MBB: Little East

[AllStar]

Monday's game:

Pine Manor at Western Connecticut
The Colonials will look to run their record to 6-0 tonight against a first-year men's program Pine Manor.  The Gators are playing a schedule that features a handful of Division III teams (8), but also plenty of non-Division III teams (13).  Western Connecticut scored an 81-65 home win over Southern Maine in their first conference contest on Saturday.  The Colonials led by 3 at the half but pulled away in the second half to win by double-digits.  Bobby Bynum scored 19 points to lead Western, while four others also scored in double-figures.  Pine Manor is 3-2, although the only Division III team they beat was Mount Ida (89-75).  Their other two wins are against Maine-Machias and Landmark College.  Their losses are to lower tier Division III opponents Thomas (88-81) and Emerson (75-72).  Tank Roberson is averaging 16 points per game for the Gators, although, it is important to take into account the competition faced.  Western should have little trouble winning this game, and likely will be able to get the bench playing time.

[7express]

AllStar is right, this will be an easy Western victory: 89-58

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So, I haven't been watching, but 82-82 tie with 8! minutes to go.  That's some pace of play right there.  Will we see 110-112?

[7express]

Western 114-99.
Well, THAT'S pretty embarrassing!  Mind you, this is a Gators team that wasn't an official ball club last year, has a roster consisting of all freshmen, and they score 99 points!  Sheesh!  I know the Colonials were never a good defensive team, but the Gators had 3 players that scored 20+ points!!  3!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That's awful!  Jerry Washington had 33 points & 12 rebounds, both game high's for the Colonials; Daylon ore had a team high 28 for the Gators, while Tank Roberson (20) and Chancie Williams (20) were the other 2 Gators in double figures.  Colonials back in action Thursday vs. Worcester State at a neutral location at Nichols College (The Worcester gym STILL isn't done??  I thought that was supposed to be ready by January of 2014, Lancers would've spent 2 years without an official home gym since all their home games are listed as neutral sites for the rest of this year), Gators play Boston Thursday night.

39-13 LEC; 38-18 me

Tuesday schedule:
Tufts @ Plymouth 7
RIC @ Johnson & Wales 7:30
Maine-Farmington @ USM 7:30

[AllStar]

The new Top 25 has been released, and Eastern Connecticut has moved up to No. 19.  Keene State, Rhode Island College, and Western Connecticut are all in the receiving votes category.

[AllStar]

Tuesday's games:

Tufts at Plymouth State
The Panthers wrap up a three-game homestand with a non-conference game against struggling Tufts.  Plymouth dropped a tight 78-75 home game to UMass-Dartmouth in the conference opener last Saturday.  The Panthers held a 39-31 lead at halftime, and still led 69-62 with 3:21 left but collapsed down the stretch.  Jordan Rezendes scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half to aid the Corsairs' comeback.  Alex Burt led the Panthers with 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting.  Tufts enters this game on a four-game losing streak, with all four losses by seven points or less.  The Jumbos lost to Brandeis 52-50 in their last contest, which was played on a neutral court at Babson.  The Jumbos trailed by nine at halftime in that game, but managed to take the lead down the stretch and were still up 49-47 with 3:15 left.  However, they only scored one point the rest of the way and lost a low-scoring, ugly game.  Tufts was led by Hunter Sabety's 12 points, the only player to score in double-figures.  The Jumbos overall shot an ugly 29% and made just 3-of-27 threes in the loss.  Sabety is Tufts' leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, although as a team the Jumbos only average 60 points per game.  Tufts has taken the last two matchups in the series, 76-62 in Medford last year and 79-63 at Plymouth two years ago.  The Panthers' last win over the Jumbos was in 2011-12, a 79-73 OT win at Tufts.

Rhode Island College at Johnson & Wales (RI)
The Anchormen will try to bounce back from their conference-opening loss to then-No. 25 Eastern Connecticut with a city rivalry game at Johnson and Wales.  In the loss vs. ECSU, RIC trailed 31-19 early in the second half but rallied to take a 42-41 lead on a Mike Neal layup with 6:16 left.  Eastern then responded with an 11-1 run to take a nine-point lead and seal their second straight win at the Murray Center.  Eric Alleyne was the only player to score in double-figures for Rhode Island College, with 14 on 4-of-13 shooting.  Overall for the game, the Anchormen shot just 31% and made 3-of-15 threes.  They were also outrebounded by the Warriors 46-35.  Johnson and Wales enters with a mark of 5-2 and off a 62-52 home win over Lasell.  The Wildcats led by 14 at the half in the game against the Lasers but had to ward off several comeback attempts in the second half.  Tom Garrick led J&W with 24 points in the contest.  Garrick also leads the Wildcats in scoring overall, at 18.3 points per game.  Second-leading scorer Quarry Greenaway (16.8 ppg) did not play that game.  The Wildcats beat Rhode Island College 85-75 at the Murray Center last year, and Greenaway scored a team-leading 24 points in that victory.  It was the first win for J&W over RIC since 2009-10.  The Anchormen took the last matchup at J&W, 65-52 in 2012-13.

