MBB: Liberty League

[magicman]

Balanced scoring with 4 players in double figures led Clarkson to a come from behind 74-68 victory at Skidmore Friday night and moved the Golden Knights into a share of 1st place in the LL.

Clarkson was down early 18-5, after missing their 1st  nine field goal attempts. Struggling from the field and turning the ball over 10 times in the 1st half the Knights found themselves down 37-23 at the break. Fortunately, they play two halves in basketball, because as badly as they shot the rock in the opening period (9x37 fg, 1x10 3's), was a far cry from how well they knocked em down in the 2nd. They opened the half on a 16-5 run to cut the Skidmore lead to 42-39 with just over 14 minutes to play. Rey Jefferson's 3 pointer and free throw gave Clarkson it's first lead of the game at the 12:03 mark, 46-44 and after the Thoroughbreds regained the lead at 50-48, Jefferson nailed another trey to give the Knights the lead for good, 51-50. An 8-0 run extended the margin and Clarkson hit their free throws down the stretch to claim the win. The Knights were 16x25 from the field in the 2nd half (64%) and 6x10 from behind the arc (60%) which boosted their field goal total to 25x62 and 7x20 from beyond the arc. For the game they were 17-19 from the line (86.7%) and out-rebounded Skidmore 45-38.

Keith Murray led Clarkson in scoring with 13 pts (5x11 fg, 1x2 3's, 2x2 ft), all coming in the 2nd half and grabbed 6 boards as well. Jonathon Hood earned a double-double with 12 pts (4x10 fg, 4x4 ft) and 11 rebounds. Brandon Linton added 12 pts (3x11 fg, 6x8 ft) along with 6 assists. George Koduah chipped in with 10 pts (4x7 fg, 2x2 ft) and 6 boards. Rey Jefferson finished with 9 pts but 7 of them came in 1:47 when the Knights gained their 1st lead and regained the lead for good.

Skidmore's Terron Victoria was the game's leading scorer with 16 pts (8x12 fg). He also had 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Jeff Altimar was the only other Thoroughbred in double figures with 12 pts (4x11 fg, 2x6 3's, 2x2 ft). Skidmore shot 25x67 from the field and 16x20 from the line, but only 2x22 from 3 point land. That's a stat that'll usually spell defeat.

Skidmore faces another challenge Saturday afternoon as SLU  comes to town for a 4 PM game. Clarkson travels down the road to take on Union at 4 PM.

In other Friday night action Union squeaks by visiting SLU 61-60.

Hamilton in a mild upset beats visiting RPI 55-43

Hobart downs Vassar 76-55

Hey with age and buck:
It may sound crazy but it's not that far-fetched. On Saturday if Union beats Clarkson, SLU beats Skidmore, and Hamilton beats Vassar, those results, along with the winner of the Hobart- RPI game would create a 6 way tie for 1st place in the LL, all with 3-2 records. Saturday will be an interesting day!!

[magicman]

In the SLU-Union game the Saints were playing catch up most of the night and came up just short as Union holds on for the 61-60 win. SLU came back from largest deficit of the 1st half 24-17 to close to within 3, 34-31 at the break. After catching Union early in the 2nd and going up 37-36, the Saints once again fall behind by 7 49-42 with 12:52 remaining. An 8-0 SLU spurt regains the lead and after 2 more lead changes the Dutchmen grab the lead for good 57-53 on a Rusmir Dzanko jumper and a Joey Lokitis trey, with 7:19 to go. SLU's Andy Hoercher 3 cuts it to 1, but Dzanko and Lokitis both score while SLU misfires on 3 straight 3 point attempts and Union extends lead to 5 at 61-56. Union fails to score in the last 3:40 of the game, turning the ball over 3 times without ever getting another shot off (which usually means, you lose, in a close game). SLU's Nick Meunier hits a pair of free throws at the 2:52 mark and a basket with 46 seconds left to draw the Saints within 1, at 61-60. After each team takes a timeout the Saints get the turnover they need with 13 seconds left, but Andy Hoercher's shot for the win with 3 seconds on the clock doesn't go down. Tough loss for the Saints. Another game where they are right there at the end but can't come away with a W. Of their 9 losses, 6 of them have been by a total of 19 points and a 7th was to McDaniel 76-70. With just a little bit of luck they could easily be 11-4 or 10-5 instead of 6-9.

Freshman Kyle Miller led the Saints in scoring with 12 pts in 15 minutes on 4x7 shooting, all from behind the arc. Hoercher had 11 pts (4x8 fg, 3x5 3's) and Josh Sharlow added 10 pts (4x11 fg, 2x7 3's), 5 boards and 3 assists. Ralph Temgura chipped in with 12 rebounds, 6 pts and 6 assists.

