MBB: Little East

[7express]

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).

I wish, but the Western women have a game @ Trinity  
Hopefully RIC will have live stats avalible I can check on during timeouts.

[7express]

Tuesday results:

Eastern 84-79 over Conn College.
That wasn't pretty, and Conn College is horrible, but getting ugly wins is 1 million times better then getting pretty losses.  No boxscore yet, so just basing it on the score, hopefully ECSUalum or Warrior was at the game and can provide a more detailed explanation then my 1 sentance.
Bowdoin clobbers USM 82-45.  0-2 so far for USM.  They get Eastern in Gorham to open up LEC play Saturday.
Bridgewater leads Dartmouth 62-44 with 13:08 left.
Keene leads Springfield 36-28 at the half
Plymouth up 12-10 12:52 left in first.
Bridgewater beats Dartmouth 92-84.
Bridgewater shot 59% from the floor from the game and had 22 assists on 32 made field goals.  7 scored in double figures for Dartmouth lead by John Genkos with 18.  Shawn Yard lead Bridgewater with 26.
Keene snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, loses to Springfield 75-72.
After a back and forth first half Eric Fazio hit a layup, got fouled, and made the free throw with less than 1 second remaining in the first half to send Keene up by 8 into the break, and what I thought was momentum going into the 2nd half.  Springfield outscored Keene 20-10 the first 8 minutes of the second half to erase any Keene momentum.  After that Keene never lead by more then 3 points the rest of the day.  After a Martin Jumper tied the score at 65 with 3 minutes to go, Springfield scored 10 of the games final 17 points to win by 3.
Plymouth down 37-24 to Rivier about 13 minutes to play in the game.
Rivier hangs on to defeat Plymouth 53-50.
After trailing 39-26, Plymouth went on a 24-11 run to knot the score at 50 capped by a Matt Cloutier 3 with 1:26 left to play.  Rivier got 2 offensive rebounds on their next possession (inexcusible in a tie game with 60 seconds left to give up 2 offensive rebounds) and on their 3rd possession, they got fouled.  Shawn Gareau made 1 of 2 free throws, and after Petey Skevas missed a 3 on Plymouth's next possession down the court, Brian Troy iced the game for Rivier with 2 free throws for the final margin.
Not a very good night for the conference this evening.
LEC 16-17 OOC record.

Wednesday has 1 game:
Trinity 67 @ Western 78.
Let's see how we do against a beatable opponent at home.  I have class on the midtown campus until like 7 or 7:30, so I won't be there until the 2nd half, so I won't have much of an update.  I say this is the game we get in the win column.  I heard Trinity had a huge roster overhaul from last year, and are only 2-3 beating Dartmouth (who's winless) and St. Joseph's of (VT) , a USCAA school and didn't look particular good in either one of those.  Get some momentum for conference play.  If we can't beat them, it's going to be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong rest of the first semester.

[ECSUalum]

7,
Actually wasn't too bad, both teams played reasonably well.  THE GOOD:  Joe Ives explodes on the scoring scene going  5-9, 4-7, and 9-10 on FG/3PT/FT  for 23 points, and with some key FT at the end, and Robitaille with another double-double, (14 rb, 15 pts), hitting 4-5 FT, ,with seconds left to help ice.  Salzillo was off tonight, but Joe found his touch.  Freshman 6'6" center Darryl Best, swatted 2 more tonight and had 5 rebounds in just 9 min work.  Freshman Trachone Preston is still impressing with his poise with 18 min of work.

THE BAD: Too many TO's for the Warriors, 16, however this was offset as they cleaned up on the boards 46-27.  Matt Vidas had 33 points for the Camels, (he avg. 15), so the defense on him by Garrow and Salzillo was poor.  Too many points given up to CC, who currently average 62 ppg.  The Warriors better improve here, as they were tops in LEC on D last year.  If they don't, it could be a long season as they cannot keep up with the high scoring teams in the LEC

Have to give credit to CC,  they played tough and gave the Warriors a good game.


                       Connm          Ecsumb
Field goals      29-65 44.6%   25-56 44.6%
3-point FGs      7-16 43.8%   8-26 30.8%
Free throws    14-16 87.5%   26-35 74.3%
Reb (O-D)           27 (5-22)   46 (15-31)
Turnovers             8            16
Last FG            2nd-00:09   2nd-00:50
Large lead      6 (2nd-18:46)   9 (1st-13:56)

[wcsu91]

@ 7 Express or anybody: anyone know why Russell Peyton is not on the West Conn roster anymore? Looks like he is off the team. Noticed at their home opener last tuesday against Albertus Magnus there was a lot of tension between Peyton and the Coaches. So not surprised is not listed on the roster.

