MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Captain_Joe08]

NACC Standings as of 1/27

#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 16-1 (9-1)
MSOE 12-6 (8-3)
St. Norbert 12-6 (8-3)
Marian 13-5 (6-5)
Concordia Wisconsin 9-9 (6-5)
Aurora 8-10 (6-5)
Rockford 10-7 (5-5)
Lakeland 6-11 (5-5)
Concordia Chicago 6-12 (4-7)
Benedictine 5-13 (4-7)
Dominican 6-11 (3-7)
Edgewood 4-14 (3-8)
Illinois Tech 3-14 (2-8)

Sorry for the lack of updates. Was at a music and gaming convention from Wednesday through yesterday.

[Captain_Joe08]

Scores through 1/25

1/24

Concordia (NE) 90
Concordia Chicago 71

Concordia (MI) 74
Concordia Wisconsin 73

1/25

St. Norbert 71
Illinois Tech 63

Rockford 96
Lakeland 81

MSOE 81
Benedictine 70

#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 91
Aurora 78

Dominican 80
Marian 74

Concordia Wisconsin 69
Concordia Chicago 65 (Non-Conf)

[Captain_Joe08]

1/29 Scores

Concordia Wisconsin 79 Illinois Tech 60
Benedictine 75 Aurora 73
Rockford 76 Edgewood 72
St. Norbert 82 Marian 77 (OT)
Dominican 82 Concordia Chicago 74
#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 90 Lakeland 78: Warriors were down 20 at half. Outscored the Muskies 62-30 in the second half while shooting a blistering 71.8% in the final period.

[Captain_Joe08]

Standings after 1/29

#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 17-1 (10-1)
St. Norbert 13-6 (9-3)
MSOE 12-6 (8-3)
Concordia Wisconsin 10-9 (7-5)
Rockford 11-7 (6-5)
Marian 13-6 (6-6)
Aurora 8-11 (6-6)
Lakeland 6-12 (5-6)
Benedictine 6-13 (5-7)
Dominican 7-11 (4-7)
Concordia Chicago 6-13 (4-8)
Edgewood 4-15 (3-9)
Illinois Tech 3-15 (2-9)

St. Norbert regains second place in the standings with MSOE a half game back. Marian now is in the thick of the logjam with four teams in a game of 5th place. Keep an eye on Dominican though. Stars have won four straight and now are a game out of the last conference tournament spot.

[Captain_Joe08]

2/1 Scores

Benedictine 90 Lakeland 76
MSOE 93 Illinois Tech 62
#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 93 Rockford 83
Concordia Wisconsin 87 Edgewood 82
St. Norbert 66 Dominican 65
Concordia Chicago 75 Marian 67

NACC Standings


#7 Wisconsin Lutheran 18-1 (11-1)
St. Norbert 14-6 (10-3)
MSOE 13-6 (9-3)
Concordia Wisconsin 11-9 (8-5)
Rockford 11-8 (6-6)
Aurora 8-11 (6-6)
Marian 13-7 (6-7)
Benedictine 7-13 (6-7)
Lakeland 6-13 (5-7)
Concordia Chicago 7-13 (5-8)
Dominican 7-12 (4-8)
Edgewood 4-16 (3-10)
Illinois Tech 3-16 (2-10)

[Captain_Joe08]

WLC slips to #8 despite a 2-0 week but are in a very tight group of only separated by a handful of points.

Initial NPI came out yesterday and the Warriors are ranked #11. Other ranked teams in the the top 30 for the region include:

Illinois Wesleyan #4
Wash U #10
WLC #11
Anderson #21
North Park #29
Carthage #30

[Captain_Joe08]

2/5 Matchups

Concordia Chicago at Rockford: CUC despite a lengthy slide down the standings is still not out of the chase for a conference tournament spot but the schedule to end the year isn't going to be easy. An upset or two will be needed in order to make the field. Rockford looks to stay out of the danger zone here with a win.

Benedictine at Edgewood: BenU now holds the final spot in the NACC Tournament rankings thanks to a win over Lakeland last Saturday. Edgewood looks to play spoiler the rest of the way out but it's gonna be a tall task here.

