MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Hope's game at Alma vs Lake Superior State was presented to me as an exhibition but it was more of a scrimmage, but certainly played like a game.  Both teams donned practice jersey's for this one if that matters.  Hope's are gray, LSSU's were white looked like a terrible fit.

Lake Superior State is picked 4th in the very weird GLIAC North which includes UW-Parkside and Purdue NW, neither which are North of much of anything in that league.  LSSU is at least to me pretty talented but very young and a bit raw.   As always difficult to gage lineups of a team I know little about, but LSSU played a lot of guys who appear pretty good at doing basketball stuff.

Personnel wise for Hope:  Ryan Gamm was back in Holland, illness I presume.   Teddy Ray didn't play a lot, this was his first week back from injury.  Danny Beckman did not dress, still a few weeks from playing I think.  Hope pulled 6-4 So. G/F Bill Woodhams up from JV, he got a little run late in the proceedings.

Hope's starting 5 was Lewis, J Beckman, Jake Honor, Towns, Granger.   The obvious missing starter here is Teddy Ray who would start over Honor.  After that starting 5 the minutes look to be up for grabs by a number of players, including Honor and Hackert and the Fr.  FWIW, Jason Dietz was the first Fr. off the bench.   Nate Davis and Tyler George saw minutes as well.  None of the Freshmen stuck out but they'll all get an opportunity in the early games to earn some trust and playing time, my amateur observation is the game needs to slow down for all of them.   Goral was a sub for Towns and that seems like a pretty safe season long bet.  Sam Vree played a bit here and there, obviously trimmer and stronger, remains to be seen where he fits in. 

First 20 minute session LSSU won 53-39 but it was back and forth close until the last 7 or so minutes when the Lakers went on a convincing run.  I can't remember the mix of players on the floor for Hope but it wasn't one I expect to see much of this year and they were swamped for a couple minutes.   Beckman and Lewis really carried them scoring wise.  Lewis looked, sensational?, not sure that's fair to him but he sure looked very good out there.  Beckman was Beckman.  Granger and all Hope's posts struggled some and even a lot against the slightly bigger and more athletic Lakers.   


We erased the score and started over in the second section.  I forgot to note starters, I think the only change was Teddy Ray starting or maybe subbing in very early.  The half seemed to be played at a more controlled pace for both teams.  Few more fouls as early Nov. fatigue set in.  Much like the first section it was close all the way and the last 8 or so minutes was a really good stretch of basketball with both teams playing what I'd call their "ones".  LSSU erased a small deficit and hung on for a 41-40 lead.  Hope had a shot at the end but Lewis could only get off a 3 that was a touch rushed against the clock. 

If you want you can incorrectly combine the scores to get 94-79 LSSU with the win.

Third session was either end of bench or non-starters depending on your thoughts.  Nothing really notable other than most of the scoring for both came from behind the arc.  LSSU won the session either 19-18 or 21-20 as again a Hope 3 missed at the buzzer.  Dietz had a couple nice buckets in there along with Davis.

After all that they ran situational 3 point lead and 3 point deficit with 1 minute to play.  I think LSSU won 3 of those.


I think Hope's first 6 or 7 guys (including Gamm and Goral) are pretty set and its really the same as last years squad without Dante Hawkins.  After that, its anybody's guess who will emerge with playing time, my hunch is maybe 1 or 2 deeper than last year as we get later into the season with a nice option of playing taller guards.  Hope's first game isn't exactly ideal for a team with bench questions but they'll be tossed in the fire right away against hyper speed Greenville.


Fun to be back in a gym.  Rog Stein is a beast.

[pointlem]

Lewis looked, sensational?, not sure that's fair to him but he sure looked very good out there. 

Thanks for the synopsis, Sac.  In the scrimmage at DeVos against U. of Chicago (both halves won by Chicago) Riley Lewis was again very effective in his minutes as point guard (including, by my count, a team-leading 18 points). And there, too, Hope was hampered by the injury-related absences of Ryan Gamm, Danny Beckmann, and Chris Ray (cheering their teammates on from the bench).  If they can all return, and regain their stamina and flow, Hope should become a better team.

And I see good news for Hope's future in yesterday's announcement by speedster, high-scoring point guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland East) that he has committed to Hope. See https://twitter.com/cwendell_ and https://www.prephoops.com/2018/03/10-future-college-point-guards-2019/

[sac]

Case Western 89  Albion 80 

Davis 18, Fordham 15, Parker 13, Perry 11 for Albion.

[sac]

Albion 66  Earlham 63

Quakers had a couple cracks to tie but the Brits hold on for the win.

[KnightSlappy]

It looks like Calvin's exhibition game at Davenport tonight (7 pm) will have a live video stream:
https://dupanthers.com/watch/?Live=51&type=Live

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin led most of the way, including a 16 point margin at one point in the first half, but Davenport tightened things up quickly after the break and ended up knocking off the visiting Knights 68-66 on a buzzer beater in the paint.

Box: http://calvinknights.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20181112_xbkq.xml?view=boxscore

I was not able to attend so I'd be curious for a report if any of y'all were there.

