The MIAC officially came out with their all-league selections today. Carl Hipp was named 2010-11 MIAC Joe Hutton (yes, Hamline's Joe Hutton) Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring, rebounding, and blocks. Carl was also named to the All Defensive Team for the 3rd consecutive year. Mike Campbell was also voted all conference. Tyler Pannell was named to the All Freshmen Team(it will always be Freshmen for me, not First Year like the list says). That is three in the past two years, Noah Aguirre and Jordan Schmidt made the team last season.
Here is the official list:
2010-11 MIAC Men’s Basketball All-Conference Team
Seth Anderson - Gustavus
Aaron Burtzel - St. John's
Mike Campbell - Hamline
Bobby Fong - St. Olaf
John Fraase - Concordia
Alex Healy - St. Thomas
Carl Hipp - Hamline
Seth Jonker - Carleton
Stuart Neville - St. Olaf
Tyler Nicolai - St. Thomas
Darrin Olmscheid - Concordia
Chris Palmer - St. Mary's
Cory Polta - Augsburg
Jeremy Sutherland - Carleton
Will Wright - St. Mary's
2010-11 MIAC Men’s Basketball All-Defensive Team
Teddy Archer - St. Thomas
Carl Hipp - Hamline
Tyler Nicolai - St. Thomas
Brett Sorenson - Augsburg
Jeremy Sutherland - Carleton
2010-11 MIAC Men’s Basketball All-First Year Team
Connor Gunderson - St. Olaf
Parker Hines - Augsburg
Christian Skinner - Bethel
Tyler Pannell - Hamline
Justin Wasik - Macalester
As you can see, there is a couple of differences in my predictions or selections for the All MIAC teams. I thought Pierce Peters should be on the list but I understand with his team finishing in last place but he is a heck of a player. I also had Andy Burns on there, I think he is one of the best point guards in the league and he kicked our rearend both times this year.
Guy Kalland from Carleton was named Coach of the Year after Carleton was named Regular Season Co-Champions. I'm not exactly sure what Nelson needs to do to be named Coach of the Year. Guy certainly did a great job with his team but they lost one player from an NCAA Tournament team and were predicted to finish 3rd in the preseason poll. We were predicted to finish 9th be the fellow coaches and finished 3rd in the regular season. Do we need more in-state kids for him to win that? That is certainly not for me to decide.
Monday, February 28, 2011
NCAA Tournament
St. Thomas beat Gustavus yesterday for the MIAC automatic qualifier and the outright MIAC Championship. St. Thomas will also be the lone MIAC representative for the NCAA Tournament. Very surprising that Carleton didn't get in.
St. Thomas will be hosting a "pod" of Northwestern (UMAC Champion, yes we played them), UW-River Falls (At large bid), and Illinois Wesleyan (At large bid). They will play Northwestern first, River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan will be the other matchup. Both River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan made it to their conference tournament championship game, maybe that was the deciding factor in not letting Carleton in.
Interesting to see how the NCAA put the teams in. I think the deciding factor was the amount of wins each team had and then it was strength of schedule. Perfect example is that Ithaca College back in NY got into the tourney while losing in their conference semis. Difference between them and Carleton was that Ithaca had 20 wins.
Once again, the MIAC was rated as the 2nd best conference in the country behind the WIAC. Yet, we only have one team make the tourney. The NESCAC got three bids and they only play eight conference games as the top teams beat up on the other conferences. They've beat the system once again (I'm not saying that Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury aren't worthy of a bid). Amherst ended up playing 20 home games this year all against crappy conferences. Does the MIAC need to look to change their conference schedule to enhance the chances of more teams making the tourney or is doing well in the MIAC the end all? It'll be interesting to see what other coaches have to say after the Selection Show.
Here is a link to the BRACKET
St. Thomas will be hosting a "pod" of Northwestern (UMAC Champion, yes we played them), UW-River Falls (At large bid), and Illinois Wesleyan (At large bid). They will play Northwestern first, River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan will be the other matchup. Both River Falls and Illinois Wesleyan made it to their conference tournament championship game, maybe that was the deciding factor in not letting Carleton in.
Interesting to see how the NCAA put the teams in. I think the deciding factor was the amount of wins each team had and then it was strength of schedule. Perfect example is that Ithaca College back in NY got into the tourney while losing in their conference semis. Difference between them and Carleton was that Ithaca had 20 wins.
Once again, the MIAC was rated as the 2nd best conference in the country behind the WIAC. Yet, we only have one team make the tourney. The NESCAC got three bids and they only play eight conference games as the top teams beat up on the other conferences. They've beat the system once again (I'm not saying that Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury aren't worthy of a bid). Amherst ended up playing 20 home games this year all against crappy conferences. Does the MIAC need to look to change their conference schedule to enhance the chances of more teams making the tourney or is doing well in the MIAC the end all? It'll be interesting to see what other coaches have to say after the Selection Show.
Here is a link to the BRACKET
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Playoff - @ St. Thomas 2/25
Last night we took on the Tommies at their castle. This was a huge game for us, to help establish ourselves as a force to be reckon with for a long time. We probably had a lot more to play for than they did consider we needed this game to potentially make the NCAA Tournament. St. Thomas probably secured at least an at large bid with their play during the regular season including wins against two of the WIAC's best Stevens Point and River Falls.
The game started off really sloppy as both teams turned the ball over numerous ocassions and there was no flow. We finally got things moving a little bit and was able get some good looks. We knocked down a bunch of shots and made a big run to push our lead to 19 at a certain point in the half. We were really moving the ball, taking, and making quality shots. St. Thomas chipped away with a couple of 3's and got the lead down to ten by halftime, 45-35.
The second half didn't exactly start the way we wanted. We had a turnover trying to get the ball into Carl and then gave up a layup off a post cut, which is something we worked on quite a bit. A tough four point swing that got their crowd right back into it. They again chipped away at our lead with the help of some unexpected outside shooting from one of their seniors. We went back and forth for most of the half as neither team could really capitalize on each other's mistakes. St. Thomas made a couple of shots and ended up taking a five point lead with about a minute thirty left. Mike answered with an and one and then their senior made another huge 3 and we never recovered. Final score, 78-70.
Not exactly the way we wanted to end our season. It was a tough one and I'm still a little lost for words right now. I have to give St. Thomas credit because they made plays when they needed to. It seemed like the Catholic Gods wanted to steal that game from us. It seemed like they were telling us that we weren't quite ready for that moment. We ended up only making five field goals in the second half and got outscored by 18. I just hope the Academy Awards give away that Oscar for that performance, it was clearly award worthy. And the critics obviously loved it.
Carl played like he was playing in his last game and finished with 23 points and 21 boards to go along with three blocks. Mike was our only other double figure scorer as he finished with 18.
Our season ends with a 16-11 record. Tied for the most wins since 93-94. It was another really small step in the right direction for a program that hasn't enjoyed winning on a consistent basis since the late 50's, early 60's. Maybe next year, the coaches in our league will vote us to finish 9th once again, just like they did this year. Nothing surprising me in this state anymore.
