MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[MaroonKnighty]

When the bald ref is in the house, I worry that neither team will be able to win.  That guy's got to go.

That's true of most MIAA refs.

[arena]

When the bald ref is in the house, I worry that neither team will be able to win.  That guy's got to go.

i cringed when I saw him out there. 

[almcguirejr]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I sat in the lower bowl ... didn't get over to meet "oldknight".  I thought it was a low-energy crowd ... the officials (even the "bald" one) didn't inject themselves into the game ... Calvin's height advantage overcame Trine's quickness ...and play under the basket was pretty physical.  Since I didn't have a dog in this hunt, I left with 3 minutes to go and Calvin in control

The earlier comment about Tyler Dystra's outstanding game was right on.  Combined with Calvin's height advantage and overall defense, those items really made the difference in a game that could have gone either way.  With the defense and rebounding being so solid, the points Calvin scored really wrapped it up.  In the second half Calvin had a prolonged scoring slump, missing shot after shot until Trine finally took the lead by 5.  But then the defense really clamped down, and the shots started to fall.  By the time Vander Brug and then Brink nailed threes, it was pretty much all over.  Brink, who had only 2 points well into the second half really played a major part in putting it away with scoring,  assists, and rebounding when it really counted.

I would also credit T..J Huizenga for the 27 minutes of PT he had today.  He does so many little things that don't show up statistically to help Calvin win.  He plays good defense, rebounds well (7 today) and has a knack for keeping the ball alive so a teammate can get it.

KVS did a nice job of using Jordan Daley in the first half after Daley picked up his second foul at 12:40 mark of the first half.  Calvin was able to get an additional 3-4 minutes from Daley

Calvin also did a good job of not putting Trine on the foul line.  Trine only had 9 attempts.

[TUAngola]

There has been much debate recently about Trine's ineffective bench and thus having the starters log 37-38 minutes a game.  For those of you in attendance at today's Calvin-Trine game, did you notice tired legs out of the Trine players?  Or was it just a combination of height/rebounding taking over down the stretch.  Dixon's poor shooting the last 2 games...maybe a sign of wearing down?  Or perhaps teams getting a better feel of what Trine is all about the 2nd go around in conference and making adjustments of what might not have worked the 1st time against them. 

Winning on the road is tough and my concerns about this 3 game stretch for Trine is coming true. 

[Dark Knight]

There has been much debate recently about Trine's ineffective bench and thus having the starters log 37-38 minutes a game.  For those of you in attendance at today's Calvin-Trine game, did you notice tired legs out of the Trine players?  Or was it just a combination of height/rebounding taking over down the stretch.  Dixon's poor shooting the last 2 games...maybe a sign of wearing down?  Or perhaps teams getting a better feel of what Trine is all about the 2nd go around in conference and making adjustments of what might not have worked the 1st time against them. 

Winning on the road is tough and my concerns about this 3 game stretch for Trine is coming true.

They competed very well for 33 minutes and then ran out of gas. Another factor was that two players picked up four fouls and had to play defense less aggressively.

With only on senior among the starting five, Trine could be even more formidable next year--especially if depth improves.

[TUAngola]

There has been much debate recently about Trine's ineffective bench and thus having the starters log 37-38 minutes a game.  For those of you in attendance at today's Calvin-Trine game, did you notice tired legs out of the Trine players?  Or was it just a combination of height/rebounding taking over down the stretch.  Dixon's poor shooting the last 2 games...maybe a sign of wearing down?  Or perhaps teams getting a better feel of what Trine is all about the 2nd go around in conference and making adjustments of what might not have worked the 1st time against them. 

Winning on the road is tough and my concerns about this 3 game stretch for Trine is coming true.

They competed very well for 33 minutes and then ran out of gas. Another factor was that two players picked up four fouls and had to play defense less aggressively.

With only on senior among the starting five, Trine could be even more formidable next year--especially if depth improves.

They will have Holmquist, Syroka and Dixon back from the starting 5.  Good is a senior, and so are Bagley and Hall who have alternated as the 5th starter this year.  Hopefully our 3 freshman bigs, Cummings, Davis and Zwiers can develop into productive players.  This is only the 2nd or 3rd year of organized ball for Cummings.  Zwiers is more of a wing and is from Grand Rapids Christian.  What kind of a player was he in high school?

[calvin_grad]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I sat in the lower bowl ... didn't get over to meet "oldknight".  I thought it was a low-energy crowd ... the officials (even the "bald" one) didn't inject themselves into the game ... Calvin's height advantage overcame Trine's quickness ...and play under the basket was pretty physical.  Since I didn't have a dog in this hunt, I left with 3 minutes to go and Calvin in control

Unfortunately, other than the Hope game, most of them are.  The fans got into it a bit in the second half when Calvin went down by 5, and got the lead back to about 10.

[almcguirejr]

Hope 41
Alma 39
Halftime

Hope dominating on the boards 17-7, that total includes 8 offensive rebounds for Hope.  Hope has 13 second chance points.  Benson with 14 points , Blackledge 8.

Hope is 14-15 from the line.

[DBQ1965]

When the bald ref is in the house, I worry that neither team will be able to win.  That guy's got to go.

i cringed when I saw him out there.

I wonder if the feeling about D3 refs is nationwide?

[maroonandgold]

Hope 41
Alma 39
Halftime

Hope dominating on the boards 17-7, that total includes 8 offensive rebounds for Hope.  Hope has 13 second chance points.  Benson with 14 points , Blackledge 8.

Hope is 14-15 from the line.

With about 9 minutes left, Alma leads 66 to 61.  The had an 8 point lead.  Whatever the final result will be, Alma has shown that it is tough on its home court.

[almcguirejr]

Alma 79
Hope 73
2:14

Alma with 26 points off Hope turnovers

[almcguirejr]

Alma 91
Hope 84
Final

Calvin clinches home court for MIAA tournament.

Alma beat Hope for the first since 1998.

Alma beat Calvin 2 weeks ago for the first time since 1999.

An impressive second half of the  league season for Sam Hargraves and his team to knock off Calvin, Trine and Hope.

[KnightSlappy]

Alma 91
Hope 84
Final

That clinches the #1 seed for Calvin and a minimum of a share of the league title.

[MaroonKnighty]

The last time Alma beat Hope, Sammy was a Senior at Calvin.

[maroonandgold]

Looking at the stats for Alma and Hope shows some rather amazing results.  Hope had 13 more shots than Alma, but scored 7 times less.  Hope's big 4 all scored well with 13, 16, 17, and 26 for Bensen.  But Alma had such a spread of players scoring in the teens, even 2 reserves, that they were able to overcome the fine efforts of Hope's starting 5.  Hope and  Alma both score 5 three-point shots, but it took Hope many more shots to do it.  Alma score 63% for the game to overcome a rebounding disadvantage, and as noted earlier many of their points came over turnovers.