MBB: Little East

[ECSUalum]

This afternoon's game vs Rhode Island College was amazing!!!  In particular, Hugh Lindo played one of the most incredible games I have ever seen.  Not only was he hustling on every play with a sore ankle, he had 16 rebounds, 18 points, and went 10 for 10 from the free throw line.  He had another gym shattering slam dunk, which got a huge crowd to their feet.  In addition he was slammed to the ground by Mike Neal in an attempt to make another slam dunk, Neal being given a flagrant technical foul.  Huge just got up and hit two more free throws   The frustration level on the RIC team was palpable tonight as they trailed by as many as 29 points in the second half and lost with a final score of 83-59, being the top defensive team in the conference.  Freshman Tarchee Brown was devastating at the start to the second half, flushing 3, 3s in a row to give the Warriors a commanding lead which they never relinquished!! He finished with a game high 21 points.  Eastern caused 15 RIC turnovers only committing 9 as a team.  Trechone  Preston had only 4 points and Freshman Colin Jordan had a season high 11!!  6'11" soph David Canny has another solid defensive game tonight as well

Next year ECSU loses Brandon Yarbourough, (an outstanding player), but that's it.  Barring any injuries, look for an NCAA top 10 team next year

Here are some stats from this afternoon's game:

Rhode Island Col.         Team Statistics           Eastern Conn. St. 

41.8% ( 23-55)             Field Goal %              51.0% ( 25-49)
31.6% ( 6-19)             3pt Field Goal %          60.0% ( 9-15)
58.3% ( 7-12)               Free Throw %            85.7% ( 24-28)

[AllStar]

Final scores for Saturday's games.

Eastern Connecticut  83  Rhode island 59     

UMass-Dartmouth 88  Plymouth State 87       

Western Connecticut 85  Southern Maine 57

Hey, hey, hey...who told you that you could invade this board and post scores?   

[AllStar]

This afternoon's game vs Rhode Island College was amazing!!!  In particular, Hugh Lindo played one of the most incredible games I have ever seen.  Not only was he hustling on every play with a sore ankle, he had 16 rebounds, 18 points, and went 10 for 10 from the free throw line.  He had another gym shattering slam dunk, which got a huge crowd to their feet.  In addition he was slammed to the ground by Mike Neal in an attempt to make another slam dunk, Neal being given a flagrant technical foul.  Huge just got up and hit two more free throws   The frustration level on the RIC team was palpable tonight as they trailed by as many as 29 points in the second half and lost with a final score of 83-59, being the top defensive team in the conference.  Freshman Tarchee Brown was devastating at the start to the second half, flushing 3, 3s in a row to give the Warriors a commanding lead which they never relinquished!! He finished with a game high 21 points.  Eastern caused 15 RIC turnovers only committing 9 as a team.  Trechone  Preston had only 4 points and Freshman Colin Jordan had a season high 11!!  6'11" soph David Canny has another solid defensive game tonight as well

Next year ECSU loses Brandon Yarbourough, (an outstanding player), but that's it.  Barring any injuries, look for an NCAA top 10 team next year

Here are some stats from this afternoon's game:

Rhode Island Col.         Team Statistics           Eastern Conn. St. 

41.8% ( 23-55)             Field Goal %              51.0% ( 25-49)
31.6% ( 6-19)             3pt Field Goal %          60.0% ( 9-15)
58.3% ( 7-12)               Free Throw %            85.7% ( 24-28)

Eastern Connecticut is a very athletic and impressive team, no question about it.  They are very well coached.

[ECSUalum]

I also need to give shout-outs to Brandon Yarborough and Kevin Lumene, not only for this afternoon's game vs RIC but for the whole season.  Brandon and Kevin have made considerable contributions on the offensive side, (Kevin and Brandon 13.9 and 7 pts/game respectively), and both are outstanding defensive players, both often matched up with the opposing teams best offensive players.  Kevin contributed 12 points and Brandon 7 today besides their outstanding D!!!

