MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Central Michigan 106  Alma 64
http://www.cmuchippewas.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2014-2015/mbbgm1.html

I think the Scots started:   Nikodemski, Fairchild, Beckman, Gamble, Bradfield.   11 guys played 10 plus minutes.

[realist]

Calvin 108 Anderson 98.  Brink 27 and Dykstra 23. 
Anderson hit 18/35 for 51+% on 3's to stay in the game.  Calvin had a 17 point lead, but Anderson cut it to 1.    Than Calvin made another run to hold off the Ravens. 
Typical first game.  Calvin has some areas that need work, but it looks like the players to have a good year are there.

[BogeyMan]

Albion - Augustana tied at half with 26 each.

[FyteOnne]

Albion - Augustana tied at half with 26 each.

Go Brits!  Are you able to get livestats or audio anywhere?  All I found were two comments on twitter-- one saying that Albion was up 15-10 and the next saying they were tied at the half.

[KnightSlappy]

Albion - Augustana tied at half with 26 each.

Go Brits!  Are you able to get livestats or audio anywhere?  All I found were two comments on twitter-- one saying that Albion was up 15-10 and the next saying they were tied at the half.

Live stats:
http://www.msjsports.com/media/livestats/mbb/xlive.htm

[FyteOnne]

Thanks!  They were stuck on 0-0 at halftime, but now they seem to be working!

[sac]

Augustana 51 Albion 47

Heidelberg 80 Trine 59   (stuck on 1:09 to play ??)

Trine was within 5 with 15 to play and just fell apart.

[BogeyMan]

Albion - Augustana tied at half with 26 each.

Go Brits!  Are you able to get livestats or audio anywhere?  All I found were two comments on twitter-- one saying that Albion was up 15-10 and the next saying they were tied at the half.

Live stats:
http://www.msjsports.com/media/livestats/mbb/xlive.htm

I tweet the Albion scores quite often @forefour

[BogeyMan]

One positive for Albion today was their bigs outscored and rebounded Augustana's bigs.

One negative was Albion had 19 turnovers.

[BogeyMan]

One positive for Albion today was their bigs outscored and rebounded Augustana's bigs.

One negative was Albion had 19 turnovers.

[oldknight]

There is some good and there is some bad to remark upon about Calvin's 108-98 season opening win at VNA today. For no particular reason--other than possibly a nod to my Dutch Calvinist roots--let's start with the bad.

The Knights' defense was pathetic. Giving up 98 the first game of the year is difficult to overlook. I know Anderson shot a ridiculous 18-35 from the arc but let's be honest: most of those three pointers were taken after the Ravens' shooter had time to enjoy a cup of coffee before stepping into his shot. The rotation of Calvin's defense was so slow Anderson had no trouble getting that shot early in the shot clock. I can't remember a possession where Anderson came close to exhausting the shot clock. The Knights also had stretches when they rebounded poorly, even though the Knights held a 42-26 advantage on the boards. Calvin allowed too many easy second shots to the visitors.

Now the good. If anyone doubted Jordan Brinks' credentials as a preseason All-American third teamer, he erased them this afternoon. What a performance by the senior from Dyer, Indiana--a monster performance really, with 27 points, 10 boards, 7 assists, and 5 steals. It was one the best floor games I've seen from a Calvin player in years. He did it all and simply took over the game the last 7+ minutes, scoring, assisting. rebounding and defending. In one way or another he seemed to positively affect every play down the stretch on both sides of the ball.

But it wasn't just a one man show. Calvin has several good offensive options, and got double figure scoring from five players, plus 9 points and 5 assists from Austin Parks who I thought played a solid floor game. Frosh Connor VanderBrug had 13 points to go with a game high 13 rebounds despite sitting the last 10 minutes due to some apparent coaching unhappiness. It began when the youngster failed to notice a wide-open Jordan Brink and then immediately followed up that transgression by turning his head and not noticing the Anderson guard whizzing a pass to Connor's man under the basket. As I mentioned last week. the kid will make some freshmen mistakes but sometimes they need to play through them and learn. Better now than in January. VanderBrug is simply too talented to leave off the floor for long stretches.