Maine-Farmington at Southern Maine
Both of these teams will be looking to rebound from losses last time out.  Southern Maine made the long trip down to Danbury and lost 81-65 to Western Connecticut.  The Huskies were down 34-31 at halftime but WCSU pulled away in the second half to win comfortably.  Zach Leal led USM with 12 points, but the Huskies as a team turned the ball over 25 times and made just 12-of-22 free throws in the loss.  NAC-member Maine-Farmington recently split their Vermont trip, beating Johnson State 71-63 before losing at Lyndon State 80-75 in their last game.  The Beavers coughed up a 13-point advantage in the final 15 minutes in the loss to the Hornets.  Pet Sumner led UMF with 18 points and Nick Hilton recorded a double-double against Lyndon State.  Overall, the Beavers are just 2-4, with their wins against Maine Maritime and Johnson State.  Uriah Forest-Bulley is their leading scorer overall at 13.3 ppg.  Southern Maine took last year's game between these two in-state foes, 85-75 in double overtime.  USM also took the last meeting in Gorham over Maine-Farmington 69-52.  In fact, the Beavers have not won a game in this series since it began in 2006-07.

[7express]

Tufts 76-73
J&W 86-74
USM 73-67

[AllStar]

Tufts knocked off Plymouth State 84-78 last night.  Hunter Sabety scored 20 points for the Jumbos, who shot an insane 68% from the field in the win.  Plymouth was led by Alex Burt's 22 points.  The 3-5 Panthers have one more game before the new year, Thursday at Salem State.  Tufts (3-6) snapped a four game losing streak with this victory and doesn't play again until January 6th at home against Newbury.

Johnson and Wales took a second straight head-to-head matchup over Rhode Island College, 77-65 at the Wildcat Center.  Tom Garrick and Jarell Lawson each scored 20 points to lead J&W in the win.  Roosevelt Shider led the Anchormen with 20 points.  RIC led by one at halftime but was outscored 39-26 after the half to lose by 12.  The Anchormen (6-3) return to the Murray Center on Thursday to host No. 15 MIT.  Johnson and Wales (6-2) will trek down to Charlotte for Friday and Saturday games against fellow Johnson and Wales schools, J&W (Florida) on Friday and either J&W (North Carolina) or J&W (Colorado) on Saturday.  Interesting idea.  I believe they did something similar last year.

Southern Maine's game at home against Maine-Farmington was postponed last night and will be played tonight.

[7express]

I'm using the same 73-67 score I had for the USM game yesterday.  Funny thing is the USM women who played first were able to play, wonder why the men's game got postponed??

[7express]

USM over Farmington 65-47
Sean Caddigan lead the Huskies with 13 points while Uriah Forest Bulley lead all scorers with 14 for the Beavers.  Beavers are back in action Friday vs. in-state foe Bowdoin, while the Huskies go on the road to Keene hoping to avoid an 0-2 start in conference play, and knock the Owls from the unbeaten perch.

40-15 LEC; 41-18 me

Thursday schedule (last big day until 2015 with 4 of the 8 teams in action):
Worcester vs. Western (@ Nichols College) 7 PM
MIT @ RIC 7 PM
Pine Manor @ Boston 7:30
Plymouth @ Salem 7:30

[AllStar]

Thursday's games:

Western Connecticut vs. Worcester State (at Nichols)
The Colonials will look to remain unbeaten Thursday evening when they travel to Dudley, Massachusetts to take on Worcester State (2-6).  The game counts as a home game for the Lancers, who are still awaiting their gym to be finished.  Western Connecticut is coming off a 114-99 home victory over first-year men's program Pine Manor on Monday.  Western trailed by 15 with 12:29 remaining but seemingly turned it on from there and smashed Pine Manor by 30 the rest of the way to win by 15 in the track meet.  Jeremiah Washington scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, one of four Colonials in double-figures.  Worcester State enters this contest with a 2-6 mark and coming off two ugly road losses to Connecticut College (63-57) and Clark (70-53).  In their last game against the Cougars, Worcester actually held an 11-point advantage with seven minutes left in the first half but trailed by 3 at halftime and it went downhill from there as Clark ran away with the 17-point win.  Paul Brooks scored 15 points and Brendan Rios 14 in the Lancers' loss.  Worcester State has already faced one Little East foe this year, getting crushed by UMass-Dartmouth 87-61 on December 2nd in North Dartmouth.  Western Connecticut took last year's matchup, cruising past a winless Lancers team 75-57.  The Colonials also took the last matchup in Worcester, rallying to pick up a 74-71 victory that snapped a six-game losing streak and gave them their first win in the 2012-13 season.

