvin away.  Bailey had a nice first half but was very quiet in the second and Silas was inconsistent all game (including an airball).

Calvin received great efforts from Dustin Smith who hit some big shots and Tyler Zoerhof who played good D (including one memorable block on a Crawford shot) and knocked down a couple 3's.  I'm pretty convinced Caleb Veldhouse will be the player of the week this week after scoring 20 and hitting the game winning shot against Olivet and scoring 15 in an upset win against the #2 team in the nation.  Confidence on offense sparked the Knights best game on the defensive end as Crawford couldnt get going while facing the physical defense of Meckes, DeVries, and Zoerhof.

The rest of the MIAA season looks to be very exciting with a three way tie at the top.  Calvin has to be considered an outsider to win the regular season crown but they have their toughest two games behind them and get Albion and Hope at home.  Calvin just has to avoid a letdown game at Kzoo on Wednesday.  The key for the three at the top is to avoid a loss in a should win game, one could be a killer.

[ziggy]

To each his own, Ziggy.

My only complaint is that they didn't extend the padded seats one more row down, since my season tickets are one row lower than the padded seats. 

I acknowledge the DeVos as DIII's premier facility but there is something to be said for a small campus feel.  I'm just saying that it is very nice but it doesnt make jealousy burn within me.  It is nice that Hope and Calvin have fans that allow the schools to have bigger seating capacity.  On a side note, there was discussion about Albion's attendance.  At the game this afternoon there was a very nice crowd.  I'm sure there is a difference in having a game against Calvin or Hope rather than someone like Tri-State.  Its not a punctual crowd but it filled up.

[calvin_grad]

Looking at the standings and one thing looked interesting to me.

Calvin (5-1) outscoring opponents by 1.6 pts. per game
Alma (1-5) outscoring opponents by 2.0 pts. per game

I guess one team knows how to win the close ones.

[Picket Fence]

Interesting stats.

Also interesting is that Albion is leading the league in scoring.  Has that ever happened in the Mike Turner era?

[Dark Knight]

Calvin (5-1) outscoring opponents by 1.6 pts. per game
Alma (1-5) outscoring opponents by 2.0 pts. per game

You know what they say about lies, **** lies, and statistics. Alma is actually being outscored by its opponents by 4.2 pts. per game.

[pointlem]

As a Hope fan I say . . .
   - welcome back to the Board, Calvin fans (and boy did it feel weird to be rooting for your team).  Congrats!
   - kudos to the Adrian, Kazoo, etc. fans who stand by their team, win or lose.
   - boy what a difference a week makes, and doesn't the "intransitivity" of sport make it interesting?  (Albion clobbers Hope which clobbers Calvin which beats Albion . . . at Albion, no less.)
   - February 4th (the Albion-Hope rematch) looks to be a fun afternoon . . . already traditionally the best attended nonCalvin game of the year (alumni "Winter Happening"). . . . likely a sell out crowd and perhaps a championship at stake (but then the same may be said of the Hope-Calvin rematch).
   - With the bright day today I did notice, at the DeVos women's game, the glare that someone had mentioned that bounces (to the west bleacher end) off the floor from the east window.  And wouldn't the players prefer to have a shade dropped over that window when they're shooting towards it?

[MIdoubleA]

I know GVW has won well over 500 games now but sometimes I can't figure out the substitution pattern. As a 20 point lead just evaporated to 6 at Alma we had to wait until less than a minute left to get the 3rd string back on the bench.

I couldn't agree more... but with eyebrows like that, how can you go wrong? 

Veldhouse comes up big again down the stretch. This kid is special.

Is this kid the next Andy Phillips? Obviously not the same position, but as the kid that comes in and immediately makes a big impact when a team needs him the most? Personally as a Hope fan I'm scared to death to see 3 more years of him...

[Dutchfan]

Just an interesting little fact, but Hope is the only team in the league who hasn't had any players foul out all year.

[sac]

Hope 85 Alma 76

One of the oddest Hope games I've ever seen.  If ever there was a score that wasn't indicative of the game its this one.  I actually left Alma's gym disappointed and a little upset at the final four minutes.........but I shouldn't be as Hope really played an outstanding game.

Alma came out strong, attacking the basket and really taking it to the Dutchmen with a purpose, it was 15-9 Alma about 5 minutes into the game.  As the benches started to filter onto the floor Hope asserted itself and quickly went on a 14-0 run and was really in "control" the rest of the way.   Except for a couple minute burst of 5 striaight 3's by Alma, Hope was really on the cusp of blowing Alma out.  It was 45-39 at the half but it didn't feel that close.

Hope came out and dominated the early second half and was able to build a 20 point lead,   Just as Alma started getting back into things and cut the lead back to 15, Andy Phillips stepped outside and buried a 3 and Alma wouldn't get closer until the final minutes.

With 4 minutes to go it was 77-52 Hope, GVW decided to concede victory and cleared the bench.  The problem is Alma didn't concede defeat, left their starters in and proceded to rain 3's like they were playing Grinnell ball.  To be honest any team should be able to salt away a 25 point lead but Hope did a horrible job of protecting the ball.......I don't think Hope even took a shot in the last 4 minutes.

Meanwhile Alma was chucking deep 3's.......I mean deeeeeeep 3's.  I've seen better shot selection in IM games but these were goiing in.  They finished with 13 made on 37 attempts.  The ol' ball coach was more than a little stubborn and stuck with the guys untill finally having to pull the always embarrassing task of throwing the starters back on the floor who quickly snuffed any hope of a miracle Scot victory.  Funny how 4 minutes can dampen what should have been a very solid Hope W.

Hope played an excellent game, they got great contributions from a number of guys.  Eric Voisin played a very solid game, mostly at the FT line as he was able to weather the Hack-an-Overbeek tactic employed by the  Scots.  More impressive though was the play of Jeff Carlson and Scott Richardson off the bench.  Carlson with his shooting and Richardson with a very agressive collection of rebounds.

Honestly I'm baffled this game ended up this close as Alma could really do very little against Hope most of the afternoon.  Between the first 5 and last 5 of the game it was 68-37 Hope.

Voisin with 19, Immink 13, Phillips 11, Cramer 10

Cory Massey with 30 for Alma