My hope is that this game gives our returning players an awful taste in their mouths for the next seven months. We have to control the things that we can control and that is busting our rear-ends in the weight room and really trying to work on our individual games. We aren't satisfied with where we are at right now by any stretch of the imagination. We plan on making it the NCAA tournament next season, anything less would be a major disappointment. As coaches, our job is to bring in better players and we certainly plan on doing that. Losses like this one, fuel the fire for us work our tails off recruiting.
Comments are welcome on this post.
The game started off really sloppy as both teams turned the ball over numerous ocassions and there was no flow. We finally got things moving a little bit and was able get some good looks. We knocked down a bunch of shots and made a big run to push our lead to 19 at a certain point in the half. We were really moving the ball, taking, and making quality shots. St. Thomas chipped away with a couple of 3's and got the lead down to ten by halftime, 45-35.
The second half didn't exactly start the way we wanted. We had a turnover trying to get the ball into Carl and then gave up a layup off a post cut, which is something we worked on quite a bit. A tough four point swing that got their crowd right back into it. They again chipped away at our lead with the help of some unexpected outside shooting from one of their seniors. We went back and forth for most of the half as neither team could really capitalize on each other's mistakes. St. Thomas made a couple of shots and ended up taking a five point lead with about a minute thirty left. Mike answered with an and one and then their senior made another huge 3 and we never recovered. Final score, 78-70.
Not exactly the way we wanted to end our season. It was a tough one and I'm still a little lost for words right now. I have to give St. Thomas credit because they made plays when they needed to. It seemed like the Catholic Gods wanted to steal that game from us. It seemed like they were telling us that we weren't quite ready for that moment. We ended up only making five field goals in the second half and got outscored by 18. I just hope the Academy Awards give away that Oscar for that performance, it was clearly award worthy. And the critics obviously loved it.
Carl played like he was playing in his last game and finished with 23 points and 21 boards to go along with three blocks. Mike was our only other double figure scorer as he finished with 18.
Our season ends with a 16-11 record. Tied for the most wins since 93-94. It was another really small step in the right direction for a program that hasn't enjoyed winning on a consistent basis since the late 50's, early 60's. Maybe next year, the coaches in our league will vote us to finish 9th once again, just like they did this year. Nothing surprising me in this state anymore.
My hope is that this game gives our returning players an awful taste in their mouths for the next seven months. We have to control the things that we can control and that is busting our rear-ends in the weight room and really trying to work on our individual games. We aren't satisfied with where we are at right now by any stretch of the imagination. We plan on making it the NCAA tournament next season, anything less would be a major disappointment. As coaches, our job is to bring in better players and we certainly plan on doing that. Losses like this one, fuel the fire for us work our tails off recruiting.
Comments are welcome on this post.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Webcast Link - Hamline at St. Thomas
Here is the LINK for the webcast for tonight's MIAC Semifinal game between us and St. Thomas. Again, like the last St. Thomas game I have no clue how to access the game so the link is the best I can do. Hopefully, everyone will be more computer savvy than me to figure it out.
Here is another LINK that will be running through the Hamline webcast, which in my opinion is much easier to get out.
Here is another LINK that will be running through the Hamline webcast, which in my opinion is much easier to get out.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My All MIAC Picks
Here are my picks for All MIAC team. I'm going to pick them a little different than the league does and have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team and that is all. I believe the official All MIAC selections come out within the next ten days.
First Team
Jeremy Sutherland - Carleton
Tyler Nicolai - St. Thomas
Aaron Burtzel - St. John's
Carl Hipp - Hamilne
Bobby Fong - St. Olaf
Second Team
Alex Healy - St. Thomas
Chris Palmer - St. Mary's
Seth Jonker - Carleton
Stu Neville - St. Olaf
Seth Anderson - Gustavus
Third Team
Mike Campbell - Hamline
Darrin Olmschied - Concordia
Pierce Peters - Macalester
Cory Polta - Augsburg
Will Wright - St. Mary's
Tommy Hannon - St. Thomas
Andy Burns - St. John's
Again, this is based purely off of my viewings of each team. I know, my 3rd team has seven guys on it but guys keep popping into my head that kicked our butt. The first team that I assembled (kind of), my guess is that they could compete with any other conference's top five.
As far as conference player of the year, I'm completely torn with three different guys. Jeremy Sutherland, Tyler Nicolai, and Carl Hipp. These three guys have led their teams to top 3 finishes in the league and all three of them will be sorely missed by opposing coaches (oozing sarcasm with that one).
Once again, we play at St. Thomas tomorrow for a chance to make it to the MIAC Championship game. I'll have a link to the game at sometime tomorrow afternoon.
First Team
Jeremy Sutherland - Carleton
Tyler Nicolai - St. Thomas
Aaron Burtzel - St. John's
Carl Hipp - Hamilne
Bobby Fong - St. Olaf
Second Team
Alex Healy - St. Thomas
Chris Palmer - St. Mary's
Seth Jonker - Carleton
Stu Neville - St. Olaf
Seth Anderson - Gustavus
Third Team
Mike Campbell - Hamline
Darrin Olmschied - Concordia
Pierce Peters - Macalester
Cory Polta - Augsburg
Will Wright - St. Mary's
Tommy Hannon - St. Thomas
Andy Burns - St. John's
Again, this is based purely off of my viewings of each team. I know, my 3rd team has seven guys on it but guys keep popping into my head that kicked our butt. The first team that I assembled (kind of), my guess is that they could compete with any other conference's top five.
As far as conference player of the year, I'm completely torn with three different guys. Jeremy Sutherland, Tyler Nicolai, and Carl Hipp. These three guys have led their teams to top 3 finishes in the league and all three of them will be sorely missed by opposing coaches (oozing sarcasm with that one).
Once again, we play at St. Thomas tomorrow for a chance to make it to the MIAC Championship game. I'll have a link to the game at sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Playoff - Concordia 2/23
Last night we took on the Cobbers in a rematch of our game against each other on Saturday. The one nice thing about playing them again was that we knew how they were going to defend us and we knew for the most part what they were going to do offensively. Another advantage that we have is that they had to travel from Moorhead to here, which is about three and a half hours. A normal travel day for them but still advantageous for us.
We got off to a blazing hot start from three. Tyler Pannell knocked down three 3's and Noah Aguirre hit two more within the first four minutes of the game. Quite a turn of events from our last couple of games. The biggest thing is that we couldn't get complacent and settle for 3's. Next couple of possessions we got to the rim and got off to a 20-7 lead, much like our first game with the Cobbers up in Moorhead. The Cobbers didn't back down and eventually tied it up with a little less than two minutes left in the half. We answered with a little 5-0 run to finish the half and was up, 41-36. We played harder than them for about 15 minutes of the half. We have to play harder than them for the whole game, not just for stretches.
The second half was pretty much controlled by us. Just looking at the stats, it never got closer than six with the exception of the beginning of the half. Everytime they made a play, we always had a response. Again, we played harder than them for the most part. We just can't have the lapses if we expect to win the championship. We ended up winning, 86-75 in a scorching hot Hutton Arena (just the way we like it). Great crowd in numbers last night, with a lot of alums in the house.
