MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Jameswys]

Olivet lost tonight in Big Rapids. Last year the game was played the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Olivet lost what was a close one until late in the game. This was not last year. Olivet was in over their heads from the start. A hot shooting Ferris team took advantage of the 3 Ball and opened up a nice lead before halftime. In the second half the Comets played a bit better losing the half 51-48. Ferris didn't really empty out the bench. They had 8 guys play substantial minutes with the 9th playing only 5. I suspect a lot of these minutes came from the 3 starters with 4 fouls for most of the second half and not a coach letting up on an opponent while he had a lead.

Some things to watch as we get nearer to MIAA play. The 2 stars for Olivet have been terrible at free throws this year. Tonight they combined for 8 misses, not quite to Andre Drummond (prior to last year) levels but it is certainly something for Olivet fans to be concerned by.

Dee Roberts has looked really good at times and really bad at times. I suspect that if he can stabilize his game by MIAA play he could be quite the discussion on these boards for All-MIAA honors. If he doesn't he'll be just another name in the box score.

Finally, I'm not sure what the starting lineup will look like in MIAA play. Coach has used different lineups in every game this season. Trevor, Tracy and John McAdoo are locks in my mind having started almost every game. Of late Toriano Jackson has started quite a bit. The fifth spot seems to be up in the air. DiAngelo Carleton hasn't played in a few weeks but seemed to have an early edge on the spot. Dee Roberts has been the 6th man of late and Walker Small has played 27 combined minutes in his last 2 starts and has gone 0-5 with no points at all.

[sac]

North Central 77  Albion 58

Albion had its worst 3-pt shooting night of the year by a lot on a night they really needed to be good.   Caden Ebling had  a nice game and was really the only offense the Britons could muster in the 2nd half (scored 13 of their 23).  NC took away Albion guard penetration and Albion had no outside response and only a few low post dumps to Ebeling.

With Conner Raridon on the floor this wasn't much of a game.  I think NC was leading by 9 and had crossed double digits at least once before he sat the final 9 minutes of the first half with his 2nd foul and he played the entire 2nd half.  North Central really dominated when he was out there, something like a 21 point advantage.

Nine day layoff for the Brits and a tough opponent is not an ideal setting to evaluate.  They're probably better than they were tonight, just not sure how much.   




*Was reminded Albion has been playing without Quinton Armstrong this year.  Armstrong came on, uh, strong late last year and was probably their best player at times.  He may become available for the Britons soon, or not.  It would help.

[TUAngola]

Trine lost to Baldwin Wallace in a late afternoon game yesterday, 67-58.  It was a curious start time, 4pm.  I've haven't seen MTI this empty since it opened, probably not more than 300 people in attendance.  Of course students are on break, the only students there were the Trine WBB team, who ran the ticket office, concessions, free throw lane mop duty, etc.  Nice job gals!!

We were right there in the game, up 1 with 5 minutes to go, but with empty possessions from then on combined with sending BW to the free throw line too often spoiled the outcome.  Defensively we played decent, but BW was a beast on the boards, especially offensively.  Their 6'8 guy out muscled our interior guys for most of the night.  He wasn't much of an offensive threat but could really clean the glass.  BW ran their offense thru their talented guard Jay Battle most of the night, he was by far their best offensive option, ended with 30 pts.  He was good at creating his own shots, either with dribble drives or creating space from 3.  BW was in the bonus from the 10 minute mark in the second half, from then on they lived at the FT line.  For Trine, Langston Johnson was the only guy in double figures, he's really come into his own lately.  Conversely, Pete Smith has really struggled with his shot lately, he's a streaky shooter, either gets hot or is ice cold.  Last 2 games for him have been awful.  A "ho-hum" performance from most of the interior guys.  Myles Copeland  barely saw the floor the second half, not sure if Coach was sending him a message or not, but I think Brooks wasn't happy with how he was playing.  For Trine to be successful we need Myles to play well.   

[sac]

Hope 92  LaRoche 87

Heck of a good game at DeVos tonight.  Terrific team 3-point shooting by both squads.  LaRoche 12-22, Hope 9-12.  Hope really gutted out a tough win and I'm still not quite sure how they held LaRoche scoreless in the last 3:38 and scored the last 14 points of the game, but they did.  LaRoche had a chance to potentially win it but Teddy Ray rejected what would have been a pretty close baseline jumper with 5 seconds left.


Lewis 28, Beckman 19, Granger 18, Towns 12, Ray 9


I'll reiterate what I said on twitter I think this is exactly the kind of match-up and game the Great Lakes Invitational was intended to produce.   

