MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[almcguirejr]

"YOU BETTER GIRD YOUR LOINS"
(Bob Ufer from football's great Valhalla)

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Really well played first half and opening of the second half by the Dutchmen tonight.  By then they were up 30+ and lost their intensity a bit - 15 second half turnovers, most of those with the end of the bench in and the game already decided. Going to need a solid 40 minutes tomorrow against Wooster. 

Hope's defensive intensity really controlled the game, once again holding a team under 20% from 3 - which I credit to some great close outs ensuring no easy looks from 3.  Looking for the Hope D to control the game tomorrow if we are going to win against a good team in a tough place to play.

I was also impressed with the ball movement - 19 assists on 28 baskets.  I think we are seeing this team become who they are coached to be, and the passing and movement that lead to those assist numbers reflect that.

[sac]

Albion 50  Redlands 47
Brits hold on to win out in California.  So so Albion.  Play the hosts Whittier tomorrow.   Whose whittier when drunk a poet or a briton?

Trine 62  St. Vincent  58
Nice win for Trine, going to be tough for an MIAA team to be blocked by a PAC team in the polls this year.  Trine gets another nice schedule strength building game with Case Western.  (mostly the OOP part with Case being in the UAA)

Wilmington  92  Alma  85
Really thought Alma might win this one.  Interesting thing is Waynesburg beat Wittenberg which means Alma plays the Tigers tomorrow with a legitimate chance to beat them.

Hope 77  Spalding  58
Another obligation prevented me from seeing much of this one but Hope handled them well enough early to see they wouldn't have much trouble with the Golden Eagles.

Really big game tomorrow night vs Wooster.  First time since 1997 the Scots and Dutchmen meet on the floor.

[Gregory Sager]

Really big game tomorrow night vs Wooster.  First time since 1997 the Scots and Dutchmen meet on the floor.

AKA The AndersDY Nightmare Game.

[realist]

Alma get win #2 56 to 50 over Witt.

[northb]

Albion 50  Redlands 47
Brits hold on to win out in California.  So so Albion.  Play the hosts Whittier tomorrow.   Whose whittier when drunk a poet or a briton?

[

Trick question--Britons are always drunk.

[jspiii]

Watching the Maryland-MSU basketball game and just realized Maryland's starting guard is Richaud Pack, formerly of North Carolina A&T, formerly of FIU, and formerly of Adrian of the MIAA.

[AndersDY]

Really big game tomorrow night vs Wooster.  First time since 1997 the Scots and Dutchmen meet on the floor.

AKA The AndersDY Nightmare Game.

Nightmare or dream? 

I've wanted to see them meet, but was hoping it'd be in March sometime and that I'd have a chance to be there. Of course, my in-game attendance has fallen to nil last year and this year (those darn babies, that's what having them does I guess) and I have not been following the board, but I did just notice the matchup for tonight and at least had to follow online. At Wooster, I would expect a tCOW victory, but looks like Hope is hanging at the half.

[wiz]

Some brief impressions of Hope's game with Wooster:
Benson is much improved, had a great game tonight, and bigger challenge than NVA was.
Coach Mitchell is a class act.
Coach Davelaar was MIA.
Not sure why Carlson gets so many minutes.
Gardner is a keeper...very fast, moves the ball well, and is a scoring threat.
Hope was in this one all the way and nearly came out with a win.
Will not be surprised if Hope takes the league crown this year.

[pointlem]

To add to Wiz's comments . . .

1) Key call of the game, with 60 seconds left, the score tied 73 to 73, and Ben Gardner in control of the ball:  He gets knocked off his feet by a Dan Fannelly (as I recall) block, and the call is a travel.  Instead of Gardner likely scoring two free throws, Woo gets the ball and Fannelly scores.  I'm not blaming referees for making judgment calls.  My point is that this game, after 39 minutes, was dead even.

2) Hope continues to improve, with Brock Benson showing great improvement, and Dante Hawkins surely destined for more minutes and perhaps a future starting role.  This is a team with a future. So is Wooster, with sophomore Dan Fannelly an extremely athletic post player.

3) If I'm right that Hope is getting close to being a top-ten caliber team, then Saturday's game against #10 OWU should be another exciting matchup.

4) Props to the 92.7 radio crew for traveling that distance and doing such a great broadcast job. And thanks to Wooster for the excellent video.  (I listened to 92.7, which was about 4 seconds ahead of the video, so always knew what to watch for.)

[imderekpoe]

To add to Wiz's comments . . .

1) Key call of the game, with 60 seconds left, the score tied 73 to 73, and Ben Gardner in control of the ball:  He gets knocked off his feet by a Dan Fannelly (as I recall) block, and the call is a travel.  Instead of Gardner likely scoring two free throws, Woo gets the ball and Fannelly scores.  I'm not blaming referees for making judgment calls.  My point is that this game, after 39 minutes, was dead even.

I'm a Scots fan, and that call sure surprised me.  I thought that was a clear block on Fanelly (who had a great game otherwise.) You're right, I thought that was a very pivotal call.

[AndersDY]

Coach Davelaar was MIA.

The Facebook grapevine indicates he has some fun family business to attend to, no reason for concern there

[wooscotsfan]

Congrats to the Hope Dutchmen on a very well played game at Wooster yesterday.  Hope nearly pulled the upset as they led 73-71 with just over 2 minutes left.

Very impressed with both Brock Benson (26 points) and Ben Gardner (21 points).  Sac noted on the NCAC board that Hope and Wooster should play more often and I completely agree that these two excellent basketball programs need to schedule one another.  Good luck to Hope in the MIAA race this season!

[KnightSlappy]

Finlandia has a video stream available for today's 1 PM (1:30 PM?) game vs. Calvin.

http://www.fulions.com/watch/?Live=83

I don't know of any reputable institution that doesn't offer streaming video for their home games.

Nerd alert: Finlandia enters play with a 4-2 record in D3 games. With only two more non-Calvin D3 games remaining, they're guaranteed to have an adjusted winning percentage (from Calvin's perspective) no worse than .500. With the home/away multiplier in play that means the Knights are guaranteed to get a small OWP boost for this game when all is said and done. Not what you expect when you schedule Finlandia. The OOWP portion won't be strong (they've mostly played bad teams), but it looks like it will end up being an overall slight net positive in for Calvin's SOS.

[sac]

Its 7 degrees with near whiteout conditions across the Keewenaw Peninsula expected this afternoon into the overnight with wind gusts to 30mph and windchills in the -20's.

Enjoy your warm and cozy internet connection.