MBB: Little East

[7express]

Sunday results:

Eastern over York 70-60. 
Trachone Preston lead the Warriors with 23 points; Omar St. John lead the Cardinals with 13 while Jaron Williams had 11 points & 11 rebounds.  Warriors actually have a bit of time off as they've already played 8 games in 15 days as they are off until Saturday when they open up LEC play @ RIC in what is also their last game of the first semester.   York is at 0-6 Purchase Wednesday evening.

USM over SJME 74-58.
Jacob Littlefield had 29 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs for the Huskies.  Steve Simonds had 20 to lead the Monks.  USM has the week off as they are next in action for the LEC opener Saturday @ Western; Monks open up GNAC play Tuesday night vs. Lasell.

32-12 LEC; 29-15 me

Next game Monday:

Lesley @ Plymouth 7:00

[7express]

Tonight's pick:

Plymouth 81-56

[7express]

Plymouth crushes Lesley 84-54.
Corbin Polec and Casey Blanchard each had 15 to lead the Lynx who drop to 0-4 on the season.  Alex Burt lead the panthers with 20 who improve to .500 (3-3) on the young campaign.  The Lynx are back in action @ Emerson Wednesday evening, while the Panthers visit Dartmouth to face the Corsairs in the LEC opener for both teams.  Damn, just missed the final tally as I had it predicted 81-56

33-12 LEC; 30-15 me.

Tuesday's schedule:
Boston @ MIT 7 PM
Western @ Framingham 7 PM
Worcester @ Dartmouth 7:30
RIC @ Elms 7 PM

[7express]

Tuesday picks:

MIT 74-45
Western 83-73
Dartmouth 74-68
RIC 66-60

[7express]

Hmmm....Boston beat MIT      Does the scoreboard have the result wrong or did that really happen??

[AllStar]

Hmmm....Boston beat MIT      Does the scoreboard have the result wrong or did that really happen??

Looks like it really happened...but it must have been a poorly played game looking at the box score!  Last year the Beacons only lost by 6 at home to MIT...so perhaps we shouldn't be that stunned.  Obviously I did not think they would win this game though.  Regardless, a good out of conference win for the Little East.  From my perspective, however, I hope the Beacons do not see a winning result on Saturday.

[7express]

Tuesday results:

Beacons with the upset 59-52.
Carl Joseph lead all scorers with 23 points for the Beacons while Justin Pedley lead the Engineers with 15.  Beacons only shot 70.0% from the free throw line and were a dismal 1-17 from 3, so 2 unlikely ingredients to pull off an upset like this, however they held the Engineers to 34.7% shooting from the floor, Engineers shot under 60% from the free throw line (58.3%) and the big key was turnovers: Engineers turned it over 19 times, Beacons only turned it over 10 times which made up for the free throw & 3 point shooting.  Engineers will look to put this behind them quickly as they get right back out there, Thursday night @ Salem State, beacons will look to carry this momentum with them into their LEC opener Saturday @ Keene State.

Western edges Framingham 74-68.
Timothy McCarthy lead the Rams with 19 points while the Rams got double-doubles from Patrick Cuff (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Bertholyn Alexandre (11 & 11).  Western was lead by Phil Starks who had 15.  Rams are back in action Thursday night @ Brandeis, Western has the LEC opener at home against USM Saturday.

Dartmouth clobbers Worcester 87-61.
Paul Brooks lead the Lancers with 12; Jordan rezendes went off for 36 on 13-17 shooting to lead the Corsairs who played their last game of the first semester at home.  They won't see game action at the Tripp Athletic Center again until January 8.  Their final 2 games of the fall semester are on the road, then they have 2 games in Florida before the new year.  Corsairs are back in action Thursday @ Bridgewater; Lancers start a stretch of 4 games in 6 days to end the fall semester Saturday @ Coast Guard.

RIC over Elms 67-52.
Jerry Buchanon lead the Blazers with 15 points and Kenny Lockett chipped in 8 points and 10 rebounds.  Chris Burton had a game high 21 for RIC, Roosevelt Shider added 19, and Terrance Tribble lead the team with 10 rebounds.  Blazers return to action Thursday @ Wheelock, RIC opens up LEC play Saturday at home vs. Eastern.  Too bad I have to do something Saturday night, otherwise I would totally be in Providence for that

37-12 LEC (I think they are doing better this year than last) ; 33-16 me (I think I am doing worse this year than last).

