Congrats to the Bombers on a great run.  All the pieces clicked at the right time for this team.  Great to see the program have some long overdue national postseason success.  Go Bombers. 

Quote from: Bombers798891 on February 22, 2013, 10:04:34 PM
Bombers take care of St. John Fisher, 70-63. Down 31-30 at the break, Ithaca comes out roaring, opening the second half on a 10-1 run. Fisher never gets closer than six the rest of the way. Ithaca hits their free throws down the stretch to close it out and improve to 18-8 on the season.

With Warech and Oztemel back, I expect a great E8 Title game. Don't forget, a full-strength Bombers team beat Stevens earlier this season (albeit in Ithaca). I think Ithaca can pull it off tomorrow.

Sean Rossi sets the all-time Division III record for assists, finishing with 9. He'll get a chance to pad the total further tomorrow. Frank Mitchell leads the way with 21 points.

Agreed.  They were outmatched two weeks ago but Warech is a difference maker.  Jones was a beast for Stevens today, IC will need to contain him.

Rossi the all time D3 assists leader and a playoff win against Fisher.  Nights don't get too much better than this for the men's program.  Great night.  Lets get another one tomorrow. 

Haven't made it on here in a while...

Here's hoping IC can pull it out against Fisher.  Lets go Bombers.

Haven't checked in on the boards in some time as I have begun the process of converting from a die hard Bomber fan to somewhat of an avid supporter.  Saw the Bombers pick up the W today against somewhat of a cupcake in Moravian.  Regardless, a shutout is always a good sign but I have a feeling the offense will have similar struggles as last year.  They also don't have the special teams quality as last year either. Don't get me wrong, with their caliber defense I think they can beat everyone in the league but each and every one of the games is going to be a hard fought win as scoring won't come easy. 

I'll check in from time to time and hopefully the Bombers can string together a couple of wins early in the season to put last year's record in the rear view mirror.  Go Bombers. 

Quote from: magicman on February 25, 2012, 05:33:33 PM
Ithaca wins their 1st Empire 8 Tournament Championship with a 71-55 victory over Nazareth. Ithaca will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 14-13 record. Probably will be the worst record of the 62 teams at the Dance.

Yes!  Of the past 5 or 6 years this was probably the least likely Bomber squad to win the tournament but good for them.  Jay Bilas said it best on Gameday this morning, "the NCAA tournament does not crown the best team, it crowns the team with the best matchups that got hot at the right time".  The same principal applies the conference tournaments across all divisions of college basketball.  Some of the time, the best team in the conference wins the tournament, and some of the time it doesn't.  Ithaca had the best team in the conference several times of the past decade and didn't win the conference tournament, this year it did.  That is the nature of the sport and what makes it exciting for 5 months of the season.  In football, a lot of teams' playoffs hope are finished 3 or 4 games into the season and that isn't the case in basketball.

With the Bombers at 14-13, they are most likely up against one of the brackets top seeds (Amherst or Middlebury possibly), which should provide a great challenge.

Congrats to Coach Mullins and Tanous as well as the current Bomber squad on a great weekend and a long deserved and overdue E8 title.

Quote from: with age came? on February 21, 2012, 02:10:33 AM
Who would have "thunk it" a few years ago....playoffs without St John Fisher......?

..AND the Bombers get a playoff victory!  Congrats to the current Bomber squad on a hard fought victory over the top team in the E8 and one of the tops in the region.  This partially makes up for all the unexpected losses by Bomber squads over the past decade in both the E8 and NCAA tournaments.  There is still a long way to go but this is a good start.  Good luck tomorrow against Naz. 

Let's go Bombers.

