MBB: Little East

[7express]

So looks like USM/RIC only game going on today.

[7express]

Halftime: RIC leads USM 33-19 at halftime.
RIC wins 64-46.  All but locks up the #1 seed since they have the tiebreaker over both Eastern, Keene & USM now.  If Eastern loses to Keene Wednesday night, the race is over.

[AllStar]

USM falling apart down the stretch.

[7express]

USM falling apart down the stretch.

There still going to end up hosting a quarterfinal game most likely Boston.  And the talent gap between the top 4 and the bottom 4 is pretty wide.  They should make the finals, but I can't see them beating Keene/Eastern in the semi's though.

[7express]

Crunch time in the LEC.  Teams are going to have to play 4 games in 9 days between tonight and next Tuesdays quarterfinals.  Really benefits teams with lots of depth like USM and Keene, while teams with short benches/injuries could be at a disadvantage (I'm looking at the 2 Connecticut schools.  Western has a lot of injuries, Eastern has an extremely thin bench).

[7express]

Not up at Keene tonight, so I'll be having updates of all 3 games tonight.  Of course none of them are really that great however.  Plymouth/Boston is probably the best of the bunch since USM/RIC was yesterday.

[7express]

Keene 24-9 14:14 Ryan Martin with 12 points on 4-4 shooting all from 3.  Mark LaPorte with an appearance.  Nice to see him back I thought he was out for the season.
Plymouth 14-12 11:35
Keene 33-19 9:23.  They are on fire from 3.
Boston 22-20 4:08
Keene 59-29 at the half (not a typo, THAT'S the real halftime score).  Live stats hasn't updated, but they must be hitting on about 60% of their shots.  About the only thing that went right for the Colonials in the half was Keene missing 3 chippies at the basket at the end of the half.  Ryan Martin started with 4-4 and I think he's got about 20, only missed once.  The first part of the half he was killing us on 3 and the second part of the second he was killing us on his patented midrange jumper.  So happy I won't have to see him again after next Saturday.
Boston up 32-27 at the half.  Plymouth shooting 41%, Beacons at 53%.  Teams combined to shoot 1 free throw, and as usual since Boston took the lone free throw they missed.
Eastern leads Dartmouth 29-26 at the half.
Western down 36-75 when I shut it off in favor of Plymouth Boston.  Couldn't watch that anymore.
57-56 Plymouth 3:19 left.  Petey Skevas layup gave them the lead.  This has been back and forth much of the game.
62-61 Plymouth less then a minute left.  Plymouth ball.  Probably about 20 seconds or so difference between shot and game clock so Beacons will get last shot.
63-62 Boston 33 seconds left.  Plymouth turned it over and someone for Boston put home a layup.  Plymouth ball at about halfcourt.  Only 2 seconds difference so the Panthers can pretty much hold for the last shot.
64-63 Plymouth.  Petey Skevas baseline runner puts Plymouth back on top.  Shot clock off for the Beacons.
Boston 65-64.  Vinny deLucia airball, Brian Clarke picked it up and put it home.
Final: Beacons survive 65-64.  Petey Skevas drove the length of the court and dished it off to Shomari Morgan at the free throw line, but his shot was a little long as time expired.  Beacons clinch the 5 seed in upcoming little east conference tourney and will most likely be traveling to USM next Tuesday.
Keene finishes a 101-71 drubbing of Western.  You'll have to read the athletic site as I shut it off halfway through the second, and we have Eastern with a 78-59 win.
As stated above Boston has clinched the #5 seed in the LEC tournament.  They can't move up or down.  They can tie USM for 4th, but USM wins that tiebreaker (1-1 vs. Keene while Boston would be 0-2) and likewise Western can still tie them for 5th, but the Beacons win that tiebreaker (2-0 season series record vs. the Colonials).  IF RIC beats Western AND Keene beats Eastern Wednesday that would finalize RIC as the 1 seed.  A Dartmouth loss (vs. Boston) OR a Plymouth win (vs. USM) would finalize Dartmouth as the 8th seed.  A Western win vs. RIC AND Plymouth loss to USM would finalize Western as the 6 seed. 

