MBB: Little East

[7express]

Tuesday results:

Eastern 56-53 over Trinity.
Chris Robitaile lead Eastern with 15 on 7-4 shooting.  No Bantom scored in double figures, and Amh already said, this looks like a tough season for James Cosgrove and Trinity
Albertus 85-79 over Western.
To me, this Albertus team looks like a lot like the Western teams from a few years back.  Aside from when they play Yale in January (which won't be used against them come tournament time, IIRC) and possibly against Wesleyan on Sunday, AMC will have the better team and the better athletes in all of their remaining games this year.  However, much like Western I think they could possibly get disinterested.  Western had absolutely no business being in this game, but they were because AMC made 1 field goal and scored 2 points between the 14:03 mark and the 5:46 mark of the first.  In that time, when a double digit lead (16-6) turned into a 9 point deficit (18-27), they were doign what Western with Brooks did: behind the back passes, alley oops when layups would have sufficied, not playing good defense, not getting rebounds.  The game changer was the 2 bogus technical fouls called on Ryan Pelletier & Russ Payton early in the second.  Of the 8 possible free throws (2 from the techs and 2 from shooting fouls) AMC made 7 of the 8 and never trailed again after that, and was only tied once. Also, because of those 2 technicals, AMC was in the double bonus at th 15:27 mark, so pretty much the entire second half AMC was going to be shooting 2 free throws which allowed them to be more aggressive.  Final free throw numbers were 36-21 in AMC's favor.  As long as they can stay focused the entire this this team and MIT (when they get Hollingsworth & Karraker back) look to be the 2 best teams in New England.  I can;t see this AMC team losing anymore then 2 or 3 times this year.  It's possible this team can be even better then last year's edition which finished the regular season 27-1.
Keene 71-66.
If you just saw the box score and saw Ryan Martin finished 1-10 from the floor, 0-6 from 3 and finished with 7 points, you'd think the Owls would have lost.  Keene made 1 more free throw (made 27 had 40 attempts) then Elms attempted (26) which was the main factor in the 5 point win.
Fitchburg in OT over Boston 76-73.
Carl Joseph had 24 points to lead the Beacons.  After 2 free throws gave Fitchburg the lead, Brian Clarke of Boston turned the ball over to end the game.
RIC 56-53 over Bridgewater.
3-0 is 3-0 but they haven't looked too impressive so far.  That's the second straight game they had a double digit lead in the second half and had to hold on to win.
Castleton 95-89 over Plymouth.
I'd like to go see this offense some time, looks impressive on the box score.  The teams combined for 142 field goal attempts, and Plymouth shot 40 times from 3.  Petey Skevas had 30 points for the conference high so far.
USM 71-66 over Bates. 
It's only Maine-Maritime, Maine-Presque Isle and Bates, but the Huskies, like RIC is 3-0.  Competition steps up after Thanksgiving, however: vs. St. Joes, @ Bowdoin, vs. Eastern, vs. Western are there next 4 after the mini break, so we'll know more about USM after that Western game on the 8th.
Brandeis 87-59.
I didn't expect them to win, but at least be competitive.  7 bench players played for Dartmouth and contributed 19 of their 59 points.

4-4 for the conference.  Pretty much everyone lost that I thought would lose (Dartmouth & Western), and 7 of the 8 games were competitive and could have gone the other way with a couple made baskets like I thought.

[nescac1]

7express, based on the description of Karraker's and Hollingsworth's injuries that I read (really serious surgeries), I'd be stunned if they came back at all, and if they did, it would be very late in the year and I doubt they'd be terribly effective.  I'd put the top teams in New England right now as the big three in NESCAC (Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury), then MIT (which would easily be first but for those two big injuries, but without those guys, I don't think they have enough support for the two stars), then a group that includes Albertus, RIC, WPI, Wesleyan, Tufts.  If AMC beats Wesleyan, I might reassess, but with the weak schedule and after losing their big star, I just don't see them in the same class as the top tier of NESCAC, teams which face much rougher competition and which have proven to be able to go deep in the tourney. 

[lildave678]

I didn't get to the AMC/WSCU game and updating the live stats is really deceiving lol. It doesn't show how long each guy played so I was like what the, AMC is playing 11 guys?! but in reality 3 of them only played a minute or 2. AMC didn't start the 2 guards from last year (Dugas and Jackson) or the 6th man (Spencer Smith), Dugas only played 2 minutes and Jackson/Smith didn't even play. 7espress was there and said 2 players were in street clothes so maybe it was those 2. So playing a formidable opponent (IE not a GNAC team) in their home opener after they've already played 2 games, without 3 of their top 5 guys from last year, I'm happy with the result.

Based on his assessment of the game I can only hope this team doesn't fall into the same lull it did in 10-11, where they really don't care about out of conference knowing they can just steamroll the GNAC come late in the season. Well one thing or another happens, Askew doesn't play in the GNAC Semi's and they get ousted. While I don't think this team relies on one guy like they did Askew that year (Watson was a freshman, and the team wasn't as deep as it is now), I just hope they stay hungry. I'll go further in depth about the game and what it looked like from an outsider in the GNAC thread for those interested.

[7express]

Friday's lone game has Boston hosting UNE in their Thanksgiving tournament with St. Joseph of VT (USCAA school) and Trinity playing the other game.

