http://www.marygrovemustangs.com/article/115.php

MT. PLEASANT, Mich.-Nobody said the Mustangs first exhibition of the season was going to be easy with NCAA Division I Central Michigan on the slate. To make matters worse, the Chippewas were recently picked as preseason favorites to win the Mid-American Conference Championship.
Nevertheless, the fearless Mustangs rolled their high-octane into the Rose Arena for an opening day battle. The normally hot offense was quickly put on ice by the Chippewas en rout to a one-sided affair.
The Mustangs raced out to a strong start by holding the Chippewas to six points through the first five minutes of the contest. However, the game took a turn for the worse as the Chippewas went ahead via a 25-4 run. The host Chippewas netted 20 points off Mustang turnovers in the first half to take a decisive 39-15 lead heading into the break.
Second half action saw much of the same for the smaller Mustang squad. Cold shooting and turnovers came in bunches as the Chippewa lead ballooned to over 40 points. In the end, the Chippewas tallied 31 points off turnovers as the men from Marygrove fell to the preseason MAC Conference favorites, 85-38.
The Mustangs were led by DeAundray Armstrong with 12 points. Justin McKinney and Chris Sinagoga chipped in with six each for the Mustangs in the loss. Robbie Harmon led the Chippewas with 16.
The Huskies of Northern Illinois are next on the Mustangs schedule. A Friday evening match (8pm EST) versus another MAC Conference school should prove to be another tough challenge. After the game with the Huskies, the Mustangs will start their regular season schedule at home against NAIA #9 ranked Indiana Wesleyan.

My prediction is that we will beat them by around 20 points. I know that is far less than the 47 point drubbing by CMU. But, Marygrove will now have a better idea of what to expect from that type of competition, not be so nervous, etc. Plus, CMU is better than we are. We likely can't hold them to 38 points. We might score 85 or more like CMU did, but Marygrove will be better and we won't be as good defensively as CMU. We'll see. I'm just anxious for the chance to get to see the Huskies play Marygrove on Friday night.

Oh my was that article written by a highschooler?

Weren't Mary's Sisters of the Poor available for the MAC tour ?

It's exhibition, Cybes. Every team does this.

I get that - I really do.

My beef is why play one far away and unknown when here are a few opponents for other exh schedules locally:

UIC - Lewis
DePaul - U Chgo

Loyola and NU - Robert Morris IL

Why not Wheaton or Elmhurst or Olivet Nazarene or Trinity/Deerfield or IL Weslyan or .......

Who gives a rat's ass. Every basketball team worth a damned in the country plays a "team" or two like this every season.

(11-03-2009 05:04 PM)cyberdawg Wrote:  I get that - I really do.

My beef is why play one far away and unknown when here are a few opponents for other exh schedules locally:

UIC - Lewis
DePaul - U Chgo

Loyola and NU - Robert Morris IL

Why not Wheaton or Elmhurst or Olivet Nazarene or Trinity/Deerfield or IL Weslyan or .......

A lot of times there are some connections. For instance, Illinois played Florida Southern last year.. that was a real head scratcher to me but they had 5 players on their roster from Illinois. This year they played a team from Missouri. Well their head coach Bruce Weber's buddy. I'm sure there's a reason.

Sidenote - Syracuse lost to LeMoyne tonight in an exhibition game. A friendly reminder that these exhibition games mean VERY LITTLE so if NIU happens to barely beat Marygrove or even lose, promise me you all won't freak out.

Coaches run all types of plays and use all types of weird lineup combinations. It's all about shaking the rust and figuring out who plays good with who.

if you play a more local team in exhibition at least some fans, parents, staff, girlfriends have an opportunity to watch & support their players and everybody wins.

i believe Marygrove's AD and asst. bball coach is a former NIU athletic employee