MBB: Little East

[7express]

Sat results:

Tufts edges RIC 84-82.
Tom Pelleschi had a game high 23 points to lead the Jumbos, while Chris Green had 20 for the Anchormen, and Jimmy Fritzon added 18.   RIC was up 8 at halftime, were still up by 4 with 2:20 left after a Green 3 pointer, and lost on a layup with 4 seconds to play.  Tufts lead the entire game for less than a minute.....literally!  They lead for a grand total of 55 seconds in the game!  They scored the first basket of the game, RIC tied it up 20 seconds later, Jumbos would hit their next field goal to go up 5-3, RIC would tie it 31 seconds later, and they would either be tied or ahead up until the last made field goal of the game which took place at 4 seconds left.  So in total, RIC either lead or tied for 39:05 yet they lost the game  .  I guess that's their season!  Jumbos (3-1) head to WPI on Tuesday, while the Anchormen (1-4) will look to rebound against Elms on Tuesday

Trinity thumps Boston 77-54.
Ed Ogundeko lead the Bantams with game highs of 22 points & 15 rebounds, while Jaquann Starks added 19 points of his own; Quadry Allen lead the Beacons with 15 points.  Bantams (3-1) host Vassar on Wednesday evening while the Beacons (3-2) play MIT on Tuesday night.

Eastern outscores Hartwick 93-87.
5 Hawks scored in double digits lead by Brandon LaForest who had 22.  For the Warriors, Trachone Preston lead the way with a game high 31, Tarchee Brown had ONLY 19 after scoring 44 last weekend, and Hugh Lindo pulled down a game high 12 rebounds.  There were a combined 116 points scored in the second half, I'm guessing the 2 coaches left defense in the locker room for the 2nd half??  In the second game of this tournament, Hamilton leads SUNY-Cobleskill 31-30, so the Hawks (2-2) will play the loser of that game while the Warriors (3-2) get the winner of that game.
Hamilton beats Cobleskill, so Hawks (2-2) play Cobleskill at 1 while the Warriors (3-2) get the host Continentals at 3 PM.

Eastern (-4.5) @ Hamilton 3 PM
USM (+1) @ St. Joseph's (ME) 7:30 PM

[ECSUalum]

Really nice job by 6'11" David Canny this afternoon in the ECSU victory over Hamilton College.  12 point performance for the jr, the best I have seen him play in his career.  If the Warriors can establish a post up game with Canny of some one, they will be a lot more dangerous.  Nice job David!!!

[amh63]

ECSUalum.....saw your post on the CAC board.  Mentioned that the Warriors won in my posts.  Congrats.
See that your HC has in the rotation made some changes in the rotation.  Has put the big centers into the game.  Amherst will have to counter them some how .  Like Lindo's new hairdo.

[ECSUalum]

ECSUalum.....saw your post on the CAC board.  Mentioned that the Warriors won in my posts.  Congrats.
See that your HC has in the rotation made some changes in the rotation.  Has put the big centers into the game.  Amherst will have to counter them some how .  Like Lindo's new hairdo.

Yes amh63, starting center Brandon Kuczenski had gotten into foul trouble, (thanks to some ridiculous calls by the officials against him and other Eastern players, while Eastern was getting mugged w/o any calls), so Coach Geitner put Davis Canny in, who also was able to better guard Hamilton's 6-11 center Zander Wear, who, BTW will be a very very good player for the Continentals.  Canny came into Eastern a bit rough, but slowly looks to be sharpening his game.  He still has a way to go, but tonight showed everybody that besides his D skills, he can maybe now make a bit of an offensive difference.  ECSU will have to have their A+++ game to beat the LJs at home in Jan.!!
The Warriors still have not started playing like they should, with one or two guys playing sub par so far vs last year, but hopefully they will improve their game before conference play hits.  Keene St, Southern Maine and Plymouth St are playing very well so far this year and USM and PS will not be pushovers.  RIC has a young team so may not be as strong a past years, however Eastern is not playing like a team that will dominate the LEC at this point, IMHO.  Hope your well!

