The MIAC opened play last Friday with 8 games—4 men’s and 4 women’s—and continued with 22 more games—10 for the men and 12 for the women on Saturday and Sunday. We’re going to combine our coverage of this first weekend’s games with our pre-season preview of the MIAC. Today, the men. And, just for the record, everybody but Concordia played this weekend, and the MIAC won 5 games while losing 9 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all non-confernce games.
1. Gustavus Adolphus Gusties 18-11 last year. The Gusties finished 3rd in the regular season and 2nd in the playoffs last spring, including that incredible 124-116 2OT win at Carleton in the playoff semis. They return their 6 top scorers in Spencer Swanson (19 ppg-8 reb last year), Wyatt Olson (13-7), Brady Kienitz (12), Evan Wieker (12-4), Adam Biewen (8) and Jonah Anderson (6). In all, they return a league-best 79 points from a year ago. The bench is maybe a little bit thin, but the starting 5 is the best in the league.
Gustavus opened last year with 2 losses in Wisconsin, and they opened almost the same way with a 81-77 loss to Wisconsin-LaCrosse in a game played at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Swanson matched his average of a year ago at 19-8, while Olson and Kienitz also scored in double figures. The Gusties had a 16-0 edge in 2nd chance points but they could not make that stand up as LaCrosse rallied from a 60-58 deficit in the late going.
Then on Saturday Gustavus rallied from a 35-28 halftime deficit to beat host UW-Eau Claire 86-80 in OT as Olson scored 21 points with 11 boards, Kienitz scored 16, Weiker 15, and Swanson 14 with 7 boards. Jake Schmitt, who barely played a year ago, came off the bench to add 11. For the night the Gusties shot 47 (FG) and 53 (3s) percent.
2. St. John’s Johnnies 20-6. Will the real Johnnies please stand up. They were the MIAC’s best team most of last year, but fell short at home against Hamline 83-80 in the playoff semis. Considering the other 2 semi and final games were decided by one point and in double OT, one could argue that St. John’s was still the best team in the end. And, they return just about everybody, led by 6-6 senior wing Ryan Thissen (14 ppg and a team-high 2 assists), 6-1 senior guard Kooper Vaughan (14 ppg last year), 6-4 senior guard Blake Berg (13-3-2), and 6-2 senior guard Zach Longueville (6-2 reb-2 ast), plus 6-8, 6-7 and 6-5. They return a total of 76 ppg scoring.
The Johnnies opened with a 73-62 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh as Vaughan and Thissen scored 25 and 21 points, respectively. St. John’s scored 20 points off turnovers and took the lead for good at 40-38.
3. Hamline Pipers 17-11. Hamline finished 4th a year ago at 13-7 in the MIAC, then shocked #1 seed St. John’s at Collegeville 83-80 in the playoff semis. They then lost at Gustavus 72-71 in the playoff final. Now, with 5 of their top 6 players back, the Pipers will contend for the regular season title.
And, the Pipers opened their official season with a solid 74-52 win over Northwestern (MN) as Bradley Cimperman, hero of the St. John’s win; Raoul Vaidya, Daniel McCarrell, Brenden Ebel and Austin Holt, who added 12 rebounds, all scored in double figures. Of course, Hamline had played an earlier exhibition against the Minnesota Gophers, where they played pretty well, shooting 50 percent and outscoring the Gophers off turnovers 16-15.
4. Carleton Knights 17-9. Carleton finished 2nd last spring, then lost to Gustavus in a thrilling 124-116 2OT game in the conference semis. They return the conference player of the year in now senior guard Luke Harris, whose line last year was 20 ppg-6 reb-3 asts-2 stls. Also returning are 6-5 sophomore forward Sam Koelling (10 ppg-4 reb, 59%) and 6-3 senior forward Spencer Goetz (8-6-4-2, 58%). After that, coach Ryan Kershaw will be looking for some of the 8 freshmen to fill in the gaps.
Well, Carleton’s season got off to a rousing start in the form of a 55-31 halftime lead against what figured to be a pretty good Puget Sound team. But, the wheels came off of that wagon in the second half. Between the 10-minute mark and 5 minutes, Puget went off on a 17-3 run. Puget only caught up at 82-81 with just 20 ticks remaining on the clock, and won 86-85 as Josh Engelberg’s 3 at the buzzer for Carleton left them a point short. Carleton shot a solid 47 percent, but the Knights gave up 62 percent shooting to the Loggers in the 2nd half. Toby Averill; Matt Drake, from Lakeville North; and Engelberg, are 3 frosh who have emerged to plug Carleton’s gaps, and all 3 joined Harris, Koelling and Gabe Cummings in double figures. Still, that Carleton defense that gave up 124 points to Gustavus last spring and 55 2nd half points on Friday night, does not impress.
