MBB: Liberty League

[magicman]

Heck of a ballgame in Canton as the Saints and Dutchmen are tied in overtime at 102 with 12 seconds left. SLU with the ball coming out of a time out to try and win it. Edwards takes a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left and it clangs off the front of the rim. Union with the rebound and time out with 1 second left. Union misses a jumper at the buzzer and the teams go to double overtime.

[stlawus]

That was a brutal loss.  Should be in good shape for an at large bid though.

[magicman]

St. Lawrence goes down 110-108 as Union's Deshon Burgess buries a 3 pointer with eight tenths of a second left in double overtime. Saints Kyle Edwards missed a 3 pointer with 16 seconds left which set the stage for Burgess' heroics. This was a barnburner of the first order. 26 lead changes and 9 ties. It doesn't get much better than this game in Division 3 hoops.

Burgess had 34 points to lead Union. Three other Dutchmen in double figures. Greg King had 21, Wade McNamara had 16 and Kevin Weckworth with 15.

Riley Naclerio with 34 points and a game high 15 rebounds to lead SLU. Kyle Edwards and Willie Zachary with 22 each. 

Tough loss for the Saints but they still stand a chance of getting an at large bid to the Dance. 

[stlawus]

And Hobart knocks of Skidmore. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hobart vs Union for the AQ.  Prize?  Well, luckily Hobart is 501 miles from Christopher Newport, so at least they'll get an impossible matchup closer to home.

[magicman]

Two losses in the Liberty League tonight as the top 2 seeds Skidmore and St.Lawrence both lose.

St. Lawrence lost in double overtime to Union 110-108 on a last second 3 pointer.

Skidmore was upset by 4th seeded Hobart 70-65.

Skidmore's loss creates  another East Region team that is hanging by a thread, hoping for an NCAA at large bid. With a 19-7 overall record it might be tough to get in. Losing in the semifinal game hurts. Two years ago Plattsburgh State won the regular season SUNYAC crown and lost in the Championship game of the conference tournament, ended up 19-8 and they didn't get an at large bid. A few years earlier when Hamilton was a member of the Liberty League they finished tied with SLU with a 12-2 league record and were 18-7 overall. They lost in the first round of the LL tournament and were bypassed by the committee.

The 3rd set of Regional Rankings came out today and Rochester is still the top ranked team in the East even with a loss in their last game. They lost the automatic bid from their conference to Washington U, so the Yellowjackets will be the first team at the table from the East Region.  St. John Fisher is ranked 2nd in the region and even if they lose I don't think SLU, with their loss tonight, will jump over the Cardinals. If Fisher loses they may be the 2nd team at the table. The best Oswego  or Brockport can be if they don't win the SUNYAC would be 20-7, assuming they win a semifinal game and lose in the championship game. That may be good enough to move them past Skidmore and in Brockport's case if they get to 20-7, move them over the Saints. They own a win over St. Lawrence and could have a stronger SOS than the Saints by selection time with 2 playoff games against the single game SLU had. SLU has a win over Oswego so if the Lakers lose, the Saints will probably stay in front of Oswego. 
There are 21 at large bids this year and 8 regions looking to get them. Some regions will get 4 or perhaps 5 bids, like the New England region as an example. The NESCAC conference could get 4 teams into the NCAA tournament and 5 isn't out of the question. The Midwest region also has a number of teams that will get at large bids. The East Region will be fortunate to get three bids. We may only get two.         

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Obviously it'll depend on how many upsets we see in the next few days, but I think Skidmore's 6-1 vRRO will really look attractive towards the end of the selection process.  Plus, they're likely going to be on the table for a very long time, so the committee will be very familiar with them.

[ITH radio]

I was happy to see Hobart win last night. The video from Skidmore crapped out with about 5 mins remaining, but Live Stats worked. Dougherty had a big night and the team did well in transition. Third time was the charm for the Statesmen to clip the 'Breds and hopefully it'll be the same with Union, who's beaten Hobart 2x but only by about 6-8 points each time.

[warriorcat]

Two losses in the Liberty League tonight as the top 2 seeds Skidmore and St.Lawrence both lose.

St. Lawrence lost in double overtime to Union 110-108 on a last second 3 pointer.

Skidmore was upset by 4th seeded Hobart 70-65.

