Reasons for the crowd to appear today.
1. Cheap Tickets. All Upper Level tickets are $5. Accompanying Kids (under 18) get in free.
2. First 400 People get branded Santa Hats (don't know what they look like)
3. The "Guest Band" for this game is the Chesterton High School Trojan Guard. If you have not heard them... a cheap concert today at noon in the ARC. 50+ members will be in attendance... and I'm guessing some parents will be on hand.
4. Former Valpo player Jason Karys will be on the visiting team bench. Jason coached the VuCru in the TBT a few months ago. Stonehill currently leads the Northeast Conference in three-point percentage (.377) and free-throw percentage (.789), while ranking second in field goal percentage (.452) and third in scoring offense (71.8 ppg).
5. Stonehill just lost to Bradley by 29 on Monday night in Peoria... after losing at Boston College by 7 last week. The Bradley Story: Bradley never trailed, scoring the first nine points of the game as Hickman and Deen bookended a conventional three-point play by Tahvanainen with a pair of three-pointers over the opening three and a half minutes. The Braves opened a 20-point lead (29-9) after a putback by Mast with 7:27 left in the first half on its way to leading by as much as 21 (40-19) after another Mast bucket with a minute remaining. Bradley built the lead on 53-percent (16-for-30) shooting in the first half, while holding Stonehill to 26.9% (7-26) in the frame.
Fifth-year Andrew Sims was the lone Stonehill player in double-figures, extending his streak to 18-straight games dating back to last year, with 13 points, including 11 after halftime, on 4-of-6 shooting, converting 5-of-6 free-throws. Junior Thatcher Stone chipped in nine points, four rebounds and a steal.
Stonehill opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt to close the gap to 13 (41-28) after a Stone layup just 1:38 in. The Skyhawks were still within 14 (44-30) after two Sims free-throws a minute later, and down 15 (54-39) after a floater from postgrad Max Zegarowski with 12:30 still to play, but Bradley wouldn't let the Skyhawks any closer, using an 18-1 run to ice the game over the final ten minutes.
Noteworthy
Sims' 18th-straight double-figure scoring game is the 41st of his career. He inches closer to the 1,000-point plateau with 917 points in 85 career games.
Fifth-year Isaiah Burnett finished with two steals and has at least one theft in 19-straight games dating back to last season.
Bradley finished shooting 47.5-percent from the floor, burying 12 three-pointers (on 30 tries).
6. You will be snowed-in for the next 48 hours in Porter County. Come to the game, then start your Christmas Shopping after about 2pm.
6.a. THEN come back to campus for the Bach Institute performance at 7pm of Handel's Messiah in the Chapel. Tickets are $20 Adults, Seniors $10. https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?actions=4&p=1
7. Watch Kobe King get closer to the 1,000 point mark. (he needs 82)
8. Stonehill has wins this year over Army (RPI 347) and Binghamton (RPI 345) and Holy Cross (RPI 353) and a non-d1
9. Stonehill is a new member to D1, in the Powerful Northeast Conference: (LIU 0-11; Merrimack 0-12; St Francis PA 1-9, Central Connecticut 2-11).
10. Heck... it's College Basketball. Great way to spend the lunch hour (or 2).
After the Beacons game, you can head to Viking Gym to see Mason Jones and the VHS boys take on Carmel at 2:30 p.m.
Quote from: Valpo89 on December 21, 2022, 08:48:36 AM
After the Beacons game, you can head to Viking Gym to see Mason Jones and the VHS boys take on Carmel at 2:30 p.m.
Which game will sell more tickets ???
Quote from: justducky on December 21, 2022, 11:22:20 AM
Quote from: Valpo89 on December 21, 2022, 08:48:36 AM
After the Beacons game, you can head to Viking Gym to see Mason Jones and the VHS boys take on Carmel at 2:30 p.m.
Which game will sell more tickets ???
Also which game has the better coaching and players?
Just four minutes in, but a good start for VU. Stonehill isn't very good, to say the least.
Stone hill is awful
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Watching the reactions to this game will show who watched it and who just looked at the box score.
More questions than answers after watching ???
Quote from: Pgmado on December 21, 2022, 02:09:20 PM
Watching the reactions to this game will show who watched it and who just looked at the box score.
At work, so couldn't watch the game. But your Victory Bell write-up gives me hope that Valpo has finally found its point guard for this season in Nick Edwards. Another 5th year DII find like Kevion Taylor?
Frittering away a big chunk of a 26-point lead during the last 5 minutes, on the other hand, is not cause for celebration, even if that included VU emptying its bench while Stonehill kept up the pressure.
I was sitting near some young men who had bet the over of 141. Stonehill made a 3 to hit the 142-point mark in the last 30 seconds.
The whole game was looking like a for-sure under. So they were happy Stonehill pressed, forced some turnovers and made some last-minute shots.
Same thing as Elon both teams are horrible and you could gain nothing positive from playing them. They are bad basketball teams.
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I've made good money this season by betting Valpo first half and fading second half.
It hit again today.
I like watching coaches trying to develop Ibra. It's clear that Ibra is still pretty raw. It was good to have a game when he could get some playing time in which his mistakes would have a minimal impact on the outcome of the game. Even his technical was used as a learning opportunity. Many direct conversations as well as encouragement (and working on skills) are going to be needed to shape him to reach his potential.
Quote from: truth219 on December 21, 2022, 06:57:25 PM
Same thing as Elon both teams are horrible and you could gain nothing positive from playing them. They are bad basketball teams.
In the first NET rating of the season following the Murray State game, Valpo was listed as #274. Only Evansville (#317) was lower in the MVC. Since then, despite three wins to pad the VU record—over Trinity Christian, Elon, and Stonehill—Valpo has slipped to #310 this morning, worst in the MVC, even behind Evansville, which has risen to #306. Such wins are merely a mirage, something that appears real but is just an optical illusion.
and with the sudden spurt of wins in the past 72 hours, the Valley has climbed from 16 to 14 in NET Conference Standings just a little behind the Sun Belt. The RPI has us also at #14... just behind the ASUN
Quote from: talksalot on December 22, 2022, 12:22:28 PM
and with the sudden spurt of wins in the past 72 hours, the Valley has climbed from 16 to 14 in NET Conference Standings just a little behind the Sun Belt. The RPI has us also at #14... just behind the ASUN
Some in the MVC might say that Valpo and Evansville are dragging the MVC down in conference rankings. They might be right
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They are right.
However, the current RPI ranking of MVC teams looks more like the HL when were kings.