MBB: Liberty League

[d3d3d3]

The preseason poll:
http://libertyleagueathletics.com/news/2015/11/12/MBB_1112154814.aspx

Thoughts?

[magicman]

I think the top 2 of Skidmore and SLU, are probably correct. Not sure I would have Vassar bringing up the rear. I think they might finish higher than a couple of teams listed in front of them. I watched them play Friday night against New Paltz and they could have won that game with a little luck. They gave up an 11 point lead with 16 minutes left to play when New Paltz went on a 17-2 run. The Brewers were down 68-58 with 5:30 left and ended up losing 70-68 and had a chance to win it with a 3 pointer twice in the final 30 seconds. They could surprise a few teams.

The 3rd through 7th spots are fairly interchangeable and will really depend on how well the teams come together with all the young faces in the League this year. It will be easier to sort out after we can see some non-conference results. A number of games will be played against the SUNYAC conference which is always a good indicator of how well those teams that do play YAC schools will fare in Liberty League competition. Both St Lawrence and Clarkson will play multiple games against SUNYAC schools. Hobart,  Skidmore, and Vassar, will also face off against YAC schools by December 12th. A total of at least 10 games will be played between the 2 conferences. At least 6 of those games will be played against the top teams in the YAC as well.

It was good to see Clarkson toughen up their schedule a bit with the arrival of a new coach. Conversely the former Clarkson coach, now at RPI is doing just the opposite by dropping some of the better schools in favor of some lightweights. Vassar is playing an upgraded non-conference schedule as well and Union is scheduling some decent teams this year with the likes of Williams, Wesleyan, and Rochester on their slate. Hobart, St. Lawrence and RIT continue to have a fairly strong non-conference schedule as usual. Skidmore with games against Middlebury, Plattsburgh State, Wooster, UW-Stout, Ramapo and TCNJ has probably the toughest schedule in the LL and I'm guessing, the strongest one that the Thoroughbreds have ever had. I'm looking forward to the Skidmore-Plattsburgh State game on Nov. 23rd which I plan on attending. It marks the 2nd straight year we've traveled to Skidmore and we have the promise of a return visit next year. I hope that happens.

It should be another interesting year in the Liberty League, SUNYAC and Empire 8 conferences. Hopefully we can get more than the 3 teams from last year into the Big Dance this coming year.     

[magicman]

Skidmore struggling at home against Ithaca as the Bombers take a 42-35 lead into the break.  The Thoroughbreds preseason All American Aldin Medunjanin only got 7 minutes of court time in the first half as he got 2 quick fouls and went to the bench 4 minutes after the game started. He went back into the game at the 11 minute mark and 3 minutes later picked up his 3rd foul. He spent the remainder of the half on the bench. Bombers have 2 players with 13 and 12 points already. 

[magicman]

Not a good beginning for a team picked to win the Liberty League, losing to a middle of the pack team from another conference on your home court. In fairness to Skidmore however this is the 3rd straight year they have played the Bombers and all 3 games, regardless of the respective team's records, have been close games. But Skidmore was supposed to win this game on Saturday.  The Thoroughbreds were listed as  a 12 point favorite and they had most of that margin early on as they were up 27-16 halfway through the first period. But a funny thing happened on the way to the half....the Bombers didn't roll over. Instead they fought back and grabbed the lead by outscoring Skidmore by a 26-8 margin over the final 9:32 of the period.

The Bombers kept up the pressure as the 2nd half got under way and began to slowly increase their advantage to 13,then 15, and finally a 17 point margin at 58-41 with 14:09 remaining. Each time the ponies would try to rally the Bombers would have an answer and the lead was back to 17, then 18 and finally reached a game high of 19 points at 71-52 with 8:55 remaining. For Skidmore to be within 1 point of a tie game at 85-84 with 25 ticks left on the clock and then have a chance to tie it with 11 seconds left is a credit to the team's ability to  keep on playing hard. Too bad that 3 pointer by Medunjanin didn't go down  with 11 seconds left. I would have loved to watch bonus basketball.  The final score of 90-84 was only because Skidmore committed 2 fouls in the last 5 seconds.

Medunjanin led the Thoroughbreds with 21 points and 5 assists. As mentioned earlier his court time was limited to just 7 minutes in the first half due to 3 fouls. Royce Paris had 15 points, Edvinas Rupkus had 14 and Erik Sanders added 13 points. Sanders also led the team in rebounds with 11.

Mark Chasin led the Bombers with 22 points and Joey Flanagan had 20.Sam Bevan had 18 points while Peter Ezema had 16 points and 11 boards to lead the Bombers in rebounding.  This game could prove to be valuable experience for Skidmore down the road. I just hope it isn't next Monday Nov.21st when my Cardinals make the trip down the Northway for a visit. It was an overtime game last year and I expect the game to be a thriller again this year.