Skidmore's loss creates  another East Region team that is hanging by a thread, hoping for an NCAA at large bid. With a 19-7 overall record it might be tough to get in. Losing in the semifinal game hurts. Two years ago Plattsburgh State won the regular season SUNYAC crown and lost in the Championship game of the conference tournament, ended up 19-8 and they didn't get an at large bid. A few years earlier when Hamilton was a member of the Liberty League they finished tied with SLU with a 12-2 league record and were 18-7 overall. They lost in the first round of the LL tournament and were bypassed by the committee.

The 3rd set of Regional Rankings came out today and Rochester is still the top ranked team in the East even with a loss in their last game. They lost the automatic bid from their conference to Washington U, so the Yellowjackets will be the first team at the table from the East Region.  St. John Fisher is ranked 2nd in the region and even if they lose I don't think SLU, with their loss tonight, will jump over the Cardinals. If Fisher loses they may be the 2nd team at the table. The best Oswego  or Brockport can be if they don't win the SUNYAC would be 20-7, assuming they win a semifinal game and lose in the championship game. That may be good enough to move them past Skidmore and in Brockport's case if they get to 20-7, move them over the Saints. They own a win over St. Lawrence and could have a stronger SOS than the Saints by selection time with 2 playoff games against the single game SLU had. SLU has a win over Oswego so if the Lakers lo
se, the Saints will probably stay in front of Oswego. 
There are 21 at large bids this year and 8 regions looking to get them. Some regions will get 4 or perhaps 5 bids, like the New England region as an example. The NESCAC conference could get 4 teams into the NCAA tournament and 5 isn't out of the question. The Midwest region also has a number of teams that will get at large bids. The East Region will be fortunate to get three bids. We may only get two.       

As always, well stated. Last night's results have really put the teams in the East Region in play for some anxious moments between now and Monday. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

We are midway through what is always the craziest week of the entire season. Teams are already hitting the at-large bubble and that is already popping some other team's hopes of making the NCAA tournament. Upsets are everywhere and it promises to continue.

Tonight on Hoopsville, Dave not only recaps the crazy week, but looks ahead at what might happen this weekend. Plus, Dave and others will look at the last regular season Regional Rankings and try and start reading the tea leaves. Just who may be safe and who already is in trouble on plans to be playing in March.

Dave will also talk to a few teams making waves. The Union men's program is in their first conference finals in 11 years and helping turn the East Region on its head. Plus the winner of tonight's York (Pa.) at No. 20 Salisbury men's game will join us live to talk about the game. And a few reports from varying areas along with questions from fans.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch the show live starting at 7:00 PM ET in the video player above or on our Facebook Live simulcast. If you missed any of the show, you can watch it On Demand or listen to the podcasts located to the right (available after the show is off the air).

We will answer any questions about all of Division III throughout the show. You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment or simply answer immediately on air. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com. You can also tweet them to us.

And please consider helping Hoopsville stay on the air like you might help your public television station. The annual fundraising campaign has less than three weeks remaining, but we are no where close to reaching our goal. Click here for more information:  Hoopsville Fundraising Page

Guests scheduled (in order of appearance):
- Chris Murphy, Union men's coach
- James Wagner, Atlantic Region Report
- Salisbury or York (Pa.) winning coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

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
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville
Fundraiser: https://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser-2017

[dlippiel]

Let's go Union!

[dlippiel]

Congrats to the 2016-2017 LL Champion Union College Dutchmen!

[magicman]

Congrats to the 2016-2017 LL Champion Union College Dutchmen!

You must be in 7th heaven dlip. A good friend of mine, Joe Cardany, went to Union in the late 70's-early 80's and graduated in 1981 as their all time leading scorer. His record stood for 20 years until a few guys broke his records when the 3 point shot came into play. If they had the 3 pointer when Joe was in college his record would still be unbroken.He was quite happy when I called to tell him that Union was dancing. 

[Bartman]

Congrats to the 2016-2017 LL Champion Union College Dutchmen!

Congratulations to the Dutchmen on winning the LL tournament....I thought Union was a Hockey school

[ITH radio]

Heartbreaker for Hobart but they have a lot of young talent on that roster, so they'll be back. Good luck to the U in the NCAAs.