MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

Alma up on Waynesburg 50-20 at the half.  Calvin really seems to have worn out the Yellow Jackets last night.

It's an annihilation of Waynesburg--a true Dresden-style WW II carpet bombing campaign--in a game that doesn't even seem to be that close. Waynesburg had to score the last four points of the half to keep to deficit at 30. The Scots are doing that with no contribution from DJ Beckman who played 9 minutes and didn't take a shot from the floor or the stripe. The obliteration is pretty much across the board with Alma totally befuddling the Yellow Jackets courtesy of a frantic half court trap and total board supremacy. I've always wondered what a coach says in the locker room at halftime when you've had your head handed to you that badly.

[KnightSlappy]

Ohio Wesleyan tops Calvin 91-83. Calvin had the game down to six points with about a minute to play, but couldn't really mount a serious threat late. Not a terrible result on the road if OWU really is a legit No. 13 team.

Calvin dominated the glass 55-28, but they shot poorly and turned the ball over 18 times. I think about 10 of those turnovers came in the first 8-10 minutes of the game.

[oldknight]

OWU outlasts Calvin 91-83. I remember last year being impressed by OWU's diminutive point guard, Axelrod, as being the straw that stirs the drink and he did so again today. A coach's dream who makes his team go. Calvin had no answer for Claude Gray who scored 27 on the strength of 6-13 from the arc. A big body who can shoot makes for a tough matchup.

The Knights got a monster game from Daley who 25 points and 16 boards. Cam Denny also had a double/double with 12 and 11. OWU has a very nice and veteran team and despite the loss, I think Calvin fans can be encouraged. For the second night in a row, the Knights totally dominated the boards, outrebounding the Battling Bishops 55-28, but really hurt themselves again by committing 18 turnovers. By contrast, the more veteran home team committed 13 fewer. Part of Calvin's problem with taking care of the ball is probably due to the fact that this team has several new players to work with and they're not all on the same page.

Two games is a pretty small sample size but this team may prove to be better rebounding club than I anticipated. I was quite worried Calvin would not be a very good rebounding club this season but the Knights have totally ruled the boards. They seem to compete and there is simply no substitute for having a competitive attitude. They gotta drop the TO's though. An average of 19 miscues per game simply won't allow this team to be much better than .500 no matter how many rebounds they get.

[sac]

Hope 68  Stevens Point 56

Pretty outstanding game from the Dutchmen tonight, from 4-4 tie led the rest of the way.  Big night from behind the arc going 8-15 to Point's 1-7.  Down the stretch with Point putting pressure on them Hope was able to force a few turnovers and get steals on some key possessions. 

Gardner 18, Benson 13, Eidson 13, Blackledge 9, Otto 9


Point's probably not a top 10 team right now, but still pretty good.  Might be a big win to have on the resume later on.

[HOPEful]

Hope 68  Stevens Point 56

Pretty outstanding game from the Dutchmen tonight, from 4-4 tie led the rest of the way.  Big night from behind the arc going 8-15 to Point's 1-7.  Down the stretch with Point putting pressure on them Hope was able to force a few turnovers and get steals on some key possessions. 

Point's probably not a top 10 team right now, but still pretty good.  Might be a big win to have on the resume later on.

Great couple of road wins!

Also, UW-SP's streamed broadcast might be the gold standard to which all other d3 schools should hope to achieve.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Obviously a great trip to Wisconsin for the Dutchmen.  Last night was a great display of what this team can do defensively. Hope really seemed to dictate the style of play right from the start with a defense of 4 guys playing a switching man-to-man on the perimeter with Brock (or Keith) playing a 1 man zone. Really took away open jump shots which has been the bread and butter for the Pointers this year.  Meanwhile some hot 3 point shooting by Hope lead to a nice halftime lead. I did feel at the half that the lead should have been more substantial given Hopes dominance on the boards. 

Start of e second half it felt like UWSP had adjusted thinking they had seen the best of Hopes D.  Then the Dutchmen come out with another gear or two of defensive intensity. No doubt the defense keyed the offense. Interesting stat from the game backs up the D.  Hope committed 16 turnovers, but they only lead to 3 points. UWSP committed 11 turnovers that lead to 17 points.

Ben Gardner for the second game in a row just took over for a time with 18 second half points as well as leading the team in rebounds and assists, all while shutting down the UWSP leading scorer.  Loving the intensity of the team lead by the seniors and the depth as well.  Sure seems like the second 5 off the bench have all worked really hard and improved greatly. Not much drop off when you put those guys on the floor.

