MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

sac · November 18, 2011, 03:30:02 PM

A brief rundown of this weekends action.

Friday

Trine vs Aurora @ North Central-- Aurora was picked to win the NathCon South, so as far as the NathCon goes this is probably as good as it gets. Aurora lost its first game to D3 top 10 favorite Augustana 102-68. Debut for HC Brooks Miller.

Adrian vs Hunter @ Lycoming, Pa--Hunter was 13-14 last year in the middle of the CUNY, there have just never been many MIAA vs CUNY matchups in the past.

Albion hosts Franciscan in the Mike Turner Tip-Off---Franciscan is in its first year as a D3. The "Monks" (not really, they are the Barons, but they should be the Monks), went 4-21 vs a pretty weak D3 schedule last year. Franciscan is a member of the AMCC, and its in-region.....so win!

Calvin hosts Grace Bible-- The Bible Tigers (still lol) are the 3 time NCCAA II National Champions, maybe not quite as formidable as the past 3 teams but don't appear to have dropped off much. Grace is looking for its 3rd straight win against the Knights. They enter tonight 5-2

WHAC/MIAA Challenge---I already gave a sufficient preview the other night. Madonna comes in with the most wins of any of the 4 teams with 1. This is year 4 and Olivet has yet to lose a game and Alma has done very well. They reverse pairings for Saturday. Olivet vs Madonna tonight, Alma vs UM-Dearborn.

Best case see's the MIAA pull out a bunch of W's this evening.

sac · November 18, 2011, 03:49:02 PM

Saturday

Adrian vs Staten Island @ Lycoming---another CUNY team for the Bulldogs. The oddly nicknamed Dolphins went 17-11 last year and lost in the first round of their ECAC bracket after stumbling to finish the year going just 3-8 after a great start. Friday is their first game vs Lycoming.

Trine @ North Central -- NCC was picked 2nd in the CCIW which usually grabs your attention. The Cardinals were 15-11 but finished with a strong 11-2 run in the CCIW before falling in the tournament. I would guess this will be a tough one for Trine to win.

Albion hosts Grace or Univ. Akron-Wayne---Today I learned there is a Univ. of Akron-Wayne, they probably aren't very good at basketball. I think Albion will play Grace who appears to be good (4-0) and comes from a tough conference. Could be a good challenge for the Britons.

Calvin hosts Willamete or D'Youville-- ? ? ?, Willamette was 7-18 in the NWC last year, Friday is their first game. D'Youville went 6-19 last year, and opened this year with a 48 point loss to Buffalo State.

Their mascot is cool though

I think its the Illinois Wesleyan mascot on meth or crack. He looks mad for sure.

This might be the weakest Calvin tip-off tournament field in years.

MIAA/WHAC Challenge--see above

I see lots of opportunities for MIAA wins this weekend.

Flying Dutch Fan · November 18, 2011, 04:01:45 PM

Missed one - that I was thinking you might attend???

Hope @ Spring Arbor --- The Cougars are 5-1, their sole loss to D1 Oakland. In the last week + they have beaten Concordia, Aquinas, Cornerstone, and Siena Hieghts. Looks to be a tough challenge for the Dutchmen.

sac · November 18, 2011, 04:10:35 PM

Hope at Spring Arbor

I had a nice witty write-up, but then had some kind of twitchy finger and deleted it.

SAU roster http://www.saucougars.com/roster/9/1.php
SAU schedule http://www.saucougars.com/schedule/9/1.php

SAU is 5-1, their only good win came against Cornerstone, but Cornerstone is somehow 0-4. The Cougars graduated its two leading scorers from last year DJ Baisden and Willie Pickvet. Chris Bellamy is the one to watch. Young Cougar team this year.....it might be interesting to watch one time MIAA recruit 6-8 Matt Howe battle Hope's 6-10 Nate VanArendonk inside.

I would think this a game a team like Hope should win.....but, Hope has never won at SAU to my knowledge and this is one of those games when you're playing a team whose season is well under way. So you're just never quite sure what will happen.

As a tidbit, Spring Arbor was picked 7th in the Mid-Central Conference.....the MCC is 25-4 so far and its only team with a losing record is St. Francis who is 1-2 and won the NAIA title 2 years ago. Strong!!!

Normally I'd make this relatively short trip for me, however I'm in game one of a two game epic back-to-back season ticket package finally.

I'll be dealing with these folks.....

sac · November 18, 2011, 04:11:15 PM

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on November 18, 2011, 04:01:45 PM
Missed one - that I was thinking you might attend???

