MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

The rundown.......a lot happening tonight.



Adrian 58  Trine 53

Adrian:  Mosley 16, Gallant 14, Barnes 11
Trine:  Rogers 15, Pearcy 10



Calvin 81 Albion 50

Calvin:  Snikkers 15, Schuster 15, Rodts 12
Albion:  Harville 11, Siebert 10

This is the kind of loss that can stick with a team.  Great momentum for Calvin.



Olivet 74 Alma 61


Olivet:  McClary 28, Post 14
Alma:  Silverthorn 17, Erickson 14


Michael McClary becomes Olivet College's all-time leading scorer, at his current pace he's going to blow that record away



Hope 100 Kalamazoo 95 OT

Hope:  Bowser 46, Snuggerud 16, Overway 11
Kzoo:  Prepolec 40, Clark 21


An early candidate for game of the year perhaps, major implications for the standings, 2 pretty amazing individual nights



Standings  +1 for road win/-1 for home loss


Hope    6-1     +2
Adrian  5-2     +2
Calvin   5-2     +1
Kzoo    4-3      +1
Albion   4-3     0
Olivet   3-4     -1
Alma    1-6     -2
Trine    0-7     -3



Saturday, January 29
Alma at Trine, 3 p.m.
Hope at Calvin, 3 p.m.
Adrian at Kalamazoo, 3 p.m.
Olivet at Albion, 3 p.m.


First half of the round-robin comes to a close, very, very competitive so far.

[oldknight]

Hope 100 Kzoo 95

Epic game!!!

Epic?

Epic indeed, even legendary. I don't imagine there has ever been a game in the MIAA with two 40 point scorers.

[wiz]

Hope 100 Kzoo 95

Epic game!!!

Epic?

Epic indeed, even legendary. I don't imagine there has ever been a game in the MIAA with two 40 point scorers.

I just hope the movie turns out to be as good as the book.

[sac]

30-POINT PERFORMANCES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will Bowser - HOPEM ............ 46 points ..... vs KALAMAZOO COLLEGE (01-26-11)
J.C. Cruse - ALBIONM ........... 33 points ..... at Carthage College (12-11-10)
Ryan Clark - KZOOM ............. 32 points ..... at Calvin College (01/08/11)
Ian Jackson - TRINEM ........... 33 points ..... at North Park Univ. (12/4/10)
Michael McClary - OLIVETM ...... 30 points ..... vs MICHIGAN-DEARBORN (11/18/10)
                                 38 points ..... vs MADONNA UNIVERSITY (11/19/10)
                                 32 points ..... at John Carroll Univ. (11/28/10)
                                 32 points ..... vs ELMHURST COLLEGE (12/1/10)
                                 37 points ..... vs St. Mary's (Md.) (12/17/10)
                                 34 points ..... vs HOPE COLLEGE (1/15/11)
                                 43 points ..... at Trine University (01/19/11)
                                 39 points ..... vs KALAMAZOO COLLEGE (1/22/11)
Joe Prepolec - KZOOM ........... 40 points ..... at Hope College (01-26-11)
Danny Rodts - CALVINM .......... 30 points ..... at Hope College (01-05-11)
Tom Snikkers - CALVINM ......... 33 points ..... at Carthage College (12-4-10)



There have been 15 performances of 30 or more points this year, 7 in MIAA play highlighted above.


All of last year there were 7, with 4 in MIAA play.  In 2009 there were 4 30 point performances, only 1 in MIAA play.

[ziggy]

Thanks for the list, sac.

The variety of names is what impresses me the most.

[Hopester]

Wow was that a great game! While the scoreboard will indicate very little defense being played, sometimes you just have to tip your cap to well executed offense. Kalamazoo, like many teams this year had no answer for Hope's offense, but Kzoo effectively used the duo of Clark and Prepolec to find open jumpers for shooters and many close looks for Prepolec. When Hope would double team Prepolec he would undoubtedly find the open man and Kzoo would get a quality look. When Hope didn't show the double Prepolec took Dickerson, Snuggerud, Holwerda, or whoever to school. He has some of the finest post moves I have seen in a D3 player. I would compare him alot to Troy Ruths of Wash U, for the way he manages to play beneath the rim and find separation from his defender to create an open look.

Unsung hero of the game will have to be Colton Overway. He played phenomenally off the bench tonight, both leading the offense and creating looks for himself and others. With Krombeen in foul trouble (again) he played masterful minutes and was vital to the comeback that took place in the first half for Hope.

