MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[pointlem]

Outside shooting was a soft spot for Hope last year, so to have the frosh guards Cargill and Sanchez combine for 44 points, including 8 of 14 3-point shots . . . combined with outstanding post play from Kyle Blauch . . . is a hopeful sign for Hope this year (actually the next 4 years). 
P.S. Cargill also had 5 steals and was co-leading rebounder with 8. All in all, an amazing first game of a college career, and,, facing the Anderson press, Sanchez had zero turnovers.

[TUAngola]

Trine 74  Ohio Northern 73.

First one is in the books.  Some good, some ok, some ugly.  We struggled mightily against ONU's full court pressure the entire game.  Had 16 turnovers, it sure seemed like more.  ONU with 24 points off turnovers to Trine's 2.  When we did get into the offense we shot pretty well, Brenner and Flood kept us in the game in the second half with some clutch three pointers.  Defense was meh, gave up too many easy buckets.  But the boys didn't quit.  We were down 8 with 4 minutes to go and staged a good comeback to get the dub.  Starters were Tucker, McKenzie, Brenner, and the 2 Marietta transfers Flood and Bradshaw.  Kudos to the student section, they were very vocal throughout the game.  Attendence 1850, good turnout for a Friday night.

Trine: Flood 20, Brenner 16, and McKenzie 10
ONU: Maag 20, Harris 18

[calvin_grad]

Calvin loses on the road to Denison 61-59. Bench only took 4 shots and scored 0 points. Overway with 29 but not much else that stood out.

[ziggy]

Calvin loses on the road to Denison 61-59. Bench only took 4 shots and scored 0 points. Overway with 29 but not much else that stood out.

What stood out was Denison only turning it over three times and grabbing 18 offensive rebounds. They shot it poorly but managed to maximize their number of attempts.

[Greek Tragedy]

Denison #1 in the NCAC pre-season poll, so Calvin wasn't playing Sisters of the Poor or anything.

[sac]

Franklin 73 Hope 58 F

Hope struggled to put the ball in the hoop most of the night, fell behind at halftime by 12 shooting under 30% and 0-8 from 3 allowing Franklin to shoot 50%+

A nice stretch of 2nd half play put Hope back in the game, helped by Franklin forgetting how to make baskets themselves.  Tied at 55 with 5 1/2 minutes to play and the wheels came off.  Outscored 18-3 which included 5 ugly turnovers in 5 possessions.


Hovey 13, Wourman 13, Cargill 11


Next Wed night at Elmhurst, will be the Bluejays first game. 

[pointlem]

Franklin 73 Hope 58 F

Hope struggled to put the ball in the hoop most of the night, fell behind at halftime by 12 shooting under 30% and 0-8 from 3 allowing Franklin to shoot 50%+

A nice stretch of 2nd half play put Hope back in the game, helped by Franklin forgetting how to make baskets themselves.  Tied at 55 with 5 1/2 minutes to play and the wheels came off.  Outscored 18-3 which included 5 ugly turnovers in 5 possessions.


Hovey 13, Wourman 13, Cargill 11


Next Wed night at Elmhurst, will be the Bluejays first game. 

Excellent synopsis, Sac. Hope went from 57% shooting Friday night (including 46% of 3's) to 36% last night (including 2 of 17 3's)...making me wonder how much sleep they got. Nonetheless, coming from 15 down to tie the game with 5 minutes left made them look--before the collapse--like a team awakened.

[oldknight]

I didn't watch any of Calvin's loss to Denison but while disappointing (and as Greek Tragedy correctly noted), a close 2 point loss to the NCAC preseason favorite on their floor is hardly cause for alarm. The Big Red were 24-4 last year, and they are likely as good or better this season. From Friday night's box score, it looks like Denison won by grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and committing only 3 turnovers, thus maximizing their scoring opportunities.

I watched a fair bit of last night's Calvin road win over OWU. Much of it was frustrating to watch as it appeared to me that Calvin was the superior team, but couldn't seem to pull away. A combination of lackadaisical passing (17 turnovers), and a mystifying unwillingness to take the open jumper at the free throw line helped lead to a lull in scoring. Calvin's offense finally started clicking the final 10 minutes, and the Knights ended the game on a 26-10 run.

