MBB: Liberty League

[magicman]

Halftime scores for all games.

SLU 37 Vassar 27

RPI 49 Clarkson 41

Skidmore 42 Hamilton 26

Hobart 33 Union 29 

[magicman]

Skidmore all over Hamilton 71-55.
Big win for the Thoroughbreds as they open up some daylight in the battle for second and remain only a half game behind Hobart.

RPI defeats Clarkson 73-65.
The Red Hawks are tied with Hamilton for 3rd place both with 5-3 records but Hamilton owns the tiebreaker over RPI at the moment. SLU on the verge of joining them at 5-3. SLU would lose the tiebreaker to both teams.

Hobart beats back a determined Union team 72-64.
Hobart was in a tight battle with last place Union as the Dutchmen were only down 65-64 with 1:45 to play but the Statesmen prevail and pull away for the win.

St. Lawrence beats Vassar 77-56.
Saints make it a 3 way tie for 3rd place. All 3 teams will be in a battle through the last weekend of the season to see which two will grab the final playoff spots. I believe Hobart and Skidmore will claim the top 2 spots.

4-0 with my picks tonight.

[magicman]

Today's schedule.

Hamilton  @    Union      4:00 PM
Continentals hoping to rebound from last night's loss to Skidmore. Union looking to recover from tough setback to Hobart. I almost think Union pulls one out here, but I'm going with Hamilton who comes out on top 76-71.   
   
Vassar   @   Clarkson    4:00  PM
Clarkson won't lose another one to the Brewers, will they? No way says "with age" Golden Knights 73-61. 
   
RPI  @    St. Lawrence   4:00  PM
Red Hawks hammered Saints in Troy 85-52. Are they that much better or did SLU have a bad day? I think the Saints get their revenge 72-68.     
   
Hobart   @   Skidmore      8:00 PM
Battle for 1st place fittingly takes place in Saratoga. The Statesmen should feel right at home. Hobart wins a close one 78-75. 
   

[magicman]

Halftime scores:

Clarkson 39 Vassar 18

RPI 31 St Lawrence 30

Hamilton 36 Union 34

[magicman]

Final scores.

RPI 72 St. Lawrence 56     
I had it 72-68 Saints.  At least I had one set of numbers right. Once again the Saints let me down. They soon will let themselves down as they may be on the outside looking in. They just dropped into 5th place and with the Red Hawks owning the season sweep the deficit is even bigger.

Clarkson 67  Vassar 50
I had it 73-61, so I wasn't too far off.

Hamilton 80 Union 71
My score was Hamilton 76-71. Almost nailed it.

Hobart 75 Skidmore 66
I had it 78-75 Hobart. If Skidmore would have been 5 for 20 instead of 1 for 20 to open the game I might have been perfect.


3-1 on the day.   7-1 for the weekend.    18-4  for the year and I think 3 of my losses have been St. Lawrence games.

[magicman]

Apparently the Hobart-Skidmore game was not at 8 PM since I just got a final score showing Hobart winning 75-66.
Skidmore couldn't buy a basket in the opening stanza as they went 1 for 20 to fall behind 33-5. The half ended with the Statesmen in front 40-15. The Thoroughbreds opened the 2nd half with a 12-0 run to pull within 13 at 40-27 and then made a late run to pull within 5 at 67-62 but that was as close as they would get. Hobart was led by Matt Pebole and Stefan Thompson with 21 and 20 points respectively. Melvis Langyintuo was the high man for Skidmore with 14 points.

Hobart inproves to 8-1 in the conference and opens up a 2 game lead over Skidmore in the loss column. Because Hobart owns a season sweep over Skidmore it's really like a 3 game lead.

[with age came?]

Think I would have gone bonkers if Knights lost to Brewers for a second time. SLU is so darn frustrating.  Tonights loss probably keeps them on the outside at playoff time. Hobart again proves who is the class fo the league.  Statesmen may have an outside chance at a pool c bid if they run the table and lose in the championship game.  Only way the LL sends 2 to the dance. Most likely we'll never know because Hobart does not look likely to get beat.