[7express]

Sunday results:

Eastern over Hamilton 77-69.
Tarchee Brown & Tre Preston lead the Warriors with 22 & 20 points respectively, while David Canny added 12 points off the bench.  Jack Dwyer lead the Continentals with 14 points.  Warriors were down 11 with 4:04 remaining in the first half, got it to 4 at halftime, and pulled away in the second.  Continentals (3-2) face SUNYIT on Wednesday, while the Warriors (4-2), once again, have the entire week off, and won't be back in action until they open the LEC portion of the schedule Saturday at home vs. USM.

SJME edges USM 71-66.
Cole Libby was one of 4 Huskies in double figures as he finished with a team high 18 points, and Atencio Martin finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while John Crawley lead the Monks with a game high 19 points.   Monks (3-2) open up GNAC play Tuesday night at home against Emmanuel, while the Huskies (4-2) will also be back in action Tuesday night as they host the Polar Bears of Bowdoin.

26-13 LEC: 16-18 me (can I buy a victory this year??)  I think last year I lost like 40 games and this year I'm at 18 and it's not even December yet 

Monday:

Plymouth (-18) @ Lesley.  Panthers should devour this cupcake, and even though I don't like taking 18 point favorites on the road I think I'll make an exception for this game.

[7express]

Plymouth over Lesley 87-77.
3 Panthers scored in double figures lead by Curtis Arsenault who had a game high 26, while Uche Nwokeji had 20 points & 12 rebounds, while Jack Preston pulled down a career high 23 rebounds  while also accumulating 22 points.  How often do you score 22 points, and that's only the second highest statistically category you finished??  Devon Mayo paced the way for the Lynx with 17 points off the bench.  Based upon the 68 points the Panthers got from Nwokeji, Arsenault, and Preston, the Lynx bench outscored the Panthers bench 51-5, and Plymouth probably won this game on the offensive glass: they outrebounded the Lynx 52-30 (23-7 on the offensive end), and had 31 second chance points.  With lets say only 16 offensive rebounds they could be looking at an embarrassing, laughable loss.  Not a good win!  Lynx (0-7) open up the NECC season at fellow cupcake Newbury on Thursday (with the teams a combined 1-11 going in [and the women a combined 1-8 going in], good seats still available for this epic NECC thriller!) Panthers (6-0) have a tough game on Thursday against Lyndon State.  The Hornets are usually a pushover, but they are 1 point away from being 3-0 with both wins coming against NCAA tournament teams from last year (Wesleyan & Endicott).

27-13 LEC; 17-18 me.

4 games on tap for Tuesday:
Bowdoin (-4) @ USM 5:30 PM
Elms (+11) @ RIC 7:00 PM
MIT (-5.5) @ Boston 7:30 PM
Worcester (+4.5) vs. Dartmouth (@ Assumption) 8:30 PM

[7express]

Tuesday results:

Bowdoin clobbers USM 81-55.
Lucas Hausman had 20 points to lead the Polar Bears while Atencio Martin was the only Husky in double figures as he finished with 16 points.  Polar Bears (3-2) head to Colby on Saturday for the non-league game between the rivals while the Huskies (4-3) open up LEC play @ conference favorite Eastern on Saturday.

Elms over RIC 78-60.
Jerry Buchanon had 21 to lead the Blazers while the Anchormen were lead by Chris Green who had a game high 25.  Blazers (2-4) open up NECC play Thursday vs. Wheelock while the Anchormen (1-5) host Lasell on Thursday.

MIT over Boston 74-66.
Justin Pedley lead the Engineers with a game high 33 points and Lampros Tsontzos added 13 points and 13 rebounds.  For the Beacons Maurice Magras lead them with 18 rebounds.  The Engineers (5-2) host Salem State on Thursday while the Beacons (3-3) open up LEC play when they play Western on Saturday.

