MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

Ryan Stoppable · February 06, 2018, 10:29:40 AM

Two weeks to go:

1. Benedictine (x) 13-3 (14-7)
2. Aurora (x) 13-4 (14-8)
3. MSOE (x) 12-5 (13-8)
4. Lakeland 11-6 (14-7)
5. Marian 9-7 (10-11)
5. Concordia Wisconsin 9-7 (11-10)
---
7. Rockford 7-9 (9-12)
7. Edgewood 7-9 (7-14)
9. Wisconsin Lutheran 6-11 (6-15)
10. Dominican (e) 2-14 (4-17)
11. Concordia Chicago (e) 1-15 (2-19)
(x) Clinched NACC Tournament berth; (e) Eliminated from NACC Tournament contention

Marian has a sweep over CUW in the bag, though those teams still have 2 games over their nearest pursuers.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 07, 2018, 05:46:41 PM

Men's first regional rankings this season: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2018/02/men-regional-rankings-first

Ryan Stoppable · February 12, 2018, 10:25:00 PM

One week to go in the regular season, and still plenty to be decided.

1. Benedictine (x) 15-3 (16-7)
2. Aurora (x) 14-4 (15-8)
3. MSOE (x) 13-6 (14-9)
4. Lakeland (x?) 11-8 (14-9)
5. Marian 10-8 (11-12)
5. Concordia Wisconsin 10-8 (12-11)
---
7. Rockford 9-9 (11-12)
8. Edgewood 8-10 (8-15)
9. Wisconsin Lutheran (e) 6-12 (7-16)
10. Dominican (e) 3-15 (5-18)
11. Concordia Chicago (e) 1-17 (2-21)
(x) Clinched NACC Tournament berth; (e) Eliminated from NACC Tournament contention

Benedictine has wrapped up at least a first round bye; they, Aurora and MSOE will be the top 3 seeds in some order next week. If my tiebreaker calculations are correct (and they sometimes are), Lakeland has also secured a NACC tourney berth and could lock up the #4 seed with a win over Marian on Wednesday. Also that night, CUW hosts Rockford and can clinch a berth with a win; if they do, Marian would also clinch with a win. If the Regents win, it gets real interesting on Saturday. Finally, Edgewood is alive, but they need two wins and some help to get in.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 14, 2018, 02:06:00 PM

Week 2 Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2018/02/men-regional-rankings-second

Ryan Stoppable · February 15, 2018, 08:16:15 PM

Here's how the picture shakes out after last night's games. Have the abacus ready if you want to follow along. (Note: the secondary tiebreaker after head to head is comparison of records vs. each team or set of tied teams in standings order, starting at the top.)

Benedictine lost and fell into a first place tie with Aurora, who clinched a first round bye with their win. If they finish as co-champions, the Eagles will be the #1 seed as they beat MSOE once and Aurora did not.
MSOE will thus be the #3 seed.
Lakeland won and will be seeded #4, as they have the tiebreaker over CUW by virtue of their win over BU (and both got swept by AU).
Concordia Wisconsin clinched a berth with their last second win over Rockford; they will be seeded #5 unless they lose Saturday and Marian wins.

That leaves one berth up for grabs, with three teams still in the running for it:

Marian gets the berth with a win at Aurora (and with their sweep of CUW, would move up to the #5 seed if the Falcons lose) OR an Edgewood loss, plus either a Rockford loss or a CUW win. And we'll get to the latter.
Edgewood gets in with a win vs. Benedictine AND a Marian loss. EC would win a tiebreaker, whether it's 2 ways (they swept MU) or 3 ways (at 3-1, as Rockford split with both of them).
Rockford requires a win at Dominican AND Marian, Edgewood and CUW all to lose. RC and MU split head to head, they both got swept by AU and BU (so which order they finish in is irrelevant for this purpose), and they both split MSOE. To win the tiebreaker, Rockford needs Lakeland to be 4th outright, as they have a win over the Muskies and MU doesn't, but would only be 1-3 against Lakeland and CUW combined to Marian's 2-2.

Greek Tragedy · February 15, 2018, 09:26:52 PM

Quote from: Ryan Stoppable on February 15, 2018, 08:16:15 PM
Here's how the picture shakes out after last night's games. Have the abacus ready if you want to follow along. (Note: the secondary tiebreaker after head to head is comparison of records vs. each team or set of tied teams in standings order, starting at the top.)

Benedictine lost and fell into a first place tie with Aurora, who clinched a first round bye with their win. If they finish as co-champions, the Eagles will be the #1 seed as they beat MSOE once and Aurora did not.
MSOE will thus be the #3 seed.
Lakeland won and will be seeded #4, as they have the tiebreaker over CUW by virtue of their win over BU (and both got swept by AU).
Concordia Wisconsin clinched a berth with their last second win over Rockford; they will be seeded #5 unless they lose Saturday and Marian wins.

That leaves one berth up for grabs, with three teams still in the running for it:

Marian gets the berth with a win at Aurora (and with their sweep of CUW, would move up to the #5 seed if the Falcons lose) OR an Edgewood loss, plus either a Rockford loss or a CUW win. And we'll get to the latter.
Edgewood gets in with a win vs. Benedictine AND a Marian loss. EC would win a tiebreaker, whether it's 2 ways (they swept MU) or 3 ways (at 3-1, as Rockford split with both of them).
Rockford requires a win at Dominican AND Marian, Edgewood and CUW all to lose. RC and MU split head to head, they both got swept by AU and BU (so which order they finish in is irrelevant for this purpose), and they both split MSOE. To win the tiebreaker, Rockford needs Lakeland to be 4th outright, as they have a win over the Muskies and MU doesn't, but would only be 1-3 against Lakeland and CUW combined to Marian's 2-2.