Next games Thursday:
Keene @ Colby-Sawyer 7 PM
Dartmouth @ Bridgewater 7 PM

[AllStar]

Before I get to the previews, I have to point out this box score!  So...why exactly was this game played? 
http://d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2014-15/boxscores/20141203_jhq5.xml

Thursday's games:

UMass-Dartmouth at Bridgewater State
The Corsairs bounced back from a horrible home loss to Roger Williams with an 87-61 drubbing of Worcester State at the Tripp Center.  Jordan Rezendes continued his impressive play, pouring in 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the floor in the blowout.  UMD shot 50.8% as a team and led by as many as 33 points against the overmatched Lancers (1-4).  Now UMD goes on the road and plays what would figure to be a more difficult contest against Bridgewater State.  Even though the Bears are 2-3, they did battle Rhode Island College to the end in a 58-56 loss at the Murray Center before Thanksgiving.  Bridgewater also has a loss to New Jersey City (85-84) and an ugly defeat at home against Clark (72-70) on their resume.  Michael Lofton continued his strong play in the Bears' loss at RIC, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.  Barrett Murphy also scored 13 points off the bench in that contest.  In Bridgewater's losses, they've been out rebounded by 14, 11, and 14 boards.  They've outrebounded the opposition in their two wins, although it must be noted that those wins came against lowly Medgar Evers and winless Washington and Jefferson (0-7).  The Corsairs won last years match-up in North Dartmouth, 76-73, while the Bears took the last game over UMD (a 5-21 Corsairs team) in Bridgewater, 94-82.

Keene State at Colby-Sawyer
The Owls will look to continue their hot-shooting in an in-state contest against Colby-Sawyer.  Both teams have not played since before Thanksgiving (Colby-Sawyer not since November 22).  Keene State is coming off a 100-72 pasting of then-No. 25 Springfield in Keene last Tuesday.  Tom Doyle scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the floor and KSC as a team shot 57.8% from the floor in the contest and made 10-of-19 threes.  The Owls shot a blistering 64.5% in the second half and led by as many as 30 in the runaway.  Colby-Sawyer is 2-2 (1-2 against Division III competition).  The Chargers hammered Plymouth on the road 81-54 in the season-opener, and beat tomato can Albany Pharmacy 118-55 in their last game.  Sandwiched in between was a 75-62 home loss to another LEC foe, UMass-Boston, and an 83-72 neutral court loss to Fitchburg State at the Rivier Tip-Off Tournament.    CSC is led by the pair of Mike Dias and Wol Majong, while Peter Donato is also a player to watch.  In the Chargers' loss to UMass-Boston, they were blitzed on the boards, 56-37.  That may not bode well, as Keene State has outrebounded their opponents by an average of 15.6 boards per game thus far.  Keene took the head-to-head game last year, 79-73 at home over the Chargers.  That was the Owls first win last year, as they entered the game 0-5 and off of a debacle at Plattsburgh State.

[7express]

Thursday:

Keene 78-71
Bridgewater 82-78

[7express]

Thursday results:

Keene in overtime 91-83.
Dizel Wright had 20 for the owls while Mike Dias had 23 for the Chargers off the bench.   Both teams open up conference play Saturday afternoon: Chargers are home vs. green Mountain, Owls play the Beacons at home in what's shaping up to be a very intriguing early season game.

Bridgewater edges Dartmouth 81-78.
Kyle Gibson had 20 points to lead the Bears; Jordan Rezendes had a game high 29 for the Corsairs and also had a game high 10 rebounds as well.  Bears are @ Wheaton (MA) Saturday afternoon, Corsairs are up in Plymouth, NH for their LEC opener.  Damn, I was 1 Bridgewater point away from nailing the exact score 

38-13 LEC; 35-16 me.

Saturday schedule, round 1 of conference play, all games @ 3 PM:
Boston @ Keene
USM @ Western
Dartmouth @ Plymouth
Eastern @ RIC.

