MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[goodknight]

Calvin 72
K 69
FINAL

[goodknight]

I know it's been mentioned here before, but let me pile on in praising the Kalamazoo play-by-play announcers.  They are knowledgeable and call a great game at the D3 level.
Snikkers was huge tonight for the Knights -- 27 points in leading them back from a 7-point halftime deficit.

[almcguirejr]

Kruis with 6 blocks tonight

[wiz]

Kruis with 6 blocks.  This freshman is for real.

[almcguirejr]

Olivet 45 (26% FG)
Adrian 38 (29% FG)

Final

[sac]

Albion 74 Alma 55

Albion kind of coasted to victory in this one.  Never really in doubt.

Albion:  Siebert 16, Cruse 12, Hutton 10
Alma:  Schneider 12, Silverthorn 11


Calvin 72 Kalamazoo 69

The Knights are the ones walking out with hopes alive.  Last second 3 by Ryan Clark is no good.

Calvin: Snikkers 27
Kzoo:  Prepolec 21, Fishman 16, Clark 12


Olivet 45  Adrian  38

Statistically a tough boxscore to digest as both teams shoot under 30%, but Olivet gets its second big road win of the week.  Their win makes a mess of the middle of the MIAA standings.

Olivet:  McClary 17, one rebound shy of a double-double
Adrian:  Gallant 9



Hope 81 Trine 64

The only happy home fans tonight are in Holland.  Another strong second half lifts Hope to victory, one of the few times they've been able to go to the bench early.  I have Trine 11-31 in the second half, and they made their last 4 shots.  Hope led 78-52 with 3 min left.

Hope:  Bowser 18, Tanis 16, Snuggerud 12, Krombeen 11, Ray 11
Trine:  Rogers 11




Standings  +1 for road win/-1 for home loss


Hope    8-1     +3
Calvin   6-3     +1
Olivet   5-4     +1
Adrian  5-4     +1
Albion   5-4     0
Kzoo    5-4      0
Alma    1-8     -3
Trine    1-8     -3

Saturday, February 5
Calvin at Olivet, 3 p.m.
Kalamazoo at Trine, 3 p.m.
Albion at Adrian, 7:30 p.m. (note this is a time change)
Hope at Alma, 3 p.m. (note this is a time change)


The Comets have suddenly put a couple big wins together and have the Knights coming to Olivet on Saturday.  This looks like the biggest game of the day.  Albion @ Adrian is already probably a death match for home court in the tournament, loser will have a tough time getting enough wins after Saturday.

Here's what everyone has remaining

Hope:  @ Alma, Olivet, @ Adrian, Albion, @ Kzoo
Calvin:  @ Olivet, Adrian, Alma, @ Trine, @ Albion
Adrian:  Albion, @Calvin, Hope, @ Alma, Trine
Olivet:  Calvin, @ Hope, Trine, @ Kzoo, Alma
Albion:  @ Adrian, @Trine, Kzoo, @Hope, Calvin
Kzoo:  @ Trine, @ Alma, @ Albion, Olivet, Hope

Alma:  Hope, Kzoo, @Calvin, Adrian, @Olivet
Trine:  Kzoo, Albion, @Olivet, Calvin, @ Adrian

[sac]

With so many tough head-to-heads left it really is going to be nearly impossible for one of the 4 loss teams to catch Hope.  It would take 3 losses by Hope, and whatever 4 loss team made the run would have to get through their own schedule unscathed and that to me just doesn't look like it will happen.

Calvin has the only realistic shot (imo) and with no head-to-head games remaining with Hope the Knights will need some help.  In a weird way, tonght's results almost worked perfectly in Hope's favor. 

Everything is in Hope's hands now.

[almcguirejr]

With so many tough head-to-heads left it really is going to be nearly impossible for one of the 4 loss teams to catch Hope.  It would take 3 losses by Hope, and whatever 4 loss team made the run would have to get through their own schedule unscathed and that to me just doesn't look like it will happen.