[hornets76542]

Kalamazoo 114 // Concordia 93
Jeremiah Vincent 29pts 9rbs; Ben Reiter 24 pts; Tanner Blyly 20 pts; Bass Ollie 10 pts 11 rbs

Both teams played at a blistering pace. This Kzoo offense is nothing like years past. Uptempo, lots of 3's & perimeter playmaking, no traditional post. Granted, Concordia is not good at all, but Vincent and Reiter played really, really well. If Kzoo can find a balance between pushing the tempo and playing under control they'll be interesting to watch.

https://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20181112_37d7.xml?view=boxscore

[TUAngola]

Season opener at Trine tonight, Trine 76 Illinois Tech 67.

Starting lineup: Copeland, Hunter, Smith, Clune, and freshman Nick Bowman at point guard.  Johnson who started most games last season, came off the bench, but played a lot of meaningful minutes.  I'm thinking we went with Clune to start because of the length of Tech.  Defensively we played very well the 1st half, lots of pressure on Tech's pre-season honorable mention All-American Anthony Mosely.  Only negative for Trine is we gave up too many second chance points, mostly by Digiorgio.  We got Tech's other good interior post player Hisatake in foul trouble the first half, he is an impressive player, very athletic.  Copeland and Hunter with most of the offense in the first half, not much contribution from anyone else.

In the second half both teams offenses started to heat up.  We got good interior buckets from Hunter.  And then Pete Smith went off...he was silent the first half but he was on fire the second, hit really tough 3 pointers, maybe 1 was an open look, everything else was contested.  He carried us thru the middle of the half and gave us a little bit of a cushion.  Then Johnson hit some big shots down the stretch to keep Tech at bay as Mosely did everything he could to keep the game close, he's terrific at getting to the rim. 

Of the newcomers on Trine's roster it was a solid start for Bowman, he's gonna be a good one.  Has some hops for a 6'1 guard, and played pretty well defensively too.  Most impressively, no turnovers in his 1st game, and his ballhandling frees Smith up to come off screens without the ball.  Sophomore transfer Maurice Scott and freshman Bryce Williams also in the rotation tonight at guard.  It's nice to have more depth at guard, something we didn't have much of last year.  Cummings didn't do too much in his return, had a nice block and also a rebound basket, but gave Coach a guy to spell Hunter and Copeland with his size.

Overall is was a nice win to start the season over a pretty good Illinois Tech team.

Illinois Tech: Mosely 19, Digiorgio 17, Hisatake 15
Trine: Smith 19, Hunter 18, Copeland 16, Johnson 13

   

[maroonandgold]

Calvin led most of the way, including a 16 point margin at one point in the first half, but Davenport tightened things up quickly after the break and ended up knocking off the visiting Knights 68-66 on a buzzer beater in the paint.

Box: http://calvinknights.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20181112_xbkq.xml?view=boxscore

I was not able to attend so I'd be curious for a report if any of y'all were there.

Calvin really played an outstanding game by out-shooting and out-rebounding Davenport by  a sizeable margin.   If they had been able do a better job of avoiding turnovers, they would have won easily.  But with the typical athleticism of scholarship division II  players, Davenport had the speed to overwhelm Calvin's guards frequently in the second half.  The turnover margin was 22 to 7 in favor of Davenport, and that was the game.  It was not in my opinion bad ball handling so much as great speed that made the difference.   Hopefully the Calvin guards will learn from it and do a better job of avoiding the problem in the future.  They start out by handling the press very well in the first half, but when the pressure was really turned up, they could no longer find the open man.  What has impressed me in the first 2 games is how many scorers and shooters Calvin has this year.  Scoring has really been balanced even though De Vries has shown great improvement on his ability to drive and score from the inside as well as the outside this year.  He still has a little to learn about what he can get away with on offense and what will result in an offensive foul.  That proved to be absolutely crucial in the last seconds of the game in which he scored the go-ahead layup only to have it waved off for charging.  That was what provided the opportunity for Davenport to score the winning points at the buzzer.  Well done, but room to improve and learn!

[sac]

Kalamazoo 114 // Concordia 93

I believe that's the most points a Kzoo team has scored since a 128-78 win over Detroit Tech in 1978.  This is the first I've ever heard of Detroit Tech.

1989 they beat Calvin 113-108 in 3OT, which must have been something.

[sac]

Saginaw Valley State 88  Alma 78  exh for Alma
http://www.svsucardinals.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20181113_x9t6.xml?view=plays

Scots were within 5 in the last 3 minutes, made the Cardinals earn the win.

[calvin_grad]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/division-iii-player-ejected-delivering-vicious-elbow-face-180152960.html   

Hopefully this kid is done playing D3 basketball.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/division-iii-player-ejected-delivering-vicious-elbow-face-180152960.html   

Hopefully this kid is done playing D3 basketball.

He should be done enjoying the freedom that law abiding citizens enjoy.  That is literally an assault.

[Pat Coleman]

For more than five seconds of video:
https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2018/11/fitchburg-state-kewan-platt-decks-opponent-ejected-suspended

[HOPEful]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/division-iii-player-ejected-delivering-vicious-elbow-face-180152960.html   

Hopefully this kid is done playing D3 basketball.

I picked him in the 1 and Done League for Satuday. Obviously, I dropped him seeing as he won't be on the court.

Last I heard, he has been not only been removed from the team, but from Fitchburg entirely.