MBB: Little East

[7express]

Did the LEC forget to do the annual M/W Basketball ranking this year or did I miss it   Not that it means very much anyway, but they are really late this year!  Anyway best of luck to all the M/W LEC teams and pray the teams stay away from injury!!!  LET THE SEASON BEGIN!!!!

The ranking must have come up this afternoon.  No surprise ECSU #1  7 of 8 first place votes

http://www.littleeast.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/MBKBPreSeasonPoll2015

Alum, I was looking for them this afternoon around lunchtime probably 12 or 1 and didn't see them and was thinking it was pretty late.  I know the LEC is one of the last to get their publications out, but even I was thinking that was a little late for them.

[CCC Talk]

Little East Picks

1. East Conn - I honestly think they have the potential to go 14-0, they have the best players, they have the best coach.

2. Keene- Learned how to win last year, if the first year coach just keeps the train on the tracks they cruise to a top 3 finish.

3. RIC- Super young and lacking Walsh magic, but I think the league is bad enough that won't matter.

4. Dartmouth- Rezendes and not much else

5. West Conn- Young young young.

6. Plymouth- Tough and well coached, best of the bad.

7. USM- Not much to speak of

8. Boston- I think Harris will do well, but they could go 0fer this year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

What the heck happened in that EConn game?  Losing to WPI isn't terrible, but that box score is all kinds of indecipherable.

[7express]

They played like crap, and the WPI defense did a great job of not giving them looks.  Also held onto the ball pretty well, so for the most part Eastern spent the entire game in a half court game.

[7express]

Friday results:

Plymouth over Thomas 77-71.
Panthers put 3 players in double figures lead by Curtis Arsenault's game high 19 and also got 18 from Jack Preston and 15 from Uche Nwokeji (at least I only have to type his name 1 more year!).  The Terriers were lead by Tyheem Simon's 18 points off the bench, and Levi Barnes got held to only 14 10 points fewer then his per game average last year.  The teams shot 66.7% combined from the free throw line, so may want to work on that during practice this week.  Plymouth is next in action Tuesday night when they have the annual game vs. Rivier at NHTI while the Terriers play @ Nichols on Tuesday night as well.

Eastern 50 vs. WPI 60.
The thing about defense is that it never has a bad night like shooting does, and the Engineer defense was able to frustrate the Warriors who could never get anything going on the offensive end, and the fast break was held in check as well as the Engineers held onto the ball and didn't beat themselves which is what you need to beat a good team. By the time they could actually get some stuff going on the offensive end of the court, there were only like 4 minutes left, and they were down 16. Trachone Preston lead the Warriors and had a game high of 17 points, but the big 3 of Preston, Kevin Leume & Hugh Lindo went a combined 8-31 shooting on the night and the Warriors only managed to go 2-14 from 3.  Tyrell Arnum had 10 points in his collegiate debut, he looks to have some promise.  Sean Doncaster lead the Engineers with 15 points, while Aaron  Todd had 10 points and 10 rebounds.  The first game saw Westfield defeat Western New England 71-55, so the Warriors get the Golden Bears in the consolation, while the Engineers get the host Owls in the championship.

Dartmouth 102-93 over Mitchell.
Corsairs should've saved a couple of those points, given them to Eastern to use instead.  Frank Martin had a game high 36 for the Marines, Donavan mcClean added 23 of his own, and Domenico Santiago had 14 points and a game high 13 rebounds.  Jordan Rezendes lead the Corsairs in points with 35 & rebounds 12.  Corsairs finished 59.7% overall, and 61.1% from 3, both unsustainable season averages, so they should start figuring out a defense and how to cut down from giving up 93 points which could be a sustainable season average.  Springfield beat Fitchburg 87-76 in the other game, so Dartmouth plays Springfield in the championship, while Mitchell plays Fitchburg in the consolation game.

1-2 LEC; 1-2 me.  GREAT start!

Saturday schedule:
Western New England vs. Eastern (@ Westfield) 1 PM
Boston @ Suffolk 3 PM
Maine-Maritime @ USM 4 PM
Green Mountain @ Keene 5 PM
Springfield @ Dartmouth 6:30 PM.  I'll have predictions in the morning.