We were led by Tyler's 19 including 5-7 from 3. He definitely stepped it up big time in a big game for us. Noah had 14 on only seven shots. That's pretty efficient if you ask me. Mike Campbell finished with 13 and Carl had a double-double with 12 and 12. Our starting group did an excellent job last night. The guys coming off the bench struggled a little bit last night as a unit but we do get another opportunity tomorrow against St. Thomas.
The MIAC Semifinals are all set for tomorrow night as we take on St. Thomas at their castle. Gustavus knocked out St. Olaf last night, 90-71, and take on Carleton in Northfield.
On a side note, Hamline has hired John Pate as it's new football coach. Coach Pate spent many years with Georgia Southern and won numerous national championships with them. He will bring the veer offense to Minnesota. For those with vast football knowledge like myself, the veer is what both Georgia Tech and Navy run. Coach Pate worked under current GT head coach and former Navy coach Paul Johnson for a number of years at Georgia Southern.
Two of our former staffers on the football program have gotten jobs elsewhere. Former head coach was hired as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at the University of Redlands LINK. Also, former defensive line coach Guy Ament was hired at Howard Payne University down in Texas in the same capacity. Good luck to both coaches.
We got off to a blazing hot start from three. Tyler Pannell knocked down three 3's and Noah Aguirre hit two more within the first four minutes of the game. Quite a turn of events from our last couple of games. The biggest thing is that we couldn't get complacent and settle for 3's. Next couple of possessions we got to the rim and got off to a 20-7 lead, much like our first game with the Cobbers up in Moorhead. The Cobbers didn't back down and eventually tied it up with a little less than two minutes left in the half. We answered with a little 5-0 run to finish the half and was up, 41-36. We played harder than them for about 15 minutes of the half. We have to play harder than them for the whole game, not just for stretches.
The second half was pretty much controlled by us. Just looking at the stats, it never got closer than six with the exception of the beginning of the half. Everytime they made a play, we always had a response. Again, we played harder than them for the most part. We just can't have the lapses if we expect to win the championship. We ended up winning, 86-75 in a scorching hot Hutton Arena (just the way we like it). Great crowd in numbers last night, with a lot of alums in the house.
We were led by Tyler's 19 including 5-7 from 3. He definitely stepped it up big time in a big game for us. Noah had 14 on only seven shots. That's pretty efficient if you ask me. Mike Campbell finished with 13 and Carl had a double-double with 12 and 12. Our starting group did an excellent job last night. The guys coming off the bench struggled a little bit last night as a unit but we do get another opportunity tomorrow against St. Thomas.
The MIAC Semifinals are all set for tomorrow night as we take on St. Thomas at their castle. Gustavus knocked out St. Olaf last night, 90-71, and take on Carleton in Northfield.
On a side note, Hamline has hired John Pate as it's new football coach. Coach Pate spent many years with Georgia Southern and won numerous national championships with them. He will bring the veer offense to Minnesota. For those with vast football knowledge like myself, the veer is what both Georgia Tech and Navy run. Coach Pate worked under current GT head coach and former Navy coach Paul Johnson for a number of years at Georgia Southern.
Two of our former staffers on the football program have gotten jobs elsewhere. Former head coach was hired as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at the University of Redlands LINK. Also, former defensive line coach Guy Ament was hired at Howard Payne University down in Texas in the same capacity. Good luck to both coaches.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tonight's Playoff Game
Tonight we take on Concordia Moorhead in a rematch of Saturday's game here at Hutton Arena at 7:30pm central time. This will be the first Hamline home playoff game since at least 1993-94 season (edit, we now have confirmation, it was 1984-85). Hopefully, we'll have an exciting atmosphere.
Yesterday we had an awful practice and Nelson actually kicked the guys out about an hour into it. So we'll see how the guys respond.
Here is the LINK to the live video.
Yesterday we had an awful practice and Nelson actually kicked the guys out about an hour into it. So we'll see how the guys respond.
Here is the LINK to the live video.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Concordia Moorhead 2/19
Yesterday afternoon we took on the Cobbers from Concordia in our last official home game of the year as well as Senior Night. They last played on Monday vs. St. Thomas so we are playing against a team that has a bye for the second time this week, St. Olaf being the first. And that's enough on that matter.
The first half started with a lot of back and forth action. We had a 24-18 lead with a little over seven minutes to play and had several opportunities to increase our lead but either turned it over or got stagnant on offense. For the second consecutive game the opposing team's defense really sagged off our guys and collapsed on Carl. We've seen it numerous times throughout the season with Northwestern, MAC, and St. Thomas the second time around. The key to beating this type of defense is to get some skip passes in and then attack and the defense breaks down. The skip was open and we rarely took advantage of it. We were down two at the half, 35-33.
The second half was a flat out awful performance by our team. For the second consecutive game we had no answer. We made a couple of mini runs but they were never enough. We look tired. They beat us to every loose ball and clearly wanted it more than we did. They also needed a win to clinch a playoff berth but we have to play hard every game regardless of who we are playing. Final score, 87-76 in favor of the Cobbers.
Over the past two games it looks like we have reverted back to how we played at the beginning of the year, except we aren't defending at all. At least at the beginning of the year we could keep ourselves in games because we were defending like crazy. Now, we are letting teams shoot high percentages and we have been getting outrebounded by an average of 20 rebounds a game over the past two games. Plus, we are getting outworked.
On a positive note, we clinch the #3 seed for the playoffs because of St. Olaf's lose to Carleton yesterday. We will play Concordia again on Wednesday at our place at 7:30pm central time. We have to be ready to play because we know they will be.
Here are the seedings for the MIAC playoffs
#1 Carleton
#2 St. Thomas
#3 Hamline
#4 St. Olaf
#5 Gustavus
#6 Concordia
Gustavus will play at St. Olaf on Wednesday for the other first round game. The winner of our game will play at St. Thomas on Friday. The winner of the Gustavus-St. Olaf game will play at Carleton on Friday.
Congrats to the Men's Hockey team on clinching the Regular Season Championship yesterday, posting a 7-4 win against the Cobbers in Moorhead. I believe it's their second regular season championship in the last four years.
The first half started with a lot of back and forth action. We had a 24-18 lead with a little over seven minutes to play and had several opportunities to increase our lead but either turned it over or got stagnant on offense. For the second consecutive game the opposing team's defense really sagged off our guys and collapsed on Carl. We've seen it numerous times throughout the season with Northwestern, MAC, and St. Thomas the second time around. The key to beating this type of defense is to get some skip passes in and then attack and the defense breaks down. The skip was open and we rarely took advantage of it. We were down two at the half, 35-33.
The second half was a flat out awful performance by our team. For the second consecutive game we had no answer. We made a couple of mini runs but they were never enough. We look tired. They beat us to every loose ball and clearly wanted it more than we did. They also needed a win to clinch a playoff berth but we have to play hard every game regardless of who we are playing. Final score, 87-76 in favor of the Cobbers.