I thought Calvin's defense was stifling, as OWU struggled throughout the game to find an open look. The home team was repeatedly left with an off-kilter and/or well defended three point attempt late in the shot clock. Calvin was led by Jalen Overway's 24 points and 13 rebounds. Nobody else hit double figures but I thought newcomer Zion Ruckard looked terrific off the bench, netting 6 points, grabbing 5 boards, and getting one nifty steal in 22 minutes of PT. I think we're going to see a lot of the transfer-in this season.

[doc]

I thought newcomer Zion Ruckard looked terrific off the bench, netting 6 points, grabbing 5 boards, and getting one nifty steal in 22 minutes of PT. I think we're going to see a lot of the transfer-in this season.

Agreed on Rucker.  He really popped at times with hustle, and ability to create off the dribble, with at least one really smooth drive fora shockingly easy layup. The offense looks different from last year with Jaylen back in, with most possessions working into him or through him. Having someone to create off the dribble (or reliably hitting 3s) will really open things up.

Also, at least on the livestream, that looked like a really odd gym. Like they were playing in shadows.

[goodknight]

Another early commit for Calvin: 6-4 wing Jack Kamminga will join his Unity Christian teammate Owen VanderWaal as an incoming freshman in the 26-27 academic year.

[oldknight]

Another early commit for Calvin: 6-4 wing Jack Kamminga will join his Unity Christian teammate Owen VanderWal as an incoming freshman in the 26-27 academic year.

A second good pickup for the Knights from Hudsonville Unity Christian. Unlike VandeWal, I expect most of Kamminga's first year PT will be on the freshmen team, but he's got a lot of potential down the road. A lights out shooter, quite athletic, and a pretty versatile 6'4" kid with good footspeed.

[sac]

Adrian plays at Sienna Heights tonight, it will be the 45th and final meeting between the two neighbors.  SHU is shutting down for good this Spring.

They play for a milk jug.
https://shusaints.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/releases/20251111ruj3rv



SHU has only played one game, a 75-73 loss to my neighbors Great Lakes Christian.

[pointlem]

On Saturday a cold-shooting Hope was 12 points behind Franklin in the first half and came back to tie the game with 5 minutes left, before fading at the end. Last night was wash, rinse, repeat...coming back from a 10 point halftime deficit to lead by two with 3.5 minutes left, before a good Elmhurst team (predicted CCIW 3rd place) controlled the end.

Hope, which gave playing time to 14 players, had a slight rebounding and turnover advantage, but were outshot from the 3-point line, where Elmhurst went 10 to 24. After a hot shooting first game, Hope has been 3 of 23 from 3-point land the last two games. Hopefully, the home court will be friendlier to Hope shooters on Saturday (with a game time that overlaps the football game, though that game's outcome should be decided by halftime).

[sac]

-27 difference at the 3 point line is an uphill climb all night.  I don't know if Hope's 2nd half defense was that much better but holding Elmhurst to 30% shooting was a big key in turning around a 10 point half time deficit.  Did the same at Franklin, thats at least encouraging.

Sort of looked like Hope took a half to settle into a road game, same last weekend. 


Hope played fairly well against a team that looks the part of one of the better teams in the CCIW, that was Elmhursts first game.

Two more good CCIW tests with Wheaton at home Saturday and North Central next week.

[oldknight]

Calvin with an 85-70 win over Colorado College. I was impressed with the Tigers. The Tigers never quit, living up to their nickname. Calvin led at half 45-27 and looked poised to finish the game with a comfortable win. Not so, as the visitors from the Centenniel State never gave up, ratcheting up their defense with a ferocious full court press in the final 20 minutes to close within 7 with five minutes left. It helped the visitors that the refs choked on their whistles, nearly losing control of the game. You know the refs have lost control when the normally mild-mannered Jalen Overway--after suffering from yet another hard foul (a foul that was finally called)--pushed the defender and began jawing with him before finishing off a three point play that put the Knights up by double digits again. Wow! Never seen that kind of anger flashed by the big guy.

Overway led with 30 points and 10 rebounds, Luka Ressler (who played a nice second half), followed with 14, and Parker Swartz added 12. Nofziger, Colorado's superb big guy, led his team with 24. While Calvin's opponent put on a lot of pressure, forcing 19 turnovers, the Knights were also sloppy with the ball a lot which helped make the game closer than it otherwise would have been.