MBB: Little East

[7express]

Western wins 82-73.  Not a way to build confidence heading into the showdown with RIC Tuesday.  11 was our largest lead and really struggled to put away a team we should have run out of the building.  Brooks lead 4 Colonials in double figures with 30 points on 10-19 shooting.  Michael Kennedy had 14 points and 10 boards.  Boston went to the line 32 times this game.
RIC wins 61-43.  Akinrola lead the Anchormen with 20 points.  RIC ran out to a 14-0 lead and never trailed.  Brain Chergay lead the Panthers with 12; he was the only one in double figures
Keene survives Dartmouth 70-68.  Just like last week, they ended this week on a 19-11 run.  Ollie Hunter got a steal after the Owls had hit 1 of 2 free throws to go up 2 for the final margin
Eastern over USM 58-44.  Warriors outscored the Huskies 36-18 in the 2nd half.  Nedwick lead them with 22.

Tuesday schedule:
USM @ Plymouth
Boston @ Dartmouth
RIC @ Western
Keene @ Eastern.  Once again predictions will come Monday.

[ECSUalum]

7,
I thought were we going to see another "sandwich game" defeat today, Eastern looked really dead in the first half and Hamilton Levy was dreadful!!.  Coach Geitner must have ripped new ***holes into a couple of players, (see below), at halftime.  ECSU came back looking better the second half.  Nick ends up with 25 and sparked the second half, playing great D, and getting the points needed to pull away.  Jamie was cleaning the boards, as usual, and Chae Phillips, (who IMO should be starting vs Ives from now on), played superb, especially on Defense.
Levy and Robitaille looked bored today!!!
Eastern has Keene coming to town on Tues, who BTW should have lost today, if it wasnt for a meltdown in the last 6 minutes, and the last 30 sec of the 2nd half by UMass Dartmouth   Baptist seems to have lost control of that team!

[warrior]

I agree ECSUAlum - Dartmouth definitely blew it.  I always claim that if I had the choice to be down 1 with the ball for the last shot or up 1 having to stop that last shot WITHOUT fouling, I would always choose being down 1 with the ball!  All you have to do is run the clock down, then drive to the hoop!  Instead UMD chucked up a 3 w/ 10 seconds left and then another one with 6 seconds left after the offensive rebound!  Incredible! No one could have stopped Green going to the hoop without fouling!  Oh well, although we really could have used a Keene loss, I guess, if we can take care of business on Tuesday, we'll be in great position for the 2nd half of the league season.  Needless to say, I would LOVE to end the first half undefeated, but it will be very tough. Hopefully the home crowd can carry us to another big win. 

As for RIC vs. Western, the good news for us is that one of those teams will be ending the day with 3 losses. Needless to say, that will also be one great game!  I guess one would have to give the edge to the home team (Western), but, just like with our game, to win it's going to take a great team effort, plus the ball will have to bounce Western's way on occasion.  I can hardly wait for Tuesday!

[The_Extender]

ECSUalum and Warrior.....

1st Off - Dartmouth didn't blow the game vs Keene.  Keene State got about 10 stops down the stretch of the game, forcing UMD to succumb to defeat.   Baptiste is a good coach, he doesn't have the firepower at the guard spots to beat a scrappy team like Keene,  let alone RIC or Eastern. 

2ndly - Keene will beat Eastern on Tuesday night!  I know you are rooting for your boys to come out on top over the Owls.  Unfortunately, the scrappy and much improved defensive Owls are a team that no-one wants to play.

3rd - 3 LEC teams get into the dance.  I'm sick of hearing about the NESCAC getting three bids.  This year the LEC deserves 3 bids.  (Eastern, RIC, Keene or Western)  3 of those teams get in the dance!

4th - Great article on D3hoops regarding DaQuan Brooks, talented and special kid who deserves a lot of credit.