Hats off to both teams for a very well played and hard fought game. Hopefully Saturday's game can match the level of excitement in the Devos this evening.

[KnightSlappy]

Calvin had a great first half.  They smothered everything Cruse tried to do.  He had bodies (tall ones) around him at all times.  He along with his teammates were very frustrated.  The game opened with Calvin up 12-2.  Albion closed to 12-6 and then Calvin went on about 13-0 run to make it  25-6. 

I hope Haverdink is able to play.  I appreciate how he plays.  He plays very good defense and makes few mistakes.  He made a great defensive play to prevent a dunk.  Jordan Brink also made a great defensive play making a head first dive and controlling the ball on an inbounds play.  Both good hustle plays when Calvin was up by at least 30.

It was encouraging to watch tonight. I hope Calvin plays with the same kind of effort on Saturday.

10 blocked shots recorded by the Calvin defense. They certainly did use their length to bother Albion.

[AndersDY]

During that entire game tonight, I could only keep thinking of one word for the day:



So many ridiculous happenings in that game. It could be forgotten by the end, but Kzoo came out showing a new definition of on-fire in the first 10-12 minutes tonight. I have never seen a team put everything from everywhere in the bucket like that. Hope's defense was not great and Kzoo hit their open looks, but there were a good 5 or 6 head shaking shots in the first half that were extremely ill advised and still found the net. Fortunately Bowser was hitting 3's early or Hope really would have been buried. Also, they fortunately came out nearly as hot themselves to start the second half as I believe they started the half on an 18-3 spurt.

Also inconceivable was the sequence where each team managed to commit a silly turnover at the end of regulation when they were perfectly set up with the last possession; after a game that was rather low on turnovers to that point. The officiating was also as wild and inconsistent as I've seen in a game so far this year. (I'd still like to know how Bowser missed a contested 3 out of bounds by a good 10-12 feet and the officials decided the defender neither fouled him on the arm nor got a partial block to cause it to be out off of the defense.)


For our researchers, when was the last time there were opposing 40+ performances in an MIAA game? Or when was the last time both the men and women's teams put up a full 100 on the same night?

For those that asked, I wouldn't say that the score indicates significantly shoddy defense, other than perhaps by Hope in the early going. It was a pretty even hard fought game and both offenses were clicking. I have to imagine this is the clubhouse leader for game of the year.

[pointlem]

Hope-Kazoo was a game no one present would wish to have missed.  Hats off to both teams!

Some stats, in addition to the two phenomenal performances, that jump out.  Both teams had two players (Prepolec/Clark and Bowser/Snuggerud) who together attempted 43 shots--thus shooting and also scoring 60+% of their teams' attempts and points.  All the other players attempted and scored the other third or a little more.

Bowser and Snuggerud played 42 and 41 minutes, respectively--which I guess shows what they are capable of if the situation demands it.

Kalamazoo actually outshot Hope (which needs a new interior defense plan for the next game)--both in baskets scored and percentage . . . but was outscored 24 to 15 at the free throw line.

Andy Venema, who was suited up tonight, could potentially help under the basket in a rematch.  I'm not sure what sort of defensive plan would stop Will Bowser, given the height from which he launches his 3, and his ability to drive to the basket if pressed outside.  What a great night for him to remember for the rest of his life.  (And we thought he was having a career game with 18 in the first half, not realizing how much more was to come.)

[Knightmare]

FWIW - Will Bowser needs 29 points to reach 1000.

Good chance that he'll hit that milestone in the Rivalry game this Saturday.  That'd be pretty cool for him, and even more memorable, if he can do it during a Calvin vs. Hope game.

WOW, 46!?!?  I stand corrected, didn't see THAT coming.  What will be really meaningful for Bowser is that Hope needed every one of them and they won the game in OT.  A game like that always means a little more to a player when their team gets the win as well.

This could set up for a great game Saturday.  Both Calvin and Hope are coming off excellent games and hopefully both bring their "A" game.

[HopeConvert]

If you didn't like that game, you just don't like basketball. That was as exciting and enjoyable a game as I have seen. It was, well, epic. Both teams played great on the offensive end, and showed some defensive prowess as well. I know it's a swear word in these parts, but I remember watching a football game years ago and Matt Millen was the commentator and Dick Stockton on play-by-play, and my Redskins had a play go against them and Stockton said "What did they do wrong there?" Millen replied, "Nothing. They pay the other guy too."

