MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[goodknight]

Congratulations to Trine and Calvin on advancing to the Sweet 16. Plenty of drama this weekend and a great showing for our league.
Keep it rolling, Thunder and Knights.

[Grutte Dirk]

Woof.  This livestream play by play guy at JCU is the most apoplectic homer I have heard in a long, long time

It was entertaining. The color man grousing about 'Underway' dominating was comical.

[MaroonKnighty]

I won a bet tonight regarding the outcome of a game.  Should I request Pliny the Elder or Heady Topper?

[oldknight]

Woof.  This livestream play by play guy at JCU is the most apoplectic homer I have heard in a long, long time

It was entertaining. The color man grousing about 'Underway' dominating was comical.

Yeah, I was wondering who this new guy was that found his way on to the Calvin roster. Gotta give the announcers credit though. In addition to continually repeating the "Underway" gaffe, they found about 10 different ways to pronounce Egekeze's name. However, I spent most of my night trying to determine what was worse--the announcing or the officiating.

[wiz]

I have a new appreciation for MIAA officials.

[TUAngola]

Trine holds off Coe last night 76-70 to advance to the Sweet 16 to be held at Trine this coming Friday/Saturday.  The first game at 4:30 Friday has Case Western Reserve vs UW-Platteville (Platteville will be making their second trip to Angola this season), followed by Wash U vs. Trine. 

Last night Trine jumps out to an early 20 point lead and go in at the break leading by 17 as Coe hits a 3 at the buzzer.  In the second half Coe senior guard Cael Schmitt put the Kohawks on his back and brought Coe all the way back and eventually took a brief lead.  The Thunder on the other hand struggled with any offensive rhythm like they had in the first half.  Smylie was quiet offensively but had 2 huge buckets late including a three that kept the Kohawks at bay.  His biggest constribution was on the defensive end, played tough against  Schnurr inside who didn't have the big game like he did against Wabash.

The students are on spring break so the energy they typically bring to the MTI was non-existent this weekend.  However there were a group of student-athletes that arrived early in the second half, may have been the men's lacrosse team coming back from Milwaukee, that brought that section to life at a time the guys needed it.  Survive and advance.

Trine: C Garland 23, Moore 16, F Garland 10
Coe: Schmitt 32, Schnurr 10, Schloe 10

[pointlem]

Kudos to Trine for commanding wins and a chance to host again, with a winnable game against Wash U, and hopes that on Saturday night they won't face another jaw-dropping shooting performance from Case Western.

A very impressive weekend for Calvin, especially Saturday against a loaded home-court team that seemed destined for the Final Four. Three-point shooting has been Calvin's Achilles heel this season, but not this weekend (20 of 40, across the two games).

Hope's loss, after taking an early 10-point lead, was a disappointing end to a season that, nonetheless, ended exactly as last season . . . on an upswing with another league tournament championship and, hopefully, great memories for the seniors who have brought their fans so much pleasure. Radio announcer Mike Coleman hinted a chance that Tanner Wiegerink might (or might not) return, in which case Hope would be fully loaded for next season.

Finally, kudos to Coleman for his travels on our behalf and his class-act broadcasting. His play-by-play commentary is just the right blend of professionalism and Hope-support. His interviews are great. And he exhibits a kind spirit towards all. Although I could wish that some tech person could figure out how to sync his audio into a game video feed, he's good enough that I've listened to his audio stream preparing me for what I am about to see on screen.

[northb]

Fun fact, my dad, a graduate of Calvin some 60+ years ago, did postgraduate work at Trinity (CT).  So one alma mater will be playing at the other this weekend.  Should they both win, they will play against each other.

He will root for Calvin.

[oldknight]

Finally, kudos to Coleman for his travels on our behalf and his class-act broadcasting. His play-by-play commentary is just the right blend of professionalism and Hope-support.

I haven't listened often to the online Hope announcing crew, but I agree; when I have listened in, I have found them to be quite professional and fair. One positive I should mention about the John Carroll crew last night. When the game ended and the visiting team was celebrating on JCU's floor, the announcer expressed admiration for what the Knights had accomplished over the weekend, and he noted that Calvin had probably gotten the toughest draw in the entire D3 tournament.

[wiz]

Sometimes teams think a little too much of themselves when they refer to a top 10 opponent as a Cinderella team.
https://bnnbreaking.com/sports/no-2-john-carroll-mens-basketball-stunned-by-calvin-in-ncaa-diii-tournament-upset

[HOPEful]

I won a bet tonight regarding the outcome of a game.  Should I request Pliny the Elder or Heady Topper?

Whichever is freshest. Personally, I'd prefer a fresh Pliny. But I'd take a fresh Heady over a 4-month-old Pliny. 

[sac]

A very nice season for Hope.  I never gave this team much chance to win the MIAA with a really stupid 5 game swing of Calvin twice,Trine twice and Albion in between before January ended.  Good luck to whoever gets that garbage schedule next year.   And btw, I think its dumb Calvin had Trine had equally stupid 4 game stretches against each other and Hope twice. 

Hope's non-conference schedule ended up being a touch to weak to garner a Pool C on its merits and the tough losses to Whitewater and Platteville in the span of 4 days likely meant Hope would have to win the MIAA tournament to continue their season.  To their credit they pulled it off again. 
 



Anyway, I told you what would happen a long time ago.    

Trine and Calvin have put together very good rosters that Hope can beat again in the MIAA Tournament. 

[TUAngola]

Massey predictions for Friday's Sweet 16 brackets involving Calvin & Trine:

At Trinity (CT):
Randolph Macon 67 Calvin 59
Trinity 69 Tufts 62

At Trine:
UW-Platteville 79 Case Western Reserve 77
Trine 70 WashU 68

I'm looking forward to being at MTI for both games Friday.  First one should be a shootout, both Platteville and Case can put up big numbers offensively.  The second game should be more defensive oriented, will be decided by who has the better shooting/rebounding night.  It will be interesting to see if we can hang with a UAA team.  If not for a remarkable second half shooting exhibition by Case, Hope showed they can play with the UAA's best. 

The Trine students are on spring break this week, hopefully we'll have a bunch want to come back to campus early this weekend, it makes a big difference with the Blue Crew in tow. 

Good luck to both the Knights and Thunder.  Let's rendezvous in Fort Wayne next weekend!

Win or lose, this will be a season I will never forget. 

[Greek Tragedy]

I find it really odd that Trine offers NO presale tickets for the game. The other 3 teams don't even get a block to sell to their own fans. So, basically, the traveling fans are just winging it, hoping they'll get a ticket. What is the policy? Are there sections for traveling fans blocked off and they are general admission? I doubt it will sell out, 3,500 seats? But still, for an NCAA game, I thought there would be standard ticketing policies. I think the biggest crowd there this season was about 2,700 for either a Calvin or Hope game. I read that the students are on spring break, so that should cut down on attendance.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I find it really odd that Trine offers NO presale tickets for the game. The other 3 teams don't even get a block to sell to their own fans. So, basically, the traveling fans are just winging it, hoping they'll get a ticket. What is the policy? Are there sections for traveling fans blocked off and they are general admission? I doubt it will sell out, 3,500 seats? But still, for an NCAA game, I thought there would be standard ticketing policies. I think the biggest crowd there this season was about 2,700 for either a Calvin or Hope game. I read that the students are on spring break, so that should cut down on attendance.

As I said on the other thread, tickets have to be made available to the other schools.  Each visiting team is entitled to 1/6th of the tickets.  Perhaps none of them worried too much about going to the hassle of selling advanced tickets when its so unlikely to sell out.  3500 would be a decent showing for the Final Four, let alone Sectionals.