No. 15 MIT at Rhode Island College
It doesn't get any easier for the Anchormen, who will look to avoid their third straight loss with a home game against 15th-ranked MIT on Thursday evening.  After winning six of their first seven games, Rhode Island College lost last Saturday to then-No. 25 Eastern Connecticut at home 53-47 and Tuesday in a city rivalry game against Johnson and Wales 77-65.  It was the Anchormen's second straight loss to J&W.  The Wildcats sealed the game with a late 10-0 run to take a 14-point lead and make a close game throughout seem less so.  Roosevelt Shider led RIC with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from three in the game that saw each team turn the ball over 21 times.  No. 15 MIT has come back after losing 59-52 at home to UMass-Boston on December 2nd to post three straight victories (73-37 over Salem State, 64-61 over Framingham State, 63-42 over Emmanuel).  Justin Pedley led the Engineers with 17 points in the blowout of impotent Emmanuel.  For the season, MIT is allowing just 53.6 points per game and is holding opponents to 23.9% shooting from three.  This marks the Engineers second game vs. the LEC this year, with the other meeting being the aforementioned loss to UMB.  MIT suffocated Rhode Island College 54-38 in Cambridge last year, gaining a measure of revenge after the Anchormen dismantled the No. 1-ranked Engineers 68-44 in Providence the year before.

Pine Manor at UMass-Boston
Second game this week against the Little East for Pine Manor, who lost at Western Connecticut 114-99 on Monday.  The Gators played NAIA Maine-Augusta tonight in South Portland, Maine and posted a 107-74 win, so will be playing the Beacons on the second game of a strange back-to-back to close out the 2014 portion of the schedule.  Leading scorer Tank Roberson scored 22 more points in Pine Manor's victory over Maine-Augusta.  UMass-Boston will have to avoid looking past the Gators and to a much bigger home contest on Saturday against Rhode Island College.  The Beacons will also be looking to rebound after losing in their conference-opener 107-97 at Keene State last Saturday.  Carl Joseph scored 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting in the loss, while Gregory Young and Layo Medina each scored 18.  In that game, UMass-Boston looked as if they were in for a long afternoon when they fell behind 15-0 right out of the gate.  However, they were able to chip away at the deficit and took a brief one-point lead in the first half before the Owls retook control.  Keene State led 52-44 at halftime and by 19 with ten minutes left before UMB trimmed the deficit with some late baskets.  The Beacons lost despite shooting a season-best 55.6% from the field.

Plymouth State at Salem State
The Panthers allowed Tufts to shoot an unconscious 68% from the field and 61.5% (8-13) from three in an 84-78 loss at Foley Gymnasium on Tuesday.  It was the Panthers' second straight defeat and dropped their record to 3-5.  Plymouth trailed 79-67 with four minutes remaining, but used an 11-2 burst to cut the deficit to three with about a minute left before falling short.  Alex Burt made 5-of-7 threes and led PSU in scoring with 22.  Ernie Johnson added 19.  Plymouth as a team made 10-of-20 threes in the loss.  The Panthers close the first semester portion of their schedule with a trip to Salem State (4-3).  The Vikings have been up-and-down, most recently falling in a tight 73-71 contest against Babson.  Hamed Akanni scored 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor to lead Salem State in the loss to the Beavers.  On the season, the Vikings have been a first half team, outscoring their opponents by 25 (251-226).  Opponents are outscoring Salem by 32 in the second half (305-273), but a big chunk of that total is in the second half of their 73-37 loss to MIT that saw the Vikings get whacked 39-12.  Bryan Ortiz is averaging 18 points per game this season to lead Salem State.  The Vikings handed Plymouth their first home loss last year, 80-75 in overtime, and used a 57-24 second half score to drub the Panthers 87-57 in their last meeting in Salem during the 2012-13 season.  Salem State hasn't lost to the Panthers since 2009-10, 85-80 in Plymouth.

[7express]

Western 88-73
MIT 64-56
Boston 84-76
Salem 78-59

[7express]

Western crushes Worcester 95-52.
Paul Brooks lead the Lancers with 14 points and a game high 13 rebounds.  Kendall Marquez lead the Colonials with 22 off the bench who could've gone scoreless the entire 2nd half and still won as they had 59 at halftime.  Lancers are off for the Christmas break and will return to action December, 29 when they play @ Christopher Newport's tournament where they will square off against Hood College; Colonials play @ Albertus Magnus on Monday night.

