MBB: Little East

[7express]

WCSU,

IF RIC/WCSU finish tied, it depends, bear with me:

More then likely RIC would because they'd have a higher winning percentage against EITHER Eastern (if we lose tonight we'd be .500 against Eastern [1-1], RIC is 1.000 against them [2-0).  IF we beat Eastern, it becomes more complicated, then it comes down to whoever finishes higher between Dartmouth & Keene state.  Were at the dissadvantage of losing to Keene twice, while RIC beat them twice, so if Keene finishes higher, RUC would win the tiebreak that way (2-0 for RIC vs. 0-2 for us).  If Dartmouth finishes in front of Keene, we'd be 2-0 against Dartmouth while RIC would be either 1-1/0-2 against them, so either way we'd have the higher percentage against Dartmouth regardless.  Keene state plays @ Dartmouth on Saturday to end the year.  Not quite sure what happens if both Keene & Dartmouth finish tied I believe they take the winning percentage against those tied teams (we'd be .500), RIC would be either (.500 or .750 depending on their result), but don't quote me on that.

Anyways, as a West Conn fan and a student, we just have to take care of home court, and let everything else take care of itself.  

Will you be there??  I'll be in my usual seat (hopefully), section 103 first row.  Come say hello if you want.

[7express]

If your a WCSU fan, here's who you should be rooting for today (teams in bold we should root for):

Western vs. Eastern
If we don't win here, it doesn't matter what anyone else today does.
Dartmouth at RIC
Dartmouth win coupled with Western win, puts us back in control of our destiny.
Keene state @ [Plymouth state
If worst comes to worst (meaning RIC win tonight) a Plymouth win over Keene state would still leave Dartmouth & Keene separated by 1 game with a game left against each other.
Boston @ Southern Maine.  Game is meaningless as both are already eliminated, so root for who you want.  Me, I'm rooting for So Maine as I picked them to win on here.

If your an Eastern fan, here's your rooting schedule for today's action:
Eastern at Western
Obviously a loss here wouldn't matter what anyone else does as you'll be locked in as the 3rd seed.
Dartmouth at RIC
Win @ Western, coupled with Dartmouth win leaves you in sole possession of first, finishing at home on Saturday against last place Southern Maine.  Would be a great spot to be.
Boston @ So Maine, Keene @ Plymouth.  Neither of these games matter as Eastern was 2-0 against Dartmouth, Plymouth & Keene, so the order those teams finish doesn't affect the Warriors winning percentage should a tiebreaker come into affect.

If there's any RIC lurkers:
Eastern at Western
Since they have 2 wins against Eastern vs. only 1 win against Western, head-to-head comes straight into play instead of going to winning percentage against order of teams down the standings.
Dartmouth @ RIC
The only team in first that can lose tonight yet still host the semi's and finals #### them (rhymes with chuck, lol)
Keene state @ Plymouth state
Should a tiebreak with Western come into play, you'd like Keene to finish as high as possible.  A Keene win @ Plymouth coupled with an RIC win, and it would be impossible for Dartmouth to catch Keene as Dartmouth would be 2 games back of Keene with 1 to play.
Root for who you want in the Boston @ Southern Maine game.

[wcsu91]

7 Express

Thanks for the info!!  Lets hope Western wins tonight and Sat. and RIC loses one of their last 2.  I would love to see Western host the LEC Tournament. Last time was in 2005. Great LEC Final that year a double OT win against Plymouth for Western. Lets take care of biz tonight. I usually go to all home games. Dont know if I will be there tonight because of work but If I am I will come by to say hi.

[7express]

KSCfan should definatly root for Western.  That 2-0 record the Owls have against Western will go a long way for Keene should they tie Plymouth or Dartmouth.  RIC Dartmouth game is tough, I'd probably go with RIC.  Dartmouth win will keep pace/tie the Owls, plus they have a win over RIC and a win @ Keene last month.  Keene state win tonight plus an RIC win would make it impossible for Dartmouth to catch Keene even if they completed the season sweep Saturday.

[7express]

7 Express

Thanks for the info!!  Lets hope Western wins tonight and Sat. and RIC loses one of their last 2.  I would love to see Western host the LEC Tournament. Last time was in 2005. Great LEC Final that year a double OT win against Plymouth for Western. Lets take care of biz tonight. I usually go to all home games. Dont know if I will be there tonight because of work but If I am I will come by to say hi.

Would be great if both the women and men hosted the semi's and finals.  It'll definatly make my life easier when deciding which team to go see on Friday/Sat as they'd be at the same spot, and at home no less.  Double bonus!

[7express]

What a great game at Feldman arena, DaQuan Brooks just refused to lose as Western erased an 8 point Eastern lead with 8 minutes to go for a 75-71 Colonials win.  Unfortunatly, thats about as much help as we got on the evening.  If only this team could play with as much fire when their backed in the corner instead of letting teams constantly jump out to double digit leads 10 minutes into the game.  RIC scored the first 6 points last week, and ballooned that lead to as high as 12 in the opening half before West Conn whittled it to 5 (could get no closer after that); Keene state was up 20-5 on Saturday before we knew what hit us, ultimately we took one lead in that game, albeit for like 20 seconds, and then tonight East Conn had as big of a lead as 26-12 in the first half before Eastern shipped away.  All I ask for is consistant play, and to stop spotting teams 15 points before we decide to play basketball.
RIC over Dartmouth 75-54.  Locks Dartmouth in as the 5 seed, Keene as the 4, Plymouth state as the 6 & Eastern as the 3rd.  So, the matchups are set, and the bye teams are set (RIC & West Conn), only thing to be decided on Saturday is whether the tournament is in Danbury, CT or Providence, RI.
Keene 93-87 over Plymouth state
Southern Maine gets their second conference win, 74-58 over Boston.