Quote from: bomber3 on November 17, 2011, 08:57:02 PM

Quote from: Bombers798891 on November 17, 2011, 03:20:32 PM

Quote from: bomber3 on November 16, 2011, 09:08:09 PM
Bombers opened the season last night with a major dud against Hobart, losing by 25+.  I didn't see the game but it appears there wasn't much defense played by the Bombers and apparently not much offense either.  I saw them play last week and the team looked decent, but not great, winning a scrimmage by 3.  Jordan Marcus needs to be their go-to guy this year and has an outside shot at breaking the all-time scoring record, assuming he has better days than yesterday.  Their bigs were solid but they will miss Barera, as most teams would if they lost an all-region player.  Their transfer from Rutgers didn't play much in the scrimmage and was a non-factor.

Overall, they got off to a rough start but this team should be pretty good.  I don't know if they will reach 20 wins but they will be pretty good.  Need to be a lot better than yesterday.  Go Bombers.   

What a disaster. So, I know I'm largely cynical on this board, but I don't see the Bombers doing better than 15 wins.

They've got a great PG, but he's pass-first. The two biggest scorers are almost exclusively perimeter players. Where's the athletic slashing player who can get to the hoop like Rivas and Grier could? Can Christian Jordan really be expected to fill that role? Ithaca has no interior presence, as they were killed on the boards last night (-18)

Defensively...ugh. Look, I'm sure Hobart was hot, but, in very rare cases does a team play good quality defense and contest shots and allow a team to shoot 63%/72%. This team does not have the horses to allow 90 points a game and win. Oztemel's too streaky, Jordan hasn't established himself on the offensive end yet, Mitchell's new to the system...and there isn't enough depth.

Just for comparison's sake, the Bombers' scored 108 and 95 points against Hobart the last two years.

This team has lost a ton of athleticism. Grier and Cruz were all over the floor and provided a nice balance to Marcus and Oztemel's outside gunning. And Barera outworked everyone getting up and down the court. Unless things change drastically, where are the wins coming from? You're closer to the program than me Bomber3, so I'll defer to your wisdom if you see things differently, but I see a return to the 15-10/14-11/13-12 squads of yesteryear

I think they will be better than that.  You are right though that they will not have much of a defensive presence.  Ross, Oztemel and Marcus don't play much defense, which is a troubling thought.  That being said, they have a point guard that can contend for the all-time assist record and a shooter that can break the school's scoring record.  If Mullins can get them to rebound and defend a little, they will be just fine.  Your prediction is in the 13-15 win range.  Mine is in the 16-9/17-8/18-7 range.  We will see.

Am I allowed a mulligan on this one?  Bombers off to an awful start as they move to 0-4 tonight.  Hopefully they are able to right the ship before conference play or else it might be a long season.

Quote from: Bombers798891 on November 17, 2011, 03:20:32 PM

Quote from: bomber3 on November 16, 2011, 09:08:09 PM
Bombers opened the season last night with a major dud against Hobart, losing by 25+.  I didn't see the game but it appears there wasn't much defense played by the Bombers and apparently not much offense either.  I saw them play last week and the team looked decent, but not great, winning a scrimmage by 3.  Jordan Marcus needs to be their go-to guy this year and has an outside shot at breaking the all-time scoring record, assuming he has better days than yesterday.  Their bigs were solid but they will miss Barera, as most teams would if they lost an all-region player.  Their transfer from Rutgers didn't play much in the scrimmage and was a non-factor.

Overall, they got off to a rough start but this team should be pretty good.  I don't know if they will reach 20 wins but they will be pretty good.  Need to be a lot better than yesterday.  Go Bombers.   

What a disaster. So, I know I'm largely cynical on this board, but I don't see the Bombers doing better than 15 wins.

They've got a great PG, but he's pass-first. The two biggest scorers are almost exclusively perimeter players. Where's the athletic slashing player who can get to the hoop like Rivas and Grier could? Can Christian Jordan really be expected to fill that role? Ithaca has no interior presence, as they were killed on the boards last night (-18)

Defensively...ugh. Look, I'm sure Hobart was hot, but, in very rare cases does a team play good quality defense and contest shots and allow a team to shoot 63%/72%. This team does not have the horses to allow 90 points a game and win. Oztemel's too streaky, Jordan hasn't established himself on the offensive end yet, Mitchell's new to the system...and there isn't enough depth.