Aurora at Illinois Tech: Spartans look to break out of the logjam that is happening at the bottom half of the top 8 which looks to be doable against struggling Tech.

MSOE at St. Norbert: Battle for 2nd place in the league is on the line here. Winner can stay in shouting distance of WLC and the loser has to hope the top two stumble a bit down the stretch. I lean SNC but they nearly got upset by Dominican last time out while MSOE has been consistent.

Dominican at #8 Wisconsin Lutheran: On paper this looks like a WLC win going away but Dominican has been playing good as of late and nearly took down St. Norbert last Saturday. Gotta come out strong and maintain it the entire game.

Lakeland at Concordia Wisconsin: An 0-2 week saw Lakeland tumble out of the top 8. It does not get any easier with CUW looking to maintain at least a top 4 spot in the standings.

BYE: Marian

[Greek Tragedy]

Wisconsin Lutheran    12-1   
St. Norbert    11-3   
MSOE    9-4   
Concordia (Wis.)    9-5   
Aurora    7-6   
Benedictine    7-7   
Marian    6-7   
Rockford    6-7   
Concordia-Chicago    6-8   
Lakeland    5-8   
Dominican    4-9   
Edgewood    3-11   
Illinois Tech    2-11

[Captain_Joe08]

As a result of winning Wednesday, WLC and St. Norbert clinched their spots in the conference tournament.

[Captain_Joe08]

2/5 Scores

Concordia Chicago 83 Rockford 82
Benedictine 83 Edgewood 79
Aurora 96 Illinois Tech 54
St. Norbert 82 MSOE 80
Concordia Wisconsin 100 Lakeland 90
#8 Wisconsin Lutheran 93 Dominican 90: These recent scores are becoming somewhat of concern for WLC. Needing a massive comeback against Lakeland along with less than stellar results in wins over Rockford and Dominican. Hoping they aren't trending downward heading to the end of the season.

[Captain_Joe08]

NACC Tournament Spots

Clinched: WLC, St. Norbert

In The Hunt:

MSOE 9-4 (+3.5)
Concordia Wisconsin 9-5 (+3.0)
Aurora 7-6 (+1.5)
Benedictine 7-7 (+1.0)
Marian 6-7 (+0.5)
Rockford 6-7 (+0.5)
Concordia Chicago (-0.5)
Lakeland (-1.0)
Dominican (-2.0)
Edgewood (-3.5)
Illinois Tech (-4.0)

[Captain_Joe08]

Today's slate of games:

Rockford at Concordia Wisconsin
MSOE at Aurora
Illinois Tech at Marian
Dominican at Lakeland
Edgewood at St. Norbert
Benedictine at #8 Wisconsin Lutheran

Both Edgewood and Illinois Tech could be eliminated with losses or wins by Marian & Rockford today.

[Captain_Joe08]

Remaining games left for everyone in the hunt for a conference tournament spot:

MSOE

2/8 @ Aurora (7-6)
2/12 vs WLC (12-1)
2/15 vs Dominican (4-9)
2/19 @ Marian (6-7)
2/22 @ Concordia Chicago (6-8)

Raiders have to face WLC at home but the rest of the schedule they should be favorite in the rest of the games.

Concordia Wisconsin

 2/8 vs Rockford (6-7)
2/15 vs Aurora (7-6)
2/19 @ Wisconsin Lutheran (12-1)
2/22 @ Benedictine (7-7)

One of the more tougher slates of the contenders but the Falcons have come on as the calendar turned to 2025 winning 8 of 11.

Aurora

2/8 @ MSOE (9-4)
2/12 vs Concordia Chicago (6-8)
2/15 @ Concordia Wisconsin (9-5)
2/19 vs Lakeland (5-8)
2/22 @ Dominican (4-9)

That win against St. Norbert earlier in January might come in handy if the Spartans have issues down the stretch and end up in tie. Games against CUC, Lakeland and Dominican are must wins but if they can manage to steal a win over MSOE and/or CUW, then the road might become easier.

Benedictine

2/8 @ WLC (12-1)
2/12 vs Illinois Tech (2-11)
2/19 @ Rockford (6-7)
2/22 vs Concordia Wisconsin (9-5)

Benedictine has been a hot and cold team all year. Right now they ride a 3 game win streak and before they dropped three straight. The Tech game should be a win but the Rockford game is a tossup while they figure to be the underdog against WLC and CUW.