[HOPEful]

Hope 92  LaRoche 87

Heck of a good game at DeVos tonight.  Terrific team 3-point shooting by both squads.  LaRoche 12-22, Hope 9-12.  Hope really gutted out a tough win and I'm still not quite sure how they held LaRoche scoreless in the last 3:38 and scored the last 14 points of the game, but they did.  LaRoche had a chance to potentially win it but TEDDY Ray rejected what would have been a pretty close baseline jumper with 5 seconds left.

Teddy Ray has been my unsung hero for 3 straight weeks. He is, in my opinion, by far Hope's best defender and did a heck of a job guarding Dodge and Duax in the two games prior to last night's game winning block.

[Dutchfan]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

[Fifth and Putnam]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

I don't believe there is a rule against it (someone correct me if I am wrong). I think I remember some NESCAC teams will play non-conference games against each other in the past. However, because most conferences are double round robin, coaches like to avoid a third game against a team.

[sac]

No rule against it.  Hope/Calvin met at least twice in the old tournament format of the Hope-Calvin-Cornerstone-Aquinas thingy.

[HOPEful]

Also, both teams were visibly disappointed by the officiating last night.  Arnulfo Perez made multiple terrible calls, and even overruled a correct call from the opposite side of the court. Coach Mitchell was livid with both Ryan Huber and Brian Jacobs at one point, when one of them made a foul call from the baseline on a play that happened 5 feet from the other. Coach Carmichael was looking to give an earful to the officials when the game ended, but all three seemed to know it was coming and quickly fled the scene...

I was really impressed by LaRoche's depth and athleticism. Hope was very fortunate to get out of last night with a win. It's just sad when such a great game gets such awful officiating.

[HOPEful]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

No rule against. But Hope and Calvin played 5 times in the 2006-07 season and have tried to make sure that never happens again. Once in the Aquinas/Cornerstone tournament when winners played each other, twice in the regular season, then in the MIAA tournament, and finally in the NCAA playoffs at Aurora.

[sac]

Also, both teams were visibly disappointed by the officiating last night.  Arnulfo Perez made multiple terrible calls, and even overruled a correct call from the opposite side of the court. Coach Mitchell was livid with both Ryan Huber and Brian Jacobs at one point, when one of them made a foul call from the baseline on a play that happened 5 feet from the other. Coach Carmichael was looking to give an earful to the officials when the game ended, but all three seemed to know it was coming and quickly fled the scene...

I was really impressed by LaRoche's depth and athleticism. Hope was very fortunate to get out of last night with a win. It's just sad when such a great game gets such awful officiating.

Arnulfo Perez amazes me.  He has an incredible ability to make 4 or 5 just terrible, ludicrous calls every game and yet will also pull 1 or 2 calls that when put to the Zepruder film test are actually by letter of the law amazing and accurate calls.

[ziggy]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

No rule against. But Hope and Calvin played 5 times in the 2006-07 season and have tried to make sure that never happens again. Once in the Aquinas/Cornerstone tournament when winners played each other, twice in the regular season, then in the MIAA tournament, and finally in the NCAA playoffs at Aurora.

That was such a strange year. Hope won at Calvin twice, Calvin won at Hope twice, then Hope took the season series with the win on a neutral court.

I think you'll have a hard time finding anyone who disagrees that five meetings in one season is too many.

[Gregory Sager]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

I don't believe there is a rule against it (someone correct me if I am wrong). I think I remember some NESCAC teams will play non-conference games against each other in the past.

They still do. Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan each play the other two in non-conference games, and Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin each play the other two in non-conference games, in addition to the regular NESCAC single round-robin schedule.

[Dutchfan]

Is it an NCAA rule or a conference rule that two teams from the same conference don't play each other in the non-conference schedule?

No rule against. But Hope and Calvin played 5 times in the 2006-07 season and have tried to make sure that never happens again. Once in the Aquinas/Cornerstone tournament when winners played each other, twice in the regular season, then in the MIAA tournament, and finally in the NCAA playoffs at Aurora.

That was such a strange year. Hope won at Calvin twice, Calvin won at Hope twice, then Hope took the season series with the win on a neutral court.

I think you'll have a hard time finding anyone who disagrees that five meetings in one season is too many.

Wasn't that the year where Calvin made a three to tie the game with just a couple seconds remaining but it was waived off because Vande Streek called a time out?

[maroonandgold]

Calvin and Hope must both be in shock.   For most of the game the Knights played solid defense, worked for good shots, and made a fair percentage.  Calvin lost an apparently easy win with 13 point lead well into the second half when they stopped scoring, missed numerous free throws, and stopped working the ball for good shots during a long scoring drought.  Hope appeared to have the game put away in the first half, but then stopped scoring and let Mt. St. Hope gradually catch up and go ahead.  On a crucial last minute opportunity to go ahead with  about 9 seconds, they lost the ball without taking a shot.  That was followed by foul with 3.1 seconds left.  Only 1 shot was made, but that made it hard to get a shot, and the ball was knocked away.