Just for comparison's sake, the Bombers' scored 108 and 95 points against Hobart the last two years.

This team has lost a ton of athleticism. Grier and Cruz were all over the floor and provided a nice balance to Marcus and Oztemel's outside gunning. And Barera outworked everyone getting up and down the court. Unless things change drastically, where are the wins coming from? You're closer to the program than me Bomber3, so I'll defer to your wisdom if you see things differently, but I see a return to the 15-10/14-11/13-12 squads of yesteryear

I think they will be better than that.  You are right though that they will not have much of a defensive presence.  Ross, Oztemel and Marcus don't play much defense, which is a troubling thought.  That being said, they have a point guard that can contend for the all-time assist record and a shooter that can break the school's scoring record.  If Mullins can get them to rebound and defend a little, they will be just fine.  Your prediction is in the 13-15 win range.  Mine is in the 16-9/17-8/18-7 range.  We will see.

Bombers opened the season last night with a major dud against Hobart, losing by 25+.  I didn't see the game but it appears there wasn't much defense played by the Bombers and apparently not much offense either.  I saw them play last week and the team looked decent, but not great, winning a scrimmage by 3.  Jordan Marcus needs to be their go-to guy this year and has an outside shot at breaking the all-time scoring record, assuming he has better days than yesterday.  Their bigs were solid but they will miss Barera, as most teams would if they lost an all-region player.  Their transfer from Rutgers didn't play much in the scrimmage and was a non-factor.

Overall, they got off to a rough start but this team should be pretty good.  I don't know if they will reach 20 wins but they will be pretty good.  Need to be a lot better than yesterday.  Go Bombers.   

Quote from: Bombers798891 on November 06, 2011, 04:38:39 PM

Quote from: Jonny "Utes" Utah on November 06, 2011, 02:41:23 PM

Quote from: Bombers798891 on November 06, 2011, 01:32:11 PM

Quote from: Ithaca84 on November 06, 2011, 10:48:54 AM
Bombers you are correct my friend....
               What I have witnessed this Bombers season and in recent Seasons has been Gutless in terms of game management. I understand the personel has not been there of late but you play the game to win. Right?   Field Goal from the one?? Totally spinless call. Let the kids try at least. What if they made the TD? Changes the game.."Wouldn't that be fun!" to quote the legend...

More to the point, what do you lose by not getting it? 7-6 doesn't mean anything. Alfred would be backed up at their half yard line. Against Utica, this got them a safety. Just makes no sense to me. Are you trying to win the game 9-7?

I didn't see the game but being down by 1 point instead of 4 can be big if you need a FG to win it at the end of the game.  From a strategy standpoint going for the FG was the right move in my opinion. 

But they would have won the game if they went for it.  Your season is basically on the line at that point.  Call a time out, get fired up and score the TD.

To me, how they got there is why I didn't like it. An 86 yard run, the longest play in a few years, and you don't try to punch it in?

They definitely should have went for it but the play calling I didn't understand.  The running back just ran 90 yards down the field and I'm sure was gassed.  Why keep him in the next play and give him the ball?  I know Sulla wasn't available but do you really expect someone to have their legs under them after a huge play like that?  Then, the next two plays were pass plays when the tight end and Ingrao were the only receivers on the field.  If you're going to pass, at least put the passing threats in.  What they should have done is put Hendel in to run the ball.  Neumann has shown he is incapable of running a sneak so put in Hendel and give him the ball. 

The odds clearly say go for it on fourth down.  Even if you don't score a TD you have a fairly good shot at a safety (which also includes the ball back in decent field position).  I would say even if you don't score, odds are Alfred doesn't drive 99 yards down the field.