Hope @ Spring Arbor --- The Cougars are 5-1, their sole loss to D1 Oakland. In the last week + they have beaten Concordia, Aquinas, Cornerstone, and Siena Hieghts. Looks to be a tough challenge for the Dutchmen.

didn't miss it, technical difficulties......it was tragic

sac · November 18, 2011, 06:39:30 PM

Trine 79 Aurora 64

http://athletics.aurora.edu/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=1975

Ian Jackson with 34

sflzman · November 18, 2011, 08:42:54 PM

Olivet is steamrolled by Madonna 76-48....I guess all that tournover is taking a tole on the Comets

http://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/1112/1118maol.htm

Matt El is the only one who got a lot of minutes that I even recognize...

sflzman · November 18, 2011, 08:46:09 PM

Alma leads UM-Dearborn 36-31 at half

Flying Dutch Fan · November 18, 2011, 09:27:08 PM

Calvin and Grace Bible going to OT.

Rinse, lather, repeat - going to OT #2

Calvin wins 92-88

sac · November 18, 2011, 10:00:28 PM

Adrian 77 Hunter 51

Fr. Eric Lewis had 27

Albion 69 Franciscan 36......will play Grace, In. Saturday.

Alma 77 UM-Dearborn 73

wiz · November 18, 2011, 10:11:02 PM

Impressive win for the Knights. Even with the big guy gone, Grace is still a very solid and well coached team. In the past, Calvin has struggled with turnovers but tonight, in two overtimes, they were able to keep the number to 13. Tommy took the game in his hands and made sure the Knight came away with a victory. Good contributions by Vallie and DeVries as well and some very solid, disciplined play by Powell, which was great to see. Well played, well coached and some nice adjustments along the way.

Dark Knight · November 18, 2011, 10:21:34 PM

Quote from: Flying Dutch Fan on November 18, 2011, 09:27:08 PM
Rinse, lather, repeat - going to OT #2

Life hint: rinse after lathering.

oldknight · November 18, 2011, 10:51:40 PM

I'm not quite sure how Calvin pulled this one out. They got outshot from the floor, took 9 fewer free throws, and seemed to have about a half dozen occasions when they absolutely had to score a basket just to stay in the game--and then did so on every occasion. But Calvin took 20 more shots than Grace on the strength of a 56-42 performance on the boards and by turning the ball over 3 fewer times. Grace helped by missing some key free throws when they could have put the game away and Snikkers--while having an overall offnight shooting--was money down the stretch. Mickey DeVries played an outstanding game before fouling out and Powell seems to have learned some lessons from the last two years. Haverdink had a tough night though and I fear that outside shooting might be a season long problem for the Knights. Fun game to watch though.

maroonandgold · November 18, 2011, 11:20:12 PM

Quote from: oldknight on November 18, 2011, 10:51:40 PM
I'm not quite sure how Calvin pulled this one out. They got outshot from the floor, took 9 fewer free throws, and seemed to have about a half dozen occasions when they absolutely had to score a basket just to stay in the game--and then did so on every occasion. But Calvin took 20 more shots than Grace on the strength of a 56-42 performance on the boards and by turning the ball over 3 fewer times. Grace helped by missing some key free throws when they could have put the game away and Snikkers--while having an overall offnight shooting--was money down the stretch. Mickey DeVries played an outstanding game before fouling out and Powell seems to have learned some lessons from the last two years. Haverdink had a tough night though and I fear that outside shooting might be a season long problem for the Knights. Fun game to watch though.

I agree that outside shooting will not be a strength. Even Snikkers is much stronger going to the basket than from the outside. Calvin won by dominating the boards at the end. Vallie and Rietema also played their best games so far. I can see why Rietema is starting even though he went out early with some foolish fowls. He handles the ball much better than Powell even though Powell can and did come through with some important and timely shots. Rietema showed some scoring ability this game, too. Powell again lost the ball several times, and that really hurt. Vallie showed speed and control on the fast break, outside shooting, and strong defense. I can really see why he is starting after this game. Mickie DeVries may push Kruis for starting time. I noticed he played center when Calvin really needed points while De Young sat the bench after missing a 12 inch layup. Are Snikkers passes just too wild, or is it a matter of the other players learning to be alert enough to handle quickly snapped passes? I sure liked those passes that did not connect than some by others that were just asking to be stolen with bad angles, slow speed, and going through a crowd (unsuccessfully, of course).

KnightSlappy · November 18, 2011, 11:26:18 PM

Quote from: maroonandgold on November 18, 2011, 11:20:12 PM
Powell again lost the ball several times, and that really hurt.

Why must we always try to convince ourselves that Bryan commits lots of turnovers? The box score only lists him with 2 TOs tonight. That's not too shabby for 29 minutes.

Related side note: I was going through last season's box scores today, and found that in Calvin's final 17 games (the conference season plus MIAA Tourney), Bryan committed only 20 turnovers.