MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[HOPEful]

I was already leaning in this direction, but in my mind, last night solidified Evan Thomas as the current best player in the MIAA.

Also, last night was my first time watching on ACTV. When did Adrian make this change?! A MASSIVE improvement to the stationary camera high in the stands. May have moved all the way to my second favorite MIAA livestream after Hope. Although Trine's is very good too.

[sac]

I think they had ACTV 3 maybe even 4 seasons ago.  I don't recall them broadcasting games last year, but they for sure did in 2020.  Each year they've made some improvements. 

[hope81]

Hope womens' games are postponed for Saturday, no makeup yet announced.  Thus, the mens' games are being moved to the afternoon.  JV at 12:45, varsity at 3pm.

[AlwaysHope]

From SAC:  12.3 second left, Adrian ball, 3 point Hope lead.  Please just witness the mastery of this play, then laugh because I did.   
https://youtu.be/5kprwrQnyX8?t=8207"

Great steal by Tanner Wiegerink, who then drives the length of the court but decides to not shoot an uncontested layup with no Adrian player nearby.  He then hands out the ball to Clayton, who did not expect it.   Announcer says that Tanner decides to "run some clock" but realistically only maybe two seconds went off the clock before Clayton got fouled.

Wouldn't it be a better strategy to shoot the easy layup for a five point, two possession lead with about 6 seconds left in the game. The way it turned out, Clayton missed the 1st free throw, but made the second for a 2 possession lead.

[Goknights2017]

From SAC:  12.3 second left, Adrian ball, 3 point Hope lead.  Please just witness the mastery of this play, then laugh because I did.   
https://youtu.be/5kprwrQnyX8?t=8207"

Great steal by Tanner Wiegerink, who then drives the length of the court but decides to not shoot an uncontested layup with no Adrian player nearby.  He then hands out the ball to Clayton, who did not expect it.   Announcer says that Tanner decides to "run some clock" but realistically only maybe two seconds went off the clock before Clayton got fouled.

Wouldn't it be a better strategy to shoot the easy layup for a five point, two possession lead with about 6 seconds left in the game. The way it turned out, Clayton missed the 1st free throw, but made the second for a 2 possession lead.

Ya I think you take the lay-up there. Unless you know you can dribble out the entire clock, I would take the layup. A 5 point lead pretty much seals the win. It did work out for them though.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

This isn't football.  Always take the points.

[wiz]

This isn't football.  Always take the points.

Difficult for me to criticize a move that helped seal the victory. In the heat of the moment, he probably did not have time to analyze all the choices although he knew he wanted to take the clock down. The instructions were probably given to him during the previous time out. Either way it worked out fine and this seems like a pretty fine point to be second guessing.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

No criticism.  Somebody just asked what the better move is they're, strategically. I'd say two free points is always good.

[sac]

I just thought it was funny because you almost never see something like that.  With the missed Ft, Adrian could have ended up tying it.

100%, go dunk that, clinch it.

[sac]

Kalamazoo has ppd its next 4 games, that includes the already rescheduled Calvin game.

Those games are Olivet Calvin Hope Alma.  No  doubt will have an impact on the rest of the schedule.  Kzoo has to find 4 game dates in a 21 to 25 day period in between their remaining 6.  They're going to have to play almost every other night to fit these games in at least one might end up being  back-to back days, tough ask.

This isn't going to be ideal for anyone, these four schools are now going to have a week of 3 games.  I think a cancelled game or two seems almost inevitable at some point.

[tartanpride2016]

A quick note on Saturday's Alma and Hope game.

Ryan Clark is a perfect 2-0 at DeVos Fieldhouse since taking the Alma College head coaching job.

Prior to the Ryan Clark era, Hope was a perfect 17-0 in games at DeVos against Alma.
Hope had won the last 26 games at the Civic Center as well, so they were on a 43-game home winning streak against the Scots prior to the 2019-20 season. Their last loss was 83-77 in the 1985-86 campaign.

Bumping this up, because it's gameday! Looking forward to seeing if Coach Clark can extend the win streak in three hours.

[ziggy]

There must be something about traveling from Indiana to Van Noord Arena. It took Trine nearly 12 minutes to score this afternoon after it took Anderson nearly 13 minutes to score their first points earlier this season.

[almcguirejr]

There must be something about traveling from Indiana to Van Noord Arena. It took Trine nearly 12 minutes to score this afternoon after it took Anderson nearly 13 minutes to score their first points earlier this season.

Ugly game

[oldknight]

I expected a bruising battle at VNA this afternoon, and that's precisely what we got. We may still be in the first half of the conference season, but going in, it had the feel of a must-win game for both teams, and each squad played desperate, lock-down defense for most of the 40 minutes of play. It was an exhausting 55-54 win for Calvin (for me), that I didn't think was ugly at all--except for the uneven officiating, that left both teams mystified at times.

Trine is simply a superb defensive team, and the Knights matched the Thunder's intensity, even exceeding the visitors the opening 10 minutes of play. Trine never even hit the rim the first four minutes of play, with Calvin blocking two shots, forcing a 30 second violation, as well as three turnovers. The first Trine shot that got close to the rim only caught backboard, and Calvin led 15-0 before Trine finally scored after nearly 11 minutes of PT.

Calvin seemed (pre)destined for a comfortable double digit-lead going into the break, until a couple of defensive lapses late in the half led to a pair of unmolested Trine triples. The last two minutes saw a series of calls/non-calls by the refs--all them favoring Trine--that really hurt the Knights, and what had been a 24-9 Calvin lead with less than 3 minutes left, wound up being a nail-biting 26-22 score after 20 minutes of play.

The second half saw Calvin hold small leads, and a pressure-packed Luke Morrison triple with just under two minutes left, put Calvin up 55-50. That lead nearly disappeared, but Calvin played stout D the final seconds. Trine air-balled a hotly contested shot from the corner with 3 seconds left, and the followup was partially blocked at the buzzer.

Calvin made way too many turnovers (16), but dominated the boards, 37-19. Bowman was the only Trine player in double digits with 13, but only shot 1-9 from the floor. Morrison led Calvin with 18 while Bult (who started) added 9, plus 8 rebounds. Calvin doesn't win this game without Sensineg who came of the bench to break his defender, and score 9 second half points. A terrific game to watch, and a big win by a Calvin team that had to have this one..

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Bowman was the only Trine player in double digits with 13, but only shot 1-9 from the floor.

You missed Mitchell Geller's 23 points off the bench in just 25 minutes.  He almost singlehandedly kept the Thunder in this game.

Honestly, I thought Calvin was very fortunate to win this game, given the Trine 12 minute scoreless streak.  Yes, there was some very good defense played on both sides, but I also saw numerous questionable shots by both teams and some sloppy play.