[dcahill44]

Hobart wins against Keuka 77-63. Union with a surprising win against Hartwick, Hartwick looked like they had the best roster in the league coming into this year. RPI beat a Cobleskill team by 29, RIT lost  to Brooklyn by 23 and Goucher by 16. Not a good start for RIT at Case Western tournament. St Lawrence loses to reigning SUNYAC champion Oswego. St Lawrence looks to be a big contender for the LL. Skidmore loses to Ithaca, but I think they will be fine. Clarkson loses to Morrisville. Not sure what to think about Clarkson for this season. Vassar loses a tight 70-68 game to New Paltz. Not sure what to think about the Brewers this year either.

[Bengalsrule]

Re: MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference
Quote from d3d3d3 on SUNYAc boards Monday
"Skidmore 94, Plattsburgh 69"


Today....
Buffalo State 98, Hobart 78

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Hoopsville returns from the Thanksgiving break with plenty to cover.

The season has certainly started with a lot of stuff. Rule changes, upsets, hot and cold starts, and more. That's why we added more Hoopsville shows to start the season! Tonight, we talk to some who have started hot, those with high expectations, and preview the final Wendy's Classic.

Hoopsville hits the air at 7pm ET tonight!

Guests include:
- Mike Daley, Wendy's Classic Director and former Nazareth men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, Benedictine men's coach
- Greg Mitchell, No. 16 Hope men's coach
- Abby Pyzik Smith, Lynchburg women's coach

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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AND our podcast as been approved for iTunes!!! You should be able to find it... but here is a link, just in case: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

[magicman]

Nice win by St. Lawrence on Saturday afternoon as they get a bit of revenge for the Liberty League by defeating Ithaca College 88-78. That helps to offset the win that Ithaca posted over Skidmore on opening weekend.

SLU laid a pair of 44's on the Bombers as they outscored them 44-37 in the 1st half and 44-41 in the 2nd. First half was a back and forth affair until the Saints broke free from a 25 all tie to open up an 11 point lead before settling for the 7 point halftime edge. St. Lawrence again went up by 11 early in the 2nd period but the Bombers hung in there and eventually tied the game up at 57 with 11 minutes left to play. The Saints responded to that with a 14-0 run fueled by 5 points from Riley Naclerio and 4 points from Ben Crawford. The Bombers finally stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws from Matt Flood to cut the lead to 71-59 with 7:28 left in the game. However, the damage was done and the Bombers could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

SLU's Crawford had 25 points and 11 boards for a double-double that claimed game honors in both categories. Kyle Edwards had 23 points and 6 assists while Naclerio tossed in 19 points and grabbed 5 boards. Kyle Kobis added 8 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.

Ithaca was led by their entire starting five, as they all reached double figures. Sam Bevan had 20 points and Joey Flanagan had 19. The problem was the Ithaca bench or lack thereof, as they only managed 2 points from the reserves. The Saints managed to scrape together 12 points from their bench. 12 SLU bench points minus 2 Bomber bench points equals a +10 bench points for the Saints....the margin of victory.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Teams are finally settling into the season, but that doesn't mean things have gotten easier. Tonight on Hoopsville, Dave returns from the Wendy's Classic where he talked to those who helped wrap up the historic tournament. He also chats with those showing heir strength early in the campaign and pulling off upsets.

Hoopsville hits the air at 7PM ET! www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/dec6

Guests include (in order):

- Guy Kalland, Carleton men's coach
- Bob Quillman, Central Region Reporter
- Jimmy Smith, Texas Lutheran men's coach
- Anthony Ewing, No. 10 Univ. of New England women's coach
- Scott Hemer, SUNY Geneseo women's coach
- Luke Flockerzi, Rochester men's coach
- J.C. DeLass, East Region Reporter

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
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SoundCloud (podcast): www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville

AND our podcast as been approved for iTunes!!! You should be able to find it... but here is a link, just in case: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

[d3d3d3]

Ithaca makes it official: Bombers are joining the Liberty League ...
http://athletics.ithaca.edu/news/2015/12/17/BB_1217151424.aspx

[with age came?]

Always thought that Ithaca would be a good LL fit...Miss Hamilton being in there but you can't blame for bolting for the league that they did?  But I'll let Magicman tell me what my real opinion is!!??   

[magicman]

Always thought that Ithaca would be a good LL fit...Miss Hamilton being in there but you can't blame for bolting for the league that they did?  But I'll let Magicman tell me what my real opinion is!!??   

I never try and tell a guy from Beaver River what his opinion is. I agree that Ithaca is a good fit. Now with 10 teams the LL can play a double round robin like the SUNYAC and have 18 league games and 7 non-conference games to make up their 25 game schedule.   

[d3d3d3]

Skidmore and Hobart will both be 0-1 in the LL when they play Sunday. Bard beat Skidmore, RPI beat Hobart today.

[Bengalsrule]

Always thought that Ithaca would be a good LL fit...Miss Hamilton being in there but you can't blame for bolting for the league that they did?  But I'll let Magicman tell me what my real opinion is!!??   

I don't know how I missed this 1!!!  You definitely know the magicman !!!!

[with age came?]

Time to heat up this board again like the Buffalo weather where we don't get snow anymore in November and December!     Go Knights!!  And where did this Bard stuff come from???  Magic please tell me??? lol