"The pay the other guy too." I think that's a wonderfully concise and insightful sentence. Sometimes, it's not what you've done wrong, but what the other team has done right. Kalamazoo made shots tonight. Ryan Clark hoisted a couple of rainbows  that nearly hit the rafters. Both teams made shots that had you shaking your head in wonder. As Hopester said, Joe Prepolec has a terrific set of post moves. Both teams made some key defensive stops. Both teams weathered storms. Will Bowser single-handedly kept Hope in the game when Kzoo threatened to blow it open early. Hope shifting Bowser to defend Clark was a key strategic move as Will did a fine job.

A couple of observations: first, how on earth did the refs not see that Will was WAY behind the line on that 3-pointer in OT? Ridiculous. Second, toward the end of regulation, when Hope was in a zone defense, Kzoo was swinging the ball on the left side. My son, my friends and I were all yelling to watching Clark on the right side. Sure enough, Hope moves its whole zone left, a skip pass to Clark, and a game-tying three. You could see it happen 5 seconds before it actually did. Rodts burned Hope the same way, and they better do a better job keeping an eye on the other team's best shooter. Inexcusable.

In my judgement, Colton Overway has surpassed David Krombeen. The latter doesn't move his feet well on defense, which is why he is constantly in foul trouble. Overway was terrific on both sides of the floor tonight.

This silver cloud has a dark lining of course. Hope has a knife fight and Calvin a walk in the park in the games before The Game. Hope has had two tough, physical games in a row. I'm not sure how much they'll have left come Saturday. Looking forward to it.

[AndersDY]

This silver cloud has a dark lining of course. Hope has a knife fight and Calvin a walk in the park in the games before The Game. Hope has had two tough, physical games in a row. I'm not sure how much they'll have left come Saturday. Looking forward to it.

Luckily, on some nights, having Bowser is like bringing a bazooka to that knife fight.

The paranoid part of me worries about the carryover effect, but then my logical side thinks that working harder 2.5 days earlier is not likely to affect the energy of a 20 year-old athlete too much. Hopefully the adrenaline involved in any Calvin game will have more impact than what they were up to tonight. I'm guessing the emotional downer of tonight having turned into a loss would have made a hangover much more likely. With this Hope team, how would we know if there is a hangover effect anyway though? They seem to start every game cold.

[Erm Schmigget]

What does more to help a team emotionally in preparation for an important/rivalry game?  Blowing out a quality opponent and holding their big scoring threat to 0-7 for the night, or scratching and clawing your way back into a game, forcing OT, and holding off a 40-point performance while supporting one of your own in a 46-point fieldhouse-record (by a Hope player) performance?

(Kent Raymond of Wheaton scored 47 at the DeVos vs. Whitworth on 3-14-08.)

[northb]

What does more to help a team emotionally in preparation for an important/rivalry game?  Blowing out a quality opponent and holding their big scoring threat to 0-7 for the night, or scratching and clawing your way back into a game, forcing OT, and holding off a 40-point performance while supporting one of your own in a 46-point fieldhouse-record (by a Hope player) performance?

(Kent Raymond of Wheaton scored 47 at the DeVos vs. Whitworth on 3-14-08.)

I'll tell you late Saturday afternoon.   

[oldknight]

Calvin's 81-50 win over Albion was just as dominating as the final score indicates.  The Knights took an early 12-2 lead and never looked back. Calvin fans were a bit nervous at half despite a 42-17 margin. We've seen Calvin teams come out flat after the break following a nice first half but any fears were quickly quelled. On their first two possessions of the second half Calvin quickly got a Schuster dunk followed by a Rodts triple and took an immediate 30 point lead. Albion never threatened and simply looked like a beaten team. You knew the Brits were completely out of it when Kazen took the time to try to argue with a Calvin endzone wiseacre who took exception to Kazen's manner of defense on Snikkers. Players have to learn that's an argument you can't win.

From my vantage point it sure looked like Calvin's length really bothered Albion's inside game. Every time the Brits took the ball in the paint they were faced with challenges from Schuster or Kruis, and sometimes from both of them. The shots that weren't blocked were strongly contested and I can't remember one open look Albion had from inside 15 feet. Last night was the most complete game played by the 2010-11 version of Calvin basketball. JC Cruse looked totally frustrated, was taken out of the game rather early in the second half and never returned.

Saturday's matchup is as interesting as ever. The names of the key players change every year but the stakes always seem to be the same. After last night's games, I see that Bowser has bumped his conference scoring average to 24.1 per game. He clearly has put his name in the conference MVP hat.