MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[KnightSlappy]

There are emergency crews on site at these basketball games, right?  I hope so, because a couple refs almost needed help for asphyxiation from swallowing whistles.

You mean piggy back rides aren't allowed?

[arena]

There are emergency crews on site at these basketball games, right?  I hope so, because a couple refs almost needed help for asphyxiation from swallowing whistles.

You mean piggy back rides aren't allowed?

I don't know.  Maybe there was a rules change that only certain folks knew about.

[NW Hope Fan]

Calvin was 0-7 from 3 point range in the last 4 minutes, including one possession with the score tied at 72-72 where I believe they had 4 shots, including 3 from beyond the arc and missed all of them.  

Veltema was 1-10, including 1-8 from beyond the arc.  

Now the Calvin fans just have to play a waiting game.  Wooster did win today, which does help.

Yeah, but Salo was 4-6 and nearly tripled his average, and JM more than doubled his...

Great game for these guys... tough loss.

[Intangir]

Great games from both teams, congrats to Hope on the hard fought win.

As we were talking about last night, Calvin seems to play best when they're down, and even when they were down 14 early I was certain they would storm back and happy to see they did.  Looks like they peaked a bit too early though and couldn't quite hold off the inevitable Hope comeback.  Despite that, Salo definitely had some timely 3s and that was the best game I've seen Mantel play in a long time.  

Clutch free-throws by Bunn right at the end to put the game out of reach, and a great game by him all around.

Here's hoping for an at large bid!

[wiz]

There are emergency crews on site at these basketball games, right?  I hope so, because a couple refs almost needed help for asphyxiation from swallowing whistles.

You mean piggy back rides aren't allowed?

As usual, MIAA officiating left something to be desired but Calvin lost the game on their own.  Poor start and poor finish doesn't bode well if your looking for a victory.  This was a typical rivalry game with several twists and turns and unpredictable until the end.  But, put the ball in Bunn's hand at the free throw line, late in the game, and chances of winning are diminished drastically.  Congratulations to Hope for doing what they needed to pull this one off.

[arena]

There are emergency crews on site at these basketball games, right?  I hope so, because a couple refs almost needed help for asphyxiation from swallowing whistles.

You mean piggy back rides aren't allowed?

As usual, MIAA officiating left something to be desired but Calvin lost the game on their own.  Poor start and poor finish doesn't bode well if your looking for a victory.  This was a typical rivalry game with several twists and turns and unpredictable until the end.  But, put the ball in Bunn's hand at the free throw line, late in the game, and chances of winning are diminished drastically.  Congratulations to Hope for doing what they needed to pull this one off.

I'm having a more difficult time getting over what was missed by the refs that killed Calvin, than what Hope did to win.  So far on the scale, the refs are winning.  Who knows, over time, maybe this will change.  But it really would be nice to not have to wonder at what point the refs are going to screw a team over.

[almcguirejr]

There are emergency crews on site at these basketball games, right?  I hope so, because a couple refs almost needed help for asphyxiation from swallowing whistles.

You mean piggy back rides aren't allowed?

As usual, MIAA officiating left something to be desired but Calvin lost the game on their own.  Poor start and poor finish doesn't bode well if your looking for a victory.  This was a typical rivalry game with several twists and turns and unpredictable until the end.  But, put the ball in Bunn's hand at the free throw line, late in the game, and chances of winning are diminished drastically.  Congratulations to Hope for doing what they needed to pull this one off.

I'm having a more difficult time getting over what was missed by the refs that killed Calvin, than what Hope did to win.  So far on the scale, the refs are winning.  Who knows, over time, maybe this will change.  But it really would be nice to not have to wonder at what point the refs are going to screw a team over.

I agree with Wiz.  Calvin had opportunities.  When Calvin went up 54-48 they had several chances to extend the lead and didn't.  I thought Mantel and Campbell both got fouled.  They didn't call it.

Tanis's 3's were huge for Hope  I had the perfect angle on the one he banked.  I said out loud "way off" and it goes in. A killer.  Calvin plays good D andthe shot clock goes to 2 and Bunn nails a 3.  Another dagger.  When Calvin had Hope on the ropes , Hope answered.