Union's Lokitis was the games high scorer with 20 pts (8x16 fg, 4x10 3's) along with 6 rebounds. Drew Goldstein contributed a fine all around game with 13 pts (5x7 fg, 3x5 3's), 5 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Kevin Donohue added 10 pts (3x9 fg, 1x4 3's, 3x3 ft). Neither team had many trips to the line (Refs probably in a hurry to get home ) as SLU was 6x11 and Union was 4x7. SLU totals were 22x52 fg (42.3%), 10x29 3's (34.5%). Union shot 24x55 fg (43.6%) and 9x24 3's (37.5%). SLU won the battle of the boards 36 to 27 but turned the ball over 18 times to 15 for the Dutchmen.

Interesting that SLU is starting 1 senior(Josh Sharlow), 1 junior, 2 sophs, and a freshmen. Next 4 guys off the bench are the only other senior on the team (Horcher) and 3 freshmen. All four subs got 13 to 24 minutes of playing time tonight in a 1 point barnburner. This team should be in good shape for the next couple of years.   

[buck1053]

Based on the way Clarkson is playing and the way Union is playing, I am thinking a double digit win for the Golden Knights. SLU-Skidmore, in the past, would have been fairly obvious in favor of the Saints, but I think the Thorobreds will take this one. Hamilton should beat Vassar and I'd say RPI will go over Hobart.

But the possibilities certainly are interesting magic! It does seem as though the league has some parity this season -- at least up to this point. There isn't a team running away with it.

[magicman]

Union up by 14 over Clarkson 39-25 at the half. Have the Golden Knights got another big comeback in them?

St Lawrence leads Skidmore 38-31 at the half.  Can 6 teams all end up 3-2 after today? Without some 2nd half comebacks it's looking like a possibility.

[magicman]

SLU opens up a a 51-39 lead over Skidmore with 11:23 to play.

Union trouncing Clarkson 60-33 with 10:34 to go.

Hobart leads RPI 40-34 with 15:59 remaining.

[magicman]

Final score SLU 74 Skidmore 60. There's 2 teams with 3-2 records.

[magicman]

Final Union 78 Clarkson 58. Now there are 4 teams with 3-2 records.

[magicman]

Hamilton beats Vassar 58 -37 and the Continentals move to 3-2 in league play.

Hobart and RPI go to overtime and RPI prevails 66-64 and is also 3-2.

Here's my quote from yesterday:

Hey with age and buck:
It may sound crazy but it's not that far-fetched. On Saturday if Union beats Clarkson, SLU beats Skidmore, and Hamilton beats Vassar, those results, along with the winner of the Hobart- RPI game would create a 6 way tie for 1st place in the LL, all with 3-2 records. Saturday will be an interesting day!!  

So, guys is that parity or what? Clarkson, SLU, Hamilton, RPI, Union, and Skidmore are all 3-2. Hobart's 2-3 and Vassar is 0-5. I guessing but I don't think there's another conference in the country, in any division, with that kind of logjam at the top   The SUNYAC is almost as bad except Brockport's double OT win over Plattsburgh (boo, hiss) last night has given them a clear lead in the conference with a 6-1 slate . Cortland and Oneonta next at 5-3 and a 4 way battle for 4th between Plattsburgh, Fredonia, Buff St. and New Paltz at 4-4. With 10 SUNYAC games left it's gonna be a war!!(I hope). Same thing in the LL. Man your battle stations !!

[hopefan]

Magic    slight advantage  -  RPI, who has already taken the north trip to SLU/Clarlson, and the West trip to H&H -   lot of home games left!!!!!

[buck1053]

Based on the way Clarkson is playing and the way Union is playing, I am thinking a double digit win for the Golden Knights. SLU-Skidmore, in the past, would have been fairly obvious in favor of the Saints, but I think the Thorobreds will take this one. Hamilton should beat Vassar and I'd say RPI will go over Hobart.

But the possibilities certainly are interesting magic! It does seem as though the league has some parity this season -- at least up to this point. There isn't a team running away with it.

Just goes to show what I know. Although the way the LL has gone, I guess a 2-2 picks record isn't too bad! LOL

Perhaps the Clarkson-Skidmore tilt on Friday took too much out of both teams, as Clarkson was never in the game against Union, and St. Lawrence was able to hand Skidmore its second straight loss.

[magicman]

Magic    slight advantage  -  RPI, who has already taken the north trip to SLU/Clarlson, and the West trip to H&H -   lot of home games left!!!!!

hopefan,  I can't think of one reason why you might feel that way!! Seriously though, that's a good point. 9 games left, with 6 at home and of the 3 road games, you have last place Vassar. RPI just has to defend home court and the playoffs could well be in Troy this year.   

[with age came?]

Well Magic - except for RPI running the table and losing in the championship game I think we can put "for certain"- only one LL team in the "dance" this year.  Just too much parity and too much inconsistency from all the teams. A six way tie for first in an 8 team league is ludicrous.  I am no mathmatics guru but I am pretty sure that it is impossible to have a larger tie for first after 5 weeks.