I would be remiss if I failed to complement Owen Handy and his Anderson squad. When Handy took his first team into VNA two years ago, he had a roster bereft of talent and competiveness but the culture seems to be changing. Owen has said he wants players who are mentally tough, committed, and very competitive. He has them now and I find it unlikely this team was finish close to 9th place in the HCAC as is predicted. His team had several opportunities to fold today but never did.

Finally, a tip of the cap to the Albion Britons who lost a tight 51-47 game to highly regarded pre-season CCIW favorite, Augustana. If there ever is such a thing as a good loss, I think this might qualify.

[sac]

Misericordia 61 Adrian 52
http://athletics.misericordia.edu/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=3698

[almcguirejr]

In women's volleyball  action Calvin and Hope both advance to to NCAA quarterfinals.  Hope came back from a 2-0 deficit for the second time in 2 days.  Calvin defeated Carthage 3-1.  If Calvin and Hope both win their quarterfinal match they will meet in the semi-finals.

[arena]

There is some good and there is some bad to remark upon about Calvin's 108-98 season opening win at VNA today. For no particular reason--other than possibly a nod to my Dutch Calvinist roots--let's start with the bad.

The Knights' defense was pathetic. Giving up 98 the first game of the year is difficult to overlook. I know Anderson shot a ridiculous 18-35 from the arc but let's be honest: most of those three pointers were taken after the Ravens' shooter had time to enjoy a cup of coffee before stepping into his shot. The rotation of Calvin's defense was so slow Anderson had no trouble getting that shot early in the shot clock. I can't remember a possession where Anderson came close to exhausting the shot clock. The Knights also had stretches when they rebounded poorly, even though the Knights held a 42-26 advantage on the boards. Calvin allowed too many easy second shots to the visitors.

Now the good. If anyone doubted Jordan Brinks' credentials as a preseason All-American third teamer, he erased them this afternoon. What a performance by the senior from Dyer, Indiana--a monster performance really, with 27 points, 10 boards, 7 assists, and 5 steals. It was one the best floor games I've seen from a Calvin player in years. He did it all and simply took over the game the last 7+ minutes, scoring, assisting. rebounding and defending. In one way or another he seemed to positively affect every play down the stretch on both sides of the ball.

But it wasn't just a one man show. Calvin has several good offensive options, and got double figure scoring from five players, plus 9 points and 5 assists from Austin Parks who I thought played a solid floor game. Frosh Connor VanderBrug had 13 points to go with a game high 13 rebounds despite sitting the last 10 minutes due to some apparent coaching unhappiness. It began when the youngster failed to notice a wide-open Jordan Brink and then immediately followed up that transgression by turning his head and not noticing the Anderson guard whizzing a pass to Connor's man under the basket. As I mentioned last week. the kid will make some freshmen mistakes but sometimes they need to play through them and learn. Better now than in January. VanderBrug is simply too talented to leave off the floor for long stretches.

I would be remiss if I failed to complement Owen Handy and his Anderson squad. When Handy took his first team into VNA two years ago, he had a roster bereft of talent and competiveness but the culture seems to be changing. Owen has said he wants players who are mentally tough, committed, and very competitive. He has them now and I find it unlikely this team was finish close to 9th place in the HCAC as is predicted. His team had several opportunities to fold today but never did.

Finally, a tip of the cap to the Albion Britons who lost a tight 51-47 game to highly regarded pre-season CCIW favorite, Augustana. If there ever is such a thing as a good loss, I think this might qualify.

concemtration, or a total lack of it was almost the downfall of Calvin's team today. It really was apparent in the terrible free throw shooting in the second half.  Untill Brink took the game over, I really thouht Anderson had it won.

[KnightSlappy]

I'm sure KVS would have love to insert Dan Stout and TJ Huizenga into the game for defense at many points this afternoon. Stout was in uniform roughly an hour before the game, but when it came time for warmups he was back in street clothes.

Anderson was granted open look after open look from range, but even so, shooting over 50% on 35 attempts is hard to do. If they had instead made at a still-impressive 40% rate, it would have taken 12 points off the board for Anderson. 86 points would have been easier to stomach in what turned out to be a(n) ~86 possession game (super fast tempo).

The good: Anderson shot only .375 on their two-point shots.