MBB: Liberty League

[magicman]

Liberty League Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll was released last week and Hobart was the choice to win the conference by a narrow margin over St. Lawrence. Here are the complete results.

2010-11 Liberty League Men's
Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Hobart 47 (5)
2. St. Lawrence 42 (3)
3. Skidmore 34
4. Hamilton 32
5. Union 28
6. Rensselaer 21
7. Clarkson 13
8. Vassar 7
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)

Hard to argue with the top 2 choices as Hobart has their 1st 10 players returning from last year, led by All-American candidate Matt Pebole, and high scoring guard Stefan Thompson. The Statesmen averaged almost 76 ppg last season and about 72 of those ppg are back. Monday night saw the debut of 6'5" freshman forward Richie Bonney who started his Hobart career with a double-double of 10 pts and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes of action. And 6 of those boards were on the offensive glass. The Statesmen opened their season with an 87-64 win over Cazenovia and Bonney's veteran teammates gave him plenty of help. Thompson led the way with 20 pts, followed by Pebole with 14, and Tim Llewellyn with 11.
Hobart will get an early test as they travel to Ithaca on Wednesday night to take on the highly regarded Bombers who are one of the top picks in the E8 conference.

St. Lawrence played a tune up game against Paul Smith's College on Tuesday night as they opened their season on the road with a 92-50 blowout of the Bobcats. The Saints return 7 of the top 10 players from last year including top scorer and rebounder, Ralph Temgoura. Also back is 2nd leading rebounder and scorer, Garrett Sharlow, plus another starter from last years' Liberty League champs, Terry Parham. Nick Meunier, who started in 6 games last year as a freshman moves into the starting lineup along with Jon Goldberg who also saw significant playing time last year as a freshman. Temgoura, Sharlow, and Parham are all juniors, so the Saints entire starting 5 will be back again next year as well. 
Saints entire 13 player roster got into the scoring column against Paul Smith's and 12 players averaged double minutes.

St. Lawrence will travel to Rochester this weekend to take on the UofR Yellowjackets in the Rochester Tip Off Tournament on Friday at 8 PM. They're back at it on Saturday afternoon against the Bobcats from Bates College at 1 PM. These 2 games will give the coaching staff a better idea of where the team is headed and the Saints will then host nationally ranked Plattsburgh St. on Tuesday Nov 30th. I'm going to try and make the trip to Canton for that game as it should be a good one. Last year the Cardinals edged the Saints 90-86 in Plattsburgh.       

RPI opened their season at home with a win over Sage 83-69 on Mon. nite.

Clarkson traveled to Morrisville St. and came away with an opening game 70-66 win on Mon. nite.

Vassar lost at Endicott Mon. nite 70-66.

Hamilton opens up their season on Fri. 11-19 at home against Pitt-Bradford. This will be the last season in the league for the Continentals as they move to the NESCAC league next season. I don't think the Continentals leave with a good feeling. 4th place may be possible and a final LL playoff appearance, but I wouldn't bet on it. They may have gotten a good group of recruits as the roster is showing 6 freshmen. 4 of them are guards from 5'10" to 6'2" and 2 forwards both at 6'5". They lost 3 starters and several top reserves so an infusion of talent is needed. Leading scorer and rebounder Pat Sullivan returns but the big guy can't do it by himself

Union doesn't open their season until Nov. 28th when they host SUNY-Cobleskill. 

Skidmore with a new coach and lots of returning players should challenge the top pair for the LL crown. They open up their season tonight (Wed.) at SUNY-Cobleskill. I really thought they might get it done last year (I did pick the Saints though at the start of the season) but after putting themselves in a good position early on they finished 3-3 in their final 6 league contests, lost the chance to host the tournament and then couldn't beat Hobart in the 1st game of the playoffs up in Canton.  Last year the Thoroughbreds played SLU and Hobart a total of 5 games. They were 1-4 in those games. Both those teams are also loaded again and they didn't have a coaching change. I think 1 of them wins the crown. My head says Hobart, but my heart wants it to be St. Lawrence, so once again that's who I'm going with. Just don't want em to win on Tuesday Nov 30th.           

