MBB: Little East

pjunito · February 04, 2014, 09:55:50 PM

What's Salzillo status for this weekend game? Eastern does miss his presence, not just his shooting. I caught a little of the game, bad foul at the end on a 4 point play, put the game out of reach.

7express · February 04, 2014, 10:16:00 PM

A horrible night in the conference as the LEC goes 0-5 against the NESCAC this evening. Not good. If they want to be taken seriously in the region, we have to start getting some of these games. Probably our second best team (Dartmouth) getting blown out by an average at best team (Tufts) is beyond embarrassing.

Bowdoin beats Plymouth 58-49. John Swords only had 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Polar Bears. Alex Burt lead all scorers with 15 in what was a well played game, only 12 combined turnovers.
Tufts blows out Dartmouth 73-54. Tucker Bouchard & Ryan Walsh combined for 27 for the Corsairs, but nobody scored more than 7. Ben Farris had 18 points & 12 rebounds to lead the Jumbos who were without big man Hunter Sabety and they still won comfortable. This could've been a 30 point win if Sabety played, woof!
Wesleyan over Eastern 68-62. Mike Garrow & Trachone Preston combined for 48 of the teams 62 points (more than 75% of Eastern's total), and the other 6 players on the court scored just 14. Harry Raferty lead the Cardinals with 16. I know Salzillo is out, and Wesleyan is better than their record, but I take Wesleyan off the schedule permantly if I'm coach Geitner. If they couldn't beat them this year or last year, they'll probably never beat them.
Middlebury over Keene 92-86. Nate Howard & Tre Tipton had 20 & 18 respectively for the Owls; Dylan Sinnickson had 26 points & 12 rebounds and Joey Kizel added 23 points for the Panthers. A 17-0 run for Keene halfway through the second erased a 10 point Keene lead and put Mid in the lead for good.
Colby defeats USM 63-58. Conor Sullivan with 19 for the Huskies and Tyler Penney had 14. Chris Hudnut with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the White Mules who won the game but lost the turnover battle 16-8.

44-40 LEC (4 more non LEC games left, so we just need to win just one of those 4 [Boston/Fitchburg, Westfield/Western, Keene/MCLA and Western/WNEU], it can't be that hard!!) 81-35 me.

Thursday schedule:
Fitchburg @ Boston
Westfield @ Western. Both at 7. Hopefully the LEC does better in the LEC-MASCAC competition than it did in the LEC-NESCAC competition.

AllStar · February 04, 2014, 10:52:30 PM

7express:

I agree with you. UMass Dartmouth to me was easily the most embarrassing of all those games. All the other ones tonight seemed competitive. Keene lost their game early in the second half when they wasted their lead. They fouled way too much and kept trying to come back but that doesn't usually work...particularly for this young team once the lead was blown. Southern Maine had a lead in the second half beforebefore Colby took control and then held on. ECSU being without Salzillo was really unfortunate. I was somewhat surprised that Plymouth had such a tightly contested game at Bowdoin. Not any good results of cpurse ...and it would be nice if some of these teams got over the hump.

7express · February 04, 2014, 11:17:02 PM

Quote from: AllStar on February 04, 2014, 10:52:30 PM
7express:

I agree with you. UMass Dartmouth to me was easily the most embarrassing of all those games. All the other ones tonight seemed competitive. Keene lost their game early in the second half when they wasted their lead. They fouled way too much and kept trying to come back but that doesn't usually work...particularly for this young team once the lead was blown. Southern Maine had a lead in the second half beforebefore Colby took control and then held on. ECSU being without Salzillo was really unfortunate. I was somewhat surprised that Plymouth had such a tightly contested game at Bowdoin. Not any good results of cpurse ...and it would be nice if some of these teams got over the hump.

Yah. I knew Bowdoin was going to win, but Plymouth should be applauded for keeping that close. Figured Colby was a pretty good bet to beat USM too considering their upset over Amherst. Middlebury vs. Keene was a toss up, same with Eastern/Wesleyan, and had I known Salzillo was going to be out, I likely would have picked Wesleyan. It's not the fact Dartmouth lost since I actually predicted them too, it's the manor in which they lost. And Tufts best player didn't even play either and they still whooped up on them. I can live with the others because frankly outside of Eastern nobody is really that good, and without Salzillo, Preston, or Garrow, Eastern falls into that not good category with the other 7 teams.

middhoops · February 05, 2014, 12:36:19 PM

7Express, I enjoy your predictions and analysis. You are my new Walzy. While I agreed with your prediction on the Midd/Keene game, I was most pleased with the outcome.
Keene is going to be very good in another year or two.

7express · February 05, 2014, 07:28:35 PM

Quote from: middhoops on February 05, 2014, 12:36:19 PM
7Express, I enjoy your predictions and analysis. You are my new Walzy. While I agreed with your prediction on the Midd/Keene game, I was most pleased with the outcome.
Keene is going to be very good in another year or two.

Thanks. Maybe I'll throw out some bets for the NESCAC games this weekend. However, I could never replace Walzy.