I've said it all year.  If this team was better in the red zone they would very easily be 6-3 or possibly even 7-2.  Look at their numbers in the red zone, they are terrible.  They only SCORE on 62% of trips to the red zone.  Their TD percentage is 37%.  Given the fact they have lost games by 2, 3, 5, 5, and 14, they need to look no further than their failures in the red zone.  They have the second best scoring defense in the conference and the best special teams. 

We'll see how things go this weekend.  No better ending in the nation other than a national title.  A home win against Cortland would make a lot of this season's pain go away.  Go Bombers.

Quote from: Bombers798891 on October 29, 2011, 06:43:55 PM

Quote from: bomber3 on October 29, 2011, 06:05:44 PM
Well the Bomber game wasn't pretty, but it was a W.  The first 55 minutes of the game gave no indication the offense would be able to put together two scoring drives together witover the span of the last five minutes.  Nice to see the team get a break after the way the last three weeks have turned out.  IC easily could have beaten Fisher, Springfield and Utica but the game didn't fall their way - this one did.

I fully expect the next two weeks to be as much of a dogfight as today was.  The defense really excels at home on the grass and points should be at a premium.  This is by no means a bad Bomber TEAM.  Their defense and special teams are as good as any Bomber team the past 8 years I have been around the program.  Obviously, the offense is probably the worst over that same span. 

Nice to see the game go IC's way this time around, hopefully their fortunes continue next week.  Will be up next week to hopefully see #23 break the Ithaca receiving yards and receptions records and watch the team take care of Alfred on family day!

Any chance Cortaca has any playoff implications?  I see Cortland is 6-2 but do they have a shot at their conference championship or at-large bid?

It's the worst offense in school history, bar none.

Cortaca will have no playoff implications most likely. Cortland has lost to both teams ahead of it in the NJAC, Montclair and Kean. So they can only get a Pool A bid if the Kean/Montclair loser gets a second loss and Rowan wins out to set up some crazy 4-way tie. Kean's other game is against William Patterson, and Montclair's is against Rowan. So if Montclair beats Kean, and then Rowan beats Montclair, everyone would have two losses. Then maybe Cortland gets in (I don't want to think about that tiebreaker.)

But I don't think a Pool C bid is in the cards

You have more of a historical standpoint than I do so I will take your word for it.  I guess that makes yesterday's comeback even that much more improbable, given the fact they had two scoring drives in the last 2 minutes. 

Well the Bomber game wasn't pretty, but it was a W.  The first 55 minutes of the game gave no indication the offense would be able to put together two scoring drives together witover the span of the last five minutes.  Nice to see the team get a break after the way the last three weeks have turned out.  IC easily could have beaten Fisher, Springfield and Utica but the game didn't fall their way - this one did.

I fully expect the next two weeks to be as much of a dogfight as today was.  The defense really excels at home on the grass and points should be at a premium.  This is by no means a bad Bomber TEAM.  Their defense and special teams are as good as any Bomber team the past 8 years I have been around the program.  Obviously, the offense is probably the worst over that same span. 

Nice to see the game go IC's way this time around, hopefully their fortunes continue next week.  Will be up next week to hopefully see #23 break the Ithaca receiving yards and receptions records and watch the team take care of Alfred on family day!

Any chance Cortaca has any playoff implications?  I see Cortland is 6-2 but do they have a shot at their conference championship or at-large bid?

Quote from: sjfcards on October 29, 2011, 03:19:34 PM
Big touchdown for Ithaca late in the 4th. 10-10...

FG by Rogo for the win!! 13-10 Bombers!! 10 points in the last 2 minutes keeps the streak alive!  Great to see the team hang in there and keep fighting.  Congrats to Rogo on the big kick.

3-0 Bombers in the third.  Once again, as has been the story all year, the inability to score in the red zone has killed the Bombers.  3 drives in the red zone = 3 points.  IC has dominated the game.