Over the past two games it looks like we have reverted back to how we played at the beginning of the year, except we aren't defending at all. At least at the beginning of the year we could keep ourselves in games because we were defending like crazy. Now, we are letting teams shoot high percentages and we have been getting outrebounded by an average of 20 rebounds a game over the past two games. Plus, we are getting outworked.
On a positive note, we clinch the #3 seed for the playoffs because of St. Olaf's lose to Carleton yesterday. We will play Concordia again on Wednesday at our place at 7:30pm central time. We have to be ready to play because we know they will be.
Here are the seedings for the MIAC playoffs
#1 Carleton
#2 St. Thomas
#3 Hamline
#4 St. Olaf
#5 Gustavus
#6 Concordia
Gustavus will play at St. Olaf on Wednesday for the other first round game. The winner of our game will play at St. Thomas on Friday. The winner of the Gustavus-St. Olaf game will play at Carleton on Friday.
Congrats to the Men's Hockey team on clinching the Regular Season Championship yesterday, posting a 7-4 win against the Cobbers in Moorhead. I believe it's their second regular season championship in the last four years.
Friday, February 18, 2011
@ St. Thomas 2/16
On Wednesday night, we took on the Tommies from St. Thomas over at their new facility. The facility is really nice, just wish their gym would've been a little bigger. I was kind of expecting a little more considering how much money they put into it. This was a really important game for us and for them. With the win, they secured a bye for the first round of the playoffs and with a win, we would have an opportunity to move past them pending the outcome of Saturday's game. It was a big game for their five seniors as it is their last official home game of their career.
Once Nelson started his pre-game speech I knew something was different than the last time we played them. There wasn't a nervous energy like last time. Our guys seemed really loose and not as focused as last time. I'm not saying being loose isn't a good thing but it didn't seem right.
We got onto the floor and there are already issued with one of the rims. The net on the rim they are using first is all messed up and that delayed the start of the game. A couple of times during the first half the shot clock didn't work or restart (probably a glitch of the system), which gave them what seemed like a 45 second possession on one occasion (probably wasn't that long but it seemed that way, especially with their firepower).
It was back and forth for most of the first ten minutes of the half and then UST went on a run to go up 19-11 and we looked lost. We then answered with a little run of our own and had a several opportunities to either tie or take the lead and we just couldn't convert. We dug ourselves a hole and really could never get out of because we kept on turning the ball over and giving up offensive rebounds. We finished with 12 turnovers and gave up 10 offensive boards, not exactly a recipe for success, especially on the road. We were down 41-33 at the half. Not a huge hole but at the same time it's a similar position we've been in numerous games throughout the season.
The second half started off poorly and we never recovered from it. They made a bunch of open shots and really showed their experience while we showed our youth. I don't really want to get into the rest of the half because it wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. We came out to start flat and we finished flat. Final score, Tommies win 82-60.
The game was very similar to our first game with them, it was just a complete role reversal. They wanted it more than we did on Wednesday and we wanted it more than them the first time around. The one thing about the game is that it gave us an opportunity to play them on their home floor and get familiar with their gym which is where we could possibly play in the playoffs.
We play Concordia-Moorhead tomorrow at Hutton at 3pm following the women's game. The women can get into the playoffs with a win, which would be huge for Kerri Stockwell's bunch. Good luck to them. It's Senior Night for Carl Hipp and hopefully we get a "W" and clinch the 3rd seed for the MIAC playoffs.
Once Nelson started his pre-game speech I knew something was different than the last time we played them. There wasn't a nervous energy like last time. Our guys seemed really loose and not as focused as last time. I'm not saying being loose isn't a good thing but it didn't seem right.
We got onto the floor and there are already issued with one of the rims. The net on the rim they are using first is all messed up and that delayed the start of the game. A couple of times during the first half the shot clock didn't work or restart (probably a glitch of the system), which gave them what seemed like a 45 second possession on one occasion (probably wasn't that long but it seemed that way, especially with their firepower).
It was back and forth for most of the first ten minutes of the half and then UST went on a run to go up 19-11 and we looked lost. We then answered with a little run of our own and had a several opportunities to either tie or take the lead and we just couldn't convert. We dug ourselves a hole and really could never get out of because we kept on turning the ball over and giving up offensive rebounds. We finished with 12 turnovers and gave up 10 offensive boards, not exactly a recipe for success, especially on the road. We were down 41-33 at the half. Not a huge hole but at the same time it's a similar position we've been in numerous games throughout the season.
The second half started off poorly and we never recovered from it. They made a bunch of open shots and really showed their experience while we showed our youth. I don't really want to get into the rest of the half because it wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. We came out to start flat and we finished flat. Final score, Tommies win 82-60.
The game was very similar to our first game with them, it was just a complete role reversal. They wanted it more than we did on Wednesday and we wanted it more than them the first time around. The one thing about the game is that it gave us an opportunity to play them on their home floor and get familiar with their gym which is where we could possibly play in the playoffs.
We play Concordia-Moorhead tomorrow at Hutton at 3pm following the women's game. The women can get into the playoffs with a win, which would be huge for Kerri Stockwell's bunch. Good luck to them. It's Senior Night for Carl Hipp and hopefully we get a "W" and clinch the 3rd seed for the MIAC playoffs.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
St. Olaf 2/14
On a beautiful Valentine's Day (so naturally our school's male population was not at the game because they were trying to impress their "lady friend")we took on the Oles from St. Olaf in a rematch of the classic defensive struggle that took place a month ago in Northfield. Both teams were riding impressive win streaks, one had to come to an end.
Game didn't exactly start the way we want just like the last time we played them. We missed a couple of chippy layups as well as a couple of good looks from three. We were very stagnant on the offensive end and they were making our defense look like the Red Sea (great fan video on that link). We couldn't muster any type of offense and we were close to a season low in points at the half with 23. We had 12 turnovers and gave up 10 offensive rebounds. Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me (or anyone for that matter). We were down 31-23 at the half.
Second half started much like the first. We couldn't get anything going. Our offense looked like we just put it in yesterday. Not exactly our best showing to say the least. Throughout the half, we would get the lead down to 7 at the most and could never muster anything more than that. Olaf always had an answer.
With about five minutes to play Nelson decided we needed to play "small ball." Our group was Victor Easter, Jordan Schmidt, Mike Campbell, Christian Taber, and Noah Aguirre. Christian aka Ainge made a couple of 3's to get us right back in it and we started to apply a bunch of defensive pressure and increased the tempo of the game tenfold. Noah made a couple of HUGE 3's and we were right back in the mix as Olaf was on their heels. Noah made another gigantic 3 with 28 seconds left to tie the game. Olaf had the ball and called a timeout after they got past halfcourt. They set up a play and ended up taking an off balance shot that we rebounded and immediately called a timeout. Our ball with a little over six seconds left. We inbound the ball and get caught up a little and end up taking an off balance 3 for the win and it bounces off the rim.
Overtime, a place we have been at several times this season and we definitely looked a little more comfortable. We moved Carl back into the lineup and mix and matched with some other guys. The guys got the ball moving quite a bit and we looked like a totally different team as we attacked and got to the line quite a bit. We fouled out their two starting guards, which forced them to put a couple of guys into the game that hadn't play a ton of minutes in the second half. We ended up going 13-16 from the line in overtime and stole a victory from the Oles.