[with age came?]

Its official- Only tournament champion goes to the d3 dance (for certain as Magicman says) with RPI's loss at Union.  There is no way a 6 loss team from this conference get a pool C bid.  That being said there could be a multitude of teams eliligible for ECAC tournament if the log jam continues.  I could see 3 or 4 teams not make the LL playoffs and be over .500 on the w & l record for the season.  Vassar providing a lot of wins for people and other teams keep beating each other. A bunch of .500 teams that go to the tiebreakers for the playoffs and the Hamilton's and Hobarts and St Lawrences and Union's snatching spots and that leaving the RPI's,Skidmore's & Clarkson's over .500 and looking for ECAC invites.  Boy do I hope I am wrong and that mathmatically that it isn't possible and that the Knights win out and prove me wrong!

[with age came?]

Just noticed this its a stretch but possible.  Tomorrow IF: Vassar beats Union, RPI beats Skidmore, Hobart beats Clarkson, & Hamilton beats SLU presto insanity prevails.  Its deja vu all over again (thanks Yogi) - a 6 way tie for first at 4-3 at the halfway mark of the season??!!!

[magicman]

with age,
Yeah, I'm afraid it's turned out like I thought it would with everybody beating up up on each other. Same for the SUNYAC teams. Even the E8 is getting to be that way with Fisher losing at home tonight against Stevens Tech. If this keeps up no East team will get a Pool C. We're just going to hand our at large bids over to the other regions. ODAC in the South has 4 ranked teams. They might get 3 Pool C's from that conference alone. Middle Atlantic and West region are loaded as well. With only 19 at large bids available, if the Conference favorites get upset in their respective tournaments in those regions the East will be on the outside looking in (and we may be even if that doesn't happen). Last year the LL (RPI,SLU), and E8 (RIT, Ithaca) were 2 team conferences whille the YAC (Brockport), NEAC (SUNYIT), and the multi-region AMCC (Medaille) each had only the automatic winner. Unless some East teams run the table from here on out we're in trouble. The 4 top teams in the projected East region Pool C rankings all lost tonight, dropping us further behind the 8 ball. By the way I saw your post over on the Pool C board asking if those rankings were official. To answer your question, no they are not official. They are a projection based on the same criteria the NCAA will use when they come out with their official rankings. KnightSlappy, the poster who does this has taken over from Patrick Abegg, who passed away last spring. Patrick, using this criteria was able to predict with darn good accuracy who was going to recieve the Pool C bids. Also in reponse to the question you posed about the lack of a LL team, look at Medaille, 17-1 in region record and they are not on the list (currently sitting in the 9th spot) because of their SOS, but they've beaten some good teams and are currently #25 in the Top 25 poll. They've been ranked for the past 4 weeks and were as high as #19. It's still too early for the regional rankings to determine anything because so much can happen over the next month, but as I mentioned ealier time is running out and the East teams have to step up and prove they belong in the mix.The 1st set of official ranking will be released by the NCAA this coming Wednesday February 3rd. You can access them on or after that date by clicking on the Regional Rankings link on any D3Hoops team page right below the link to the schools website.

On another topic, My Plattsburgh St. Cardinals finally put it all together tonight and cruised over Oneonta 78-56. Up by double digits early and never looked back. Best game they played all year. I'd sure like them to be the East team that puts it all together. They've got the talent, they just need to play together as a team. With 4 solid scoring options, they need to continue to work the clock and get a better shot than some of the ones they fire up there. Tonight they did that, just hope it sticks.  Don't know where they'll end up this year but the good news is all 4 of those scoring options are back next year and I expect big things from them  With Brockport losing to Cortland we picked up a game on them. Still need some help from someone else and we can't afford any more losses but the last game of the regular season is February 20th and who do we play? You guessed it, Brockport right here in the Burgh. I just hope it's for all the marbles. In this case the marbles being the right to host the SUNYAC tournament.
     
Updated Liberty League Standings after Friday night's action. Went from a 6 way tie for 1st to ONLY a 4 way tie.

       Hamilton  40  Clarkson  53      
       Hobart  57  St. Lawrence  68      
       Union  67  RPI  53      
       Skidmore  81  Vassar  60


Clarkson      4-2  
Skidmore     4-2  
Union          4-2  
SLU             4-2
RPI              3-3  
Hamilton     3-3  
Hobart        2-4  
Vassar        0-6  

If underdogs Hamilton, Hobart, and Vassar, win on Saturday afternoon and RPI holds serve against Skidmore we'd be right back to a 6 way tie once again. Don't think that will happen this week though. I'll go out on a limb and make some guesses.

with age, I didn't see your 2nd post saying this same thing about the 6 way tie, until I posted. But we both agree, it's a stretch. Where's your guesses?

Clarkson over Hobart 64-55
SLU over Hamilton 74-66
Union over Vassar 75-63
RPI  over Skidmore 73-70