MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Started by Board Mod, February 28, 2005, 11:18:51 AM

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Gregory Sager

With about six or seven minutes to go in the half, UWO suddenly remembered that it had Jack Flynn on the team. And that Wheaton doesn't really have anybody strong enough to stop him around the basket. At that point it became a different game altogether.

The question is: Will the Titans forget to keep looking inside on every possession twice in the same game?
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

UW-Oshkosh 104
Wheaton 85

Congratulations to Wheaton on a great season, and to Aston Francis on a phenomenal career.

"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

iwu70

Great season for Wheaton.  Congrats to them on their Final Four appearance.  Oshkosh just too big, too much tonight.  Francis an epic career.  He needed a better game, a better percentage from trey, and more support tonight to match Oshkosh's overall size and balance. 

Swarthmore vs. Oshkosh for all the marbles.

'70

Gregory Sager

UW-Oshkosh may not beat Swarthmore tomorrow night, but the Titans look like a national championship team. They have tremendous balance, lots of experienced veterans, they run their offensive sets with great efficiency and effectiveness, and they don't seem to ever get fazed by anything (which was even more apparent late against Guilford in the sectional final than it was late in the first half of tonight's game when they really came to life).

Wheaton didn't play a particularly great game -- in particular, Francis, Peters, and Anthony ended up short on a whole bunch of layup attempts, and the help defense was totally lacking on several occasions -- but, nevertheless, UWO is the better team and would win this matchup more often than not.

Francis piled up the points tonight, but as Chuck said he wasn't very efficient. He ended up with 44, but on 15-38 shooting (only 5-20 from downtown). He was Aston Francis all night, but he was never ASTON FRANCIS, if you know what I mean. But the much bigger problem for the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance is that they couldn't consistently get any stops at all against UWO over the last 25 minutes or so of the game. Eventually it just turned into an avalanche.

Mike Schauer and his crew have no reason to hang their heads. They definitely made their mark this season.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

GoPerry

Not our night Wheaton.  But this alumnus and fan could not be any prouder of our team and our effort. Congratulations on a fantastic season and for bringing so much fun and enjoyment to our season this year.   Coach Schauer and crew, you represented the school with class and grace.  Not the result we wanted tonight but does not diminish what was accomplished.   

Fantastic performance by the Titans. They deserve to be moving on. Best of luck and bring it home UWO!

Let's Roll!

duckfan41

Tough way to lose that one, but Wheaton College could not be more proud of this basketball team. Oshkosh was just way too good both inside and out in the second half for the Thunder to make a comeback. It was an absolute blast watching Aston Francis play these last three years, and this senior class of Peters, Eichelberger, Winowieki, Jones, and Gunter who where there just 4 years ago when the program only managed 5 wins are leaving this program in much better shape than they found it.

Really cool to see those 5 guys on the floor together to end their careers, and I’m going to miss this group of 6 seniors a lot. They stuck with the program when just about anyone else would have quit or transferred (there were a few of those). Cannot say enough how proud I am and Wheaton is of this team and it was an absolute joy to watch them play this season.

iwu70

I'll be cheering for Swarthmore tomorrow -- my son's alma mater and I have lots of friends there.  But, from what I've seen, I think Oshkosh finally gets it done tomorrow and wins the national title.  My view.  We'll see.

Again, congrats to WC on a great run and to Aston Francis on some amazing, remarkable basketball in his epic career. 

IWU'70

Titan Q

#50902
Mike Schauer summed up the Wheaton/UW-Oshkosh game well in his opening press conference statement: "They're really good...all you can really do is tip your cap to them." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_424Sldzs-8

Oshkosh is simply the better team - they are just extremely talented and balanced.  For Wheaton to beat the Titans, the Thunder would need a lot of different things to go right...and not many of those things happened last night.  If a team with that much size is going to also shoot it that well...they're gonna be almost impossible to beat.

Wheaton played very hard, but they were just out-manned last night.  I thought Oshkosh did a great job making it really hard for Aston Francis all night.  He scored 44, but as said above, it certainly wasn't an efficient 44.

Tremendous tournament for Wheaton - they have been fun to watch.

And hats off to Aston Francis - I can't imagine there will be another player like him in Division III anytime soon.  Francis has represented Wheaton with class and is a great example of what can happen when you outwork everyone.

Titan Q

The best three teams I have seen this year are:

1. UW-Oshkosh
2. Swarthmore
3. Augustana

Swarthmore and Augustana is almost a tie for me.

The Garnet look like a traditional "midwest" team - like a WIAC or CCIW champion, with great size and balance.  They are the real deal.  I was so impressed with them.

