MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Nice work, Ryan. +1 K

You a Muskie grad?

[Captain_Joe08]

Nice work, Ryan. +1 K

You a Muskie grad?

I hope! It's great to have other fans from the NACC around the conference threads along with the regulars like WLCalum (currently MIA) and me.

My thoughts of the NACC as we hit winter break:

It's tight at the top of the league. Three teams have one loss each in led by Aurora at 7-1. The second half will tell us of these team which one will have the friendly confines for the entire tournament.

Benedictine's 5-4 record may not be impressive but they knocked off Augustana and nearly beat North Central. I think they will be a major player in the title hunt going forward.

The mid pack of the NACC will be fun to watch too. Wisconsin Lutheran can play with anyone any night led by Jarango and Marose, Edgewood does not beat themselves that often and Concordia has some nice pieces that have contributed so far.

MSOE in my mind has been a slight disappointment so far. Was expecting them to be in the mix at the top but right now they are playing inconsistent basketball in the NACC.

CUC and Rockford are still rebuilding.

It has been a rough year for Dominican basketball as both the men's and the women's basketball teams are a combined 2-19 (1-12).

[Mr. Ypsi]

Nice work, Ryan. +1 K

You a Muskie grad?

I hope! It's great to have other fans from the NACC around the conference threads along with the regulars like WLCalum (currently MIA) and me.

My thoughts of the NACC as we hit winter break:

It's tight at the top of the league. Three teams have one loss each in led by Aurora at 7-1. The second half will tell us of these team which one will have the friendly confines for the entire tournament.

Benedictine's 5-4 record may not be impressive but they knocked off Augustana and nearly beat North Central. I think they will be a major player in the title hunt going forward.

The mid pack of the NACC will be fun to watch too. Wisconsin Lutheran can play with anyone any night led by Jarango and Marose, Edgewood does not beat themselves that often and Concordia has some nice pieces that have contributed so far.

MSOE in my mind has been a slight disappointment so far. Was expecting them to be in the mix at the top but right now they are playing inconsistent basketball in the NACC.

CUC and Rockford are still rebuilding.

It has been a rough year for Dominican basketball as both the men's and the women's basketball teams are a combined 2-19 (1-12).

They don't play Augie - it was IWU they beat, but that is just about as impressive.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Nice work, Ryan. +1 K

You a Muskie grad?

I hope! It's great to have other fans from the NACC around the conference threads along with the regulars like WLCalum (currently MIA) and me.

My thoughts of the NACC as we hit winter break:

It's tight at the top of the league. Three teams have one loss each in led by Aurora at 7-1. The second half will tell us of these team which one will have the friendly confines for the entire tournament.

Benedictine's 5-4 record may not be impressive but they knocked off Augustana Illinois Wesleyan and nearly beat North Central. I think they will be a major player in the title hunt going forward.

The mid pack of the NACC will be fun to watch too. Wisconsin Lutheran can play with anyone any night led by Jarango and Marose, Edgewood does not beat themselves that often and Concordia has some nice pieces that have contributed so far.

MSOE in my mind has been a slight disappointment so far. Was expecting them to be in the mix at the top but right now they are playing inconsistent basketball in the NACC.

CUC and Rockford are still rebuilding.

It has been a rough year for Dominican basketball as both the men's and the women's basketball teams are a combined 2-19 (1-12).

They don't play Augie - it was IWU they beat, but that is just about as impressive.

@Greek Tragedy: I am. And I still live in the area (always have), so I get out there on a pretty regular basis.

A pair of big games to restart conference play in earnest on January 3, with Lakeland at Aurora in a battle for first place and Marian at Benedictine. The (IL) Eagles could really use that game as they already have home losses to AU and LC in the books, and need to play all three on the road yet.

The Raiders have already lost more games this season (6) than they did all of last year (5). But you get the feeling that MSOE has better basketball in them. And while it'll likely be too late to salvage any regular-season title hopes, seeing that they're already 4 games out, I don't think that's a team you'd want to draw in the conference tournament.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Sorry if I'm violating any double posting rules (I didn't see any), but with conference play resuming tomorrow (CUC at Rockford in a New Year's Eve matinee), this is as good a time as any to reset things.

12/21
Whitworth 78 Marian 64

12/22
Whitman 103 Marian 71

Sunday
Ramapo 88 Edgewood 78
Benedictine 96 Wesley 75

Monday
Edgewood 73 Wesley 65
Lake Forest 76 Dominican 49
Ramapo 83 Benedictine 76
Heidelberg 88 Lakeland 76
Wisconsin Lutheran 70 Willamette 69 (OT)

Tuesday
Lakeland 92 Illinois Tech 45
Wisconsin Lutheran 68 Wartburg 54
Greensboro 77 Dominican 61