Superlatives:
Most important game: Eastern @ RIC.  Boston & Keene are better than expected, Western is undefeated, but these are likely the top 2 at seasons end.
Best game: Boston @ Keene.  2 teams that are exceeding expectations for them preseason.
Worst game: USM @ Western.

[AllStar]

Saturday's conference games:

No. 25 Eastern Connecticut at Rhode Island College
The two teams picked in the preseason to finish 1 and 2 in the standings will face each other to open the conference schedule.  Eastern Connecticut has started 7-1 this year and has won four straight.  In their most recent contest, they won the UR/Holiday Inn Airport Tournament over York (NY), 70-60.  Trachone Preston scored 23 points, although on 22 shots from the field.  Hugh Lindo posted 11 more rebounds in the Warriors victory.  ECSU limited Cardinals stand-out Omar St. John to just 13 points on 5-of-16 from the floor in 39 minutes.  Rhode Island College has won five straight since their lone loss to Marymount.  The Anchormen pulled away in the second half after having a 4-point halftime lead to beat Elms in their last game.  Chris Burton scored 21 points and Roosevelt Shider added 19 in the win.  The Blazers shot just 29% overall and made 1-of-10 threes in the loss.  Eastern Connecticut went a perfect 14-0 in Little East regular season play last year, included in that mark was a 77-74 win at Geissler Gym and a 73-58 victory at the Murray Center over the Anchormen.  Rhode Island College got the ultimate revenge, though, downing Eastern Connecticut in Willimantic, 70-61 to win the Little East Tournament and receive the LEC's automatic bid to the NCAAs.

UMass-Dartmouth at Plymouth State
UMass-Dartmouth has lost 2 of 3 since winning three straight, including a narrow 81-78 road loss to Bridgewater State in their last game on Thursday.  Jordan Rezendes posted a double-double in the defeat with 29 points and 10 rebounds.  Four other Corsairs scored in double-figures as a whole, but the team shot just 3-of-18 from three.  Plymouth State enters with a 3-3 record, although none of their three wins are against great competition.  Their most recent game would certainly qualify, as they trounced dreadful Lesley 84-54.  Alex Burt scored 20 points for the Panthers and the team as a whole outscored the Lynx 40-12 in the paint.  2 of the Panthers' 3 losses are by almost 30 points (81-54 home vs. Colby-Sawyer and 86-58 in a neutral game vs. Endicott).  UMD and PSU split the head-to-head games last year, with the Panthers winning 71-61 in New Hampshire and the Corsairs returning the favor 78-75 in North Dartmouth.

Southern Maine at Western Connecticut
Western Connecticut remained undefeated with a hard-fought 74-68 win at Framingham State last Tuesday.  The Colonials raced off to a 25-11 lead, but the Rams came back and led 38-36 at halftime.  The second half stayed close throughout, but Western pulled away at the end with several free throws.  The win came despite Western, who was paced by Phil Starks' 15 points, shooting worse than the Framingham in every category.  The 74 point output was by far the lowest for Western yet this season, as they scored 91, 89, and 92 points in their first three games.  Southern Maine won the Costello Cup for the second straight year in their last contest, as they beat rival St. Joseph's (ME) 74-58 in Gorham.  Jacob Littlefield scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies, who shot 52% from three (11-of-21).  Southern Maine has not won away from Hill Gym yet this year, losing two games at the Connecticut College Tip-Off Tournament to Anna Maria and Connecticut College, and at Bates.  In the 56-47 loss to the Bobcats, USM shot just 31%.  Western Connecticut swept Southern Maine in the season series last year, winning 86-76 in Maine and 83-75 in Connecticut.