Dartmouth clobbers Worcester 108-69.
Jordan Rezendes lead the Corsairs with 48 points while the Lancers were paced by Ryan Dibernardo who had 14 points off the bench.  Lancers (2-4) head up to Norwich for a tournament over the weekend, and they'll open up with Rivier on Saturday, while the Corsairs (4-2) host Bridgewater on Thursday.

28-16 LEC; 19-20 me (I suck this year, SMH)

Next games Thursday:
Bridgewater (+7) @ Dartmouth 7 PM
Westfield (+5.5) @ Western 7 PM
Lyndon (+6) @ Plymouth 7:30 PM
Lasell (+8.5) @ RIC 7:30 PM

[7express]

Thursday results:

Dartmouth pounds Bridgewater 85-65.
Joseph Carty had 15 to lead the Bears while Jordan Rezendes had a game high 29 for the Corsairs.  Bears (2-5) host Wheaton on Saturday, while the Corsairs (5-2) will head up to Keene to face the unbeaten Owls.

Western edges Westfield 77-76.
Jesus Sanchez had 26 to lead the Owls, while Phil Starks had a game high 27 to lead the Colonials and Luis Bridtter had 18 points and a game high 10 rebounds.  Owls were down 13 with 2 minutes to play, outscored the Colonials 15-3 to end the game and win by 1.  Not a good closeout for the Colonials, and for the Owls (3-6), hopefully this is something they can build on for their next game against local rival Springfield next Thursday.  Colonials (4-1) head up to Boston to play the Beacons to open LEC play on Saturday.

Plymouth clobbers Lyndon 76-53.
TJ Roane lead the Hornets with 13 points off the bench, while Brian Bouley lead the Panthers with 13 points and Jack Preston had 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Hornets bench may have outscored the Panthers bench 45-26, but that's only because the Hornets starters combined to score only 8 points  !  Hornets (2-2) open up NAC play vs. Colby-Sawyer on Saturday while the Panthers (7-0) will put their unbeaten record on the line against RIC, a team they haven't beaten in a half decade.

Lasell over RIC 69-61.
Pat Marchand and Armin Omanovic each had 16 to lead the Lazers while Marchand pulled down a game high 14 rebounds as well.  Chris Green had a game high 19 points off the bench to lead the Anchormen.  Michael Byrnes changed the lineup this evening, hoping for a spark as Jimmy Fritzon, Green, and Terrance Tribble each came off the bench after being in the starting lineup the previous 6 games games, but once again to no avail.   After leading by 2 at the break, RIC started the second half on a 16-6 run to get to their water mark of +12 on the game, but RIC could never put them away as an Omanovic layup with 10 seconds to play forced overtime.  Lazers (3-3) open up GNAC play vs. Mt. Ida on Saturday, while the Anchormen (1-6) will also open up LEC play as they head to Plymouth to take on the unbeaten Panthers.

31-17 LEC; 23-20 me.

Saturday is a full day of conference action.  All games begin at 3 PM OR 25 minutes after the women's game ends.