[magicman]

Skidmore opens the Joe Burke era with a win on the road over SUNY-Cobleskill 79-72. The Thoroughbreds were down at the half 35-31 but Jeff Altimar scored 13 second half pts to lead Skidmore to the winners circle. Altimar finished with a game high 17 pts. Terron Victoria had 14 pts and 5 steals, while Brian Lowry also had double figures with 13.
Next up for Skidmore is another road game at Tufts University on Sat. Nov. 20th at 7 PM.


Hobart traveled to Ithaca tonight for an important early season regional matchup that will look good on the winner's resume. Unfortunately for the Statesmen it will be the Bomber's resume that will get the gold star as they defeat Hobart 95-87. Ithaca won despite not having top scorer Jordan Marcus in the game.
Bombers went up by as much as 12 in the 1st half but Statesmen came back to make it a 1 pt game at the break as Ithaca led 44-43. Back and forth start of 2nd half and Hobart moves in front 50-46 but the Bombers came back and went up by 10, 67-57, with 10 mins. left to play. Ithaca never headed from that point on. Statesmen cut it to 3 a couple of times but got no closer as Bombers hit their foul shots down the stretch. 
Hobart was led by Matt Pebole with 23 pts and Stefan Thompson with 22. Freshman forward Richie Bonney had a double-double of 10 pts and 16 rebounds, while Tim Llewellyn chipped in with 12 pts.
Chris Cruz-Rivas leads 5 Bombers in double figures with 28 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Both teams made 32 field goals and 18 free throws but the Bombers hit 12 3 pointers to only 5 for the Statesmen.
Hobart should have better luck against the E8 when they host Elmira on Nov. 23rd at 7 PM.

Vassar breaks into the win column with a  62-48 win over visiting Bard. John Donnelly led the Brewers with a double double of 24 pts (7x15 fg, 10x13 ft) and 10 rebounds. Nick Justiz had 19 pts on 6x8 shooting as he nailed 4 threes in 6 attempts. The Brewers next game will be Nov. 23rd as they host Hunter College.

Bard got an audition of what it will be like next year when they join the Liberty League as a full time member. Losing to Vassar by double digits, a team that was picked to finish last in the LL this year, will be a common occurrence with every LL team they face. The only other LL team they play this season is on Dec. 4th when they travel up to Skidmore.  Hope the Raptors plan on doing some serious recruiting.   

[magicman]

Skidmore wins the longest game in Division III history with a victory on the road over Southern Vermont 128-123 in a SEVEN overtime marathon. Skidmore had 6 players record double figures led by John Mantas with 27 and Gerard O'Shea with 20. Southern Vermont had 4 guys in double figures headed by Taeshon Johnson with 39. Lance Spratling scored 31 for Southern Vermont and played the entire 75 minutes of the contest.

At the end of regulation neither team scored in the final 1:06 after a So. Vermont layup tied the game at 59-59, sending it to OT.

Skidmore goes to the line with 1 second left in OT and down 1. Player misses the 1st and hits the 2nd to force a 2nd OT. Score is now 67-67.

Down 75-72 Southern Vermont hits a 3 pointer with 11 seconds to go and Skidmore misses a jumper to win it and they move to a 3rd OT.

Down 84-82, this time it's Skidmore who hits a jumper with 9 seconds left to tie it up and Southern Vermont misses a 3 at the buzzer as the teams move to a 4th OT.

Up 91-90 Southern Vermont goes to the line and hits 1st ft but misses the 2nd with 8 seconds to play. Skidmore grabs the rebound off the missed ft and makes a layup with 3 seconds left to send it to a 5th OT.

After a Southern Vermont ft ties it up at 100 apiece with 1:19 to play, the period ends with missed shots or turnovers and into OT #6.

Southern Vermont opens up a 6 pt lead 110-104 with 1:54 to play but Thoroughbred's John Mantas hits a 3 with 46 seconds left to make it 110-109. Mountaineers go to the line and hit 2 ft's with 21 ticks left to once again go up by 3, only to have Skidmore's Eli Johnston drain a 3 with 10 seconds to play. Southern Vermont misses a jumper at the buzzer and the marathon continues to the 7th OT tied at 112.