[7express]

I'll have Thursday/Sunday/Monday/Wednesday results either Wed/Thurs/or Friday.  After this post I will clinch scenerio's for all teams and what each game means

Wed schedule:
Keene @ Easterrn. 
RIC wins the conference if Eastern loses (it doesn't matter what RIC does Wed or Sat, Keene will lose tiebreakers to RIC).  Eastern has totally owned them the last 4 years; 8-1 in the last 9 meetings overall, 5-1 in Willimantic the last 4 years.  Having seen both of these teams this year I actually think Keene is slightly better (have more talent/more depth) and Martin will be the best player on the court for either team, but there's just something against Eastern where Keene can't get up over the hill.  Like most games between these 2 recently it comes down to the final couple possessions, but Eastern will convert when it counts down the stretch like they do most of those times.
Eastern 65-61
RIC @ Western.
No comment.  We can't drop lower then 7th, can't finish higher then 6th.  Final home game of the season (regardless of how far they go in the LEC and or NCAA's they WILL NOT be hosting any tournament games this year....I know going out on a limb), so hopefully they play with some pride and don't get embarressed like on Monday.  If they want to do RIC a favor they'll play them close for 30 minutes, but have RIC win in the end.  RIC CANNOT afford to lose a game like this, this late in the season if they want to grab a Pool C spot.
RIC 65-54
USM @ Plymouth
USM will win a tiebreaker over Keene if both finish at 9-5.  Plymouth can still finish anywhere from 6th to 8th.  USM has lost 3 straight, and even though the quarterfinal game WILL BE in Maine (as I said yesterday Boston cannot pass them), they have to resurrect the ship, it's about to sink.  Plymouth is 2-0 against Dartmouth 0-10 against the rest of the conference.  That ends, Plymouth in the "mild" upset.
Plymouth 65-63
Boston @ Dartmouth.
Boston's 5th place finish this year is their highest finish since 2007 when they placed 6th with a 5-9 conference record.  Since the Little East was formed in 1986 Boston has had 1 winning conference seasons and 0 .500 seasons.  Sweeping these next 2 will give them a 7-7 record.  It's a #### goal for most of the teams, but when your a team that constantly finishes 1-13, 2-14, 3-10, a 7-7 season and 5th place finish has got to be an EXCELLENT season.  Even if they lose these next 2 and finish 5-9, they've only finish higher then a couple times, so that in of itself would be an accomplishment.  Is it their fault Western & Dartmouth are both atrocious this year??
Boston 69-68

[7express]

Tournament scenerio's, the men's side is a mess, so not sure I have this right but I think I'm pretty close.

RIC: Clinches the 1 seed with a win AND Eastern loss
Eastern: Can clinch no worse then the 2 seed with a win
Keene: Can clinch no worse then the 3 seed with a win OR USM loss
USM can do no worse then the 4.  Will be locked in at the 4 with a loss OR Keene win
Boston.  Locked in as the 5 seed.  No one else can claim it
Western.  Clinches the 6 seed with a win AND Plymouth loss; no worse then the 7 seed
Plymouth.  Clinches no worse then the 7 seed with a win OR Dartmouth loss.  Officially locked in there with a loss AND Western win
Dartmouth.  Clinches the 8 seed with a loss OR Plymouth win.

Where they can end up:
#1 seeds: RIC & Eastern only.  Keene loses a 3 way tiebreaker I believe
#2 seeds: RIC, Eastern & Keene
#3: Eastern, Keene, USM.  As I said up top I beleive RIC wins the 3 team tiebreaker at 11-3 with Keene & Eastern because they were 2-0 vs. USM while the others were only 1-1.
#4 USM & Keene only, most likely USM
#5.  Boston is locked in here no matter what happens this week.  They lose a tiebreaker to USM, they win a tiebreaker over Western
#6 Plymouth or Western
#7 Plymouth, Western or Dartmouth
#8 Dartmouth, Plymouth.

Games of importance (in order of importance):
Keene @ Eastern.  Could have the top 4 spots settled by the end of the night
Western/RIC.  Senior night, and with help from Keene, RIC could be playing for the outright LEC title
Plymouth/USM.  Not much here neither can do much moving
Boston vs. Dartmouth.  Boston can't move and Dartmouth isn't likely to move.  Outside of Keene/Eastern a very uninspiring slate with 3 days remaining in the season.