Dartmouth (+5.5) @ Keene
Western (-4) @ Boston
RIC (pick em) @ Plymouth
USM (+13) @ Eastern.  My Saturday superlatives:
Best game: Dartmouth/Keene.  Last time Rezendes faced off against the Owls he scored a career high 51 points.  Neither team plays much, if any,  defense, and both teams seem to run and score at will, so it could be a game where whoever gets to 95 first wins or the games or even whoever happens to have the ball last wins the game!  The women's game pits 2 unbeatens against each other, so this looks like the school to attend on Saturday.  Unfortunately, I have my work Christmas party on Saturday, otherwise I would definitely be up in Keene on Saturday.
Most intriguing game: RIC/Plymouth.  Both teams heading in different directions.  RIC started off with a win, but has then lost 6 straight, while Plymouth started off with a win as well....and has just kept on winning since heading in with a 7-0 record.  Even though theirs 6 games separating them, both teams are in the same position: the only way into the NCAA tournament is by winning the conference.  Plymouth's schedule is too bad to be a factor in any pool C bids (unless they run the table the rest of the year and fall in the LEC tournament) while RIC will have too many losses to be a factor.  Even though RIC is 1-6 and Plymouth is 7-0, if RIC is 2-6 after Saturday and Plymouth is 7-1 the 2 teams could feel very different about their chances this year.  Plymouth also hasn't beaten the Anchormen since January 16, 2010.
Worst game: USM/Eastern.  Last year in 3 meetings Eastern went 3-0 winning by an average of 27.7 points.  With virtually the entire roster the same as the one that won games by 14, 28 & 41 points last year, it's probably looking like another double digit win for the Warriors.  It should be noted that the game Eastern "only" won by 14 was on the final day of the season when Eastern had already locked up the title AND it was played without Trachone Preston who, IIRC, was out with mono.  USM does look improved this year, but this clearly looks like the biggest mismatch of the day.

[7express]

Saturday results:

Eastern over USM 80-61.
Tarchee Brown finished with a game high 21, while Jose Nuve lead the Huskies with 16 points.  Warriors (5-2, 1-0) play nationally ranked Trinity College on Tuesday, while the Huskies (4-4, 0-1) head up to Maine-Farmington on Tuesday evening.

Keene races past Dartmouth 103-84.
Jordan Rezendes lead the Corsairs with a game high 31 points while Nick Portelance pulled down 11 rebounds.  Dizel Wright lead Keene with 27 points, Matt Ozzella had a game high 18 rebounds, and Jeff Lunn had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the Owls bench.  Dartmouth (5-3, 0-2) are done for the semester, and will be back in action in Miami December 19 when they face Eastern (not the Warriors, but Eastern University, in suburban Philadelphia), Owls (6-0, 1-0) resume play Saturday when they play conference game number 2 in Boston.

Western over Boston 83-77.
Luis Bridtter tied for a game high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Jauch Green added 19 and Phil Starks finished with 18.  Maurice Magras lead the Beacons and tied for a game high 23 points, and Dan Powers added 21 points and a game high 14 rebounds off the bench.  Colonials (5-1, 1-0) return to Boston on Tuesday when they square off against Pine Manor, while the Beacons (3-4, 0-1) head to Emerson on Tuesday.

Plymouth over RIC 75-63.
Chris Green lead the Anchormen with 18 points while Curtis Arsenault had a game high 21 for the Panthers, and Jack Preston added 20.  Michael Byrnes switched up the lineup again, taking Roosevelt Shider out of the lineup, but once again that worked to no avail.   Panthers (8-0, 2-0) head down to Boston to face Tufts on Tuesday night, while the Anchormen (1-7, 0-1) host city rival Johnson & Wales on Tuesday.

31-17 LEC; 25-22 me

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

Next conference games:
Saturday, December 12. All games start at 3 PM OR 25 minutes after the women's game ends:
USM @ Western
Keene @ Boston
RIC @ Eastern

Next games up Tuesday:
Plymouth (+5.5) @ Tufts 5:30 PM
Trinity (+1.5) @ Eastern 6 PM
Boston (+4) @ Emerson 7 PM
USM (-10) @ Farmington 7 PM
J&W (-7.5) @ RIC 7 PM
Western (-6) @ Pine Manor 7:30 PM

[ECSUalum]

ECSU 57-49 over Trinity.  Trinity led for most of the game and by as much as 8 pts until the last 8 min or so when ECSU pulled way.  Very exciting game with two excellent Defences holding the scoring below 60 for each team.  Was there in person for this one and the crowd was amazing tonight especially when Tarchee Brown ran the court on the fast break for a slam dunk and the lead.