[7express]

Boston finishes a 72-30 win over UNE.  UNE may just be the worst team in New England this year.  3 of UNE's 4 losses have been by 23, 38 & now 42 and they've played Thomas, Maine-Farmington, Mount Ida & Mass-Boston.  UNE plays the loser of St. Joseph (VT) and Trinity while Boston plays the winner for the championship both on Sat.

[7express]

Trinity beats St. Joseph 74-68
St. Joseph plays UNE at 1:00 in the consolayion game, Trinity plays Boston at 3 PM in the championship game.

[pjunito]

College Basketball at our level is great! Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the season.

[7express]

Boston won the harbor invitational with a 76-60 victory over Trinity.   Vinny DeLucia lead the Beacons with 16 points

2 games on Sunday:
RIC 72 @ Bates 65.
If USM can beat them, I say RIC can too.  RIC seems to have trouble up in Maine though, but I think they pull it out.
St. Joseph's (ME) 68 @ USM 69.
Homer LEC pick, but USM will get tested.  St. Joseph's have finished with at least 18 wins 5 of the last 6 years and finished 18-9 last season.  USM's 3 previous opponents (Maine-Maritime, Maine-Presque Isle & Bates), combined for a 18-52 record last season.  USM lost by 2 @ St. Joes last year

[AllStar]

RIC hangs on against Bates 45-43.  No, that's not a typo.  Bates missed a jump shot, 2 free throws, and a layup all in the last 10 seconds of the game.  Any of which could have tied the game.  RIC also missed the first of a 1 and 1 with 7 seconds left.  The Anchormen had a 38-31 lead with 7:24 remaining, but again, had trouble holding it, falling behind 43-40.  They did manage to come back to win, and held Bates scoreless for the last 3:28.  The Bobcats missed 4 shots and 2 free throws in that span.

[AllStar]

St. Joseph's up on Southern Maine 43-35 with about 13 minutes to go.

Monks up 13 with about a minute left...game is pretty much over.  USM's first real test and they go down in defeat.

Looks like a 70-56 final.

[7express]

St. Joes up 13 with about 2:30 left.  So looks like RIC is going to be the lone unbeaten left.  St. Joes wins 70-56 with Conor Sullivan leading USM with 18 points.  As Allstar already said RIC was a 45-43 winner at Bates in which the teams shot a combined 31.2% (34-109). No games Monday, next set of games Tuesday which include:
Conn College @ Eastern
USM @ Bowdoin
Dartmouth @ Bridgewater
Springfield @ Keene
and Rivier vs. Plymouth state (@ NH Tech in Concord)
Springfield vs. Keene looks to be the best game on the slate for Tuesday, will have predictions Monday.

LEC with a 15-13 record so far in OOC action.

[7express]

St. Joseph's up on Southern Maine 43-35 with about 13 minutes to go.

Monks up 13 with about a minute left...game is pretty much over.  USM's first real test and they go down in defeat.

Looks like a 70-56 final.

As I said last week these next 4 for USM will show whether their a contender or pretender.  So far 0-1, but they still have @ Bowdoin and home games vs. Eastern & Western left in the first semester.

[7express]

Tuesday schedule:

Conn  College 64 @ Eastern 78.
The men's game starts at 5:30 because its a double header with the Eastern women who are playing Monday night, so they gave the women a couple extra hours of rest going into the back to back.
USM 62 @ Bowdoin 66.
Bowdoin 1-2 losing to Clark & St. Joseph's (ME) while beating WNEU sandwiched in between.  This is Bowdoin's home opener, so they probably pull out a close one late.
Dartmouth 59 @ Bridgewater 67.
I don't think Dartmouth is as bad as the 27 point loss to Brandeis pre Thanksgiving, but its dissapointing to lose 2 close games at home to Trinity & Wheaton, teams that are probably inferior in talent.  Bridgewater beat Plymouth for its only win this year and lost by 3 @ RIC last week.
Springfield 73 @ Keene 69.
I probably should pick Keene at home and by 9:30 tomorrow night I probably wish I did, but Springfield is a very talented group that will make baskets for Keene hard to come by.  Still unsure about Keene's porous defense.  In a defensive battle (if this turns into one) I'm definitely taking Springfield, if Keene can speed it up they'll win.  Wish I wasn't working tomorrow night because this would be a great game to go to 
Plymouth 67 vs. Rivier 65 (@ NH Tech - Concord, NH)
What you may not know about Rivier is they played the first game of D-3 this season....a game that started at 12:01AM on November 15 against cross-town rival Daniel Webster (both schools are located in Nashua, NH).  Rivier won that and has won 3 of 4 to open the season, but I think a back of the pack LEC team can beat a middle of the pack GNAC team on a neutral court.

[magicman]

New D3hoops Top 25 poll is out. Rhode Island receiving votes at #27 with 53 points. Keene State at the end of the ORV with 1 point. Heres the link:    http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/week1     

[Argylebballer]

Anyone going to be making the trip to Providence to see RIC take on #1 MIT this Thursday?
A win would be big for the Anchormen and huge for the LEC to get that type of win out of conference.
I am guessing a tough hard-nosed low scoring game, first to 60 wins (if it even gets that high).