The energy and aggressiveness we had in the last five minutes of the game was phenomenal. It was definitely something that we have preached with our guys since the day we got here. We are going to play a lot of players and down the stretch of games we are going to wear teams down and dominate those last five minutes and we did yesterday. Big props to Jordan Schmidt and Victor Easter to give us that spark as they create havoc on the defensive end and really got into the paint on penetration on the offensive end.
We were led last night by Mike's 18 points and 5 boards. Noah had a huge second half, scoring all of his points there with 12. He also had 7 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals, one of which sealed the win. Carl had 14 points including a layup that put us in front in overtime. On that layup he hit the 1500 point mark for his career. We also tough minutes from Victor, as he had a career high 7 points. B Rieg had 7 points and 7 boards, not bad for being like 5'3". Andy didn't get a ton of minutes but still came through with 7 points.
With the win last night we clinched at least a home game for the MIAC playoffs. Not sure the last time that has happened at Hamline but we're excited. But we aren't done yet. We take on the Tommies from St. Thomas tomorrow night at 7:30 central time at their new gym.
Here is the LINK for the game tomorrow. I've never been able to figure out the stuff on that website but go for it.
Game didn't exactly start the way we want just like the last time we played them. We missed a couple of chippy layups as well as a couple of good looks from three. We were very stagnant on the offensive end and they were making our defense look like the Red Sea (great fan video on that link). We couldn't muster any type of offense and we were close to a season low in points at the half with 23. We had 12 turnovers and gave up 10 offensive rebounds. Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me (or anyone for that matter). We were down 31-23 at the half.
Second half started much like the first. We couldn't get anything going. Our offense looked like we just put it in yesterday. Not exactly our best showing to say the least. Throughout the half, we would get the lead down to 7 at the most and could never muster anything more than that. Olaf always had an answer.
With about five minutes to play Nelson decided we needed to play "small ball." Our group was Victor Easter, Jordan Schmidt, Mike Campbell, Christian Taber, and Noah Aguirre. Christian aka Ainge made a couple of 3's to get us right back in it and we started to apply a bunch of defensive pressure and increased the tempo of the game tenfold. Noah made a couple of HUGE 3's and we were right back in the mix as Olaf was on their heels. Noah made another gigantic 3 with 28 seconds left to tie the game. Olaf had the ball and called a timeout after they got past halfcourt. They set up a play and ended up taking an off balance shot that we rebounded and immediately called a timeout. Our ball with a little over six seconds left. We inbound the ball and get caught up a little and end up taking an off balance 3 for the win and it bounces off the rim.
Overtime, a place we have been at several times this season and we definitely looked a little more comfortable. We moved Carl back into the lineup and mix and matched with some other guys. The guys got the ball moving quite a bit and we looked like a totally different team as we attacked and got to the line quite a bit. We fouled out their two starting guards, which forced them to put a couple of guys into the game that hadn't play a ton of minutes in the second half. We ended up going 13-16 from the line in overtime and stole a victory from the Oles.
The energy and aggressiveness we had in the last five minutes of the game was phenomenal. It was definitely something that we have preached with our guys since the day we got here. We are going to play a lot of players and down the stretch of games we are going to wear teams down and dominate those last five minutes and we did yesterday. Big props to Jordan Schmidt and Victor Easter to give us that spark as they create havoc on the defensive end and really got into the paint on penetration on the offensive end.
We were led last night by Mike's 18 points and 5 boards. Noah had a huge second half, scoring all of his points there with 12. He also had 7 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals, one of which sealed the win. Carl had 14 points including a layup that put us in front in overtime. On that layup he hit the 1500 point mark for his career. We also tough minutes from Victor, as he had a career high 7 points. B Rieg had 7 points and 7 boards, not bad for being like 5'3". Andy didn't get a ton of minutes but still came through with 7 points.
With the win last night we clinched at least a home game for the MIAC playoffs. Not sure the last time that has happened at Hamline but we're excited. But we aren't done yet. We take on the Tommies from St. Thomas tomorrow night at 7:30 central time at their new gym.
Here is the LINK for the game tomorrow. I've never been able to figure out the stuff on that website but go for it.
Monday, February 14, 2011
St. Olaf Webcast
Here is the LINK to tonight's webcast of the St. Olaf game. Once again, I believe this game will clinch at least a home game for the MIAC playoffs. Big game tonight for sure.
Happy Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Macalester 2/12
Yesterday afternoon we took on the Scots from Macalester in a rematch of a ten point victory for us a little over a month ago. First things first. It was an awesome day that started with the unveiling of the Joe Hutton Sr. bust in the lobby of Hutton Arena. The bust is one of the first things you see when you walk into the building. I don't have any photos at the moment, come on Steph. It was great to see a lot of the Hutton family there as well as many former players including a bunch of Hamline greats.
After the bust unveiling we honored the members of the 1942, 1949, and 1951 National Championship teams as well as the ten member of the Row of Honor. Unfortunately, there aren't many team members that are still with us, but we had a lot of families of the deceased on hand and it made for a very emotional day for everyone. Each player or coach was honored with a spot on our Row of Honor which is located on the north balcony of Hutton Arena.
The most emotional moment came when Vern Mikkelsen was honored. Vern was a NBA All Star, played in the inaugural NBA All Star game, and won a couple of NBA Championships with the Minneapolis Lakers. Last but not least, is a NBA Hall of Famer. Vern's health isn't the greatest but with the help of his son, was able to make an appearance today. I'm sure it was really tough for a lot of his teammates to see him as he is now. I know there are a lot of people that probably thought of him as "Superman" when he played and to see him now, it has to be tough.
It was a very humbling experience yesterday. I got to talk with Vern and Rollie Seltz (another Row of Honor inductee) about the team and where we are and where we are headed. They both said they were very proud to see the basketball program turn around to where it is now. It was quite an honor to have to these guys notice all the hard that we put in as a staff into making Hamline into a great program again. We still aren't quite there but we are on our way. All I could do, is thank them for making Hamline what it is today.
Now onto our game. It wasn't exactly the start that we wanted as we got a little confused on the defensive end but we certainly answered the bell right around the 13 minute mark. We started raining 3's from all over the place and dominated the rest of the half. We got a lot of inside out 3's and continually made the extra pass to give their teammates wide open 3's. We definitely put on a clinic for the half and led 54-36 at the break.
We really emphasized that we needed to get some penetration and not to settle for 3's to start the half. We attacked the rim right from the get go and went on a 10-2 to start the half . We hovered around a 20 point lead throughout the rest of the half and then the 3 point barrage started again as we got the lead to around 30 with a couple of minutes to play. Our guys that normally don't get a lot of minutes went in with about three minutes to play and finished with a 13-3 run to close the game down. We ended up winning with a season high in points with 108. Final score, 108-73.