Trinity (Conn).
Pts:  Erick Santana - 10
Reb:  Ed Ogundeko - 16
Ast:  Eric Gendron - 2
Eastern Conn. St.
Pts:  Trachone Preston - 18
Reb:  Hugh Lindo - 10
Ast:  Hugh Lindo - 4

[7express]

Tues results: These are gonna be quick since I have a lot of work I have to finish by tomorrow afternoon, so if someone wants to do a better recap, go ahead:

Tufts over Plymouth 91-80.  Vincent Pace lead all scorers with 26, Tom pelleschi had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Uche Nwokeji & Curtis Arsenault each had 23 for Plymouth.  Panthers (8-1) play Salem Thursday, Jumbos (6-2) off until after Christmas when they play Whitman out in California.

Boston over Emerson 62-60.  Sean Duffy with 17 to lead Emerson, and Austin Pickney had 12 points & 22 rebounds.  Maurice Magras lead the Beacons with 18.  Lions (3-6) back in action Thursday at Wheelock, Beacons (4-4) to Pine Manor Thursday.

USM over Farmington 85-69.  Anfernee Dent lead the Beavers with 14 points and Zach Leal had a game high 20 for USM.  Beavers (0-7) head to Bowdoin Friday, Huskies (5-4) head to Western Saturday.

J&W over RIC 91-72.  Chris Green had 19, Quarray Greenaway a game high 36 for the Wildcats.  Wildcats (6-1) head to Rivier Thursday, Anchormen (1-8) head up to MIT Thursday.

Pine Manor over Western 95-83.
Chancie Williams 19 for the Gators, Elias Rodriguez 17 for the Colonials.  Gators (6-3) host Boston THursday, while the Colonials (5-2) host Worcester State Thursday.

Eastern over Trinity 57-49.  Alum did a recap, so read that.  Warriors (6-2) to Conn College Thursday, Bantams (4-2) down to King's college to play Susquehanna Friday.

34-20 LEC; 28-25 me.

Thursday:
Boston (+3) @ Pine Manor
Worcester (+17) @ Western
RIC (+15.5) @ MIT
Salem State (+3.5) @ Plymouth
Eastern (-20) @ Conn College

[amh63]

ECSUalum....was wondering whether you would be at the game.  There was a shot of the stands online and the announcers mentioned the large Weekday crowd.  I posted on the CAC board that all the Nescac teams won on Tuesday with the lone exception of Trinity. .   Expect your Warriors to get the best of Conn on Thursday. 

[ECSUalum]

ECSUalum....was wondering whether you would be at the game.  There was a shot of the stands online and the announcers mentioned the large Weekday crowd.  I posted on the CAC board that all the Nescac teams won on Tuesday with the lone exception of Trinity. .   Expect your Warriors to get the best of Conn on Thursday.

Yes amh63, the students were very vocal last night which is always fun when at Geissler Gym or any gym for that matter. Reminded me of a ECSU vs WCSU game!!!    The Warriors are playing a bit better now. Part of this resulting from Kevin Lumeune  starting to come alive offensively, (12 points), last night, and, IMHO, he sparked the come from behind victory.  If Kevin can contribute offensively, like he did last night, (he is the best defensive player on the team and averaged 12 ppg last year), it will make the Warriors more difficult to beat!!
6' 6" Sr Shay Ajayi  and 6' 6" Jr  Ed Ogundeko are big stong forwards and presented Eastern with problems underneath last night, but both got into foul trouble, (Ajayi fouled out), in the second half and Ogundeko started to unravel composure wise, after missing a bunch of free throws.  In fact both teams had difficulties from the charity stripe as well as from 3pt range.  I think the home team crown might have been the real difference... they were LOUD!!! 
PS amh63, ESCU will have to be firing on ALL cyinders to beat the Lord Jeffs at the Frak in Jan.  Nice comments on the Warriors over on CAC thread +k

[7express]

I'm not going to able to do the recap tonight's (and probably tomorrow night either), so hopefully someone can pick up for me today.  If not I'll get tonight's and Saturday's over the weekend.