[warrior]

Extender - welcome to the group!    We definitely agree that Keene is a great and scary team to play, but I still feel that UMD should have driven to the hoop on their last possession.  Regarding Tuesday, I love your optimism. As for me, the only thing I'm predicting is a great game!  Hopefully we can slow down that great offense of yours and somehow stop Martin and Wright from going off.  RIC has a great defense and you guys scored 92 on them!  I definitely won't sleep well on Monday!  As always, may the best team win!

[ECSUalum]

ECSUalum and Warrior.....

1st Off - Dartmouth didn't blow the game vs Keene.  Keene State got about 10 stops down the stretch of the game, forcing UMD to succumb to defeat.   Baptiste is a good coach, he doesn't have the firepower at the guard spots to beat a scrappy team like Keene,  let alone RIC or Eastern. 

2ndly - Keene will beat Eastern on Tuesday night!  I know you are rooting for your boys to come out on top over the Owls.  Unfortunately, the scrappy and much improved defensive Owls are a team that no-one wants to play.

3rd - 3 LEC teams get into the dance.  I'm sick of hearing about the NESCAC getting three bids.  This year the LEC deserves 3 bids.  (Eastern, RIC, Keene or Western)  3 of those teams get in the dance!

4th - Great article on D3hoops regarding DaQuan Brooks, talented and special kid who deserves a lot of credit.

I still think it was a UMD Choke and agree with Warrior.  re Tuesday's game.... should be a good one

[7express]

Between Dartmouth missing 7 free throw's the final 2 minutes against RIC and Saturday against Keene.  They (probably) should have won both and they won neither.  THAT'S my definition of choking.

[LECFAN32]

not sure what to make of the boston and western game- positives were kennedy and britter stepping up and playing well in the starting lineup. nice size in the lineup with those two and robinson. poor defense at times, gave up too many easy buckets, game should not have been as close as it was. not much production from the bench at all. a win is a win, but coming off 2 losses, western needed to barry boston early, rest some bodies and start to prepare for ric by having 2 good practices sunday night

keene - dartmouth- dartmouth would be a drastically better team if colin burns played half as well as he did last year strong front line of clayton, greene, and now rodrigues along with the streaky rose and a consistent burns is definitely an over 500 team in conference. Keene is normally the opposite of scrappy, more like a big talented team of guys that can either come out n put up 92 pts and beat ric, or not show up at all, play no defense, and look disinterested. HOWEVER it was pretty apparent that darmouths game plan was to slow the game down and pound the ball inside which they executed well despite keenes pressure, keene did fight and did play more physical then they normally do and really gutted out the win.

martin continues to be LIGHTS OUT. his true shooting percentage is ridiculous considering how many shots he takes. very efficient and impressive. keene has been switching up the lineup as of late and maybe its keeping their guys on their toes, continuing this may limit their complacancy. they are a very dangerous team if so.

[7express]

Tuesday predictions:

USM 65 @ Plymouth 70.
Coin flip, but like the Panthers at home.  Even though the schools are relatively close geographically, there is no fast way (no way in general) to cut across that part of Maine to that part of New Hampshire.  I think Boston might have an easier drive to Plymouth (milage wise definitely NOT time wise) then USM does just for that rwason and the fact Boston is rigt off 93 in Boston, and Plymouth is right off of 93 in New Hampshire.

Boston 67 @ Dartmouth 78.
Let's see how much control Baptiste has over the Corsairs because this is a game they absolutely, positively CANNOT lose.  My bold prediction of the year: If Dartmouth loses this game they will not be in the LEC tournament at year's end.

