MBB: Little East

[7express]

Eastern clubs USM 74-48.
Tarchee Brown lead all scorers with 18 for the Warriors (13-3, 5-0) while Jacob Littlefield had 11 to lead the Huskies (3-12, 0-5).  Huskies have lost 8 straight dating back to a win over Maine-Farmington on December 12.  Warriors shot an even 50% and held the Huskies to less than 30% shooting.  Both teams are on the road Tuesday: USM is @ Plymouth, Eastern is @ Keene.

RIC over Plymouth 68-53.
Jack Preston had a game high 21 for the Panthers (5-10, 0-5), while Chris Burton lead the Anchormen (12-3, 4-1) with 17 points.  Both teams are at home Tuesday, with the Anchormen hosting the Colonials while the Panthers host the Huskies,

Western over Boston 82-70.
Kendall Marquez lead Western (11-4, 3-2) and tied for a game high with 25 points.  Carl Joseph lead the Beacons (9-6, 1-4) and tied for a game high with 25 points as well, and finished with a game high 11 rebounds.  Both go on the road Tuesday night: Boston traveling to state rival Dartmouth with the Colonials traveling to RIC.

Keene over Dartmouth 92-78.
Owls (12-2, 4-1) put 5 players in double figures lead by Tom Doyle with 23.  Nate Howard finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds while Lucas Hammel also added a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.  John Genkos lead the Corsairs (7-8, 3-2) with 21 points.  Jordan Rezendes was held well below his season average as he only managed 7 points on 2-7 shooting.  Keene hosts Eastern in a big LEC matchup Tuesday night while the Corsairs host the Beacons, also on Tuesday.

52-38 LEC; 73-27 me.

Standings:
1) Eastern 5-0 (13-3)
2) RIC 4-1 (12-3)
2) Keene 4-1 (12-2)
4) Dartmouth 3-2 (7-8)
4) Western 3-2 (11-4)
6) Boston 1-4 (9-6)
7) Plymouth 0-5 (5-10)
7) USM 0-5 (3-12)
Tiebreakers: RIC currently holds a 1-0 advantage on Keene & Dartmouth holds a 1-0 advantage on Western, so those 2 would receive the higher seeds IF the season ended today (and luckily it does not!)  Plymouth & USM would go to a coin flip to decide who finishes 7th.

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

Thursday, January 22:
Boston @ Tufts 7 PM
Keene @ Lasell 7:30 PM

Saturday, January 24:
Western @ USM 3 PM
RIC @ Eastern 3 PM
Plymouth @ Dartmouth 3 PM
Keene @ Boston 3 PM.

This week is big for the 2 Connecticut schools: Eastern has a road game @ Keene, followed by home games vs. RIC & Western.  Western goes on the road for 3 straight (@ RIC and @ Eastern with the dreaded sandwich game I always hate having to playing to play @ USM in the middle).  If Eastern is able to sweep the next 3 conference games they'll be hard pressed to get caught while Western can easily make a move up the conference ladder this week.  After next Tuesday, their toughest road game is @ Keene and will have Eastern & RIC at home in the final 2 weeks of the season.

[7express]

Tuesday predictions:

Eastern 85-84.  Keene's been great this year but Eastern is battle tested, they'll get it done.
Plymouth 74-58.  Panthers are just bad, Huskies are really bad.  Bad will beat really bad at home almost every time.
RIC 76-67.  Western hasn't been playing well and is awful in Providence.  I think they've won there once in the last 10 years.
Dartmouth 85-75.  Seems like Boston has played every game on the road in conference this year.

[Corazon]

Interesting match-ups tonight.  The Eastern-Keene game indeed should be exciting.  Looking forward to the outcome of two good teams battling each other.  Predicting Eastern in a thriller.  The USM-Plymouth game is also interesting for different reasons. Toss-up - will take Plymouth.

[warriorcat]

Halftime in Keene

ECSU 59
KSU   28

[7express]

Halftime in Keene

ECSU 59
KSU   28

Woof!

[7express]

Tuesday results, I was working late today (hence why I made my selections yesterday so I didn't see one of these games at all today so the scores are new to me):

Plymouth over USM 56-50.
Curtis Arsenault (Panthers) and Jacob Littlefield (Huskies) each lead their respective teams with 14 points.  Both teams are off until Saturday: Plymouth (6-10, 1-5) is @ Dartmouth while the Huskies (3-13, 0-6) host Western.

Eastern whoops Keene 95-71.
Jeff Lunn and Dizel Wright each had 10 for Owls team leaders in points.  All 5 Warriors got into double figures lead by Trachone Preston who had a game high 23.    Warriors starters outscored Owls starters 82-27!!!  Eastern lead at halftime 59-28, and I doubt the Owls were much of a threat in the second half.  Keene (12-3, 4-2) plays @ Lasell Thursday, while Eastern (14-3, 6-0) hosts RIC Saturday afternoon in the game of the day.

Dartmouth over state rivals Boston 85-75.
Omar Benabicha lead the Beacons (9-7, 1-5) with 27 points while all 5 Corsairs (8-8, 4-2) scored in double figures lead by Jake Laga with 21 and Wale Abraham added a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.  Jordan Rezendes did not play as I believe he got hurt Saturday at Keene as he only played 14 minutes that game.  Dartmouth is off until Saturday when they play Plymouth while the Beacons have a Thursday game @ Tufts.