If you would have told me that Carl would have 8 points and we would still win any game this season, I would have laughed right in your face. Needless to say, our team proved a lot of people including myself wrong. Carl was one of eight players with 8 points or more. We were led by Sam Gullickson's 15, Ainge's 13, Andy's 12, Noah's 11, and B's 10. Mike finished with 9, while Tyler and Carl finished with 8. All but one of our guys scored yesterday. If that's not a team effort then I don't know what is. We finished shooting 15-29 from 3 and 57% overall. Great finish to an emotional day.
We are now 14-8 and 12-5 in the conference and have clinched a playoff spot. It certainly doesn't get any easier for us, as we take on St. Olaf Monday night at 7:30pm. The Oles are the hottest team in the conference right now. They've won six straight games including a big win at St. Thomas. I know it's Valentine's Day and everyone's lady friend wants to spend time with them but it's a HUGE game for us. If we win, I believe we clinch a home game for the playoffs.
Forgot to add, a great article about Carl Hipp and his family in regards to him attending Hamline. Here is the LINK
After the bust unveiling we honored the members of the 1942, 1949, and 1951 National Championship teams as well as the ten member of the Row of Honor. Unfortunately, there aren't many team members that are still with us, but we had a lot of families of the deceased on hand and it made for a very emotional day for everyone. Each player or coach was honored with a spot on our Row of Honor which is located on the north balcony of Hutton Arena.
The most emotional moment came when Vern Mikkelsen was honored. Vern was a NBA All Star, played in the inaugural NBA All Star game, and won a couple of NBA Championships with the Minneapolis Lakers. Last but not least, is a NBA Hall of Famer. Vern's health isn't the greatest but with the help of his son, was able to make an appearance today. I'm sure it was really tough for a lot of his teammates to see him as he is now. I know there are a lot of people that probably thought of him as "Superman" when he played and to see him now, it has to be tough.
It was a very humbling experience yesterday. I got to talk with Vern and Rollie Seltz (another Row of Honor inductee) about the team and where we are and where we are headed. They both said they were very proud to see the basketball program turn around to where it is now. It was quite an honor to have to these guys notice all the hard that we put in as a staff into making Hamline into a great program again. We still aren't quite there but we are on our way. All I could do, is thank them for making Hamline what it is today.
Now onto our game. It wasn't exactly the start that we wanted as we got a little confused on the defensive end but we certainly answered the bell right around the 13 minute mark. We started raining 3's from all over the place and dominated the rest of the half. We got a lot of inside out 3's and continually made the extra pass to give their teammates wide open 3's. We definitely put on a clinic for the half and led 54-36 at the break.
We really emphasized that we needed to get some penetration and not to settle for 3's to start the half. We attacked the rim right from the get go and went on a 10-2 to start the half . We hovered around a 20 point lead throughout the rest of the half and then the 3 point barrage started again as we got the lead to around 30 with a couple of minutes to play. Our guys that normally don't get a lot of minutes went in with about three minutes to play and finished with a 13-3 run to close the game down. We ended up winning with a season high in points with 108. Final score, 108-73.
If you would have told me that Carl would have 8 points and we would still win any game this season, I would have laughed right in your face. Needless to say, our team proved a lot of people including myself wrong. Carl was one of eight players with 8 points or more. We were led by Sam Gullickson's 15, Ainge's 13, Andy's 12, Noah's 11, and B's 10. Mike finished with 9, while Tyler and Carl finished with 8. All but one of our guys scored yesterday. If that's not a team effort then I don't know what is. We finished shooting 15-29 from 3 and 57% overall. Great finish to an emotional day.
We are now 14-8 and 12-5 in the conference and have clinched a playoff spot. It certainly doesn't get any easier for us, as we take on St. Olaf Monday night at 7:30pm. The Oles are the hottest team in the conference right now. They've won six straight games including a big win at St. Thomas. I know it's Valentine's Day and everyone's lady friend wants to spend time with them but it's a HUGE game for us. If we win, I believe we clinch a home game for the playoffs.
Forgot to add, a great article about Carl Hipp and his family in regards to him attending Hamline. Here is the LINK
Thursday, February 10, 2011
@ Bethel 2/9
Last night we took on the Royals of Bethel. The Pipers haven't lost in the Robertson Center since Nelson took over. We always seem to shoot well there for some reason. Before our game, the JV team from Bethel took on the University of Minnesota's Club basketball team. It was an entertaining game to watch with the Royals, or should be call them the Navyies (their color is navy blue not royal blue), won in a nail biter. Today's game marks the return of Jordan Schmidt. He had been out for a really long stretch of games due to a freak injury. He had been practicing with us for a couple of days and he certainly had some fresh legs.
The game didn't exactly start the way we wanted as we turned the ball over and then committed an intentional foul. I'm not saying it wasn't intentional but I wonder if we will get an intentional call our way sometime this year. After coming to our senses we started a 7-0 run with a Carl dunk. We seemed to be really rolling, as we got the ball to Carl anytime we wanted. After replacing the starters, we started to get our rears kicked on the offensive glass, a trend that continued throughout the whole game. We went back and forth for a bit and then we attacked a little better and got our lead to eight at the half, 45-37.
The second half started like the first, minus the intentional, and Bethel got off to a hot start. Not sure what was going on with our energy tonight but we definitely played defense in spurts. As the half wore on, we wore then down. We started making inside out 3's, Carl was dominating inside, and we were getting stops. We got up as many as 19 on three different occasions in the second. The game was never really in doubt at that point. Our guys were playing really loose but it didn't seem that Bethel wanted to be in the gym anymore. They ended up clawing back to 12 points but it seemed like everytime they scored, we went right back at them. A defensive struggle to say the least. Final score, 91-77 in favor of the Pipers.
We were led by Carl's 26 and 7. Tyler finished with 11 in front of his parents, who surprised him with a visit from Portland. Mike was our other double figure scorer with 10. We also had five guys between 5-7 points to help our balanced attack. We got killed on the boards and only had 18 rebounds total. That is just unacceptable. We gave up as many offensive boards as we had defensive boards. That is something we clearly have to fix to win down the stretch. We are now 13-8 overall and 11-5 in the conference.
We play at home vs. Macalester on Saturday at 3pm. Before our game, we will be doing the Row of Honor ceremony for Hamline's all time greats. Should be a great atmosphere. Ceremony starts at 1pm.
Congrats to Carl on being named to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for the 2nd time this season.
The game didn't exactly start the way we wanted as we turned the ball over and then committed an intentional foul. I'm not saying it wasn't intentional but I wonder if we will get an intentional call our way sometime this year. After coming to our senses we started a 7-0 run with a Carl dunk. We seemed to be really rolling, as we got the ball to Carl anytime we wanted. After replacing the starters, we started to get our rears kicked on the offensive glass, a trend that continued throughout the whole game. We went back and forth for a bit and then we attacked a little better and got our lead to eight at the half, 45-37.
The second half started like the first, minus the intentional, and Bethel got off to a hot start. Not sure what was going on with our energy tonight but we definitely played defense in spurts. As the half wore on, we wore then down. We started making inside out 3's, Carl was dominating inside, and we were getting stops. We got up as many as 19 on three different occasions in the second. The game was never really in doubt at that point. Our guys were playing really loose but it didn't seem that Bethel wanted to be in the gym anymore. They ended up clawing back to 12 points but it seemed like everytime they scored, we went right back at them. A defensive struggle to say the least. Final score, 91-77 in favor of the Pipers.