[7express]

@ 7 Express or anybody: anyone know why Russell Peyton is not on the West Conn roster anymore? Looks like he is off the team. Noticed at their home opener last tuesday against Albertus Magnus there was a lot of tension between Peyton and the Coaches. So not surprised is not listed on the roster.

No idea.  I'll try to see if I can dig up any info tomorrow.  He was shooting a lot from what I saw in the game against AMC and the scrimmage against Elms and sounds like he shot a lot in the scrimmage against Springfield because he scored 30 then, so probably something to do about that.  LECFan would know more though, he usually has the inside scoop (at least more then I can get), on the team, so if 1 person knows what happened, it's going to be him.
James Barnes will be back for the 2nd half it sounds like.

[LECFAN32]

not positive but Ill take a stab at it, def not grades at this point of the season, seemed like he had a little different agenda for himself then the coaches did, as they wanted him to be more of a floor general that looked to attack when the time is right, as opposed to dribbling for 12 seconds looking for his own lane then starting the offense late, and way to far from the rim,two games with 7 turnovers out of the first three drove the coaching staff crazy. Partner all that mounting tension, along with a technical at a key moment, and it paints a picture of things not working out. Im guessing when the team came back for practice to get ready for trinitt payton was not there, and nobody heard from him, wouldnt be surprised to see him back at some point though, campbell has been known to let guys back on the team without much thought mid season. will try n find exact cause

one of the bigs who was on the roster to start the seasonw as also taken off, big boy, but hadnt seen any time.

hopefully things come togethor or start to at some point soon, pretty messy for three games in.

[wcsu91]

@ 7express and LECFAN 32:   Thanks for the input!! Appreciate it.  When I was at the game last Tuesday against Alebertus I heard one of the asst coaches tell Peyton "You are not playing hard enough".  Based on Peyton's body language he just did not seem to happy and into it so I was not surprised when I went to West Conns site yesterday and did not see his name listed on the roster. Like LECFAN32 said hopefully we will see him back on the team because I think we need his shooting ability. Good to have Barnes coming back for the 2nd semester. Could always use his size. Dissapointed Mike Jensen is not on the team. Pretty good 3 point shooter and could use him. Hopefully he will be back the 2nd semester if anyone has heard anything. I know someone said there was a housing situation with Jensen. Need to win tonight against Trinity to get some momentum going.

[7express]

@ 7express and LECFAN 32:   Thanks for the input!! Appreciate it.  When I was at the game last Tuesday against Alebertus I heard one of the asst coaches tell Peyton "You are not playing hard enough".  Based on Peyton's body language he just did not seem to happy and into it so I was not surprised when I went to West Conns site yesterday and did not see his name listed on the roster. Like LECFAN32 said hopefully we will see him back on the team because I think we need his shooting ability. Good to have Barnes coming back for the 2nd semester. Could always use his size. Dissapointed Mike Jensen is not on the team. Pretty good 3 point shooter and could use him. Hopefully he will be back the 2nd semester if anyone has heard anything. I know someone said there was a housing situation with Jensen. Need to win tonight against Trinity to get some momentum going.

AFAIK, Jensen is still enrolled at Western and taking classes there, I just think he didn't want to play this season.  Hopefully he has a change of thought after Christmas because your right Western could really use him.  I'm confident tonight though.  Are you goin to be there WCSU91??  I won't be there until 2nd half more then likely (hopefully last first), so I could use a first half recap from someone.

[wcsu91]

@7Express, I am planning on going tonight. Not sure what time also that I will get there between getting out of work and travel.  Thanks for all of the info. Enjoy reading your posts.

[7express]

Western shooting 5-26 in first and looks abysmal out there losing 31-16.  Why do I even bother staying for the second half??

[7express]

Just finished watching Westerns 57-38 to loss.  Western scored the first basket of the game, and that was about the only highlight of the game.  Nothing they shot went in, and Trinity abused them in the paint the first half.  All in all a very poor effort by the Colonials, by far worst game I've seen in 3 years at school, have A LOT of work in front of them.

In other news in this blowout I talked to Michael Jensen for a bit in the 2nd, and he's thinking about coming back.  Me, WCSU and LECfan have all mentioned this, but Jensen would be a perfect fit for this team.  If he does come back it'll be in the second semester, and he told me watching this game made him want to come back.  Couldn't get any info on Russ Payton.  I'll have Thurs predictions later when I get back.