RIC edges Western 67-59.
Phil Starks lead Western (11-5, 3-3) with 15 points off the bench while Victor Smith lead the Anchormen (13-3, 5-1) with 15 points off the bench as well.  Both teams starters were pretty ineffective as the Colonials starting 5 only managed 21 points combined, while the RIC starting 5 didn't fare much better with only 32 combined points.  You combine those 2 starting 5's along with Keene's starting 5 and Eastern's starting 5 STILL outscored them (RIC, Keene & Western's starting 5 went for a combined 80 while the starting 5 of Eastern went for 82 as stated earlier).

52-38 LEC; 77-27 me

Standings:
1) Eastern 6-0 (14-3)
2) RIC 5-1 (13-3)
3) Keene 4-2 (12-3)
3) Dartmouth 4-2 (8-8)
5) Western 3-3 (11-5)
6) Boston 1-5 (9-7)
6) Plymouth 1-5 (6-10)
8) USM 0-6 (3-13)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 22:
Boston @ Tufts 7 PM
Keene @ Lasell 7:30 PM

Saturday, January 24:
Plymouth @ Dartmouth 3 PM
RIC @ Eastern 3 PM
Western @ USM 3 PM
Keene @ Boston 3 PM

Tuesday, January 27:
USM @ Boston 7:30 PM
Western @ Eastern 7:30 PM
Plymouth @ Keene 7:30 PM
RIC @ Dartmouth 7:30 PM

[ECSUalum]

The only thing I want to say about last nights match with KSC other than it was the best I have ever seen ECSU play, is that 6'11" sophomore David Canny got significant minutes last night and played very well!!  Did not score a lot of points, but is starting to be a major defensive/rebounding threat to the opposition. He had a career high 8 boards last night.  In addition he was on the floor hustling for loose balls like a point guard, and, was one of the reasons  7'0" Nate Howard had only 1 point last night.  If he continues to improve like I have seen this year, he will become an impact player for the Warriors in the next two years.

Keene had what looked to be a full house at Spalding gym last night, and by the start of the second half had only half the attendance... for a fan base that is usually very enthusiastic, last night game had most of them totally silent/shocked!!

Next game vs RIC @ the Frances Geissler Gymnasium.  Should be  good one!

[ECSUalum]

BTW, 7, I caught a bit of the RIC vs WCSU game last night and it was great to see Coach Campbell back on the sidelines.  A great coach and a class act!!

[7express]

Thursday picks:

Tufts 84-69
Keene 85-79

[amh63]

ECSU.....saw the blowout of Keene by your Warriors...on my flat screen TV!  Great game...great execution.  Lindo was ...just Lindo!  His flush down early in the game over Keene's 7 footer shocked the local fans and the announcers.
Your team's success is helping Amherst's chances in the post season, imo.  Go Warriors!

[ECSUalum]

ECSU.....saw the blowout of Keene by your Warriors...on my flat screen TV!  Great game...great execution.  Lindo was ...just Lindo!  His flush down early in the game over Keene's 7 footer shocked the local fans and the announcers.
Your team's success is helping Amherst's chances in the post season, imo.  Go Warriors!

Thanks amh63,
Lindo is a special player and his dunks usually get the team revved-up.  Anything we can do to help the Lord Jeffs with NCAA tournament consideration, (However, I think they will eventually win the NESCAC conference tournament), is our pleasure.  The Warriors would like to get another shot at Amherst in the NCAA NE bracket
The broadcast from Keene State is nice as it's in HD and the announcers are pretty good, so it must have been nice on the big screen. I watched on my computer as my wife was watching a movie.   Amherst does a nice job as well... I hope ECSU eventually gets the HD equipment, as it is so much better to watch on our HDTVs. 
BTW nice win vs the Ephs this past week!!  I think next time you play the Jumbos, the LJs will be ready for them!!!

[7express]

Thursday results:

Tufts over Boston 80-67.
Hunter Sabety lead the Jumbos (8-7) with 24 points while the Beacons (9-8) were lead by Carl Joseph who also had 24 points.  This was the final non LEC game for the Beacons as they have all LEC games the rest of the way starting with Saturday vs. the Owls; the Beacons finished the non LEC portion of the schedule 8-3; Jumbos are @ NESCAC travel partner Bates on Saturday.

Keene crushed Lasell 93-69.
Yordan Villalon lead the Lasers (4-10) in points (14) and rebounds (10).  Dizel Wright and Jeff Lunn each had 17 to lead the Owls (12-3).  Both teams are back in action Saturday afternoon in Boston: Lasell plays @ Suffolk, and Keene is on the southeast part of the city playing the Beacons.

53-39 LEC; 79-27 me

[7express]

Dartmouth 83-72
Western 88-61
Keene 78-69
RIC 67-60 in an upset

[AllStar]

Dartmouth 83-72
Western 88-61
Keene 78-69
RIC 67-60 in an upset

The Keene and UMass-Boston doubleheader in Boston will be tomorrow at 1:00 and 3:00...not that you will change your pick based on that, but just putting that information out there.

[magicman]

Final scores for Saturday's games.

Eastern Connecticut  83  Rhode island 59     

UMass-Dartmouth 88  Plymouth State 87       

Western Connecticut 85  Southern Maine 57