Marian

2/8 vs Illinois Tech (2-11)
2/12 vs Edgewood (3-11)
2/15 @ Rockford (6-7)
2/19 vs MSOE (9-4)
2/22 @ St. Norbert (11-3)

Sabers get the two bottom dwellers right away but the action cranks up with Rockford in a week in a game that could decide a tournament spot. MSOE and St. Norbert might've clinched bids at this point but it will be a tall task if Marian does not take care of business in the next week.

Rockford

2/8 @ Concordia Wisconsin (9-5)
2/12 @ Dominican (4-9)
2/15 vs Marian (6-7)
2/19 vs Benedictine (7-7)
2/22 vs Illinois Tech (2-11)

Regents get to end the season with three straight home games with two against fellow contenders but Rockford hasn't been setting the world on fire lately which is a concern in the stretch run.

Concordia Chicago

2/12 @ Aurora (7-6)
2/15 vs St. Norbert (11-3)
2/19 @ Illinois Tech (2-11)
2/22 vs MSOE (9-4)

That 1-5 stretch in January put the Cougars in a tight spot in the standings being a half game out of the last spot. They are gonna have an uphill climb with as they face two of the top three teams along with an Aurora team that has picked up their play as of late.

Lakeland

2/8 vs Dominican (4-9)
2/12 vs St. Norbert (11-3)
2/15 @ Illinois Tech (2-11)
2/19 @ Aurora (7-6)
2/22 vs WLC (12-1)

A four game slide blunted any momentum that the Muskies had going earlier in January and blowing a 20 point lead to WLC might come back to haunt them here. Lakeland needs to pick up wins over Dominican and Tech and go on the road and beat Aurora.

Dominican

2/8 @ Lakeland (5-8)
2/12 vs Rockford (6-7)
2/15 @ MSOE (9-4)
2/19 vs Edgewood (3-11)
2/22 vs Aurora (7-6)

Dominican isn't fully out of the picture but they need a bit of chaos ahead of them in order to make the field. While it isn't the most daunting of slate but four of the teams listed here the Stars lost to and some by a big margin. However Dominican nearly pulled off back to back upsets against the top two within the last week so there could be a chance they could flip the script on a few matchups.

[Captain_Joe08]

#8 Wisconsin Lutheran 40 Benedictine 30: WLC despite being 2/12 from three, are shooting 50% from the field.
St. Norbert 28 Edgewood 12: Eagles shooting 13% from the field 
Marian 40 Illinois Tech 22: 33 of Marian's 40 points have come from three point land.
Dominican 36 Lakeland 33: Stars ahead in a tight game up in Plymouth.
MSOE 48 Aurora 46: High scoring affair down in Illinois so far.
Concordia Wisconsin 64 Rockford 45: Defense optional in this game. Falcons shooting 67% after spending most of the half in the 70% range. Rockford shooting 56% but have 17 team fouls in the first half alone.

[Captain_Joe08]

Concordia Wisconsin 103 Rockford 86: Falcons finish the game shooting 63%

Marian 72 Illinois Tech 50: No issues for the Sabers dispatching Scarlet Hawks

St. Norbert 66 Edgewood 51: Green Knights continue their hot streak.

Lakeland 88 Dominican 78: Star's tournament hopes our on life support. Muskies keep pace in the tournament race.

#8 Wisconsin Lutheran 81 Benedictine 53: Warriors blow open the game in the second half. Much more respective of what WLC is capable of.

MSOE 94 Aurora 86: Raiders survive a track meet.

NACC Standings

#8 Wisconsin Lutheran 20-1 (13-1) x
St. Norbert 16-6 (12-3) x
MSOE 14-7 (10-4)
Concordia Wisconsin 13-9 (10-5)
Marian 14-7 (7-7)
Aurora 9-12 (7-7)
Benedictine 8-14 (7-8)
Rockford 11-10 (6-8)
Concordia Chicago 8-13 (6-8)
Lakeland 7-14 (6-8)
Dominican 7-14 (4-10)
Edgewood 4-18 (3-12)
Illinois Tech 3-18 (2-12)