Great job!

Just Bill · February 17, 2018, 10:28:43 PM

Tournament field is set. Edgewood pulls off the upset on Benedictine to get in, and Aurora beats Marian to claim the outright title and #1 seed (preseason poll got it right after all). Aurora will host both semifinals and finals in a slightly new format this year.

http://www.naccsports.org/sports/mbkb/2017-18/tournament-bracket

First Round - Tuesday, February 20, 7 p.m.
#6 Edgewood at #3 MSOE
#5 Concordia Wisconsin at #4 Lakeland

Semifinals - Friday, February 23 - at Thornton Gymnasium, Aurora, Ill.
5 p.m. -- Highest Remaining Seed vs. #2 Benedictine
7:30 p.m. -- Lowest Remaining Seed at #1 Aurora

Final - Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m. - at Thornton Gymnasium, Aurora, Ill.
First Semifinal Winner vs. Second Semifinal Winner

Ryan Stoppable · February 21, 2018, 12:34:57 AM

NACC First Round
#5 Concordia Wisconsin 99
#4 Lakeland 85

#6 Edgewood 52
#3 MSOE 47

Two similar stories at two very different paces - in each case, the visitors opened a double-digit lead, and the hosts clawed their way back in but were ultimately denied.

CUW's turning point came with about seven minutes to go; with Lakeland having whittled a 17 point lead down to 2, the Falcons responded with threes on four consecutive trips to extend the margin back to 11, and the Muskies would not seriously threaten again. Edgewood's came later; an MSOE layup with 17 seconds to go tied it up, erasing what had been a 14 point deficit, but Sy Staver drained a three with 2 seconds left and a pair of free throws sealed it for the Eagles.

So on Friday night in Aurora, it will be Benedictine vs. CUW at 5:00, followed by the Spartans hosting Edgewood at 7:30.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 21, 2018, 02:41:15 PM

The NCAA men's basketball regional advisory committees released their third set of rankings, and as expected, the Atlantic Region was among those getting shuffled. Here's the full list: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2018/02/men-regional-rankings-third

Just Bill · February 21, 2018, 05:04:50 PM

Quote from: Ryan Stoppable on February 21, 2018, 12:34:57 AM
NACC First Round
#5 Concordia Wisconsin 99
#4 Lakeland 85

#6 Edgewood 52
#3 MSOE 47

Two similar stories at two very different paces - in each case, the visitors opened a double-digit lead, and the hosts clawed their way back in but were ultimately denied.

CUW's turning point came with about seven minutes to go; with Lakeland having whittled a 17 point lead down to 2, the Falcons responded with threes on four consecutive trips to extend the margin back to 11, and the Muskies would not seriously threaten again. Edgewood's came later; an MSOE layup with 17 seconds to go tied it up, erasing what had been a 14 point deficit, but Sy Staver drained a three with 2 seconds left and a pair of free throws sealed it for the Eagles.

So on Friday night in Aurora, it will be Benedictine vs. CUW at 5:00, followed by the Spartans hosting Edgewood at 7:30.

Here are those last two baskets from the MSOE-EC game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18d48g3KCf8

Ryan Stoppable · February 23, 2018, 01:06:28 PM

The all-conference teams have been announced. Aurora guard Marcus Myers is the NACC Player of the Year; congratulations to him and to everyone else named.

Greek Tragedy · February 23, 2018, 08:21:54 PM

Great end of the game for the Bens/CUW game. That Johnson guy for CUW is a stud (already in the making). CUW went up strong at the end to tie it, could've called a foul with a good amount of contact, but I guess they "let the players" determine the outcome. Olson was Bens' stud of the night. 9 3s.

Ryan Stoppable · March 02, 2018, 10:17:46 PM

Aurora stuns #4 Washington-St. Louis 82-80 in the first round! The Bears hit a 3 to tie the game with 1.6 seconds left, but with no timeouts remaining, Marcus Myers shook free in the frontcourt, they found him, and the NACC Player of the Year buried the dagger at the buzzer.

The Spartans advance to play Nebraska Wesleyan in the second round tomorrow night.

Hoosiersfan2323 · March 03, 2018, 11:36:34 AM

Quote from: Ryan Stoppable on March 02, 2018, 10:17:46 PM
Aurora stuns #4 Washington-St. Louis 82-80 in the first round! The Bears hit a 3 to tie the game with 1.6 seconds left, but with no timeouts remaining, Marcus Myers shook free in the frontcourt, they found him, and the NACC Player of the Year buried the dagger at the buzzer.

The Spartans advance to play Nebraska Wesleyan in the second round tomorrow night.

What an insane finish. Still trying to figure out how Wash U let Myers get that open. Has to be one of the biggest upsets in recent tournament history

Greek Tragedy · March 03, 2018, 12:04:43 PM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ej71jsLiOM

Yeah, they just completely lost track of him.

So, I don't know how official the clock on the screen is, but it starts at 4 seconds and doesn't start until after Wash U hits their 3 and the Aurora player is standing out of bounds. It starts before he even throws the ball in.