[7express]

Sat predictions:

Western New England vs. Eastern (@ Westfield).
Have to think Eastern plays a bit better this afternoon.  The Golden Bears aren't nearly as good defensively as WPI is, they were careless with the ball, so I think Eastern should get some breaks going, and the Golden Bears played a zone last night which meant Springfield was nailing buckets from 3 all game.  If they play the same zone today, those 3's Eastern missed last night may go in tonight.  Golden Bears have a couple quick, small guards that the Warriors have to pay attention to.  Warriors are a 10.5 point favorite, and I say they win going away in the second half.  Eastern 75-55.

Boston @ Suffolk.
Local area rivalry has been completely dominated by the Beacons in recent years as Boston has won the last 7 meetings, including last year by 28.  The Beacons finished with double digit wins for the second time in 3 years including the first winning record since 05-06, while the Rams have only won double digit games once in the last 9 seasons.   Beacons are a 9 point favorite, and they get the double digit win.  Boston 84-71.

Maine-Maritime @ USM.
The Mariners have finished 11-87 the last 4 seasons (3-22 last season), while the Huskies lost 15 of their final 17 games last season, so at least one team has to win, right??  Huskies are the 14 point favorites.  I think they'll win but 14 on the road is a tough sell, so I'll take the points with the Marines, but USM still wins 75-64.

Green Mountain @ Keene State.
Not as terrible as the women's team at Green Mountain is, as the men's team managed to win 9 games last year, but still this is a cupcake the Owls should devour and eat very quickly.  First game with the new regime at Keene, and since all 3 coaches came from defensive-minded programs & coaches: Ryan Cairn (@ WPI with coach Bartley), Tyler Hundley (@ Eastern Connecticut with coach Geitner) and Tahrike Carter (@ RIC with coach Walsh who was the only player to win MVP & defensive POY in the same season).  The Owls have been lacking on the defensive end of the floor the last 5,6, 7 years, so it will be interesting to see if the coaching change gives a whole new dimension to the program.  In either case, this should be a relatively easy win.   Keene is a big 25 point favorite, and I think they'll get the points.  Keene 84-55.

Springfield @ Dartmouth.
Exciting contest in the final of the Hampton Suites classic.  Like coach Bartley @ WPI & coach Anderson @ MIT, coach Brock and Springfield plays a defense first program that doesn't beat itself, while the Corsairs with Jordan Rezendes run up and down the court and don't worry about the defensive end of the court as much.  Defense wins championship, but offense wins game (but don't you need to score to win games to win the championship), so we'll see which style plays out in North Dartmouth, MA this evening.  Oddsmakers have made the Pride a 2.5 point favorite as they think they can slow down Rezendes, and even though all 5 Corsairs starters scored in double figures last year, who else do you trust on that team to win games??  Springfield 79-73.

[7express]

Sat results:

Eastern over WNE 80-51.
Much better game for the Warriors today.  They shot 47.5% overall, and 35.3% from 3, while holding the Golden Bears to 27.7% shooting.  Mike Gelineu was the only Golden Bear in double figures and he finished with 11; Tre Preston lead the Warriors with 17 points, while Kevin Leumene had 11 points and a game high 10 rebounds, and Michael Thomas-Sciro added 14 points off the bench.  Golden Bears next are in action Tuesday night when they take on local area rival Elms College on Tuesday evening, while the Warriors are off until next Saturday when they play a neutral court game in New Jersey against Johnson & Wales.

Boston over Suffolk 72-61.
Jake Meister lead the Rams with a game high 17 points, while the Beacons were lead by Michael Campbell who had 20 points, and Gabriel Pereira had 9 points and a game high 15 rebounds.  Rams actually shot better than the Beacons did (41.4% to 40.0%), but the Beacons had 21 offensive rebounds which lead to 19 second chance points which was a big key for the Beacons in the victory.  Rams are off until Friday when they play a tournament at Amherst with the opening opponent the Jeffs, while the Beacons have their season over at the Clark Athletic Center on Tuesday night against Salem State.

USM crushes Maine-Maritime 82-50.
Brandon Newcomb lead the Marines with 19 points, while Fred Knight and Aaron Toman each lead the Huskies with 10 points.  Huskies had 25 assists on 30 made field goals, and Karl Hendrickson gave 16 players at least 3 minutes.  Marines are off until Friday when they take a trip down to New York City to take on SUNY-Maritime.

Keene over Green Mountain 108-104.
Eagles put 4 in double figures lead by Jared Carithers 23, Cameron Annderson finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Thomas Brown added 19 points (15 via free throws) off the bench.  Carithers also pulled down 11 rebounds.  Nate Stichell lead all scorers with 32 points for the Owls, Ty Nichols had 18 points off the bench, while Nate Howard pulled down 12 rebounds.   There were a combined 74 fouls called which lead to 5 disqualifications, and 104 free throw attempts.  Green Mountain plays the loser of Elms/Endicott while Keene gets the winner of that game.