[7express]

Halftime scores: RIC 29-26, USM 27-17, Dartmouth 27-12, Eastern 32-28

[7express]

RIC wins 69-60.  Western lead by as much as 9 in the 2nd but as usual couldn't close.
USM wins 60-50
Eastern up 72-68 Dartmouth up 71-68

[pjunito]

Tournament scenerio's, the men's side is a mess, so not sure I have this right but I think I'm pretty close.

RIC: Clinches the 1 seed with a win AND Eastern loss
Eastern: Can clinch no worse then the 2 seed with a win
Keene: Can clinch no worse then the 3 seed with a win OR USM loss
USM can do no worse then the 4.  Will be locked in at the 4 with a loss OR Keene win
Boston.  Locked in as the 5 seed.  No one else can claim it
Western.  Clinches the 6 seed with a win AND Plymouth loss; no worse then the 7 seed
Plymouth.  Clinches no worse then the 7 seed with a win OR Dartmouth loss.  Officially locked in there with a loss AND Western win
Dartmouth.  Clinches the 8 seed with a loss OR Plymouth win.

Where they can end up:
#1 seeds: RIC & Eastern only.  Keene loses a 3 way tiebreaker I believe
#2 seeds: RIC, Eastern & Keene
#3: Eastern, Keene, USM.  As I said up top I beleive RIC wins the 3 team tiebreaker at 11-3 with Keene & Eastern because they were 2-0 vs. USM while the others were only 1-1.
#4 USM & Keene only, most likely USM
#5.  Boston is locked in here no matter what happens this week.  They lose a tiebreaker to USM, they win a tiebreaker over Western
#6 Plymouth or Western
#7 Plymouth, Western or Dartmouth
#8 Dartmouth, Plymouth.

Games of importance (in order of importance):
Keene @ Eastern.  Could have the top 4 spots settled by the end of the night
Western/RIC.  Senior night, and with help from Keene, RIC could be playing for the outright LEC title
Plymouth/USM.  Not much here neither can do much moving
Boston vs. Dartmouth.  Boston can't move and Dartmouth isn't likely to move.  Outside of Keene/Eastern a very uninspiring slate with 3 days remaining in the season.

7, does every team make the conference tournament?

[7express]

7, does every team make the conference tournament?

This year they do.

[7express]

Tiebreaker scenerios:

Eastern will win a tiebreaker with RIC at 12-2, so the #1 is still up for grabs between those 2
USM will win the tiebreaker with Keene at 9-5
IF Plymouth beats Western, I'm not sure what tiebreaker will decide that (each team would be 2-0 vs. Dartmouth and 1-1 against each other for the 3rd win and 0 for against the rest of the conference.)
Only spot locked up tonight was Dartmouth @ #8 who somehow lost to Boston even though they were leading by as many as 19 in the first half and had a 18 point lead at halftime.

RIC clinches the 1 seed with a win OR Eastern loss
RIC clinches 2 seed with a loss AND Eastern win
Eastern clinches 2 seed with a loss OR RIC win
Eastern clinches the 1 seed with a win AND RIC loss.  RIC & Eastern will be 1-2 in some order.
Keene clinches the 3 seed with a win OR USM loss
Keene clinches the 4 seed with a loss AND USM win
USM clinches the 4 seed with a loss OR Keene win
USM clinches the 3 seed with a win AND Keene loss.  USM-Keene will be 3-4 in some order
Boston has clinched the 5 seed no matter what happens on Saturday.
In the Western/Plymouth game: If Western wins, they get the 6th seed, Plymouth gets the 7th.  If Plymouth wins, it goes to a tiebreaker.  Western-Plymouth will be 6-7 in some order.
Dartmouth is locked in the 8th seed no matter what happens on Saturday.

[7express]

Anyone know what the LEC tiebreakers are??

I know first is head to head, second is winning percentage against teams in conf starting from the top, then according to Warrior way back on page 46 the third tiebreaker is road record.  Anyone know what comes after that??  Games against common opponents??  Overall winning percentage??  Straight to a coin flip??  I wish the LEC website would post these things.

In the event Plymouth beats Western Sat each team would be 1-1 against each other, 2-0 vs Dartmouth, and a combined 0-10 against everyone else in the conf so you can't break it in head to head OR record vs conference opponents.  In a Plymouth win each team would have the same conf road record (1-6) so what's after that??