7express · February 05, 2014, 07:45:56 PM

Thursday predictions:

Westfield 68 @ Western 74.
The Owls are struggling this season losing their "DaQuan Brooks" in Lee Vazquez. The Owls are doing better then the Colonials did in year 1 PB (post Brooks), but are still right around a middle of the pack team. A recent 4 game winning streak has sent them to 4 games over .500 for the first since December 9 when they were 6-2. They than preceded to lose 6 of their next 8 to fall back to .500 at 8-8 before their recent 4 game winning streak. The oddsmakers have the Colonials as a small 3 point favorite, and they cover the spread.
Fitchburg 71 @ Boston 80.
The Falcons, after winning the MASCAC tournament as the 5 seed with a sub .500 conference record to advance to their first NCAA tournament appearance in school history are struggling mightily this year sitting at a dismal 2-16 on the year and 0-2 vs. the LEC with double digit losses to Western & Keene State. Boston is 1-1 vs. the MASCAC with a loss to Bridgewater and a win over Framingham. That win over Framingham on January 7 was their last victory. The oddsmakers have the Beacons as a hefty 10.5 point favorite. Boston wins....but by only 9.

AllStar · February 06, 2014, 09:09:42 PM

Western over Westfield 77-74
Boston over Fitchburg 89-77

7express · February 06, 2014, 09:54:10 PM

Thursday results:

Boston over Fitchburg 89-77.
The Falcons placed 4 in double figures lead by Mo Molin's 18 and Anthony Muccoli's 17. The Beacons got 24 from Carl Joseph who was inserted back into the starting lineup.
Western wins a tight one with Westfield 77-74. The Colonials got 16 from Kendall Marquez and 13 points & 11 rebounds from Joe Groski, while the Owls got 21 points from Robby Jones and 15 from Grant Cooper. The Owls had the ball down 1 with 20 seconds to go, but turned the ball over and 2 Ronnie Underwood free throws set up the final margin. The oddsmakers were right on the money!

46-40 LEC; 83-35 me.

Sat schedule:
Plymouth @ Western
USM @ Dartmouth
Keene @ RIC
Eastern @ Boston. None of the games are that exciting, but Plymouth/Western gets the best billing.

amh63 · February 07, 2014, 05:32:10 PM

7-Express....does your spread on the CAC board change for Amherst if the game is in LeFrak?

ECSU...a less clever answer to your question wrt the shooting machine. During homecoming in late October, I saw one of Amherst's MBB players working by himself...it was not official conference practice season....using one of the machine in LeFrak. Yes it is adjustable and is like a batting machine for hitters in the batting cage. I noted the machine in a post at the time. Therefore, even with only a sample of 2, I would guess that all the conference teams has/uses such machines.

7express · February 07, 2014, 06:01:22 PM

Nah, same thing. Same -16 point spread and 155 point total. Take it from the Massey ratings, give or take a few numbers (i.e Massey has Amherst winning by 19, and I have it at 16).

7express · February 07, 2014, 10:26:22 PM

Sat predictions:

Plymouth @ Western.
Probably the best game of the day. The Colonials won by 13 in Plymouth last month, and this game should be close throughout. The Colonials are favored by a mere 3.5. I think late free throws at the end give the Colonials an extra cushion winning by 8. Western 71-63.
USM @ Dartmouth.
The wheels have started to fall off for Dartmouth lately, but they've been off for a while for USM. Nice bounce back game for the Corsairs here. The Corsairs are favored by 10, and I agree. Dartmouth 83-63.
Keene @ RIC.
The Owls had a tough home loss to Middlebury, but this young team continues to fight this year which is all you can ask for. The oddsmakers have pegged the Anchormen as an 11.5 point favorite, but I think Keene can beat it. I don't think they'll win, but they can keep it close. RIC 69-62.
Eastern @ Boston.
Warriors are unbeaten in conference, the Beacons are winless in conference. If Salzillo is available for the Warriors, I see them winning by 20+, if he's still out, it'll be a lot closer, but they should still get the win. The line is currently Eastern -17, but since I don't know the status of Salzillo, I'll let it ride on the Beacons. Eastern 76-69.

AllStar · February 07, 2014, 10:30:21 PM

I wish injury status information was somehow available. It would sure help.

7express · February 08, 2014, 04:02:08 PM

Eastern up 25-21. Looks like Salzillo is still out.
Dartmouth up by 1 6:30 left. Women's game went to overtime which is why there's still so much time left in this one.
RIC & Keene tied at 34.
Western blowing out Plymouth 45-26. All games at half minus the USM/Dartmouth game.

7express · February 08, 2014, 04:48:08 PM

Eastern wins 71-58; Keene leads RIC by 2 6:55 left; Western up 9 1:25 left (though they were up 19 with 6+ minutes left), live stats is frozen on USM/Dartmouth.
Western hangs onto win 72-70 after Alex Burt missed a jumper after getting the ball off a Western turnover. if I'm coach Campbell I am NOT a happy camper right now. Up 15-20 points for 30+ minutes of this game, and we totally choke at the end down the stretch. Plymouth had absolutely no business even having the ball with a chance to win/force overtime, much less win the game. They were up 60-40 with less than 7 minutes to play, totally inexcusable to let Plymouth have a chance to win. RIC and Keene in overtime tied at 66.
RIC wins 75-70; Dartmouth wins by 10 66-56 to close out the slate.