Yea, I can see your point to a degree... but it also seems pretty strange that Plymouth State, despite being ranked higher in the LEC than Keene, WSCU, and ECSU, didn't receive a single post season award in any category.
I'm no Plymouth State fan but still...

Congratulations to the players who were recognized and good luck to RIC and UMD in the tourney.

Another crazy piece of info is that this UMBoston team had 3 starters still on the team from their LEC champion team 2 years ago in A.J. Titus, Amigo Paniagua, and Mark Doran although it appears that Titus went down 9 games into the season.

Just for the hell of it, it should probably be pointed out that UMD beat UMBoston by about 1000 points last night... I'm not a UMD fan particularly and I know UMBoston had a horrible year but last night was an official waxing.

131 - 63

Seriously, if you know anything about the LEC just take a look at UMBoston's record and the scores of their games. How does a team that goes 2-24 manage to win 1 game vs. Maine Fort Kent and lose all other games all year except for against a conference leader in RIC? Pretty remarkably I suppose.

Old Man, yes, thank you.

After last nights games if everything plays out as it should it looks like RIC will be hosting the LEC tournament.

#1 RIC 11-2 (last game vs. ECSU. Wins tie break with UMD by sweeping KSC)
#2 UMD 11-2 (last game vs. PSU)
#3 KSC 7-6 (last game vs. UMBoston. Split w/ UMD to take tie breaker vs. USM)
#4 USM 7-6 (last game vs. WCSU)
#5 WCSU 6-7 (last game vs. USM)
#6 ECSU 5-8 (last game vs. RIC)
#7 PSU 4-9 (last game vs. UMD)
#8 UMB 1-12 (last game vs. KSC)

If WCSU beats USM they will take over at 4th because they swept PSU. I'm relatively comfortable the rest of the games will go as they should according to current standings.

wow, incredible response

The LEC is a mess. The most athletically competitive/even teams are UMD, RIC, KSC, and USM.
I'm only saying athletically competitive because this comparison does not include characteristics like teamwork, intelligence, composure, execution, and coaching that have obviously factored into these teams' performances this year. That being said, these 4 teams should win a vast majority of the games against the lower half of the LEC just in talent alone.

It looks very possible that KSC and USM finish with the same record if USM loses to RIC this Saturday.  I believe that leaves USM ahead of KSC in the standings because they beat KSC the second time around.
UMD, RIC and KSC should win out.
If I'm correct that the second game in the season series determines the tie break of teams with even records, here are some probable season ending standings.

#1 RIC 12-2 (wins out. Beat UMD in second game for tie break)
#2 UMD 12-2 (wins out)
#3 USM 9-5 (beat KSC in second game for tie break)
#4 KSC 9-5
#5 WCSU 5-9 (loses last 3 vs. KSC, RIC, USM. Beat ECSU in second game for tie break)
#6 ECSU 5-9 (loses last 3 vs. UMD, KSC, RIC)
#7 PSU 3-11 (beats UMB but loses to UMD and USM)
#8 UMB 1-13 (loses last 3 vs. PSU, UMD, KSC)

If USM was to beat RIC this weekend that would make a single change in the top 4 standings and therefore changing the location of the tournament semis and finals to UMD.

#1 UMD 12-2
#2 RIC 11-3

Leaving the tourney brackets looking like this.

#1 RIC or UMD vs. #8 UMBoston
#2 UMD or RIC vs. #7 PSU
#3 USM vs. #6 ECSU
#4 KSC vs #5 WCSU

(Correct me if I'm wrong on the tie-break issue)

Any other views on this?

UMD was in control of that game the entire way through. Tufts defense was full of holes. They couldn't stay in front of Freeman and allowed him to get all the way to the basket for most of his 24 points. There were a few strange matchups between the teams but it's pretty safe to say that they didn't favor Tufts very much. Pierce couldn't guard Holbrook and he didn't have much help to back him up. Holbrook struggled to defend Pierce as well but Freeman shut down Black to go O-4 with 3 assists and 5 TO's.
Tufts managed to outrebound UMD but they had 17 TO's to UMD's 9 and they sent UMD to the line for 25 FT's in comparison to their 12. Tufts really didn't show any sign during that game that they could pull it off.

Did you have a feeling that the Giants would beat "you know who" as well?

modified "be" to "beat"

Yea, I was surprised to see the large margin of victory as well in last nights game. Its bad for the entire LEC when one of your top teams gets drilled like that. Then again, it's not every night you have a guy come straight out the gates with 6-6 3ptr's in the first half like Amherst had but regardless... just plain ugly for RIC.

Tufts would need to beat UMD for the game to matter at all tonight. A close game won't say much besides what we already know about the Tufts squad-- they aren't the typical conference O-fer. They can play but they've struggled to win (especially lately). It wouldn't "validate" the NESCAC so much as it would harm UMD's reputation.

The only way the LEC gets 2 teams in the NCAA's is if Dartmouth loses in the LEC tournament which is far from impossible. That being said, who knows what they'll do for the NESCAC regarding pool C bids. If Amherst doesn't win the NESCAC tourney, they'll have a very strong case for 2 pool C's.

BYA- well put... I was in the middle of writing a similar response but you beat me to the punch.

If anyone is looking to see a good basketball atmosphere up in New England, it won't get much better than the UMD vs. Keene St. game Feb. 9th.

Especially if UMD can hold out their undefeated streak until then.

Thanks for the heads up on the Around the Nation article and the Tufts Daily. Good stuff.

It'd be nice if there were some USM posters on here to give their two cents about whats going on in Gorham right now. I know they probably aren't used to checking out this forum on the men's side of things.

Yes, Weitzen is a strange combination of talent and unusual body frame and I won't disagree that he is capable of using that frame to move people around in the paint to secure some rebounds. "Massive force" is a bit much but I like the enthusiasm.
I don't think anyone will underestimate Black. He's a good player but he's just not quicker/faster than Freeman. He can, on the other hand, shoot the 3 ball way better. It'll be a good one.
In all honesty, I want UMD to win for 3 reasons.

1. So Keene can get another shot to break their streak.
2. To help spotlight the LEC
3. I get sick of hearing about the NESCAC all the time

I'm not disagreeing that Tufts could beat them but looking at some of the reasons you gave brought these few things to mind.
Weitzen is not really a "big man" and Holbrook won't have to guard both Pierce and Weitzen. You are right though that they are unique players that could cause matchup problems for most teams. I'm not very familiar with UMD's other post/forward defenders so I can't comment on that. If anyone has some input on that I'd be glad to hear it.
Freeman is faster/quicker than any of the guards that Tufts will defend him with. He should cause more problems for them defensively than they'll cause for him. He is averaging around 3.5 steals a game and leading the LEC in that statistic.
If Tufts can keep Freeman out of the paint or force him to pull up and take his own shot once he gets there then they will have a much better chance to beat them. If Freeman is in the 6-10 assists range and finishes with his usual 10 or so points, it could be rough.

modified for grammar

Fair enough. My comment regarding Holbrook was based on how Keene State did against him (he had 13 and 7 vs. Keene) and I figured RIC might do better given that  RIC has bigger post players than KSC. I think you could probably agree with me that that makes at least a little sense even if it turned out to be wrong.
Either way, hindsight is 20/20. What do you think about the upcoming string of games for UMD?
home vs. UMass Boston- not a likely challenge but recently beat RIC
home vs. USouthern Maine- impressive of late with 2nd semester additions
at Tufts- struggling in the NESCAC but dangerous
at Keene- struggling but dangerous
home vs. RIC- loses to UMB somehow but obviously capable

Any of these game worry you in particular?

modified to add game locations