RIC 82 @ Western 78.
Pains me to say this, but I have to look at this from a neutral perspective and not with WCSU colored glasses.  Can they win??  Absolutely.  Will they win??  That remains to be seen.  This team has never been able to make that "game-changing" play against RIC in the last 5 years; Since 2006, RIC has won 5 straight in Danbury and 11 of the last 12 overall, and even though the games have been close (4 of those 5 were decided by 10 points or less), RIC had made the plays down the stretch when they counted and Western faltered in the same situation.  RIC as a team plays smart basketball and has a great coach, one of the best around, and you know for a fact if this game is close late in the game coach Walsh is not going to have Brooks beat them when it seems like noone else on the team has that capability.  Brooks really has to involve the team more; especially down the stretch, hopefully they get Redding & Jensen back because that'll really help the offense, and give us another scoring option (in Jensen).  For as great as Brooks has been in his 3.5 years he has 1 win against RIC in his career which came last year.  Of course before this year he only had 1 win against Keene state in his career and he exploded for 46 points, and there's always that chance he could put up 40+ and lead the team.  This seems to be the year of ending big streaks against 1 team.  RIC had owned Eastern prior to this year and Eastern wins the first meeting, Keene had won 12 of the prior 14 meetings with Western before Western won the first game, Keene hadn't beaten Dartmouth in 5 years going into last year's first round game yet Keene sweeps this year's season series, Western had won 11 of the prior 14 meetings vs. Eastern going into last year's semifinal, yet Eastern has won 2 straight in the series, RIC has won 11 of the last 12 against Western....starting to sense a pattern??

Keene 67 @ Eastern 73.
Another team that has had success over it's opponent recently as the Warriors have recorded 5 wins in their last 6 matchups with the Keene Owls including sweeping the season series in 2010 & 2011.  Should be a close game throughout, but i like Eastern at home by a touchdown.

[warrior]

Thanks for the vote of confidence 7express.  One thing I definitely agree with, if we can hold Keene to the 67 you predicted or less, we should come out on top.  If we let them get over 70, I think we'll be in for a long night!

By the way, d3hoops moved us up to 18th in the nation, but once again, a loss this week could bounce us right back out of the top 25 again.  If, on the other hand, we can come out of this week with our winning streak in tact, I think we'll be there to stay.

[Pat Coleman]

One loss from No. 18 wouldn't necessarily be enough to drop them all the way out.

[warrior]

That's good to know Pat, thanks.  Hopefully we can keep our streak alive tonight (13 in a row and counting) and reward the D3Hoops voters' confidence in us! Like I said, if we can hold them under 70, I like our chances. 

[7express]

That's good to know Pat, thanks.  Hopefully we can keep our streak alive tonight (13 in a row and counting) and reward the D3Hoops voters' confidence in us! Like I said, if we can hold them under 70, I like our chances. 

70 or less Eastern most definitely wins, 70-78 could be either team winning, 79 or more and have Keene definitely has the advantage.  Just my opinion and 2 cents.

[ECSUalum]

A couple of LEC-NESCAC matchup are just ahead, with ECSU vs Wesleyan (Wed Feb 1), and RIC vs Amherst, (Tue Jan 31), which should tell us a lot about LEC quality and if Eastern, RIC and WCSU belong in the D3hoops top 25 for the long run in 2012.  Eastern and RIC games are away so they will be a true tests.  Wesleyan slipped vs Bates this week, but beat Amherst Jan 17. Sasha Brown is in same class as Daquan re offensive punch.  He beat Eastern on a buzzer beater last year in Willi!!!!  Amherst is just a very very good all round team and RIC will have its hands full with Toomey, Workman and Barrise!!   

BTW Conn College plays @ WCSU the same night as the RIC /Amherst game, so while you would think it should be an easy win for the Colonials, Connecticut College gave Bates a run for thier money last Friday losing 84-80 in OT.

Not sure what the results of LEC/NESCAC matchups over the last 5 or so years are, but I would quess it is close to even.  Amh63, do you know?

[amh63]

ECSUAlum......In truth no.. about the stat/record of the past 4-5 years of the conference match ups.  Will have to look it up and dig it out if I can.  Amherst has an archives section.  Do not know about the other NESCAC schools.  Will try....as well as learn about all the LEC schools.  Amherst has a history of games with RIC..home and away.  Just like the WBB team has a series with ECSU.  Do have confusion with the NEWMAC and LEC schools and the schedules of the lower tier NESCAC BB schools....due to lack of real interest on my part on schools that do not enter my Amherst post season BB "world".  My lost, I guess.   Will attempt to do some investigating.  Maybe the whizkid 7 express can help you out too!