Should be a great national title game tonight.  Swarthmore looked huge last night vs Christopher Newport...but they won't look like that tonight vs Oshkosh.  Oshkosh is even bigger.  That said, Swarthmore is so versatile and skilled...they should be able to play right with the WIAC champs.

I see Oshkosh as the favorite...but not by much.

Gregory Sager

As best as I can tell, these are the new D3 records that Aston Francis leaves behind:

Most points in a season: 1,096, Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL), 2019 (32 games)
previous record: 1,044, Greg Grant, TCNJ, 1989 (32 games)

Field goal attempts in a season: 793, Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL), 2019 (348 made)
previous record: 742, Greg Grant, TCNJ, 1989 (387 made)

Most points in a D3 tournament game: 62 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL) (91) vs. Marietta (87), 2019
previous record: 59 -- Ben Strong, Guilford (129) vs. Lincoln (PA) (128) (3OT), 2007

Most points in a D3 tournament: 224 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL), 2019 [42 vs. Hanover, 43 vs. Wooster, 33 vs. Augustana, 62 vs. Marietta, 44 vs. Wis.-Oshkosh]
previous record: 177 -- Michael Nogelo, Williams, 1998 [31 vs. Trinity (CT), 30 vs. Springfield, 25 vs. Hamilton, 35 vs. St. Lawrence, 18 vs. Wis.-Platteville, 38 vs. Wilkes]

Highest scoring average in a D3 tournament: 44.8 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL), 2019 [42 vs. Hanover, 43 vs. Wooster, 33 vs. Augustana, 62 vs. Marietta, 44 vs. Wis.-Oshkosh]
previous record: 37.3 -- Kyle Myrick, Lincoln (PA), 2006 [44 vs. Christopher Newport, 34 vs. Messiah, 34 vs. Virginia Wesleyan]

Most field goals in a D3 tournament: 72 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL), 2019 [14 vs. Hanover, 13 vs. Wooster, 11 vs. Augustana, 19 vs. Marietta, 15 vs. Wis.-Oshkosh]
previous record: 68 -- Greg Grant, TCNJ, 1989 [11 vs. Shenandoah, 11 vs. New Jersey City, 16 vs. SUNY Potsdam, 16 vs. Southern Maine, 14 vs. Wis.-Whitewater]

Most three-point field goals in a D3 tournament game: (tied) 12 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL) (91) vs. Marietta (87), 2019
previous record: (tied) 12 -- Kirk Anderson, Augustana (IL) (100) vs. Wis.-Platteville (86), 1993

Most three-point field goals in a D3 tournament: 36 -- Aston Francis, Wheaton (IL) [8 vs. Hanover, 5 vs. Wooster, 6 vs. Augustana, 12 vs. Marietta, 5 vs. Wis.-Oshkosh]
previous record: 35 -- Kirk Anderson, Augustana (IL), 1993 [4 vs. DePauw, 5 vs. Beloit, 4 vs. La Verne, 12 vs. Wis.-Platteville, 6 vs. Rowan, 4 vs. Ohio Northern]

(Somebody tell Brett Marhanka that if he doesn't have all of this stuff already, he can buy me lunch at Charcoal Delights the next time he's at NPU. ;))
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

I think that the record that Aston Francis set that impresses me most of all is one of the two CCIW records he leaves behind. He owns the single-season CCIW record for treys made (CCIW records only include data for CCIW games, not overall), which is the 86 treys he made in league play last season. (He made 84 this season.) But that's not the one that impresses me. He ends his time at Wheaton with 237 treys made in CCIW play, breaking the record of 165 set by Ryan Knuppel (1998-01) of Elmhurst. Francis not only obliterated Knuppel's record by going 30% beyond it, he did it in only three seasons; Knuppel was a starter all four seasons as a Bluejay.

Here's where he ended up on the all-time CCIW scoring leaderboard:


  player   school   last yr   CCIW pts
  1. Leon Gobczynski   Millikin   1975   1662
  2. Dave Shaw   Carroll   1977   1478
  3. Aston Francis   Wheaton   2019   1396
  4. Steve Djurickovic   Carthage   2011   1348
  5. Jesse Price   Millikin   1969   1343
  6. Jack Sikma   Illinois Wesleyan   1977   1307
  7. Blaise Bugajski   Illinois Wesleyan   1984   1220
  8. John Laing   Augustana   1973   1209
  9. Dave Rosenbalm   Carthage   1976   1202
10. John Butler   Carthage   1971   1168
11. Kent Raymond   Wheaton   2009   1152
12. Juwan Henry   North Park   2017   1149
13. Bill Simpson   Elmhurst   1975   1141
14. Bill Warden   North Central   1955   1136
15. Bart Barnes   Millikin   1988   1131
16. Greg Crawford   North Park   1970   1124
17. Justyne Monegain   North Park   1985   1122
18. Randy Pfund   Wheaton   1974   1119
19. Greg Yess   Illinois Wesleyan   1982   1107
20. Tom Dykstra   Wheaton   1970   1104
20. Gordy Zastrow   Carthage   1981   1104
22. Jason Wiertel   Carthage   2002   1074
23. Jack Lutz   Carthage   1969   1071
23. Mike Thomas   North Park   1981   1071
25. Barry Bennett   Carthage   1978   1047
25. Dan Parker   Millikin   1972   1047
27. Luke Kasten   Illinois Wesleyan   2003   1045
28. Gary Dietelhoff   Millikin   1974   1032
29. Luke Moo   Wheaton   2001   1029
30. Bill Harbeck   Wheaton   1977   1028
31. Steve Hoeft   North Central   1973   1020
32. Sheldon Thompson   Illinois Wesleyan   1971   1012
32. Rob Willey   Wheaton   1988   1012
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