Calvin has the only realistic shot (imo) and with no head-to-head games remaining with Hope the Knights will need some help.  In a weird way, tonght's results almost worked perfectly in Hope's favor. 

Everything is in Hope's hands now.

Everything was in Hope's hands as of 5 PM last Saturday. 

[sac]

With so many tough head-to-heads left it really is going to be nearly impossible for one of the 4 loss teams to catch Hope.  It would take 3 losses by Hope, and whatever 4 loss team made the run would have to get through their own schedule unscathed and that to me just doesn't look like it will happen.

Calvin has the only realistic shot (imo) and with no head-to-head games remaining with Hope the Knights will need some help.  In a weird way, tonght's results almost worked perfectly in Hope's favor. 

Everything is in Hope's hands now.

Everything was in Hope's hands as of 5 PM last Saturday. 

To some maybe, but Olivet's wins over Albion and Adrian this week have kept those two teams from being only 2 back with Hope still on the schedule.

[oldknight]

Kruis with 6 blocks tonight

Kruis with 6 blocks.  This freshman is for real.

Tyler now is tied for the conference lead in blocks (with Prepolec) at 25 despite playing less than 18 minutes per game. Schuster is third with 21 blocks.

[gohope]

Nice article on last night's game in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Check out the photos and their captions!

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/02/calvin_college_mens_basketball.html

[northb]

http://www.olivetcollege.edu/athletics/miaa/mbb/0203.HTM

This link will give you the livestats from each game scottiedawg, you can click on each game from there.

Calvin has been dead for me.

You sound like Realist!

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Kudos to the Knights for a tough road win, and winning the turnover battle (this is a much rarer event than it should be for Calvin).  Our "slashers" Snikkers/Schnyders combined for 8 of the team's 11 turnovers, while the primary ball handlers Powell/Salo/Brink combined for just 1 in 59 minutes of play.  Hopefully there has been an emphasis placed in practice on taking care of the ball better since this has been a thorn in our side all season. 

Another note, from the mlive article:
"The guy guarding me didn't pay too much attention to the help side — not nearly as much as they usually do — so it was tough just to get the ball," said (Ryan) Clark, who averages 15.7 points per game.
This seems to be an example of Calvin changing its game plan to fit the opponent.  In other words, Calvin knew what Kzoo wanted to do ahead of time, and made adjustments since the first meeting.  I only bring this up because there has been discussion on this board of Calvin/KVS' rigidity and predictability. 

I'll also add to the kudos already expressed on this board about Tyler Kruis and his defense.  One thing I notice is that a lot of his blocks are not the wild swinging type that result in fouls or just swatting the ball into the fifth row.  He is very controlled, and gives himself or teammates a chance to get the rebound, a la Bill Russell.

[ziggy]

Nice article on last night's game in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Check out the photos and their captions!

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/02/calvin_college_mens_basketball.html

"The guy guarding me didn't pay too much attention to the help side — not nearly as much as they usually do — so it was tough just to get the ball," said Clark, who averages 15.7 points per game. "I wasn't trying to force anything, except there at the end."

Maybe there is wax in my ear but that sounds like an adjustment by the coaching staff.

"Tom's a heck of a player and I wish we would have done a better job of guarding him off the dribble," Hornets coach Rob Passage said.

"Maybe he's just that good. We tell our guys all the time that when a guy gets going, it's that much harder to stop him. It was example of that tonight."

Don't fault K's defense, Snikkers just got hot.

[wiz]

Nice article on last night's game in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Check out the photos and their captions!

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/02/calvin_college_mens_basketball.html

Some very interesting writing.  I especially liked this tidbit: "Clark, who totaled 32 points in a road victory over Calvin earlier this year, pulled the trigger on a game-tying 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but the fade-away attempt missed the iron."  I think that just means he ended the game with an airball.