Going to be a special season for Hope!

[BogeyMan]

Albion 86         Berea 84

Herron 17     Oakes 16     Hussein 14    Wheeler 13

This is the first year for Berea to play in D3.  They made a transfer from an NAIA school to D3.  Two very good players in Richard Parker 36 points and Dominique Garmon 13 points.  In my opinion both looked good enough to be scholarship players.  Albion was down early again by 12 and clawed their way back in it by half time.  Close game second half with both teams exchanging punches.  I'm sure the pace of the game was not what Coach May wanted with the score in the 80s but it seems that Albion may have a little more offensive ability this year.  Jibreel Hussein has helped immensely on the offensive end averaging 20 in the first two games.  Two good wins for Albion against two better than average opponents.

[sac]

  Hope committed 16 turnovers, but they only lead to 3 points.

4 or 5 of those Hope turnovers were charges, and a number of the others were the kind that don't lead to transition opportunities such as throwing the ball through the baseline.  Point was credited with 5 steals on the 16 turnovers, while Hope had 10 steals off Points 11 turnovers.

  Sure seems like the second 5 off the bench have all worked really hard and improved greatly. Not much drop off when you put those guys on the floor.

I've been hoping for a while that Keith Brushwyler could find a way to contribute and it looks like he might be able to do that.  Hope did shorten its bench alittle from the night before and had to work through a couple foul problems.

Point's probably not a top 10 team right now, but still pretty good.  Might be a big win to have on the resume later on.

I'm probably the odd duck that has watched a half dozen or more St. Olaf games the last few years so I think very highly of the Oles and Stevens Point did beat them.  UWSP has 4 or 5 pretty tough games coming up that will challenge them and its why I pause to call them a top 10 team right now.

St Nobert, at Augustana, at North Central, Lawrence, St. Thomas

Throw in the Hope game from last night and that's a really challenging stretch of games for Point.  Not sure how they'll get through that without at least another loss.

[pointlem]

Congrats to the Hope men (and women) for a very impressive start to their seasons.

that's a really challenging stretch of games for Point.  Not sure how they'll get through that without at least another loss.

Yes, and also a challenging shorter stretch for Hope . . . playing last year's DIII and NAIA DII national champions within a span of eight days.  I've all along presumed that #1 ranked Cornerstone, with its best players returned (one of whom didn't play against Hope last year) would be the bigger of the two challenges, and perhaps the best team Hope and Calvin will face on the rest of their schedules.

[GreatScot!?]

Alma up on Waynesburg 50-20 at the half.  Calvin really seems to have worn out the Yellow Jackets last night.

That's a convenient way to put it, not sure it would have mattered if Waynesburg would have played the night before or not. The Scots were pretty fired up after getting beat by a extremely more confident Ohio Wesleyan team. Hopefully the Scots can keep up the emotional play!

[knightvision]

Got home too late to catch the Calvin game, but watched a bit of the Hope game online on Saturday while also watching some college football.  The quality/intensity of the Hope defense already noted by FDF and sac was the thing that stood out for me in this game, particularly on the perimeter.  If Blackledge and Otto have more typical games, that's a 20+ point blowout.  If they play defense like that all year, and combine that with their depth and firepower offensively at multiple positions, methinks it is going to be a loooong year for the rest of the MIAA. 

I am looking forward to trying to catch at least one night of the games later this week.  The Hope-Cornerstone game should be really good, with 3 pt shooting and avoiding front-court foul trouble being a key for both teams.  I've seen Cornerstone a couple times this year, and if they have a weakness, it may be that they are a little thin in terms of front-court depth.  And don't fall asleep on Aquinas--they are solid and more than capable of winning a couple games.  I am very interested to see how the Knights fare against two very good teams.... 

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

[KnightSlappy]

Still early days, but Hope has taken over the #1 position on Massey's ratings site.

http://masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cb&sub=NCAA%20III

[sac]

D3 had a budget surplus last year
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-iii-finishes-2014-15-budget-surplus?sf15938534=1

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

That is certainly good news... but the last time there was a budget surplus the money was blown rather quickly... which got us in the recent mess to begin with. I am glad to see some more money may be available to offset a lot of things, but this isn't going to dramatically change how Division III operates (fare warning to those who think it will).

[wiz]

Video feed coming in from the women's game at Manchester, so assuming the same will hold true for the men's game.
http://www.calvinknights.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/boxscores/20151124_ypbh.xml