5. Concordia (Moorhead) Dragons 16-10. Concordia returns 6-6 senior forward Rowan Nelson (15 ppg-5 reb), 6-6 junior forward Jacob Cook (12-8-2 ast), 6-8 junior forward Jackson Loge (11 ppg-6 reb), and 6-10 Noah Christenson (3 ppg-5 reb). In other words, they’re huge. The top returning guards, on the other hand, scored a total of 9 ppg between them.
6. Bethel Royals 13-13. Head coach Zach Filzen enters his 4th year at Bethel with 4 returning contributors, most notably Payton Thomsen, a 6-2 senior guard (18 ppg-3 reb-2 ast) and Nick Burke, a 6-5 soph forward (11-3), plus 3 other 6-point scorers. The Royals opened this season with an 87-83 home loss to North Central. Thomsen and Burke combined for 45 points and 18 boards.
7. St. Olaf Oles 9-16. The drop-off from the haves to the have-nots in the MIAC is steep and it is unlikely that any of the teams that missed the playoffs last year will get into the playoffs this year. Last year Macalester finished 7th and the Oles 8th. This year, we see St. Olaf moving up to 7th, but they don’t appear to have the firepower to move up to 6th. Still, they have on of the league’s top individuals in 6-4 junior guard Kobe Kirk. Kirk averaged 19 ppg and 5 rebounds last year, and he led the Oles with 23 points and 5 boards, then 18 points in its 2 opening games. The Oles beat Wisconsin-Stout 61-56 and lost to Wisconsin-Superior 82-54 at Superior. Superior shot 59 percent and scored 25 points on turnovers.
8. St. Mary’s Cardinals 8-17. The Cards return Breyton Buysman (15 ppg-5 boards), guard Jabari Sawyer (10-4-3 asts), plus 2 10-minute-plus players off of last year’s bench. And, so, like St. Olaf, they’ll be somewhat improved. They were improved enough to turn the tables on Crown. Last year Crown beat the Cards 81-64. On Friday night, the Cards beat Crown 87-80 as Buysman scored 27 points with 8 boards, and the Cards shot 56-45-and 56 percent.
9. Augsburg Augies 8-17. Augsburg, an MIAC champion not so long ago, looks to bounce back from a down year, but it’s not clear that that is in the cards. The Augies return 6-4 senior guard Will Blascziek (11 ppg-5 boards) plus sophomores Trent Gomez and Elias Batala, but when you’re 8-17, returning talent may not be the answer.
To that point, the Augies are in fact not relying on returning talent. Senior guard Andy Stafford led the Augies with 20 points and 8 boards in his Augsburg debut. You might recall that Puget Sound rallied from a huge deficit Friday night to win at Carleton 86-85. No such rally was needed at Augsburg on Saturday as Puget took a 45-27 halftime lead and won 79-58.But, Stafford, who played at Hopkins HS and NAIA Corban college, was joined by twin brothers Mario and Myles Adams, transfers from Eastview and Minnesota-Crookston.
10. Macalester Scots 10-15. The Scots expected more last year with shooting guard extraordinaire Caleb Williams, who is now a Minnesota Gopher. Still, Macalester returns 4 contributors led by 6-5 junior forward Noah Shannon and 6-1 soph guard Kaden Holbrook, who scored 21 points between them last year. The Scots opened with a pair of home losses, however, to Luther 53-46 and to Wartburg 69-67. Holbrook starred with 43 points in the 2 games.
11. St. Scholastica Saints 3-22. Not much is expected here as long-time coach Dave Staniger is succeeded for now by interim coach Christian Butler. The Saints return 3 contributors but when you’re 3-22 returning talent may not be the answer. They opened with a 104-71 loss at Loras in Iowa as Loras shot 57-52 percent with a 40-20 edge in rebounds, and a 20-6 edge in 2nd chance points. Jacquez Overstreet led the Saints with 15 points. The following afternoon, still at Loras, they lost to Simpson 87-85 as the Simpson’s Cam Henderson hit a pair of 3s at :08 and :01. Bryce Shoto scored 17 for the Saints.
All-Conference–Best of November 8, 9 and 10 (only)
Center—Wyatt Olson, Gustavus 6-6 senior 16 ppg-7 rpg
Power Forward—Ryan Thissen, St. John’s 6-6 senior 21 ppg-4 reb-3 asts
Small Forward—Bradley Cimperman, Hamline 6-3 senior 23 ppg-3 reb-3 ast
Point Guard—Kooper Vaughan, St. John’s 6-1 senior 25 ppg-5 reb-2 asts
Shooting Guard–Kobe Kirk, St. Olaf 6-4 junior 20 ppg-3 rpg
Center—Austin Holt, Hamline 6-6 senior 10 ppg-12 reb-5 asts
Power Forward—Spencer Swanson, Gustavus 6-5 senior 16 ppg-7 rpg
Small Forward—Breyton Buysman, St. Mary’s 6-4 senior 27 ppg-8 reb
Point Guard—Luke Harris, Carleton 6-1 senior 21 ppg-7 reb-2 asts-2 stls
Shooting Guard—Andy Stafford, Augsburg 6-2 senior 20 ppg-8 reb