RIC over MIT 53-37.
Chris Burton lead all scorers with 15 for the Anchormen; Tim Butala lead the Engineers with 11.  MIT, who falls to 0-2 against the LEC but 7-0 against everyone else plays Saturday @ Bridgewater, RIC is @ Boston also on Saturday.

Boston over Pine Manor 97-85.
Karl Agenor lead the Beacons with 17 rebounds and added 21 points, Gregory Young added a game high 25 points and 16 rebounds while Carl Joseph chipped in 21 for the Beacons to place 3 at 20+.  Gators were lead by Chancie Williams who had 22 and Curtis Hyman had 9 points & 12 rebounds.   Gators are off until after New Year's as they kick start 2015 with a game against MCLA on January 4; Beacons play RIC on Saturday.

Salem over Plymouth 76-64.
Bryan Ortiz lead the Vikings with 13 points; Curtis Arsenault had a game high 17 off the bench for the Panthers.   The Vikings play area rival Endicott on Saturday morning; Panthers are off until after New Year's, their next game is on January 3 vs. Eastern.

43-16 LEC; 44-19 me

Saturday schedule:
RIC @ Boston 3 PM
USM @ Keene 3 PM

[AllStar]

The Little East as a whole has seemingly gotten off to a decent start this year so far.  There have no doubt been some bad results, but also some wins over ranked competition.  ECSU is ranked No. 19 and three others are in the receiving votes category (not that receiving votes counts for much, but still).  7, let's hope your Colonials can have a good showing / win against Albertus on Monday!  That would obviously help the Colonials, but also serve to increase the respect for the conference as well.

[AllStar]

Saturday's conference games:

Southern Maine at Keene State
The Owls will look to close the pre-holiday portion of their schedule with a victory over Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon.  Keene State enters with a record of 7-0, coming off a high-scoring 107-97 win over UMass-Boston last Saturday in their conference opener.  The Owls led for the vast majority of the contest, including 52-44 at halftime.  KSC gradually pulled away in the second half, leading by as many as 19 before UMass-Boston got a few baskets late to make the score closer.  The Owls placed five players in double-figures, led by Tom Doyle's 23 points.  Nate Howard added 16 points.  They'll no doubt look to improve their defense, which allowed the Beacons to shoot 55.6%, against Southern Maine.  The Huskies are coming off a 65-47 home win over dreadful Maine-Farmington on Wednesday.  Sean Caddigan scored 13 points for USM, who led 39-20 at halftime and were never challenged by the Beavers.  These two teams split the season series last year with each winning at home.  Southern Maine came back to beat the Owls in Gorham 74-67 in an early-season contest last year before Keene State returned the favor and crushed the Huskies 95-59 in Keene.

Rhode Island College at UMass-Boston
Both teams enter this game off needed wins on Thursday.  For the second time in three years, the Anchormen spanked a ranked MIT team at the Murray Center.  In the contest on Thursday night, Rhode Island College stormed out to a 21-4 lead ten minutes into the contest and cruised from there as their defense suffocated the Engineers.  Chris Burton led the Anchormen with 15 points and Victor Smith added 11 off the bench.  MIT shot 32% and committed 20 turnovers while absorbing their second loss to the Little East Conference this season (0-2).  The Engineers' other loss was a 59-52 home defeat to RIC's opponent in this game, UMass-Boston.  The Beacons rebounded after their second loss of the season last weekend to beat Pine Manor 97-85 on Thursday at the Clark Athletic Center.  It was the Gators' second loss to the LEC this week, as Western Connecticut beat them 114-99 on Monday.  UMass-Boston never trailed in the game and led by as many as 19 in the second half.  Gregory Young (25 points, 16 rebounds) and Karl Agenor (21 points, 17 rebounds) each had monster games for the Beacons.  Carl Joseph also scored 23.  UMass-Boston dominated the glass, 59-34 against the smaller Gators.  This game is both RIC and UMB's final one until January.  Rhode Island College swept UMass-Boston last year, cruising 76-50 in Providence and holding off a furious Beacons comeback to win 70-65 in Boston.  In that contest at the Clark Athletic Center, the Anchormen led 44-26 at halftime and by 22 with ten minutes left before the Beacons used a 24-6 run to cut the deficit to four with a minute and a half left.  UMass-Boston's rally ultimately fell short, which sent them to their ninth straight loss overall and to 0-9 in the conference.  The Beacons haven't beaten RIC since January 26, 2008, a stunning 74-72 win in Boston.  That was UMB's only win in conference play that year, and they finished 2-24 overall.