We were led by Carl's 26 and 7. Tyler finished with 11 in front of his parents, who surprised him with a visit from Portland. Mike was our other double figure scorer with 10. We also had five guys between 5-7 points to help our balanced attack. We got killed on the boards and only had 18 rebounds total. That is just unacceptable. We gave up as many offensive boards as we had defensive boards. That is something we clearly have to fix to win down the stretch. We are now 13-8 overall and 11-5 in the conference.
We play at home vs. Macalester on Saturday at 3pm. Before our game, we will be doing the Row of Honor ceremony for Hamline's all time greats. Should be a great atmosphere. Ceremony starts at 1pm.
Congrats to Carl on being named to the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for the 2nd time this season.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
@ St. Mary's 2/5
Yesterday afternoon we took on the Cardinals of St. Mary's down in Winona. Their gym has been a house of horrors for us the last couple of seasons. We always seem to come out flat to start, something that we've seen in our loses this season. We followed the women's team big win and they now move into sole possession of 7th place, a full game behind St. Mary's for the final playoff spot. They do have the tiebreaker with the Cardinals due to their season sweep.
As I stated above, we rarely win games when we start out awful. Well, we started out flat and just looked deflated right from the get go. It was quickly turning into the usual house of horrors. We just didn't come to play, we were down 27-12 with about seven minutes left in the half. Needless to say, history was repeating itself. We got stagnant on offense again and when we did move we were going one on one and that clearly isn't our game as previous games have shown. We got a little lift over the last five minutes of the half as our defensive intensity ramped up a bit and we finally got a couple of scores including a near buzzer beating 3 by B Rieg to cut the lead to seven at the half. Josh Pratt made a great pass to B to give us a little momentum going into the locker room. Halftime score, 35-28 in favor of the Cardinals.
The second half started with a lot of defensive intensity as we got right back into it tying the ballgame two and a half minutes into the half. From that point on, it was a back and forth battle with neither team neither team getting more than a six point lead. It seemed like every time we made a run, they would slowly chip away at it and tie the game. We never gave in though. We kept on battling and got to were we wanted to be and that's with the lead down the stretch. We made some plays and that's exactly what you need to do in close games. One play that comes to mind was when Danny Ainge made a great move for a two shot foul, made the first, missed the second. Sam Gullickson made a great tip on the miss to Ainge for an and one layup. We went from down two to up two in just a couple of seconds. Even though we didn't knock down as many free throws over the last minute as we should of, we made enough to keep it a two possession game the whole time. We ended with a 68-66 hard fought win.
We were led by Carl's 19 and 9. 14 of those points came in the 2nd half. Mike his first career double double with 14 and 10 (another career high). Both of these guys stepped up in the 2nd half with their play and rebounding. To shoot 39% from the floor and 3-16 from 3 and still grind out a victory on the road tells us something about our team. We are starting to get the "me against the world" attitude which I like. I would like to see that attitude for all 40 minutes.
We now stand at 12-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference. We are now officially in 3rd place 1/2 game ahead of both Gustavus and St. Olaf (hottest team in the conference right now). We have a game on Wednesday at Bethel and return to Hutton Arena for Saturday matinee with Macalester. Two huge games for us. I believe that if we win both, we clinch a playoff berth. We just have to take care of our own stuff. We can't worry about what other teams are doing at this point. Five games left in the conference and all of them are HUGE.
Question of the day, If there was one college player that you would start a program with, who would it be (I'm talking D1 folks)?
As I stated above, we rarely win games when we start out awful. Well, we started out flat and just looked deflated right from the get go. It was quickly turning into the usual house of horrors. We just didn't come to play, we were down 27-12 with about seven minutes left in the half. Needless to say, history was repeating itself. We got stagnant on offense again and when we did move we were going one on one and that clearly isn't our game as previous games have shown. We got a little lift over the last five minutes of the half as our defensive intensity ramped up a bit and we finally got a couple of scores including a near buzzer beating 3 by B Rieg to cut the lead to seven at the half. Josh Pratt made a great pass to B to give us a little momentum going into the locker room. Halftime score, 35-28 in favor of the Cardinals.
The second half started with a lot of defensive intensity as we got right back into it tying the ballgame two and a half minutes into the half. From that point on, it was a back and forth battle with neither team neither team getting more than a six point lead. It seemed like every time we made a run, they would slowly chip away at it and tie the game. We never gave in though. We kept on battling and got to were we wanted to be and that's with the lead down the stretch. We made some plays and that's exactly what you need to do in close games. One play that comes to mind was when Danny Ainge made a great move for a two shot foul, made the first, missed the second. Sam Gullickson made a great tip on the miss to Ainge for an and one layup. We went from down two to up two in just a couple of seconds. Even though we didn't knock down as many free throws over the last minute as we should of, we made enough to keep it a two possession game the whole time. We ended with a 68-66 hard fought win.
We were led by Carl's 19 and 9. 14 of those points came in the 2nd half. Mike his first career double double with 14 and 10 (another career high). Both of these guys stepped up in the 2nd half with their play and rebounding. To shoot 39% from the floor and 3-16 from 3 and still grind out a victory on the road tells us something about our team. We are starting to get the "me against the world" attitude which I like. I would like to see that attitude for all 40 minutes.
We now stand at 12-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference. We are now officially in 3rd place 1/2 game ahead of both Gustavus and St. Olaf (hottest team in the conference right now). We have a game on Wednesday at Bethel and return to Hutton Arena for Saturday matinee with Macalester. Two huge games for us. I believe that if we win both, we clinch a playoff berth. We just have to take care of our own stuff. We can't worry about what other teams are doing at this point. Five games left in the conference and all of them are HUGE.
Question of the day, If there was one college player that you would start a program with, who would it be (I'm talking D1 folks)?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Gustavus 2/2
Last night we took on the Gusties in a rematch of our overtime game at their place earlier this year. Always difficult to play them because of their motion offense and their physical defense. They tend to create some matchup problems as well because they usually play two bigs, but at the same time it causes a problem for them because our 4 man isn't a traditional 4. So it's a battle of contrasting styles to say the least.
We went back and forth just like any other game that we've had this year with the exception of Concordia. After being down by one with a little nine minutes to play in the first half, we all of a sudden decided to go on a 15-0 run led by Tyler Pannell's three straight 3's. It was an impressive run to watch. We got the lead up to 17 and should've buried them, instead we decided to stop following our offensive principles and let them get back to ten at the half. Not exactly the way we wanted to end the half.
The second half started much like the first with a whole lotta of back and forth action. We never really pulled away like we should have. GAC battled back and got it within five with about 12 minutes to play and then we got our "spurtability" going again and they clearly couldn't recover from it. We got the benefit of the doubt on a questionable call when B Rieg hit a 3. It was close to a shot clock violation and he hit a 3. Coach Mark Hanson was really trying to get one of the ref's attention to get the shot clock violation called. His protests were heard but the call (or lack thereof) wasn't changed. I know it was a really, really close call and it went our way. GAC couldn't bounce back when that 3 got our lead to 12. And it was relative smooth sailing the rest of the way. We got an 86-74 win.