[magicman]

Final scores for Saturday's games.

Eastern Connecticut  83  Rhode island 59     

UMass-Dartmouth 88  Plymouth State 87       

Western Connecticut 85  Southern Maine 57

Hey, hey, hey...who told you that you could invade this board and post scores?   

At my age I don't need permission.   And it's not the first time I've posted scores over here. Sometimes I've even predicted scores but usually when a SUNYAC team is involved. I watched the Eastern Connecticut/Rhode Island game today, until it was no longer a game. Impressive display by the Warriors. Still trying to figure out how they lost to Hartwick!!

[ECSUalum]

Final scores for Saturday's games.

Eastern Connecticut  83  Rhode island 59     

UMass-Dartmouth 88  Plymouth State 87       

Western Connecticut 85  Southern Maine 57

Hey, hey, hey...who told you that you could invade this board and post scores?   

At my age I don't need permission.   And it's not the first time I've posted scores over here. Sometimes I've even predicted scores but usually when a SUNYAC team is involved. I watched the Eastern Connecticut/Rhode Island game today, until it was no longer a game. Impressive display by the Warriors. Still trying to figure out how they lost to Hartwick!!

Magic,
Coach Geitner always tells us that as the season progresses, the most important aspect for the team is to compete hard in both practice and in completing their schedule and to get better, even if its in small increments, as the team heads toward the LEC tournament.  I sort of think Hartwick might see a different team and result if that game were played now!

[magicman]

ECSUalum,

I agree. The Warriors would beat Hartwick by double digits if they were to meet again.

[amh63]

ECSU.....your Warriors have set a high bar in their trouncing of RIC...a team that beat Tufts in Medford.  Amherst has a game with RIC shortly...hope we can get close to the bar set by the Warriors.

[AllStar]

Just a truly brutal showing all around from Keene State in a loss to UMass-Boston (1-5 in the LEC coming in) today.  This team is sinking rapidly and it is now so bad I don't even have any confidence they can beat dreadful conference teams Plymouth State (1 conference win) and Southern Maine (0 conference wins) coming up.  It would appear at this time that Keene is substantially worse than their inflated record indicates.  Any loss to UMass-Boston by 24 points is the sign of SIGNIFICANT problems.

[7express]

Eastern/Western, RIC/Dartmouth pushed back all the way to Thursday; Plymouth/Keene now on Wednesday.  As of 2:30 on Monday, USM/Boston is still scheduled for Tuesday.

[7express]

Keene beat Plymouth 81-68 yesterday.  Onto today's picks:

Boston 84-72.  They should get it done over a winless Huskies squad at home
RIC 73-71.  Dartmouth is tough against them at home, but after the pounding they took at Eastern over the weekend, and the extra days off with the snow, they'll be ready to wipe their slate clean, and unfortunately, the Corsairs is that next opponent.
Western 83-76.  Eastern hasn't lost a conference game in over 2 years, January 26, 2013 was the last time they lost an LEC game, and it's also currently the longest conference winning streak going in any conference (St. Norbert is the only other team that is unbeaten in conference play [Midwest conference] so far this year that finished last year unbeaten, last lost a conference game February 9 of 2013).  The Warriors have also won 8 of the last 9 in the season series, the only Western win in that time being the Brooks to Robinson buzzer beater court storming win in February of 2012.  The Colonials will be ready to play, and ready to change the series misfortune of years past, the question is, can they play well enough, for long enough to steal the win in Willimantic??  My homer pick (sorry guys!) say YES! YES! YES!  Btw, I should be up there this afternoon for the 2 games I'll be in a Nationals postseason sweatshirt and an LA Kings Stanley cup final hat, come say hello if you are there as well.  I also lost by phone the other day  so unfortunately I won't be able to do a halftime recap today as the next time I'll check the boards is when I get back.

