MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Today's games:

Carthage (2-1) vs. Mary Washington (5-0) *, 2 pm
Illinois Wesleyan (4-0) vs. Kenyon (3-1) **, 2 pm
Elmhurst (3-0) @ Illinois College (2-3), 3 pm
UW-Oshkosh (2-1) @ Carroll (2-2), 4 pm
North Park (2-1) @ Anderson (1-3), 4 pm
Millikin (5-0) @ UW-Stevens Point (4-0), 5:15 pm
Loras (2-1) @ North Central (0-2), 7 pm
Dubuque (3-0) @ Augustana (3-0), 7 pm
UW-La Crosse (4-0) @ Wheaton (4-1), 7:15 pm

* at Washington, PA
** at Albion, MI

The Loras @ NCC game is at 4:15, NOT 7:00

One of these days I'll finally learn my lesson and I'll stop trusting the CCIW MBB page for accurate tipoff times.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 76
Anderson 75

Mike Vuckovich: 18 pts (4-7 trey)
Julian Campbell: 18 pts (9-12 FG)
Jerome Smith: 11 pts, 5:0 a:to
Kolden Vanlandingham: 10 rebs

This was a toothache of a game to watch (and I watched it silently in the second half, as the Anderson student PBP broadcaster was unbearable), but the Vikings pulled it out after trailing most of the game. With 11 seconds left and the game tied at 75, Kolden Vanlandingham, who was invisible at the offensive end of the floor most of the day, drove to the basket and was fouled. He missed the first FT, made the second, and then the Vikings made a sturdy stand at the other end of the floor, forcing AU's Elijah Mattingly to settle for an off-balance fadeaway from the FT line at the buzzer that was well off target.

The Vikings had a really hard time negotiating Anderson's very active 2-3 zone, which their coach has gone back to using after a one-season hiatus. They were only 1-11 from downtown against the zone in the first half, and threw away a lot of passes trying to hit cutters along the baseline. The best efforts they had were when they put Tyvin Garrison at the high post to make it easier to dump down to Julian Campbell on the low block. Anderson, which ran hockey shifts to keep everybody fresh, did a great job of getting out in transition and punishing the Vikings with easy baskets, which is definitely something NPU will have to clean up.

Jerome Smith was the unsung hero for NPU today. He swished three treys in the first 30 minutes that kept the Ravens from running out to huge leads, did a great job of getting the ball into the low post or finding the baseline cutter, and just generally was a calming and steady influence for his teammates on the floor. Campbell was the main gun in the first half, and then Vuckovic took over in the second half.

Ugly win while it was happening, but in retrospect any road win looks pretty.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst pulled off an electrifying 73-72 buzzer-beater win over Illinois College down in Jacksonville. In a back-and-forth contest in which neither team led by more than seven points, Dom Trelenberg hit two free throws with 25 seconds left to pull the 'jays into a 70-70 tie. But the 'jays fouled IC's best FT shooter, Ty Lenhardt, with only three seconds left on the clock and the Blueboys in the double bonus. Lenhardt drained them both to give IC the two-point lead, and with two passes up the right side of the court the 'jays got the ball to Trelenberg, who sent up a falling-backwards 25-footer from the sideline up in the air -- and it swished as the backboard lit up. Trelenberg (18 pts) was the hero, but Sebastian Blachut was the leading EU scorer with 19. Luke Smith (15 and 8) and Vinnie Adjahoungbeta (10 and 9) also made noteworthy contributions to the Elmhurst cause.

The endgame did not work out so well for the other DuPage County team active in the afternoon, as North Central dropped its third home game to start the season, 73-69, to Loras. Tyler Swierczek had a chance to tie the game in the last few seconds with a trey attempt from the right elbow at Merner Fieldhouse, but his shot was well off the mark. James Bullock had another big day in the losing cause for NCC with 23, with Alejandro Diaz posting a 14 and 7 effort. Good to hear my North Park football colorman Sam Corbett on the call for the NCC webcast today, doing his usual bang-up job.

Millikin led at UW-Stevens Point for most of the second half, but the Big Blue faded in the final five minutes and ended up dropping their first loss of the season to UWSP, 69-63. Lane Thomann posted his usual healthy numbers -- 21 and 7 on this particular occasion -- while Nate Straughter chipped in 15 and Ian Winkler added 11.

Carroll was game, but game wasn't enough to get the job done, as the Pioneers dropped their second in a row to a WIAC team. This time it was UW-Oshkosh that got the better of Jannsen's boys at Van Male, 85-76. Michael McNabb again led the way for CU with 23 points, while Jacob Naber turned in a 13 and 10 double-double performance, Peyton McKenna scored 13 as well, Lamar Smith was the lone scorer off the bench as he gave the Pios an 11 and 7 day, and Dennis Estepp had 11 as well.

This was a really tough weekend for Carthage, as the Firebirds return from the Appalachian foothills with two losses in their baggage. Today it was another ranked team, Mary Washington, that got the better of the Firebirds, as the Eagles broke a halftime tie with the first six points of the second half and never relinquished that lead. Riley Brooks, coming off of a really bad performance yesterday, put the 'birds on his back today with a 23 and 10 effort, but Riley Johnson (13 and 14) was the only other Firebird who supported Brooks effectively, as Carthage shot an anemic  .328/.179/.625 line.