[LECFAN32]

Was told that Payton is gone for good, but in the right role his return could be a good thing (spark 2 off the bench as opposed to starting 1)

Was surprised about the outcome tonight, not really that Western struggled offensively, as Trinitys coach James Cosgrove is a) a great coach that demands a ton out of his players and b) a complete maniac, hes still adjusting to the high academic level of d3 compared to the more athletically driven d2 league where he was coach of the year numerous times out of adelphi university, and had more control over his guys via scholarships ( recruited me, only reason I know this). Point being they work very hard defensively. Western again, appears to have no identity, and although I am not critical of the coaching staff all that often, feel that they are misusing their guys in all types of ways, starting with having arguably your 3 most talented players not in the starting lineup, which is leading to absolute ragged offensive play for long periods of time.

I better then most understand the type of  players they appreciate and the style of play they push, but the guys they are rolling out there for big minutes are too raw to be playing these roles, and although a bit better defensively, have no idea what so ever about how to put pressure on a defense and work for a good shot. Few of them have nice potential and frames, but in a lesser role they maybe more effective!

I played with Mike during his freshman year, so was rooting for him to come back and play his last year, and based on what he had told me believed he was going to end up playing. He was in school for the entire year, and was set for a BIG year. I mean on any other team in the league last year where an offense wasnt so one dimensional, hes absolutely an all league player, and would have been if he didnt badly sprain his ankle vs umass dartmouth at home.

I know that the coaching staff has been calling him since the school year began, and I hope he does make it back for the second semester, this team desperately needs consistent scoring, pelletier will hit with his feet set off a kickout but asking him to get his own shot off quickly out of a set is a bit much. not to late for this team, but they need to make big changes

sorry for sounding off, but western hasnt lost its first four in quite some time, and serious changes are needed!

[7express]

Thursday schedule:
Western's loss sends the conference to a dissapointing 16-18 in non conference action.  Now the schedule:

Suffolk 67 @ Boston 71.
Boston has won 3 games with an average margin of victory of 24.7 points and have 2 losses by a combined 5 points so they can't close out the close games.  They'll probably take the 3-2 record, but it could very easily be 5-0.  Boston has given up 70 or more in 4 of 5 games this year, the lone game they didn't was against offensively inept University of New England, and have scored at least 70 in all 5 games.  Suffolk has given up at least 69 in all 3 games played.
Plymouth 67 @ Salem 74.
Salem has done about what you expected them to do: they beat Coast Guard and Babson teams they were supposed to beat, and lost to Williams & Brandeis teams you probably expected them to lose to.  They should beat Plymouth.
MIT 52 @ RIC 53.
Game of the year in the conference this year??  RIC has probably played a tougher schedule so far then MIT (Bridgewater, Brandeis), but hasn't won a game by more then 9 points yet and their last 3 have been decided by 2, 3 & 2 points with them blowing a double digit halftime lead in 2 of the 3 games and hanging onto win.  This is definitely winnable for RIC beaing at home (extremely tough to win) and with Hollingsworth & Karraker out for MIT.  I'll say no team leads by more than 4 the entire game, MIT is down 2 and Mitchell Kates hits a 3 with 5 seconds left to go up 1, and Tahrike Carter goes coast to coast and hits a runner in the line to win the game for RIC at the buzzer.  I'll be following live stats of this at the Western/Trinity women's game (if they have it availible) and will try to post a halftime score with some stats of this.

[7express]

LEC Fan, Also, Trinity's in the NESCAC too, which is probably the hardest (or one of the top 3 toughest conferences) in division 3 to get talent because you have such high academic standards at those schools.  So not only do you have to get good players you have to get good players that are incredibly smart on top of it.  Tough to find those 2 combinations, even recruiting around the country like those schools do.  Even up 20 which Trinity was most of the last 2/3 of the second half, coash Cosgrove was still a maniac on the Trinity sideline.  I was sitting with a couple people on the girls team and they were cracking up.

[LECFAN32]

Well aware, while that is a tough combo to find, I wouldnt call it a small pool of talent to pick from, as you essentially pool in many of the low div./high div 2 prospects with good grades and size around the country into the same category,as many of the players in the nescac are very talented n came out of high school with alot of options, some higher level (ivy), some lower(nescac, northeast 10). getting a great education and competing for a national title is a tough combo to beat.

now a very difficult place to recruit for example is a school like springfield college, great athletic tradition, nice programs nd facilities and a great coach, but their requirements are very high academically, it is very expensive for the area, campus etc at right around 50 k, and not only do you have to be smart, but you also have to have an interest in largely, phys ed. exercise science, physical therapy etc, and be good enough to compete against top 10 programs in the league

I was making my hasnt adjusted to high level div 3 comment based upon conversations I have had with one of the players father, who himself scored 1900 points at williams, and told me that many players have left the team over the passed 2 years because of how much time he expects you to give, (individuals in the morning, full grueling 3 hour practice in the afternoon), and not having much compassion for how much time they need to be studying etc.