Valpo

Mernagh: View from the Horizon/Semi’s Set

Detroit Ices Penguins
A lot of folks thought Detroit would be the team to beat in the Horizon League coming into this season. Injuries, coaching, and depth have, at times, stopped the Motown ballers from living up to their potential in the regular campaign but hey, it’s all about the post-season baybay — I changed the spelling because I want you to pronounce it that way, it’s kind of a play on words and a kind of non-shoutout to that announcer that used to coach the Titans — and this group may have righted the ship just in time. 20-13 ain’t too shabby, just not good enough for the talent on this team in this writer’s opinion, of course when you have a beast like Eli Holman and refuse to play through him, well….that’s all for another time I guess.

Detroit made shots in this one and it’s really that simple. The Titans shot 60% and then made a lot of noise postgame about sending a message to Cleveland State with their performance, especially Ray McCallum Jr. The Vikings were watching the game and they will face the Titans today in one semifinal. Like I said, the Titans are talented and maybe they’ve turned it around. They beat Jerry Slocum’s team 93-76. We’ll see how they fare against Gary Waters and Crew.

Butler Pounds Milwaukee

71-49 was the score as, guess who, Butler is back in the semifinals hoping to upset league champ Valpo on the Crusaders floor later Saturday. Khyle Marshall had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Butler lost 71-59 last week to Valpo and Brad Stevens was channeling his inner-Jim Calhoun by addressing the fact that Valpo is a very physical team. “Nobody talks about this, but they’re really physical,” Stevens said. “They grab you, they get you, they hit you. They’re tough.” Bryce Drew has to love that!

Should be a great pair of games this evening.

LAS VEGAS AAU DAY 3 NOTEBOOK: UPSETS & CLOSE CALLS DEFINE SUNDAY’S ACTION

By Raphielle Johnson

On paper Sunday’s slate of games in both the adidas Super 64 and Las Vegas Fab 48 looked to be locks for the top teams. But many learned (once again) first-hand that games are played on the floor and not on some poster-sized sheet of paper in a gym lobby. The list of victims included the Oakland Soldiers, who dropped their first round playoff game to a Branch West Elite team that looked highly impressive in the first half against Play Hard Play Smart in the nightcap.

Also bounced from the Fab 48 were TP Elite and Team Loaded, both of whom fell victim to the Wisconsin Swing. Zak Showalter (2012) out of Germantown (WI), who scored 29 points in their 90-75 win over Team Loaded, can do a number of things on the floor from his guard position. He caught fire from deep but didn’t simply settle for those shots, also driving to the basket and setting up teammates for good looks as well. Ironically Showalter stated after the game that he’s working on becoming a better perimeter shooter, although he was referring to consistency as opposed to simply making the shot.

That matchup also featured a pair of excellent prospects in NC State commit Tyler Lewis (2012) and Andrew White (2012), who has many top programs after his services. When the ball was in Lewis’s hands things seemed to run smoother for Team Loaded, although the way in which Wisconsin Swing executed offensively it may have taken 100 points for Team Loaded to win the game.
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SUNDAY NIGHT THOUGHTS

West Virginia got a quality out of conference win against Purdue in Morgantown while St. John’s beat Notre Dame handily at the Garden. Tomorrow brings some big-time matchups with Syracuse at Pitt and Villanova at UConn.

One league to keep an eye on for Big East folks is the Horizon. It’s got some really good teams and has a history of winning games in the NCAA tournament. Valpo looks like the best early (they are 6-1 right now) and beat Wright State Thursday night on the road and then handled Detroit today. Wright State bounced back tonight from their worst half of the year Thursday and beat Butler 69-64. The Raiders have a first year coach in Billy Donlon and three very good senior guards. Tonight their point guard N’Gai Evans was an absolute beast attacking the rim and hitting pull-up jumpers. Evans finished with 26 points 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Wright State os now 5-2 in the league as is Butler. Whatever teams come out of this league will not go quietly come March.

One of the cool things about the league is that their website shows all the league’s games online for free. So if you have a free night, check it out, you’ll probably see some high-quality hoops.

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The BIG EAST conference season might be just getting underway, but it is not too early to begin thinking about tickets for the 2011 Big East Tournament this coming March in Madison Square Garden. You can visit the NBE 2011 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the event schedule and links to purchase tickets to each and/or all sessions. NBE is uniquely partnered with TicketNetwork.com to bring our readers Tickets to All Sporting Events during ANY season.
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NY2LA SPORTS SUMMER JAM WRAP-UP: NAMES TO KNOW

by RAY MERNAGH

In NBE’s article last night, NY2LA Sports Summer Jam Wrap-up we took a look at the top performers from the event you probably already know of. With head coaches like Bill Self, Ben Howland, Tom Izzo, Matt Painter, Tom Crean, Buzz Williams, Lorenzo Romar, Josh Pastner, Rick Pitino, Tony Bennet, Doc Sadler and Frank Martin, among others, being in Milwaukee for a great deal of this tournament, you know there were big names at this event and not everyone was down in Georgia.

So the first part of our wrap-up (HERE) concentrated on those big names, like Branden Dawson, Marcus Paige, De’Angelo Harrison, Perry Ellis, Angelo Chol, Nick Jacobs and Paul Jesperson and their updated recruiting situations (which have changed of late in several cases).

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more of our coverage from NY2LASports.com Summer Jam as we take a look at new names on the scene that caught the attention of the coaches in the stands, those mentioned above and others. Guys like Adam Woodbury, Tanner Williams, Bruce Barron, Austin Richie, Darnell Harris, Tyrell Robinson (and brother Tyree), RJ Hunter and more are names you should know and are covered below. Also, any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage is available to subscribers.

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MAJOK MAJOK GETTING LATE START ON VISIT PROCESS

ACC trips and more on tap for Majok as an unsigned big man in 2010 class looks to decide on college

BY JEFF BORZELLO

While the rest of the uncommitted seniors were taking their final visits and announcing their commitments, Majok Majok was in a holding pattern.

He physically wasn’t able to get on an airplane.

“He had ear surgery a few weeks back,” Northfield Mount Hermon coach John Carroll said at the time. “He hasn’t been able to get out and visit.”

You can log-in or sign up for NBE Premium access by SUBSCRIBING (HERE) for as low as $2.08 a month with our annual introductory membership to read more on Majok as one Big East team looks to be entering the picture as well as several other high-major programs, as well as any of our Premium Content Articles & Event Coverage.

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