Well that's the first MNU Basketball game I was able to watch this year.

Thoughts:

-Luke Thomas had his man-pants on. The Pioneers were determined to not push the pace (wha..?) and ran a methodical offense through Thomas and it paid off. 31 points and no answer on the other end.

-Dowd in foul trouble all night, and they still found scoring...I like this depth

-Brandon Newton had a super-sneaky double-double with 16/14

-75% Syrie is still a lot better than most PG's in the country (16 assists)

Whaddya know, EU and MNU in the HAAC Tournament final...

Who ya got?

The biggest difference between this game and the last matchup was 2nd chance points and offensive rebounding for Culver. They clearly missed a lot of threes tonight, but last week they pulled down nearly ever offensive rebound and it allowed them to extend possessions. They only hit 30% of their treys last week, but often got 2nd and 3rd chances to score. MNU's ability to rebound fed transition and let MNU play their game. But when Culver did convert on the offensive end, MNU was able to set up their half court game and run it through Thomas or French, or even Newton.

The Connor Lanhgehr factor shouldn't be overlooked. He scored 14 points tonight. He averages a little over 12 ppg. In MNU's 8 losses, Connor is averaging 4.8 PPG. The Pioneers have only won 4 games all season long when Connor scores less than 10 points per game, and 2 of those 4 wins were decided in the final minute of the game.

In order for MNU to succeed in the half court game, the defense must respect Langrehr. This pulls teams away from the basket where MNU often has a size and skill advantage.


I also think Culver might have been a bit shell shocked by MNU's intensity tonight. The Pioneers have an understanding of how to play in the postseason, and while Culver has a crap load of talent, they're all pretty new to this conference and postseason basketball in general. They may need to regroup and take a look in the mirror before the tourney. They're more than talented enough to win a game or even two in KC with the right matchup. But they will need to play with a bit more urgency. They also didn't respond well at all to adversity in the last few moments of the 1st half. Its almost like they didn't even respect MNU.

But who could blame them, they really whooped the Pioneers a week ago.

One last thing:

There is nothing quiet for fluky about Brandon Newton. Since being inserted into the starting lineup in late January, he's averaged nearly 12 points and 7 boards per game. He's becoming another garbage man in the mold of French. He's shorter, not as athletic, but he gives MNU a very physical presence at 6'4 230. He completely outmuscles guys inside. He plays hard, and he also has a suprisingly decent mid range jumper.

Amidst the injuries and some of the turmoil this team has encountered this season, Newton's development has been overshadowed a bit. He's a good basketball player and when he's a piece this team didn't have last season.


It will be difficult for MNU to beat Evangel for the 3rd time this season. Both teams are in the tourney, so now they are just playing for pride. There isn't any pressure. That should make for a great game, but its hard to imagine Evangel will let MNU escape Springfield with a win for the 2nd time in 7 days.

Not surprised by MNU's win... they were close to winning at Culver the first time and with Luke Thomas missing the first half of the game last weekend, that made a big difference. As you can see by his stat line, he was the man.

It will be very tough to beat Evangel for a third time this season and for a second time in a week at their place. I expect another very good game. I think all of the HAAC teams going to the tourney this year should be competitive.

I got MNU winning again. I think the Pioneers are better at every position. I know it's tough to beat a team 3 times, but that's usually when the first 2 games have been competitive. We drilled them at home and then won at their place (on senior day, right?)

Syrie>Williams
Dowd>Donnelly
French>Kleine
I don't remember Wingert...are he and Clark a wash?
Thomas>Cotten

I like Agbasi over Langrehr as scorers off the bench...

(where's Collard been, by the way?)

Collard is healthy and available to play, however, he just doesn't fit into the rotation since Syrie is back in the mix.

That's not to say he's not ridiculously athletic and won't get any more minutes this year, but he was a luxury to have as a point guard in Syrie's absence. It appears Coach Lamar thinks the team is stronger with Syrie and Garretson as the starter and backup point guards, respectively.

Actually Hull, Collard is in Lamar's doghouse. I hope he decides to become more team oriented. I'd hate to see his basketball career just fade away while he's on the bench.

So, you're saying the team is better off right now with Syrie and Garretson getting most, if not all, minutes at the PG spot since he's not a very good teammate right now?

Collard is a senior. He'd better figure out a way to get out of that dog house, and do it in a hurry. There will be matchups against teams in the national tournament that will make him a very attractive bench option for MNU.

Title game preview from Evangel's website: http://web.evangel.edu/Athletics/News/i ... ip-Tue-7pm

And yes, if you open and print the PDF, that really is a Taco Bell coupon you can use (only at the Springfield N. Glenstone location and only if EU scores 80+ points, but still...no other post would include a deal like that!)

Once again, Evangel shows why their sports information folks are the best in the conference. Nice job.

Here's today's News-Leader with a game preview (and a look back at the EU-MNU rivalry over the last 20 years): http://www.news-leader.com/article/2013 ... ck_check=1

For those of you that still remember the NAIA-II in Branson, today's News-Leader also did big story on Rollie Massimino who has Northwood (Fla.) back in the national tournament.

Later today, there's a cool video from the EU-MNU game on Feb. 25 that I'll post. Look for it mid-afternoon.

Preview of tonight's title game from KOLR-TV: http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=775782

First half highlights of the game from KOLR-TV: http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=776382

Three minutes of raw highlights of the game from KSPR-TV: http://www.ozarkssportszone.com/Crusade ... t/15723538

Congrats to Evangel on the win and a fantastic regular season. See you at Municipal.