We were led by Carl's big game of 23 and 15. I believe he took a career high 19 shots as well (I could be wrong but I doubt it). Other double figure scorers were Noah with 13, Tyler with 12, and Brandon with 10.
We are currently are 9-5 in the league, a 1/2 game back of the Gusties for 3rd place. I originally thought that we had played the same amount of games but we got the bye last week and they stand at 10-5. We play at an always tough St. Mary's on Saturday as part of a doubleheader in Winona. We have to get off to a good start and hopefully, we can maintain that and put ourselves into a potential playoff berth.
We went back and forth just like any other game that we've had this year with the exception of Concordia. After being down by one with a little nine minutes to play in the first half, we all of a sudden decided to go on a 15-0 run led by Tyler Pannell's three straight 3's. It was an impressive run to watch. We got the lead up to 17 and should've buried them, instead we decided to stop following our offensive principles and let them get back to ten at the half. Not exactly the way we wanted to end the half.
The second half started much like the first with a whole lotta of back and forth action. We never really pulled away like we should have. GAC battled back and got it within five with about 12 minutes to play and then we got our "spurtability" going again and they clearly couldn't recover from it. We got the benefit of the doubt on a questionable call when B Rieg hit a 3. It was close to a shot clock violation and he hit a 3. Coach Mark Hanson was really trying to get one of the ref's attention to get the shot clock violation called. His protests were heard but the call (or lack thereof) wasn't changed. I know it was a really, really close call and it went our way. GAC couldn't bounce back when that 3 got our lead to 12. And it was relative smooth sailing the rest of the way. We got an 86-74 win.
We were led by Carl's big game of 23 and 15. I believe he took a career high 19 shots as well (I could be wrong but I doubt it). Other double figure scorers were Noah with 13, Tyler with 12, and Brandon with 10.
We are currently are 9-5 in the league, a 1/2 game back of the Gusties for 3rd place. I originally thought that we had played the same amount of games but we got the bye last week and they stand at 10-5. We play at an always tough St. Mary's on Saturday as part of a doubleheader in Winona. We have to get off to a good start and hopefully, we can maintain that and put ourselves into a potential playoff berth.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
@ Augsburg 1/31
Last night we took on the Auggies from Augsburg at Si Melby Hall. We left a little earlier than normal because of the "monstrous" storm that is currently wrecking havoc on the east coast. We only got hit a little and traffic wasn't too bad on the way to the game. The Augsburg game is always a big one for us because we know that they will be well coached and it will always be a big game. I would probably say that they are our biggest rivals as well. They are the "city" school of Minneapolis and we are the "city" school of St. Paul (whether or not our administration wants to admit it). I believe that our football programs play for "The Hammer" every year as well. Now, on to the game.
Augsburg got off to a really good start as we looked very lackadaisical. Our defensive intensity was awful and it looked very similar to our last game vs. St. John's. Certainly not the way we wanted to get things going. After we got some subs in our "second" unit got us going, especially Josh Pratt. Josh hit three 3's in a row and added a runner for 11 points in the first five minutes of his playing time for the game. We went from being down 10-3 to being up 18-17 during Josh's (and a couple of other guys) time on the floor. Nice little run there. For the rest of the half we battled back and forth and ended up taking a three point lead, 36-33, at the break.
Second half started off much like the first as Augsburg ran the same play about 40 times in a row and it never seemed like we stopped it. We went back and forth for a while and eventually the Auggies took a four point lead with about 13 minutes to play. We got right back into with a couple of layups to tie the game and about a minute later we took the lead for good on a Noah Aguirre jumper. We really started getting to the basket and getting the ball to Carl for some easy baskets as the clock rolled down. With about five minutes left Carl had a HUGE block against one of the big's dunk attempts and came down and made a turn around jumper to take the lead to five and deflated their sails quite a bit. We made a bunch of free throws down the stretch to grab another MIAC win, 74-66.
Mike led us with 20 on 10-14 shooting from the line. He also had 9 boards, which I believe is a season high. Carl had 18 on 5-13 shooting from the field, and 8-9 from the line. He also had 11 boards and 5 blocks. Not exactly his best game in my opinion but he came up big when we needed. Josh finished with 11, all the first half. Brandon Rieg gave us a huge spark defensively and did a good job of attacking the basket on offense. He finished with 9 points.
We now stand at 10-8 overall and 8-5 in the conference. We have a huge game tomorrow night at Hutton Arena against 3rd place Gustavus. If we win, we will take 3rd place in the conference.
On a side note, Carl just passed former Hamline great Vern Mikkelsen to move into 6th place all time in scoring in Piper history. A big congrats to Carl. He was also named MIAC Player of the Week last week for the second consecutive week.
Also, Mary Wilkowski of the women's team broke the school record for scoring last night against Augsburg. Big congrats to her on the major accomplishment.
Augsburg got off to a really good start as we looked very lackadaisical. Our defensive intensity was awful and it looked very similar to our last game vs. St. John's. Certainly not the way we wanted to get things going. After we got some subs in our "second" unit got us going, especially Josh Pratt. Josh hit three 3's in a row and added a runner for 11 points in the first five minutes of his playing time for the game. We went from being down 10-3 to being up 18-17 during Josh's (and a couple of other guys) time on the floor. Nice little run there. For the rest of the half we battled back and forth and ended up taking a three point lead, 36-33, at the break.
Second half started off much like the first as Augsburg ran the same play about 40 times in a row and it never seemed like we stopped it. We went back and forth for a while and eventually the Auggies took a four point lead with about 13 minutes to play. We got right back into with a couple of layups to tie the game and about a minute later we took the lead for good on a Noah Aguirre jumper. We really started getting to the basket and getting the ball to Carl for some easy baskets as the clock rolled down. With about five minutes left Carl had a HUGE block against one of the big's dunk attempts and came down and made a turn around jumper to take the lead to five and deflated their sails quite a bit. We made a bunch of free throws down the stretch to grab another MIAC win, 74-66.
Mike led us with 20 on 10-14 shooting from the line. He also had 9 boards, which I believe is a season high. Carl had 18 on 5-13 shooting from the field, and 8-9 from the line. He also had 11 boards and 5 blocks. Not exactly his best game in my opinion but he came up big when we needed. Josh finished with 11, all the first half. Brandon Rieg gave us a huge spark defensively and did a good job of attacking the basket on offense. He finished with 9 points.
We now stand at 10-8 overall and 8-5 in the conference. We have a huge game tomorrow night at Hutton Arena against 3rd place Gustavus. If we win, we will take 3rd place in the conference.
On a side note, Carl just passed former Hamline great Vern Mikkelsen to move into 6th place all time in scoring in Piper history. A big congrats to Carl. He was also named MIAC Player of the Week last week for the second consecutive week.
Also, Mary Wilkowski of the women's team broke the school record for scoring last night against Augsburg. Big congrats to her on the major accomplishment.
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