And then, the big one: Here's where Aston Francis ended up in the CCIW's 2K Club:


  player  school  last yr  pts
  1. Leon Gobczynski  Millikin  1975  2635
  2. Dave Shaw  Carroll  1977  2563
  3. Steve Djurickovic  Carthage  2011  2547
  4. Mel Peterson  Wheaton  1960  2542
  5. Aston Francis  Wheaton  2019  2406
  6. Kent Raymond  Wheaton  2009  2308
  7. Jack Sikma  Illinois Wesleyan  1977  2272
  8. Bill Warden  North Central  1955  2249
  9. Jesse Price  Millikin  1969  2222
10. Scott Steagall  Millikin  1951  2127
11. Jason Wiertel  Carthage  2002  2113
12. Michael Thomas  North Park  1981  2085
13. Blaise Bugajski  Illinois Wesleyan  1984  2062
14. Marv Johnson  Wheaton  1951  2044
15. Juwan Henry  North Park  2017  2040
16. Justyne Monegain  North Park  1985  2039
17. John Laing  Augustana  1973  2035
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

AndOne

And, speaking of Aston Francis;

Many of us will remember that in North Central's game at Wheaton on 12/15/18, NCC's Aiden Chang (very likely the defender with the most "success" vs Francis over his career) suffered an injury so excruciating that his pain was felt by just about every individual inside King Arena that evening. As Aiden lay on the floor writhing and screaming in pain, his NCC teammates sat on the floor in front of their bench. Some gazed up at the ceiling as if searching for an answer as to how Aiden could have sustained injuries to three separate areas at once. Many buried their heads in their hands. Several were crying. While none had sustained a physical injury, each one was enduring an almost indescribable level of mental anguish over their teammate's fate. The Wheaton team, along with many of the fans, noticeably felt their opponent's collective pain. Suddenly, I saw Aston stand up and start walking toward the NCC players. He was almost instantaneously joined by his teammates. As they approached the NCC guys, I heard Aston say "we want to pray with you guys." I don't have any doubt whatsoever that their joining with the NCC team as one helped alleviate some of the intense mental pain the Cardinals were suffering. IDK if the idea was initiated by Aston or not, but he certainly seemed to take the lead, and he definitely acted as the Thunder "spokesman." I sense some of his feelings and action stemmed from his intense personal competition with Aiden over their careers.
But whatever the impetus, the scenario seems to evidence the fact Aston is lots more than a great basketball player. 👍


AndOne

And, one more thing........

Many of us, myself certainly included, have not hesitated to chastise, berate, or otherwise criticize Augie Coach Grey Giovanine for his often imprudent behavior over the years. No doubt some of our barbs were excessive, but I think many would agree the majority were warranted. The one we have all seemed to agree on however, or that any of us who know anything about basketball should agree on, is that, whatever his methods, Coach Giovanine is one great coach.

And, speaking of Coach Giovanine, I think there is another thing we can all agree on. This coming Tuesday, March 19, he will undergo prostrate cancer surgery at Mayo Clinic. No matter what any of us feel about his on court deportment, the thing I believe all of us CCIWers can do is send a huge collective GOOD LUCK message to the Coach as he approaches his surgery. I've personally been touched by this insidious disease as I fairly recently lost a brother-in-law to it. I've seen not only what it does to a victim, but to his family as well. However, I have two other brothers-in-law who are prostrate cancer survivors. So there is definitely good cause for hope.
I sense that if Coach Giovanine attacks his recovery with the same vigor and intensity that he does a basketball game, that his damn cancer won't stand a chance! It will be one victory that even those of us who can't really be classified as Augie fans can cheer!

GOOD LUCK COACH GIOVANINE.

Gregory Sager

Two good posts, Mark. Hear, hear, to both of them.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell