MBB: Little East

[7express]

Thursday predictions:

RIC 75-67. This is RIC's first game in quite a while so they'll probably start slow, but the Jumbos have been up and down, and even on the road, think RIC takes it.
Plymouth 75-65
Dartmouth 83-78.  Last year the season series finished tied at 1-1 with the road team winning both matchups.  Corsairs haven't beaten the Colonials at home since December 6, 2008, have lost 9 of 12 overall since then, but have lost 9 of the last 10 vs. the Colonials since the end of the 2008/09 (they finished 3-0 vs. Western that year have won 1 game since, last year's matchup in Danbury).  With the sophmore's the Colonials have on the roster, if the Corsairs don't win this year it could be another 5 or 6 years until they get a home win over Western.

[7express]

RIC edges Tufts 71-68.
Chris Burton lead the Anchormen (9-3) with 19 points and 9 rebounds while the Jumbos (4-7) were lead by Ryan Spadaford who had 19 off the bench.  RIC scores the games final 6 points after trailing 58-55 with 2:35 to play.  Tufts starts NESCAC play when they host Middlebury on Sunday, while the Anchormen continue LEC play with an important home date vs. the Keene State Owls on Saturday.

Plymouth 67-56.
The Panthers (5-7) were lead by Jack Preston who had 14; while the Hornets (2-8) got a game high 17 from David Johnson.    Hornets are @ Johnson state Saturday, while the Panthers travel down to Connecticut for the second straight weekend to take on the Colonials.

Dartmouth over Western 92-81.
Luis Briddter lead Western (8-3, 1-1) with 18 points while Jordan Rezendes lead the Corsairs (6-6, 2-0) with 34 points, while Wale Abraham had 14 points and a game high 12 rebounds.  Rezendes is now 6th nationally in points per game with 24.8, and if you take out 2 Grinnell players in the top 5 because frankly they shouldn't really count, Rezendes is 4th nationally in points per game.  I know I've asked this before on here but have never gotten a straight answer: even though Rezendes is listed as a junior, this is his first year playing for Dartmouth and first year playing in the LEC.  Is he still eligible for "rookie" of the year and All rookie team since technically he is a "rookie" in the conference??  Dartmouth is @ Southern Maine Saturday, while the Colonials host the Panthers Saturday.

50-27 LEC; 61-24 me

Standings:
1) Keene 2-0 (9-1)
1) Eastern 2-0 (10-3)
1) Dartmouth 2-0 (6-6)
4) RIC 1-1 (9-3)
4) Western 1-1 (8-3)
6) Boston 0-2 (8-3)
6) Plymouth 0-2 (5-7)
6) USM 0-2 (3-9)

Saturday's schedule:
Keene @ RIC 3 PM
Dartmouth @ USM 3 PM
Plymouth @ Western 3 PM
Eastern @ Boston 3 PM.  Keene/RIC, Eastern/Boston look to be the 2 best games of the day.

Tuesday's schedule:
Keene @ Western 7:30 PM
Dartmouth @ Eastern 7:30 PM
RIC @ USM 7:30 PM
Boston @ Plymouth 7:30 PM

[AllStar]

Saturday's conference games:

No. 21 Eastern Connecticut at UMass-Boston
The Warriors will venture to Boston for their second LEC road contest of the season, having started off 2-0 in the conference this year after going unbeaten (14-0) in the regular season last year.  Eastern Connecticut will be looking to rebound from a 59-51 home loss to No. 18 Amherst on Tuesday.  In that game, the Warriors put together their worst offensive showing of the year, shooting just 34% and connecting on 2-of-19 threes.  Tarchee Brown scored 19 points against the Lord Jeffs on 19 shots from the floor, while Hugh Lindo was a rebounding machine with 21.  Eastern outrebounded Amherst 48-36, including 19 offensive rebounds.  They were only able to turn the 19 offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.  The Beacons opened the post-holiday portion of their schedule with a 60-45 blowout win at home over offensively inept Framingham State.  UMass-Boston hammered the Rams 39-18 in the second half after going into the break trailing 27-21.  Gregory Young poured in 16 of his 20 points in the dominant half that saw the Beacons lead by as many as 20.  In fact, the game saw a 31 point swing from Framingham's largest lead of 11 in the first half to UMass-Boston's largest lead of 20 in the second half.  While the Beacons are seemingly much improved from last year, they are 0-2 in LEC play so far this year, being blown out by both Keene State and Rhode Island College.  Eastern Connecticut beat the Beacons three times last year, 81-60 in Willimantic and 71-58 in Boston in the regular season.  The top-seeded Warriors then had a tough time shaking the No. 8 seeded Beacons in the first round of the LEC Tournament, winning 61-55 at Geissler Gym.

Plymouth State at Western Connecticut
The Panthers got right with a few cupcakes in Vermont this week, while Western absorbed an ugly non-conference loss to one-win Mitchell and a conference loss at UMass-Dartmouth.  Plymouth State posted a wire-to-wire 67-56 win at Lyndon State on Thursday.  Jack Preston led four double-figure scorers for the Panthers with 14 points.  Plymouth shot 55% against the Hornets and went 5-for-5 from three.  Interestingly, the Panthers only got 40 shots from the floor in the entire game and allowed Lyndon State to get a whopping 21 offensive rebounds.  That would not appear to be a formula for success in Little East games, beginning in Danbury against Western Connecticut, who is no doubt looking to get back on track.  The Colonials took a rare loss at UMass-Dartmouth in a rare Thursday night conference matchup, 92-81.  Luis Bridtter led Western with 18 points.  The Colonials were outrebounded 46-32 by the Corsairs and shot themselves in the foot with below 50% free throw shooting (8 of 17) for the second straight contest (sure to drive 7express crazy).  Western Connecticut swept Plymouth 3-0 last year, posting regular season wins in Plymouth (59-46) and Danbury (72-70) over the Panthers before squeaking out a LEC quarterfinal in Connecticut, 61-60.

Keene State at Rhode Island College
An important early season Little East game at the Murray Center between the Owls and Anchormen.  The Owls (9-1, 2-0 LEC) enter this contest off an 84-65 win at Castleton State last Saturday.  Jeff Lunn, who got a start filling in for Nate Howard, scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half as Keene State raced out to a 51-36 advantage at halftime.  Tom Doyle scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half to put away the Spartans.  The Owls could still use to play better defense, even though their fast-paced style naturally leads to points going on the board.  Rhode Island College (9-3, 1-1 LEC) opened the second semester slate with a narrow 61-58 win at up-and-down Tufts.  Chris Burton scored 19 points and Eric Alleyne added 16 for the Anchormen, who scored the final six points of the game after being down 58-55 to win.  Rhode Island College took down the Owls twice last year, winning 95-69 in Keene and a much closer 75-70 overtime contest in Providence.

UMass-Dartmouth at Southern Maine
UMass-Dartmouth shook off an 83-63 pummeling by Marietta to win a home Little East contest, 92-81 over Western Connecticut on Thursday.  A quick turnaround here for the Corsairs (6-6, 2-0 LEC), who now travel to Gorham to take on a mightily struggling Southern Maine team.  Jordan Rezendes continued his impressive season, scoring 34 points in the win over the Colonials.  Wale Abraham added a 14 point, 12 rebound double-double, and UMD as a team shot 52%.  This would figure to be a good opportunity for the Corsairs to get to 3-0 in the league, as Southern Maine enters the contest at 3-9 and riding a five game losing streak.  The Huskies most recently dropped an 88-74 home decision to Salem State, somehow being blown out despite shooting 55%.  Salem State, which made 12-of-30 from behind the arc in the game, led 47-33 at halftime and repelled every Southern Maine run in the second half.  Jacob Littlefield scored 23 points in the losing effort for the Huskies, while Cole Libby added 12.  Winning in Gorham is sometimes more of a challenge, though Southern Maine went just 2-5 at home against conference teams last year and has had significant problems trying to beat UMass-Dartmouth in Gorham, with their last win over UMD at Hill Gymnasium coming in January of 2005, 78-59.  This is USM's first LEC home game this year.  UMass-Dartmouth beat the Huskies by double-digits twice last year, winning 73-57 in Gorham and 66-56 in North Dartmouth.

[7express]

I'll take:
Eastern 73-58
Western 88-75
RIC 78-69
Dartmouth 84-67.  USM ain't going to be able to stop Rezendes.

[ECSUalum]

Great game @ UMass Boston this afternoon!!  In addition the broadcast, in HD, was superb, with great play by play by Seth Orenski, excellent graphics, and great coverage/updates on games around the league!!  Great Job UMB both on and off the courty and in a tough loss!   

Thomas-Michael Sciro comes of the bench goes 5-5 from 3 point range, 6-8 at the the free throw line and scores 22 points to spark the Warriors to a late late game scoring run to edge the Beacons in Boston 83-78 in a close game where UMB led for most of the game.  Tre Preston and Karl Agenor led all scorers with 24 each and Agenor had 16 rebounds to Hugh Lindo's 8.  Mike Campbell had a great game with 20 points!!  The Warriors held Karl Joseph to just 8 pts!!

[AllStar]

Keene's shooting performance today against Rhode Island College was quite frankly, terrible.  Included in it was a brutal 13-of-29 number at the free throw line, which is below 50%.  They would have beaten nobody in the conference (or probably anywhere) with that kind of performance that they put together today.

[7express]

Sat results:

Dartmouth edges USM 64-59.
Jacob Littlefield had a game high 28 for the Huskies, and even though Rezendes was held way below his 24.8 average he still had 16 and Jake Laga picked up the slack with 22 for the Corsairs (7-6, 3-0) and Wale Abraham had a game high 10 rebounds.  USM hosts RIC Tuesday, while Dartmouth travels to Eastern in a battle of 3-0 conference teams.

Eastern edges Boston 83-78.
Trachone Preston (24) and Michael Thomas Sciro (22) each had over 20 for the Warriors (11-3, 3-0).  Karl Agenor had 24 and a game high 16 rebounds and Mike Campbell had 20 off the bench for the Beacons (8-4, 0-3).  Eastern hosts Dartmouth Tuesday, while Plymouth travels up to Plymouth, NH to face the Panthers.

Western over Plymouth 65-58.
Alex Burt had a team high 19 for the Panthers (5-8, 0-3) and Uche Nwokeji added 12 points and a game high 11 rebounds.  Kendall Marquez finished with a game high 23 for Western (9-3, 2-1).  Western has an important game at home vs. keene on Tuesday, while Plymouth hosts the Beacons in a battle of 0-3 teams.

RIC over Keene 74-58.
Tom Doyle lead the Owls (9-2, 2-1) with 16 points and Nate Howard chipped in a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Chris Burton and Eric Alleyen each had 18 to lead RIC (10-3, 2-1).  Both teams are on the road Tuesday: RIC is @ USM, Keene is @ Western.

50-27 LEC; 65-24 me
Standings:
1) eastern 3-0 (11-3)
1) Dartmouth 3-0 (7-6)
3) RIC 2-1 (10-3)
3) Keene 2-1 (9-2)
3) Western 2-1 (9-3)
6) Boston 0-3 (8-4)
6) Plymouth 0-3 (5-8)
6) USM 0-3 (3-10)

Schedule:

Tuesday, January 13:
Keene @ Western 7:30 PM
RIC @ USM 7:30 PM
Dartmouth @ Eastern 7:30 PM
Boston @ Plymouth 7:30 PM

Thursday, January 15:
Keene @ Fitchburg 7 PM
Western @ Conn College 7 PM
Bridgewater @ Boston 7:30 PM

Saturday, January 17:
Eastern @ USM 3 PM
Plymouth @ RIC 3 PM
Boston @ Western 3 PM
Dartmouth @ Keene 3 PM

[7express]

Western 83-76
RIC 77-67
Eastern 76-65
Plymouth 79-76

[7express]

RIC over USM 72-57.
Roosevelt Shider had 23 points for the Anchormen (11-3, 3-1); Jacob Littlefield lead the Huskies (3-11, 0-4) with 21.   USM plays Eastern, RIC hosts Plymouth, both on Saturday afternoon.

Eastern over Dartmouth 86-66.
Jordan Rezendes had a game high 18 for the Corsairs (7-7, 3-1) while Trachone Preston lead the Warriors (12-3, 4-0) with 16 points and Tarchee Brown had 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Eastern is @ USM while the Corsairs are @ Keene Saturday.

Boston over Plymouth 78-65.
Carl Joseph lead all scorers with 25 for the Beacons (9-4, 1-3) while Alex Burt had 18 and Uche Nwokeji had 17 to pace the Panthers (5-9, 0-4).  Panthers are off until Saturday when they travel to RIC, Boston has a midweek game Thursday vs. Bridgewater.

Keene over Western 91-78.
Luis Briddter had 26 to lead all scorers for Western (9-4, 2-2).  Tom Doyle had 22 to lead the Owls (10-2, 3-1) while Nate Howard had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  There were a combined 52!!  fouls called in this one, which yielded 71 free throw attempts between the 2 teams.  Both teams play Thursday games: Keene is @ Fitchburg and Western is @ Conn College.

50-27 LEC; 67-26 me

Standings:

1) Eastern 4-0 (12-3)
2) RIC 3-1 (11-3)
2) Keene 3-1 (10-2)
2) Dartmouth 3-1 (7-7)
5) Western 2-2 (9-4)
6) Boston 1-3 (9-4)
7) Plymouth 0-4 (5-9)
7) USM 0-4 (3-11)

Schedule:
Thursday, January 15:
Keene @ Fitchburg 7 PM
Western @ Conn College 7 PM
Bridgewater @ Boston 7:30 PM

Saturday, January 17:
Eastern @ USM 3 PM
Plymouth @ RIC 3 PM
Boston @ Western 3 PM
Dartmouth @ Keene 3 PM

Tuesday, January 20:
Eastern @ Keene 7:30 PM
USM @ Plymouth 7:30 PM
Western @ RIC 7:30 PM
Boston @ Dartmouth 7:30 PM

[ECSUalum]

Congratulations to Coach Geitner on his 200th, (200-146), ECSU career victory last night over UM Dartmouth:
http://littleeast.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/0114-MBKB-Geitner

Additionally, Tre Preston was honored last night with his 1000th point ball.  He is on track to become ECSU's all time leading scorer surpassing Nick Nedwick's 1657 points

[7express]

Keene 89-75
Western back on track over a semi-good Conn College team 85-80
Boston 78-67

[ECSUalum]

Keene 89-75
Western back on track over a semi-good Conn College team 85-80
Boston 78-67

Final results:
65-58 Bridgewater, UMB was trailing pretty much the whole game and at times by as much as 22.  A final 20-3 run came up short with 3 min left.  UMB looked bad tonight.
87-86 Keene This was a close game through out the evening with Doyle scoring 33 and Howard with 23 pts 15 boards.
Western 71-68, When I tried to tune in all I got was "technical difficulties"

[7express]

Keene 89-75
Western back on track over a semi-good Conn College team 85-80
Boston 78-67

Final results:
65-58 Bridgewater, UMB was trailing pretty much the whole game and at times by as much as 22.  A final 20-3 run came up short with 3 min left.  UMB looked bad tonight.
87-86 Keene This was a close game through out the evening with Doyle scoring 33 and Howard with 23 pts 15 boards.
Western 71-68, When I tried to tune in all I got was "technical difficulties"

Thanks for helping me out Alum!

The 3 games bring the LEC to an OOC total of 52-28 and me a total of 69-27.

[ECSUalum]

Write-up on Western Connecticut State's victory vs Conn College last night:
http://wcsuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150115jib928

[7express]

Eastern 76-63
Western 88-86
RIC 76-59
Keene 93-84