Calvin no FG's the last 5 minutes of the game.  5 free throws

[pointlem]

With five minutes to go the people around me agreed:  win or lose, this has been a great game.  It was back-and-forth, hard and well fought.  Great atmosphere.  Positive spirit.  It was college sport at its best, between two absolutely even teams.  After four games this season, the total points are:  Hope 299,  Calvin 298.

And what a great last game (or last league game) for John Mantel, who was unstoppable, with 29 points and 9 rebounds.  Hope could not contain him.  

From Hope's side, two highlights in my mind.  One was Peter Bunn's incredible composure with pandemonium surrounding him.  The other was the reception that Ty Tanis got from his teammates when returning to the bench after coming in and bringing Hope back with those two threes.  It was pure joy.

[almcguirejr]

John Mantel played tonight like I have never seen him play.  He was able to dominate at times.  He showed power to the basket.  He used the drop stop.  In the first half almost every shot he took he was on balance when he shot.  It was great to see.

Trent Salo also was very good tonight.  He had his best night of the year.

[hope1]

it is   really  nice to  beat  calvin in 1 day in both the guys and girls games makes it for a  great weekend  it will be close to see if calvin gets in    peter  bunn  played really well  tonight   it shows why he might  get some  mvp  votes  one of the best guards in the league  i thought the reffs were pretty good a lot better then last night

[AndersDY]

Silly me to schedule something so that I couldn't make the potential final tonight. It's nice to come home to good news that both my teams are in though. I think the saying should become: death, taxes, and Hope-Calvin/Woo-Witt for the conference finals. It also sounds like the MIAA officials met all our expectations yet again tonight.

It's now way late to mention, but I wondered if anyone else who was at the Calvin-Olivet game to see the Mantel wipeout screen saw the screen that Graham Brown threw in a UM game a few years ago on the Wisconsin player who looks like Chris Rock's brother. The play on Friday night looked exactly like that one and that was the only other time I've seen anyone get blasted like that on a legal screen.

[sac]

Tremendous ballgame, hats off to both teams for some serious first rate efforts.

Salo was Calvin's heart tonight and the smallest guy in the building in uniform nearly pulled it off.  Mantel was Calvin's muscle and was pretty close to unstoppable.

Its cliche but it was a game you hated to see someone lose.

[KnightSlappy]

Good luck to both teams next weekend!

[AlwaysHope]

Very unusual plays at the end of the game.  

First, Calvin misses a desperation 3 pointer with under 5 seconds less, then Hope commits an foul on Veltema, thus stopping the clock with less than 3 seconds.  Veltema, one of the best pure shooters in the MIAA, and especially from the free throw line, makes the first of a one and one, giving Hope a three point lead.  He then shoots a high arc free throw that inexpicably banks in.  I assume that he was trying to miss the free throw off the side of the rim, and then have either Mantel or Schuster tip the ball out for a three point attempt.  Instead he makes the free throw, and Hope inbounds to Bunn with less than 2 seconds.  Bunn makes the two free throws and game over.  Or am I missing something?

Other unique play was Salvo shooting a mid-court three attempt at the buzzer while trying to fall into Logan Neil in an attempt to create a 4 point play.  He had  to complete a very unique athletic move to accomplish this, falling to his left while shooting to his right, an impossible shot.

Some of the "other" Keys to the game:

Schuster burns Hope with 9 points in the first half, but 0 in the second half.

Hope goes 19 for 22 from the charity stripe, with Bunn hitting 12 of 13.

Veltema, who always plays well vs. Hope, goes 1 for 10 from the field, including 1 for 8 from downtown.  Some of those were wide-open.

Tanis hits 2 threes in less than 4 minutes of play, including a bank shot.

Nelis and Venema played tough despite being in constant foul trouble.  Both were playing with 4 fouls at the end, after getting their second foul at the 10 and 12 minutes mark in the first half.  That was when Calving began cutting into the large Hope lead in the first half, with both Nelis and Vennema on the bench.

[sac]

They say you need good/great point guard play in the post-season to be succesful

David Krombeen had 15 pts, 6 assists, 5 steals and most importantly zero turnovers this weekend.

Scott Jungling committed zero turnovers this weekend

.....Peter Bunn while not a PG by name, frequently ends up with the ball late in the shot clock pretty much as a PG.........2 turnovers this weekend.


.......as a team Hope turned the ball over only 17 times in the two games......they had 19 vs Trine on Wednesday.