#casey schilling

[smallcollegebasketball]

Augustana’s Dan Jansen Hits the Game-Winning 3-Pointer at the Buzzer

What a game!

Northwest Missouri State’s Justin Pitts put on a show in the second half, hitting five 3-pointers and going for 22 points in the second half alone.  This included a steal and bucket with less than 30 seconds to go to give NWMS a 77-76 lead. 

Auggie called time out.  Casey Schilling got the ball, and tried to drive with a few second remaining.  NWMS played good help defense, and Schilling kicked it back out to the 6′9″ Jansen, who promptly hit a fade-away three-pointer as the buzzer sounded for the 79-77 win.

Just a heck of a game between two very good, well-coached, NCAA Division II teams.  Jansen finished with 23 points and went 4-4 on 3′s.  Schilling finished with 16 points & 13 rebounds. 

..........

Minutes after the game, a roar came from the crowd.....which apparently came when Schilling proposed to his girlfriend.  Based on the roar, I’m presuming that she said “yes”, but I don’t have any verification....

..........

As a note, Augustana does a really nice job with their broadcasts of these games.  Nice work with the play-by-play and color, and nice job with the graphics.  Very impressive arena, and tremendous community support.  While I have no figures on attendance, it appeared that there were a couple of thousand fans at the game.  Impressive.

[smallcollegebasketball]

All Kinds of Updates

In no particular order, here goes.....

*  Congratulations to Davenport senior All American Dominez Burnett for breaking the school record for points in a game when he scored 40 points in a 85-78 win at Michigan Dearborn.  Here’s the game story: http://albertusfalcons.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20151113x71yr2

*  Albertus Magnus won their first home game of the 2015-16 season, thus running their home winning streak to 58 games, which is the longest active home winning streak at any level of the NCAA.  Freshman  Shontaey Lovell is off to a heck of a start.  In two games (he didn’t start either game), he’s averaged 23 ppg, 17 rpg and is shooting 65% from the field.

*   It's very early in the season, but West Liberty has played three NCAA Division II teams, and check out these numbers: The Hilltoppers are 3-0, with an average margin of victory of 47 ppg. They are averaging 116 ppg while shooting over 52% from the field, averaging 27 assists per game and +14.7 in turnover margin (forcing almost 30 turnovers per game).

Senior All American has more points than he has minutes played, and is averaging 28.3 ppg (in just over 27 min. per game) while shooting 66% from the field and 62% on 3's. Freshman point guard David Dennis is averaging 14.7 ppg, 5.7 apg, 5.3 rpg & 3.6 spg in just 24.7 min. per game.It's (obviously) very early in the season, but the Hilltoppers are off to a heck of a start.

*  Congratulations to DeSales Coach Scott Coval for reaching the 400-win milestone.

*  I’m quite excited about watching the Augustana-NW MO State game tonight through the Augustana website.  They do a nice job with their broadcasts, and this is a game between two really good teams.  Last season, Augustana entered the NCAA Tournament as the region’s #1 seed, and NW MO State knocked them off.  Augustana is the preseason #1 team in the country in NCAA Division II, and got knocked off in the first game of the season in Las Vegas by Washburn (KS).  Ironically, both NW MO State and Washburn are both in the same conference, the MIAA.  I saw NW MO State play in person last weekend, and they looked really good.  Augustana had beaten Iowa (of the Big 10) in an exhibition game the week before getting knocked off by Washburn.  This should be a heck of a game, as it features two very good teams.  In addition, the game feature three of the better individual players in all of NCAA Division II; NW MO State’s sophomore Justin Pitts and Augustana’s senior duo of Casey Schilling and Dan Jansen.  

*  Tonight, Travis Grant is in town (Kansas City), and he called to get together.  Travis is one of the all-time great small college players, as he played for Kentucky State in the early 70′s.  He led his team to three consecutive National Championships (NAIA), and Travis finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball, at any level, with 4,045 points.  (This record has since been broken).  He won the Lapchick Award for the top player in all of college basketball, the first small college player to ever win the award.  More than 40 years later, Travis still holds the NAIA Tournament records for points in a game, tournament and career.....and field goals in a game, tournament and career.  He was a first-round draft pick by the Lakers.  

Travis is one of the all-time great small college players.....and he’s one of the all-time nice guys!  I look forward to spending time with him while he’s in town...

[smallcollegebasketball]

Augustana (SD)

This evening, I watched the second half of the Augustana vs. Minnesota State Moorhead game (on the online broadcast).  Augustana came into the game with a 22-1 record, and MSU Moorhead was 25-1.  Clearly, both teams were among the top teams within NCAA Division II.

A few observations:

*  This was really a fantastic atmosphere.  Beautiful looking arena that was packed.  The announced attendance was 3,867.  Think about that for a moment: 3,867 people for an in-season NCAA Division II game.  There are some Division II programs that don't draw that much for the whole home SEASON - literally!

*  The online production was first-class.  I looked like I was watching a major college broadcast.  Well done.

*  Augustana & Moorhead are two very good teams.  Augustana pulled away for a 97-80 win, and they now move to 23-1 on the season and they just set the school record with their 16th straight win. 

*  Augustana is certainly in the discussion as the top team in all of NCAA Division II.  Who knows who will win the National Championship, but I will tell you that this team is clearly in the discussion.  While this isn't necessarily a fair comparison (too early at this point), Augustana reminds me a little bit of the great Winona State teams from a few years ago (2005-06 to 2007-08). 

Augustana has a dominating, hard-working big man (Daniel Jansen) and a fantastic wing with size (Casey Schilling), along with an outstanding supporting cast.  Some within the supporting cast (i.e. Jordan Spencer & Alex Richter) would each be top players on many other teams.  Now, it's a bit early for such comparisons, but Winona State had an All American big man (John Smith) and a fantastic wing (Jonte Flowers) and a tremendous supporting cast (i.e. Zach Malvik & Quincy Henderson) that would have each been top players on many other teams.  Both teams are from the Northern Sun Conference. 

With all of this said, it's a bit premature, as Winona State played in three consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship games, winning two.  They set the NCAA Division II record for consecutive wins with 57.  Amazing stuff.

Augustana has a long way to go to be in the same category in terms of accomplishments, certainly......but I'll say this: they are good.  Real good. 

....and they don't have a senior listed on the roster.

It was a pleasure to watch them today.