[magicman]

Only 2 games tonight in the conference.

St. Lawrence at Clarkson 8:00 PM
Saints trying to avoid a Golden Knights sweep. I think the Saints shoot better this time around and come away with a 72-65 win.

Hobart at Hamilton 8:00 PM
The Statesmen look to open up a 2 game lead with 4 to play, and with the tiebreakers firmly in hand would make first place all but assured. Hamilton will play them tough but come up short. Hobart 74 Hamilton 69  

[magicman]

Hobart puts a stanglehold on 1st place as they nip Hamilton 70-67.  I wasn't too far off with my pick as I had it 74-69.

St. Lawrence wins a thriller 68-67 over Clarkson.  I had that one with SLU winning 72-65.

[with age came?]

Don't know if my Knights are mathematically eliminated but they should be.  Get to play spoiler this weekend for Senior (Alumni) weekend.  Chances are pretty slim for a win against Hobart but they may just play Hamilton and former coach Tobin Anderson tough.  May go up there for the Friday game just to see the Statesmen in action. Certainly they appear to be the class of the LL. Huge weekend for SLU if they can pull off an upset or even 2 they will have a good shot at the playoffs.  Think they have as good as shot at Hamilton as RPI now.

[buck1053]

Don't know if my Knights are mathematically eliminated but they should be.  Get to play spoiler this weekend for Senior (Alumni) weekend.  Chances are pretty slim for a win against Hobart but they may just play Hamilton and former coach Tobin Anderson tough.  May go up there for the Friday game just to see the Statesmen in action. Certainly they appear to be the class of the LL. Huge weekend for SLU if they can pull off an upset or even 2 they will have a good shot at the playoffs.  Think they have as good as shot at Hamilton as RPI now.

If Clarkson is able to take down Hamilton this week, it would benefit St. Lawrence -- kind of interesting, seeing as they are traditional rivals -- as the Saints are currently tied in the standings. St. Law definitely needs to beat the Continentals, though, as Hamilton won their previous matchup. And I believe those two will battle it out for the final conference tourney spot. I don't know why, it's just a feeling, that Skidmore and RPI will be joining Hobart in the tourney, with Hamilton-St. Lawrence determining the final spot.

[labart96]

Hobart puts a stanglehold on 1st place as they nip Hamilton 70-67. 

Close but we'll take it.

Go 'bart!

[Pat Coleman]

Newest men's regional rankings are up. Pass it on:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/09/ncaas-2011-regional-rankings-week-2/

[labart96]

Newest men's regional rankings are up. Pass it on:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/09/ncaas-2011-regional-rankings-week-2/

#3 in the East?  Sweet....

[magicman]

Four games on tap tonight. They all start at 8 PM.  The D3Hoops scoreboard says the Skidmore-RPI game is a 4 PM start but it doesn't tip off until 8 PM. The scoreboard also shows tomorrow's game of Hobart @ St Lawrence as an 8 PM start when it will tip off at 4 PM as will all of the Saturday games.

Skidmore  @    RPI
Thoroughbreds and Red Hawks battle it out for 2nd place. Skidmore won earlier contest by 4 points. RPI turns the tables 77-74       
   
Union  @    Vassar
Union finally escapes the cellar at the Brewers expense. Union 74-51         
   
Hobart   @   Clarkson
Statesmen must avoid looking ahead to Saturday's revenge match against St. Lawrence. Clarkson has to win out to have any hope of a playoff berth. Hobart will win 87-72.     
   
Hamilton  @    St. Lawrence
Saints fighting for a playoff berth and with Hobart and Skidmore left to play they can't afford to lose this game. Continentals beat the Saints on a buzzer beater off an inbounds steal 2 weeks ago. Don't think they get that lucky tonight. SLU takes the rematch 68-63.