MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[wiz]

Just got email that Hope has an updated spectator policy effective today. Masks are now optional.  Concessions will be open again starting on Friday Feb 25

Calvin administrators, are you reading this? 

[calvin_grad]

Just got email that Hope has an updated spectator policy effective today. Masks are now optional.  Concessions will be open again starting on Friday Feb 25

Calvin administrators, are you reading this?

Masks have been recommended but optional for the Spoelhof Athletic Complex (of which Van Noord Arena is a part) since February 14.

[sac]

This reminds me of the time in 3rd grade I confidently raised my hand to tell the substitute teacher we were supposed to be doing multiplication tables and not this new and confusing division stuff?

[wiz]

Just got email that Hope has an updated spectator policy effective today. Masks are now optional.  Concessions will be open again starting on Friday Feb 25

Calvin administrators, are you reading this?

Masks have been recommended but optional for the Spoelhof Athletic Complex (of which Van Noord Arena is a part) since February 14.

True, but as of last night, concessions are still closed.

[sac]

Hope/Albion will tip at 7:30 following the Hope/Calvin women's game which tips at 5:30


Also, we'll be using media timeouts for the weekend.  I didn't ask but I assume the women are too.

[KnightSlappy]

Trine at Calvin will be a 7:00 tip.

Calvin probably needs to count on winning the MIAA tournament to get the Pool A bid, but any chance of Pool C will require beating Trine. Could be as high as 50/50 to get in if they reach the MIAA final, but Calvin fans would still be rooting for very very few upsets around the country.

[GoKnights68]

Looks like Calvin vs Hope III tomorrow night for the championship.  Nice game from Marcus Bult for the Knights tonight.

Calvin has still got to improve on taking care of the ball,  but its offense looked less timid this 2nd half.

[Dutchfan]

The refs whistles are getting a workout tonight at the Hope/Albion game!

[oldknight]

Calvin with a workmanlike 75-54 win over Trine at VNA. The Knights were simply the better team all-around except for turnovers. Trine is an excellent defensive team, and particularly good at preventing an opponent to inbound the ball. Twice tonight, Calvin was unable to even get the ball in play from underneath their own basket, but Trine simply isn't good enough offensively to compete when Calvin is hitting shots.

Megnanglo is about as athletic a 6'8" hoopster you will find at the D3 level. If the sophomore had better offensive skills, he would be playing at a higher level. I'm curious why Geller played only 4 minutes in the second half when he wasn't in any foul trouble. He's a load to guard inside, and Trine needed more offense to compete tonight.

Morrison led Calvin once again, netting 18 points, while Bult continues to impress and improve, with good play on both sides of the ball, scoring 16, grabbing 6 boards and 3 steals in 23 minutes of playing time. Bowman led Trine with 11, but was hounded all night by Egekeze who blocked 3 shots and forced Bowman into a 3-10 performance from the floor.

[goodknight]

I just looked at the Hope-Albion tale of the tape.
The Brits were excellent from the field tonight, hitting on 60 percent of their FG shots and 50 percent from long range.
But Hope was almost as deadly from the field, and a sparkling 26-28 from the charity stripe.
The Knights will have to bring their A game tomorrow to the DeVos Fieldhouse.

[HOPEful]

Cortez Garland was spectacular tonight. 8 for 12 from the field and 29 points. His burst just always seems a step quicker than anyone else.

Luckily for Hope fans, the combination of Evan Thomas and Clayton Dykhouse was even more spectacular. Clayton was 6 for 8 from 3 point land on his way to 31 points and Evan scored 27 in the nonchalant manner he always seems to. Hope was 12 for 28 from 3 as a team, 8 of those coming in the first half.

Looking forward to tomorrow, albeit with quite a bit of apprehension. Beating your rival thrice in one season is a big ask.

[sac]

Hope 94 Albion 82 F

Hope played almost as good of a first half as maybe they've played this year.  I can say confidently for the first time this year maybe Hope's 3-point shooting loosened up a defensive approach.  Anyway, Hope built a nice first half lead.  With Albion down 14 and a couple minutes to go in the first half I turned to my uncle and said its really critical Albion get it to 9 at halftime and they'll have a shot to win, then Hope pushed it out to 18.  I then turned to my other friend and said we'll need 77 to win, Albion's not going to score 50.

The Brits went out and scored 54 with the Garland brothers scoring 36 of those, 24 for Cortez, 12 for Fred.  Hope held them off in a very sloooooowww 2nd half with a million whistles and lots of lots of foul shooting.  Strange that almost the entirety of the 2nd half was played between 16 and 11 point Hope leads.   There was little burst of good play around the 6 min mark that sort of put it a little to far out of reach and Hope did a good enough job milking the clock to hold on.

Hope:   Dykhouse 31, Thomas 27, Bikus 13
Albion:  C. Garland 29, F Garland 14, MJ Barnes 10


On the drive home I had a few memories about how much I've enjoyed watching Albion's Sr's compete the last few years.  Outside of Hope I don't think I've watched anyone more since they were Freshmen.  They've been a good and tough team to beat for a stretch now.  This group is sort of the last pieces of their 2019-20 team that was just terrific.  They've been through a lot together.

I remember seeing Justin McAbee as a Jr. at East Lansing High School, crazy to think that was 6 years ago.

[sac]

This is the 31st MIAA men's basketball tournament.

Hope and Calvin will be meeting in the Championship game for the 14th time and the first since 2017.  In the 13 previous title games against each Hope's won 8 to Calvin's 5, but Calvin has won the last 4 meetings.

Both have won 12 MIAA Tournament Championships

[hope1]

Go hope today

[Grutte Dirk]

What are the keys to tonight's game?
Us fans want to know.