[ECSUalum]

Eastern over Western, in Willi, 82-68 in a close game until the last 4 minutes when ECSU pulled away off of points from WCSU T/Os
Balanced attack by the Warriors, Kendal Marquez put a show on for his home town fans with 18 points.
Eastern Scoring:
STARTERS                     Reb  PTS
12 Hugh Lindo -             14     16 
50 Brandon Yarborough - 3      11 
03 Tarchee Brown - G      7      24 
20 Trachone Preston - G   4     15 
23 Kevin Leumene - G      4     10


Western Connecticut   Team Statistics  Eastern Connecticut

42.6% ( 26-61)           Field Goal         % 47.4% ( 27-57)
43.8% ( 7-16)           3pt Field Goal      % 40.0% ( 4-10)
56.2% ( 9-16)             Free Throw %     77.4% ( 24-31 }


Western Scoring
STARTERS                         PTS
00 Luis Bridtter -                 6 
32 Tony Seldon - F              0 
33 Tre'Von Perry - F           11 
03 Phil Starks - G                4 
11 Jeremiah Washington -  10 
01 Jimmy Louissaint            7 
05 Kendall Marquez           18

RIC loses to UMD
UMB loses to USM
Plymouth loses to Keene
LEC standings:            Conf    Overall
Eastern Connecticut      8-0    16-3
Mass-Dartmouth           6-2    10-8
Keene State                 5-3    14-4
Rhode Island College    5-3     13-5
Western Connecticut     4-4    12-6
Mass-Boston                 2-6    10-9
Plymouth State             1-7    6-12
Southern Maine            1-7     4-14

[7express]

At least in the pick em leagues I picked up a few points with the Dartmouth & USM wins. 

If you wake up in the morning, log onto d3hoops.com and pull up the box score for this game you'd probably say "well, Western hung tough for a bit, but Eastern was clearly the better team."  You would be TOTALLY mistaken if you did that.  This was actually a 4 point Eastern lead with 4:30 to go before Brandon Yarborough (or Trachone Preston) hit a 3 to put Eastern up 7, and as the shot was going in, Claudy Casseus pulled down Hugh Lindo so not only did Eastern get the 3 points on the 3 pointer, Lindo went to the line for 2 free throws, made them both to put them up 9, and after that for all intents and purposes it was game, set, and match.  That play was a complete backbacker, I knew Western was cooked after that sequence.  2 more things for the night:

1) If Western beats Dartmouth on Saturday, I'm officially calling the LEC race, and the other 7 teams will be playing for 2nd.  At the worst if the Warriors lose @ Plymouth (now much tougher then it was since they lost 2 days on an already long trip) they'll be 2 games up with 5 games left with only @ Dartmouth & @ Western the only potential loseable games on their schedule the rest of the season (done with RIC and have Keene at home)
2) I don't care how far Eastern advances this season, assuming everyone comes back, there is no doubt that is a top 15 (really should be top 10 but I'll spot them 5 spots) team in the preseason for 2015-16.  When the only player you lose on the entire roster is a good role player, you're going to be damn good next year.  I never like preseason rankings anyways, but as long as Preston (is he really on a junior??  Seems like his first year in Willimantic was when Brooks was a senior which would make him a senior this year), Lindo, Brown & Kevin Leume return to campus next fall, and are all academically eligible, and this team isn't a preseason top 15, they really should just abolish preseason rankings all together.

Also, having seen this team in person on the road @ nationally ranked teams Albertus (top 10) and Eastern (top 20), I'm beyond confused how Western can go to-to-toe with those 2 teams, yet lose at home to a 2 win Mitchell, or lose @ Dartmouth.  The Albertus game was just like the Eastern game as well, Western actually lead that game with about 10 minutes to play before the Falcons went on a big run to blow the game open and make it look worse than it actually was.