So, a quick recap where we stand on the LEC tournament:
The 2 first round matchups are set, #6 Plymouth state will travel to #3 Eastern Connecticut and the other game has #5 UMass-Dartmouth @ #4 Keene state.
RIC clinches the #1 seed and hosts the LEC semi's and finals with a win at Plymouth state OR a West Conn loss at UMass-Boston; West Conn would be the 2 seed in this scenerio and receive the other bye to Providence to join RIC in the semi's.
West Conn clinches the #1 seed and hosts the LEC semi's and finals with a win at UMass-Boston AND a RIC loss at Plymouth state; RIC would be the 2 seed in this scenerio and receive the other bye to Danbury to join West Conn in the semi's.
West Conn women clinched the #1 seed in the women's tournament with a 74-55 win over East Conn tonight, so at least 1 team won't have to go anywhere to get to the NCAA's.

[wcsu91]

Brooks lites it up for 25 second half points and western gets a huge
come from behind win. A win on Saturday at umass Boston and they
will get a first round bye and host the lec tournament as the # 1 seed
regardless of what ric does because western will have a better road record
in conference play. Welcome back Brooks!!! This win will hopefully carry them
through the lec tournament and get an automatic bid to the dance!!!

[wcsu91]

The info I posted in my previous post regarding western hosting the lec tournament with a win on Saturday at umass Boston regardless of what ric does is based on the info posted on westerns mens basketball website. We host it with a W on Saturday because of a better road record.

[Argylebballer]

The RIC website says something different, just that if RIC wins sat they host, and coach walsh said that post game

[7express]

Road record??

I thought for 2 way tiebreakers they went:
1) head-to-head (would be tied 1-1)
2) head-to-head results against current order, starting at top.  Both Western & RIC are 2-0 against Eastern, while RIC is 2-0 vs. Keene, and they break the tie that way.  Road record could be used if you can't break the tie that way (i.e all 3 losses are to Dartmouth, Keene & Southern Maine)

[wcsu91]

7express

just going by whats on wcsu mens basketball website. Article on there recapping the win against eastern states it at the end of the article that they will host based on a better road record in the conference. Dont know just going by what their site said. check it out www.wcsu.edu/sports/Mbasketball/index.htm

[7express]

7express

just going by whats on wcsu mens basketball website. Article on there recapping the win against eastern states it at the end of the article that they will host based on a better road record in the conference. Dont know just going by what their site said. check it out www.wcsu.edu/sports/Mbasketball/index.htm

Didn't think they used road record but I'll gladly take it if its the truth.  Been to every men's and women's game since the beginning of Decemember, haven't missed a road game, or a game during winter break, so would be tough for me to make a choice which team to support if they were at different sites for the semi's.  Lets all root for Plymouth state so both teams can be at the same site.  I wish the LEC conference site would keep us updated instead of us trying to figure out what the different tiebreakers are.

[KSCfan]

Keene wins last night and will host Dartmouth in the opening round of the LEC tournament at Keene. 

1.  This game is going to be tough for the owls.  Dartmouth knocked them off earlier in the year at Spaulding.  Lets hope that Keene can build on last two games, win sat and get rolling into the LEC tournament.  I could be wrong but i thought first round games are tuesday and the semi's and finals are fri and sat?
If thats the case playing on tuesday should not kill Keene's legs to bad.  Its tougher to win one more game to win the tournament but the Packers did all right doing that this year.

2.  The Spaulding should be absolutely ROCKING for this first round game at Dartmouth.  I would expect a very rowdy, "lubricated" crowd of students to show up for the game.  Playoff basketball in Keene always gets great turnouts.  I am taking Keene to win over Dartmouth 82-79 in a nail bitter that will come down to the last possession

3.  If you are Dartmouth, Keene, Eastern, and Plymouth and your seeding cant improve how important is sat?  Do you play the starters the whole game and try to win?  Do you go deeper on your bench because win or lose its set where and when you play?  No point in killing your team on sat to turn around and play on tuesday.  I am pretty sure that all four of these teams will have to win the tournament to get into the NCAA so winnnig/losing on sat will not impact an at large bid for them.  Something to think about

[WcsuAlum]

Does anyone really know what the stipulations are for hosting the LEC tournament, I'm sure there is confusion throughout the conference for where they will be playing. Can anyone get the official ruling? I know WCSU is saying they will host it with a win on Saturday but RIC is also saying they will host.

[wcsu91]

Go to this website (WCSU Mens Basketball) :

http://www.wcsu.edu/sports/Mbasketball/index.htm

Men's Basketball
Rhode Island College or Western Connecticut (10-3)

Rhode Island College or Western Connecticut (10-3)

Eastern Connecticut (9-4) - 2-0 vs. KSC

Keene State (8-5) - 0-2 vs. ECSU

UMass Dartmouth (6-7)

Plymouth State (5-8)


If RIC and WCSU are tied at the end of the regular season, RIC would be the #1 seed and host by virtue of a 2-0 record against KSC and WCSU is 0-2. In a mini conference of RIC, WCSU and ECSU: RIC and WCSU are 3-1 and ECSU is 0-4; therefore, RIC would win the tiebreaker with 2-0 mark against KSC and WCSU is 0-2.

If UMD and PSU are tied at the end of the regular season, UMD would win the tiebreaker by virtue of a win earlier in the year against KSC and PSU would be 0-2. 

Therefore, our quarterfinals are set with #6 Plymouth State at #3 Eastern Connecticut and #5 UMass Dartmouth at #4 Keene State.


Jonathan C. Harper
Commissioner
Little East Conference

So WCSU has to win and have RIC lose to host the tournament. Lots of confusion but we finally got the correct answers.