Dartmouth edges Springfield 74-71.
Alex Gartska lead the Pride with 18 points, while Larry Piretra had 16 points and a team high 18 rebounds.  Jordan Rezendez lead the Corsairs with a game high 21 and Nick Portelance had 13 points and a game high 19 rebounds.  Springfield lead 66-53 with 8:26 to play, and got outscored 21-5 the rest of the game.  Springfield plays local area rival Elms on Thursday night, while the Corsairs host Brandeis on Wednesday evening.

RIC over Salem 78-51.
How'd I miss this one on the schedule??  Marcus Faizon lead the Vikings with team highs of both 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Green lead the Anchormen with 20 points and Roosevelt Shider and Jimmy Fritzon each had 13 points.  Terrance Tribble pulled down a team high 13 rebounds.  Salem State next plays @ Boston Tuesday night, while RIC goes to Fitchburg Thursday night.

7-2 LEC; 5-3 me.

Sunday schedule:
Endicott/Elms @ Keene State 3 PM.

[7express]

Sunday result:

Keene over Endicott 100-88.
Giving up 192 points over 2 games to Green Mountain & Endicott isn't very good, but at least they've scored 208 points to grab 2 wins!  Kamahl Walker lead all scorers with 47 points for the Gulls, while Nate Stichell lead the Owls once again in scoring, 1 of 5 Owl players in double figures with 22 points, and Nate Howard had 12 points and a game high 14 rebounds, while Lucas Hammel added a team high 11 assists.  Of the 62 field goals the Gulls attempted, 26 were from 3, while of the 72 field goals the Owls attempted only 13 were from 3, yet the Gulls went to line 33 times compared to only 19 times for the Owls.  How does that happen??  Gulls are back in action Friday night when they play Clark @ Wesleyan University, while the Owls host Lasell on Thursday.

8-2 LEC; and since I forgot to make picks today (would have taken Keene) that still leaves me at 5-3.

Next games on Tuesday:
USM (-1.5) @ UNE 5:30 PM
Salem State (+3) @ Boston 7 PM
Rivier (+12) vs. Plymouth (@ New Hampshire Tech) 8 PM

[ECSUalum]

Coach Geitner's take on on the upcoming season and thoughts on his starting five:

http://gowarriorathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index

[7express]

Tuesday predictions:

USM @ UNE.
Last year the Huskies won by double figures @ UNE, and haven't lost to the Nor'Easters since 2009.  I don't think the Huskies have much of a problem, as they should cover the 1.5 point spread easily.  USM 77-68.

Salem @ Boston.
This is the second of 2 straight games against LEC teams to open the season for the Vikings as they opened their season with a loss to RIC, and will play Dartmouth later on in the season.   After finishing with 20+ wins 5 of 6 years from 07 to 12, the Vikings have only managed 17, 16 & 14 wins the last 3 seasons.   Boston 76-75.

River vs. Plymouth.
Last seasons the Panthers won 73-61, and they have won 3 of the last 4 in the series.  Plymouth 63-58

[7express]

Tues results:

UNE over USM 88-77.
Zach leal lead the Huskies with 17 points, Jose Novchanthavong (this name is gonne be fun, let's shorten it to Nove from now on) had 16, and Atencio Martin had 14 points and pulled down 8 boards.  Devin Thompson lead the Nor'Easters with 22 points, CJ Autry had 19 points, and Gavin Dibble had 15 points off the bench....with was 1 more point then the entire USM bench scored!  UNE plays @ Maine-Farmington on Thursday, while the Huskies have a neutral site game at Rivier against Colby-Sawyer on Friday night.

Salem crushes Boston 92-70.
Ryan Cloutier came off the bench for the Vikings and tallied a team high 16 points, while Zach Hurynowicz lead the Vikings starters with 15 points.  Michael Campbell lead the Beacons with 19 points.  Beacons finished only 50% from the free throw line, while the Vikings finished 46.4% from 3, two telling stats for a Vikings victory.   Vikings play @ Williams Friday, while the Beacons are off until next Tuesday when they play Fitchburg State.

Plymouth pounds Rivier 79-55.
Andre Ruff was the only Raider who finished in double figures as he tallied 14 points on the evening.  Jack Preston lead the Panthers with 15, and Ernie Johnson added 14 points off the bench.  Rivier is next in action Friday evening when they face Pine Manor, while the Panthers play @ Framingham Thursday.