[ECSUalum]

Tre Preston arrived at ECSU as a freshman for the 12-13 season and averaged 11 pts/g and 29 min/g, and as a result, (barring injury), he is on track to become ECSU's all time leading scorer.

2014-15 Eastern Connecticut Men's Basketball Roster
No.  Name                     Class  Pos.  Hgt.  Wgt.  Hometown/High School 

1  Michael-Thomas Sciro   Jr.  Guard  6-1  205    Westerly, RI / Westerly '12 
3  Tarchee Brown             Fr.  Guard  6-3  200    Rockville / Rockville '14 
5  Donny Craig                Fr.  Guard  5-11 190   Waterford / Waterford '14 
10  Collin Jordan              Fr.  Guard  5-11 170  Cheshire / Cheshire '14 
11  John Stevens             So.  Guard  6-3  190    Barkhamsted / Northwestern Reg. '13 
12  Hugh Lindo                So.  Forw'd 6-4  190  Enfield / Enfield '12 
14  Brenden Young           Fr.  Guard  6-2  200  Amston / RHAM '14 
20  Trachone Preston   Jr.  Guard  5-9  165  Enfield / Enfield '12 
23  Kevin Leumene           Jr.  Guard  6-2  205  Stamford / Trinity Catholic '12 
24  Alex Borofsky             So.  Guard  6-4  220  Southington / Southington '13 
31  Mitchell Foster            Fr.  Forward  6-4  170  Ashford / E.O. Smith '14 
32  David Canny              So.  Center  6-11  290  Torrington / Torrington '13 
42  Brandon Kuczenski     So.  Center  6-5  240  Naugatuck / Naugatuck '13 
44  Matthew Sterner         Jr.  Forward  6-5  190  Plymouth / Terryville '12 
50  Brandon Yarborough   Sr.  Forward  6-4  190  Stamford / St. Luke's '11 
52  Brandon MacPherson   Fr.  Forward  6-4  200  Middletown / Xavier '14

[7express]

Saturday's predictions:

Dartmouth @ Western.
Dartmouth is a surprising 6-2 in the conference and beat the Colonials earlier in January.  After this game, the Colonials only have 2 more home games the rest of the season.  The Colonials currently sit in the 5th spot, and since they still have the home return games against RIC and Eastern (the only 2 home games left) as well as a road game @ Keene, and tough road trips to Boston & Plymouth remaining on the schedule this game is pretty much must win for the Colonials if they want to stay at home for the quarters.  Corsairs meanwhile still get the Warriors at home in 2 weeks, so this is pretty important for them as well.  Western is a 4 point favorite and I think they cover it, 83-78

Keene @ USM.
USM is coming off their first win of the year Thursday @ Boston, while the Owls rebounded from a slide with a win over state rival Plymouth on Wednesday.  Owls won in Keene by 7 in December.  Keene is favored by 9.5, but I think the Huskies keep it close, Keene 79-72

Boston @ RIC.
RIC coming off 2 straight losses, while the Beacons are coming off a home loss to winless in conference and 3 wins overall USM.  Beacons lost by 26 at home in December, doubt this one is much closer.  Anchormen are favored by 12, and I think they cover easily 79-61

Eastern @ Plymouth.
This would have been a tough trip as it was anyways for the Warriors with the long trip and all, and about 40 hours after the win over the rivals from the Western part of the state, the Warriors could start the game out flat.  Eastern won by 25 in Willimantic earlier this month, and are favored in this one by 16.5.  I'll take the Panthers with the points, but Eastern to come out with the win overall 70-57

On the LEC tournament front:
Boston, Plymouth & USM are all officially eliminated from winning the conference, while an Eastern win AND a Western loss would eliminate the Colonials from winning the conference.
For the quarterfinals spot: nobody is officially eliminated from that yet: A Keene win over USM would eliminate the Huskies from hosting a quarterfinal game, and a Keene win AND Plymouth loss would also eliminate the Panthers from hosting as well.