NACC Standings as of 12/30/14
1. Aurora 9-3 (7-1)
2. Lakeland 10-2 (6-1)
3. Marian 6-5 (5-1)
4. Benedictine 6-5 (4-2)
5. Edgewood 5-7 (4-3)
6. Concordia Wisconsin 4-6 (3-4)
7. Wisconsin Lutheran 7-6 (3-5)
8. MSOE 5-6 (2-4)
9. Rockford 3-8 (2-4)
10. Dominican 1-11 (1-6)
11. Concordia Chicago 2-7 (0-6)

[Captain_Joe08]

Not really Ryan. I thought double posting happens when you accidentally click post twice lol. Thanks for the post update.....Have been busy with a few things.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Wednesday
Concordia Chicago 97 Rockford 94

Saturday
Aurora 84 Lakeland 79
MSOE 76 Concordia Chicago 72
Benedictine 80 Marian 70
Wisconsin Lutheran 67 Dominican 63
Concordia Wisconsin 79 Rockford 74

And just like that, the Spartans open a 1 1/2 game lead on their pursuers (Lakeland, with Benedictine and Marian another 1/2 game behind them). But that return meeting up in Sheboygan oughta be something. Not gonna miss that one (weather permitting, of course ).

Next week, for the most part the contenders stay away from each other.

[Captain_Joe08]

1/7 Scores

Benedictine (8-5, 6-2) 73
Wisconsin Lutheran (8-7, 4-6) 57

MSOE (7-6, 4-4) 80
Aurora (10-4, 8-2) 76

Edgewood (7-7, 6-3) 64
Dominican (1-13, 1-8) 56

Concordia Wisconsin (6-6, 5-4) 90
Concordia Chicago (3-9, 1-8) 75

Also Rockford's Head Coach Ryan Rebsom resigned yesterday. http://www.naccsports.org/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150107j5a1vk

[Gregory Sager]

That's a shame. I had a chance to chat with Ryan Rebsom before a game a couple of years ago. Seems like a good guy.

[Just Bill]

Rockford is not an easy place to succeed. Few resources. Major roster turnover.

[Gregory Sager]

Exactly. Heck, it seemed for a while there back at the turn of the last decade as though the school might actually have to close. Rockford is indeed a tough gig.

[Captain_Joe08]

Exactly. Heck, it seemed for a while there back at the turn of the last decade as though the school might actually have to close. Rockford is indeed a tough gig.

As an assistant coach of men's tennis at WLC, last year they disbanded both their tennis programs due to lack of finances for both programs so their is a measure of financial problems in the athletics program still.

[Ryan Stoppable]

In happier coaching news, the Benedictine win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Wednesday was number 300 for their head coach Keith Bunkenburg. http://www.naccsports.org/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150108xg0qkr

Saturday
Concordia Wisconsin 82 Benedictine 72
Concordia Chicago 88 Edgewood 85
Lakeland 73 Dominican 68
Aurora 95 Wisconsin Lutheran 70
Marian 70 Rockford 46

NACC Standings as of 1/10/15
1. Aurora 9-2 (11-4)
2. Lakeland 7-2 (11-3)
3. Benedictine 6-3 (8-6)
3. Marian 6-3 (7-7)
5. Concordia Wisconsin 6-4 (7-6)
5. Edgewood 6-4 (7-8)
7. MSOE 4-4 (7-6)
8. Wisconsin Lutheran 4-7 (8-8)
9. Rockford 2-7 (3-11)
10. Concordia Chicago 2-8 (4-9)
11. Dominican 1-9 (1-14)

Currently only 2 1/2 games separating the top six teams; this is proving to be as wide open as preseason predictions thought it would be. Several of the teams play 3 games next week, so there should be plenty of room for movement, especially for the Muskies (at Edgewood, Marian, Aurora) and Sabres (CUW, at Lakeland, Benedictine)

[Ryan Stoppable]

Tuesday
Concordia Chicago 73 Dominican 63
Edgewood 93 Lakeland 61
Concordia Wisconsin 56 Marian 48
MSOE 68 Wisconsin Lutheran 54
Benedictine 78 Rockford 58

Thursday
Benedictine 84 Dominican 61
Marian 82 Lakeland 65
Aurora 117 Concordia Chicago 78
Concordia Wisconsin 87 MSOE 48

The Falcons have won 5 in a row since the New Year and are all the way up to 3rd place now. Lakeland, on the other hand, has been struggling of late, to the point where our second meeting with Aurora today is basically a must-win as far as the Muskies' conference title hopes are concerned.

Based on a quick peek through the schedule pages, Aurora's output from Thursday appears to be the most any NACC team has scored in over 5 years (since Aurora's 136-121 win over Grinnell on 11/27/09) and the second-highest figure in a conference game (WLC beat Rockford 118-82 back on 2/12/08).

[Captain_Joe08]

1/17 Matchups

Aurora at Lakeland: Expect a high scoring game in this one.

Benedictine at Marian: Another good game here. I think McGinty and company pull out a road win.

Concordia Wisconsin at Rockford: Streaking Falcons win their sixth straight.

Concordia Chicago at MSOE: Raiders should win this one.