Teams each hit a 2 and 3 pt basket to remain tied at 117 but Thoroughbreds grab a 5 pt lead with 1:55 to go and are never caught. A Mountaineer 3 pointer with 33 seconds left cuts it to 2 at 125-123 and they quickly foul Skidmore's O'Shea. He makes the 1st and misses the 2nd but Mantas grabs the biggest rebound of the game, forcing the Mountaineers to foul him. He makes both foul shots to make it 128-123. Southern Vermont comes down, misses a 3 pt attempt, Skidmore grabs the rebound and the longest game in D3 history is over.

ESPN has a story about the game. Here's the link:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5846042&categoryid=2459792

[Bengalsrule]

Wow. Nice clip/plug for D3 Basketball/Liberty League. Dont know how I missed that on ESPN. Thanks Magicman!

[magicman]

The Hamilton Continentals lay claim to the Utica area championship by defeating Utica College tonight 71-60. Just 2 days ago on Nov 29th they beat SUNYIT 74-61.
Tonight Hamilton scored the last 11 points of the game to defeat the Pioneers after Utica had come all the way back from an early 15 pt deficit to take the lead.  Tied at 60 apiece with 2:54 left to play, Utica goes 0x6 from the field with 2 turnovers while Hamilton goes 9x10 from the line and 1x2 from the field. The Continentals outshot the Pioneers from the field, 23x51(45.1%) to 23x63(36.5%), from behind the arc, 7x13(53.8%) to 7x18(38.9%), and from the line, 18x25(72%) to 7x11(63.6%). Utica had 16 turnovers, while Hamilton had 10, but the Pioneers did win the rebounding battle 42-30.
Continentals were led by Ephraim McDowell with a game high 22 pts (6x10 fg, 4x6 3's, 6x6 ft) in 36 minutes. Greg Newton had 12 pts (4x7 fg, 1x3 3's, 3x4 ft) and Pat Sullivan added 10 pts (3x8 fg, 1x1 3's, 3x6 ft)

Utica College also placed 3 players in double figures led by Kevin Johnson with 15. James Patterson had 13 and Will Abrams chipped in with 11. The Pioneers suffered their 1st loss of the season after opening up with 3 wins.

Hamilton improves to 4-1 but will have their work cut out for them in their next contest as they travel to face the undefeated and 5th ranked Williams Ephs next Tuesday at 7:30 PM.         

[labart96]

Glad to see Hobart in the mix for the LL championship this season.  Disappointed I'll miss them when they travel out to Los Angeles later this month for the Thrivent tourney at CalLu.

Sounds like the Statesmen ran into a hot Yellow jacket team in the Wendy's tourney.  Tough loss, but one they can rebound from this weekend.

Keep the updates coming...

[magicman]

Skidmore down 45-41 with 7 minutes to play uses a 12-1 spurt to take control of the game against Trinity (Conn.). Thoroughbreds hit their foul shots down the stretch and come away with a 61-56 win against the visiting Bantams.
Gerard O'Shea led Skidmore and was the game's high scorer with 15 pts. Kyle Clark had 11, John Mantas had 11 and Terron Victoria added 10. Skidmore improves to 6-2 and is now off until January 5th when they host the Norwich Cadets.

[magicman]

Hobart travels to Rochester and avenges their 80-77 loss a week ago in the Wendy's Classic, by downing the Yellowjackets 86-78. Down 44-40 early in the 2nd half the Statesmen use a 13-3 run to grab a 53-47 advantage and are never headed. Hobart is up by 7 with 1:30 to go, when Rochester starts the foul parade. Between them, Stefan Thompson and Matt Pebole go 12 for 12 from the line down the stretch to close out Rochester. Thompson led all scorers with 28 pts as he was 5x8 from the field, 2x4 from long distance and a perfect 16x16 from the line. Pebole was close behind with 23 pts (8x13 fg, 3x3 3's, and 4x4 ft), while Rezin Davis was 4 of 5 from downtown for a total of 12 pts.

Nate Novosel led the Yellowjackets with 23 pts(8x11 fg, 7x9 ft).

Hobart improves to 6-2 on the season and the Statesmen are off until December 29th when they travel to Thousand Oaks, California to take on the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in a holiday tournament.  

[magicman]

Hamilton travels to Elmira and pounds the Soaring Eagles 88-46. No surprises there. the Continentals improve to 5-2 on the year.