9-4 LEC; 6-5 me.

Next games Wednesday.
Brandeis (+3) @ Dartmouth 6 PM
Western (+5.5) @ TCNJ 7 PM

[7express]

Wed predictions:

Brandeis @ Dartmouth.
Both teams come in unbeaten through 3 combined games.  Each team has a blowout (Judges vs. Curry & the Corsairs vs. Mitchell) while the Corsairs won a second close game vs. Springfield.   Corsairs have won 5 of the last 7 in this series, but the Judges won 2 years ago in Dartmouth.   Dartmouth 89-83.

Western @ TCNJ.
Since starting the series in the 2012-13 season, the Colonials have 2 of the 3 games and the last 2 games after losing the first game of the series in 2012-13.  2 years ago in New Jersey, the Colonials won by 3.  This is the season opener for the Colonials who, for the first semester at least will be very young as 9 of the 14 players on the roster are freshmen, and lost 5 of their top 7 leading scorers from last season.   The Lions come in 1-1 losing a close game to Salve and blowing out Wheelock, and reached double digit wins last year for the first time in 5 years.  TCNJ 79-68

[7express]

Wed results:

Brandeis over Dartmouth 66-65.
Jordan Cooper lead the Judges with 20 points, while Jordan Rezendez had a game high 26 to lead the Corsairs.  Down 2, Rezendez only hit 1 of 2 free throws with 6 seconds to play to make it a 66-65 game, Robinson Vilmont blew both free throws for the Judges, and Rezendez missed the game winning basket as time expired.  The Judges (2-0) next are in action Saturday afternoon when they play RIC in Waltham, while the Corsairs (2-1) are next in action for the LEC opener against Plymouth State on Saturday.  Isn't it a little too early to be playing conference games??

TCNJ edges Western 83-82 in overtime.
Elias Bermudez lead the Lions with 20 points and Eric Klacik had 19 off the Lions bench.  Phil Starks paced the Colonials with a game high 25, and Luis Bridtter added 17 of his own.  Western was up 5 with 1:52 to play, and were up 2 after Starks hit 1 of 2 free throws with 13 seconds to play.  Tre Perry foul lead to 2 Eric Murdock free throws which forced overtime.  In the OT session, Aaron Samuel gave the Colonials a 1 point lead with 1 free throw, Bermudez hit the game-winning layup, and the Lions blocked Stark's 3 point attempt, and Samuel missed his own 3 after Western recovered the rebound as time expired.  Colonials (0-1) are next in action Friday evening when they faced Bowdoin on a neutral court @ Roger Williams; Lions (2-1) start the NJAC conference season when they travel up to Montclair, NJ to take on the Red Hawks.

9-6 LEC; 7-6 me.

Thursday schedule:
Plymouth (-1) @ Framingham State 6 PM
Lasell (+10) @ Keene 7 PM
RIC (-7.5) @ Fitchburg State 7:30 PM

[warriorcat]

Thursday schedule:
Plymouth (-1) @ Framingham State 6 PM
Lasell (+10) @ Keene 7 PM
RIC (-7.5) @ Fitchburg State 7:30 PM
«

[7express]

Thursday predictions:

Plymouth @ Framingham.
The Rams come in at 1-2, losing by 25 to nationally ranked Babson (no shame there), losing by 2 on a neutral court to a pretty good conference opponent in Bridgewater State (why they are playing each other in a tournament who the hell knows), but no shame there either, and got their first win against a cream puff team in Newbury.  Plymouth won on the road against a below average Thomas team by 6 and pounded a bad Rivier team.  Framingham is at home, and has probably played the better schedule, so I'll stick with the safe selection.  Framingham 67-65

Lasell @ Keene.
Both teams usually score a lot of points, and give up a lot of points.  Keene looks to be more consistent than Lasell is, but I think the Lasers will keep it under double digits.  Keene 94-85.

RIC @ Fitchburg.
The Falcons come in 1-2 losing both games at the Dartmouth tournament over the weekend, before rebounding and beating Clark on Tuesday night.  The Falcons have scored 76+ points in all 3 games, but will be hard pressed to get to 70 against a defense-oriented team like RIC.  The Falcons are also allowing 83.3 points per game so far this season.  In their first game, the Anchormen held Salem State to 51 points, and 5 days later the Vikings scored 92 on the Beacons.  RIC 69-55