UMass-Boston at Keene State
Keene State enters an interesting early season matchup with UMass-Boston off of an ugly 91-83 overtime win at Colby-Sawyer on Thursday.  The Owls led for the majority of the game, including 60-45 with 10 minutes left and 68-56 with four minutes left.  However, atrocious free throw shooting (20-of-37) and bad turnovers (25) let the Chargers rally and tie the game with three seconds left to send it to overtime.  KSC never trailed in overtime and was able to make enough free throws to secure the victory.  Dizel Wright scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.  The Owls will probably have to play a much crisper game to beat a UMass-Boston team that has started off a surprising 6-1.  The Beacons rebounded from their first loss (74-66 to Eastern Nazarene) with a big (for the team and conference) 59-52 win at then-No. 11 MIT.  UMB did not shoot the ball all that well and made just 1-of-17 threes, but MIT shot even worse (34.7%) from the field.  Carl Joseph scored 23 points, the only Beacons player in double-figures, in the upset.  Keene State won both games over UMass-Boston last year, 93-76 in Boston and 78-66 in Keene.

[7express]

Saturday picks:

RIC 67-65
Dartmouth 78-66
Western 82-65
Boston 83-79.  Really not confident in 3/4.  About the only lock is Western over USM, the other 3 could go either way.

[warriorcat]

Eastern CT   53    RIC   47

ECSU opened the Conference season with a sloppy but effective effort at the Murray Center this afternoon.  Trachone Preston was the catalyst with a game high 26 pts nearly half of the Warrior total.  Hugh Lindo chipped in 10 pts and 10 rebs along with 6 blocks.  Freshman Tarchee Brown had an inauspicious LEC debut scoring 0 pts on 0-10 shooting. 

Eric Alleyne led the Anchormen with 14 pts.  Chris Burton was limited to 24 min due to foul trouble and finished with 8 points.

Both teams shot poorly  ECSU 39.6 %/ 20%/ 50%   RIC  31%/ 20%/ 67%

Lindo and Preston played 40 min and Kevin Leumine played 39 min.  Big drop off when the Warrors have to go to the bench.

[7express]

Keene outscores Boston 107-97.
Tom Doyle was one of 4 Owls in doubles figures with 23; Carl Joseph lead all scorers with 33 for the Beacons.  Beacons return to action Thursday vs. Pine Manor; Owls have the week off before hosting USM in LEC game #2 next Saturday.

Eastern over RIC 53-47.
Eric Alleyne lead the Anchormen with 14 points; Trachone Preston had a game high 26 for the Warriors who also got 10 points & 10 rebounds from Hugh Lindo and 9 points and 10 rebounds from Kevin Leumene.  RIC is back in action Tuesday @ Johnson & Wales, while the Warriors are done with the first half, ending the fall semester with an 8-1 record and top 25 record they will take with them into the Christmas break.  They return to the court Tuesday, December 30 in Florida vs. Marietta college out of Ohio.

Dartmouth edges Plymouth 78-75.
Jordan Rezendes had a team high 26 for the Corsairs; Alex Burt had a game high 26 for the Panthers.  Panthers are back in action at home Tuesday night vs. Tufts, Corsairs take a 5-4 overall record and 1-0 LEC record into the clubhouse as they break for finals & Christmas.  They return to action Tuesday, December 30 in Miami vs. Messiah.

Western over USM 81-65.
Zach Leal lead the Huskies with 12 points; Bobby Bynum had a game high 19 for the Colonials.  Huskies return to action Tuesday night vs. Maine-Farmington; Colonials are back at home in the Feldman arena Monday evening vs. the Pine Manor Gators.

38-13 LEC; 37-18 me.

Standings:

1) Keene 1-0 (7-0)
1) Western 1-0 (5-0)
1) Eastern 1-0 (8-1)
1) Dartmouth 1-0 (5-4)
5) Boston 0-1 (6-2)
5) RIC 0-1 (6-2)
5) Plymouth 0-1 (3-4)
5) USM 0-1 (2-4)

Conference schedule:

Saturday, December 13:
RIC @ Boston 3 PM
USM @ Keene 3 PM

Saturday, January 3:
Plymouth @ Eastern 3 PM

Thursday, January 8:
Western @ Dartmouth 7:30 PM.  That takes everyone to 2 conference games.

Next game Monday:
Pine Manor @ Western Connecticut 6 PM

[LECFAN32]

Watched the Framingham game, coach quick has the colonials playing a really aggressive pressing man defense and consistently attacking the rim out of transition and a scramble motion offense with hand offs and ball screens. Controlled chaos basically, think this team may have a shot. Style tailored perfectly to their strengths