St. Lawrence travels to winless Keuka and give the Storm a present as they can't hold onto an 8 pt. lead. Up 49-41 with 9:04 left to play the Saints manage to score 2 points for the remainder of the game. They missed their final 13 shots from the field and turned the ball over twice. Ralph Temgoua's 2 free throws with 6:24 remaining were the final points St. Lawrence would score. At the time it gave the Saints a 51-43 lead, but Keuka would end the game on a 9-0 run, capped by 2 free throws with 8 seconds left. The Saints with 1 last chance to pull out a victory, but turn the ball over to end the game. This has to be a low point in SLU hoops history. I thought this team would be right in the thick of things fighting for a conference title, but after a performance like Saturday night I wonder if they'll even come close to making the LL playoffs. Right now I don't see that happening. SLU falls to 3-5 for the season and are now off until January 4th when they travel to Brockport for a game against the Golden Eagles at 7 PM.       

[thebear]

After the whipping they gave us last week, hard to believe this score.

Keuka going into the game was winless, and ranked last out of 412 D-III teams in the country.

[magicman]

Union improves to 5-1 as they defeat visiting Utica College 89-80 behind Justin Gallo's 29 points. A fairly even 1st half saw back and forth action that featured 7 lead changes with 4 ties. The largest lead was by the Pioneers at 34-28 and came with 3:47 left in the period. The Dutchmen fought back to tie it up once again, but Utica's Kevin Johnson hits a jumper with 2 seconds left to give the Pioneers a 38-36 lead at the break. It was the last time Utica would have the lead, however, as Gallo was fouled on a 3 point attempt 14 seconds into the 2nd half. Gallo stepped up to the line and made all 3 foul shots to give the Dutchmen a 39-38 lead they would never relinquish. Union outscored Utica 20-8 over the next 7 minutes to take a 56-46 lead and the Pioneers never had a chance for the lead after that. They got it to 76-73 on a basket by Will Abrams with 4:32 left but 2 unanswered buckets by the Dutchmen built it back up to 7 and Union hit 6 of 7 free throws down the stretch. In addition to Gallo's 29 points (10x18 fg, 4x10 3's, 5x5 ft) Kevin Donohue had a solid game with 20 points (7x13 fg, 4x8 3's, 2x2 ft). Evan Croll had 13 pts (5x9 fg, 1x2 3's, 2x3 ft) and Joe Mason had a double-double with 11 pts (5x10 fg, 1x3 3's) and 12 assists.

James Patterson with 22, Kevin Johnson with 17, Almir Gredelj with 11 and Will Abrams with 10 were the leaders for the Pioneers.

Union will now travel south over the holidays to Daytona Beach to play in the Land of Magic classic. They take on St. Scholastica, from Duluth Minnesota on Wednesday 12-29 at 2 PM and the next day face Berry College from Mount Berry Georgia at 4 PM. Berry College is an independent provisional member of NCAA D3.    

[d3lifer]

A strong start for Union a good win tonight over a Utica team that has had some solid wins during the first semester. Also Union mascot is not the Statesman that would be Hobart. Union's mascot would be the Dutchmen.

[d3lifer]

As of right now...heading into a couple of weeks where most teams are idle I would put teams in the following spots:
1. Hobart
2. Skidmore
    Hamilton
    Union
3. RPI
    Clarkson
4. St. Lawrence
5. Vassar

I feel it is somewhat difficult to separate the groupings of teams at 2 and 3 particularly because there hasn't been much difference in the overall strength of schedule. Of course that is only by eye ball test of everyone schedule to date. Hobart has in my opinion played the most rigorous schedule to this point and losses to above average teams have been close. It will be very interesting to see if there are teams that can get some distance early on in the conference schedule. However Union however starts off with 5 on the road in the league.

[dlippiel]

A nice W for the Dutchman over Utica. Seems as if Justin Gallo is carrying his talents from the football field onto the court. Gallo was simply nasty on the hardwood  at Hudon Valley Community College before transfering over to Union to play football with his brother. dlip is strating to really get an idea of just how good an athlete this kid is. Good luck to Justin and the Dutchman here in 2010-2011.

[magicman]

Matt Pebole was named to the D3hoops Team of the Week on December 14th for his 23 point effort in Hobart's win over Rochester on December 11th.

Phil Barera of Ithaca was also named to the D3hoops Team of the Week for the same period.