[AllStar]

Thursday:

Not a good night for the conference to say the least.

Pine Manor beats UMass-Boston, 81-70
UMass-Boston lost for the fourth time in five games.  Pine Manor led 44-24 at halftime and by 25 early in the 2nd half while cruising to this win.  Curtis Hyman (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Ellis Reid (13 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles to lead the Gators.  Maurice Magras had 17 points for the Beacons, while Quadry Allen added 14.  UMB shot a dismal 3-of-24 from three in this game.  The Beacons wrap up the first semester on Saturday at home against Keene State.  Pine Manor travels to play Wheaton on the same day.

Worcester State edges Western Connecticut, 96-93
Considering Worcester lost 108-69 to UMass-Dartmouth earlier this year, I figured Western would win this game, especially at home.  That didn't pan out.  It was a close game throughout, as neither team led by more than 5.  Paul Brooks had 28 points and 19 rebounds for the Lancers, who shot 50.7% from the field.  Alex Santos added 19.  Phil Starks (30) and Luis Bridtter (23) combined to score 53 of Western's 93 points.  Western plays Southern Maine on Saturday in Danbury, while Worcester State doesn't play until December 29th against Roger Williams at Clark University.

MIT holds off RIC, 63-61
Rhode Island College trailed by 18 less than 13 minutes into the game and went on to lose their ninth straight despite a spirited comeback that actually saw them take the lead in the second half.  Jimmy Fritzson scored 20 off the bench (on 6 threes) for the Anchormen, while Chris Green added 17 (5 threes).  The Anchormen stayed in this game by shooting 13-of-23 from behind the arc, which equates to 39 of their 61 total points.  Justin Pedley led a balanced MIT attack with 19 points.  Bradley Jomard added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Engineers, who played only six people in the game (and the reserve only played 1 minute!!)  I can't imagine playing basically 5 people will work very long.  It doesn't get easier for the Anchormen, who travel to play Eastern Connecticut in Willimantic on Saturday.  MIT travels to play punching bag Newbury on Saturday night.  The Nighthawks lost their most recent game, 121-76 against Nichols.

Plymouth gets the lone conference win of the night, handling Salem State 83-73
The Panthers led by 21 points 11:34 into the game and cruised from there.  Brian Boulay had 23 points for the Panthers.  Jack Preston had 16, and Uche Nwokeji had 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Marcus Faison had 23 points and 18 rebounds for Salem State, who shot a miserable 3-of-21 from three and 16-of-29 from the free throw line.  Plymouth, for some reason, hosts Maine-Presque Isle on Saturday.  What will that game do for them?  Salem State will travel down to Leicester to play Becker on Saturday.

Connecticut College comes back to down Eastern Connecticut, 85-72
Confounding result here (actually, confounding might be considered nice...especially since 7express had Eastern giving 20 points!!).  Conn College has been a bottom tier NESCAC team for a long time now, and the Warriors were preseason No. 14 in the country.  ECSU led this game 41-38 at halftime and by 9 with 16:33 left before the Camels outscored them by 22 the rest of the way to win going away.  Trachone Preston had 22 points for Eastern, while Kevin Leumene had 17.  Tarchee Brown had 13 points but struggled mightily from the field.  The Warriors made just 4-of-17 threes.  Connecticut College placed six players in double-figures, led by Tyler Rowe's 22 points.  Bo McKinley had 12 off the bench.  Eastern Connecticut has a conference game Saturday at home against reeling RIC.  Connecticut College is off until the 29th, when they play 7-0 SUNY-Canton at Staten Island's 14th Annual Tournament of Heroes.

Saturday's Schedule:
Maine-Presque Isle at Plymouth State, 2:00 pm
Rhode Island College at Eastern Connecticut, 3:00 pm
Southern Maine at Western Connecticut, 3:00 pm
Keene State at UMass-Boston, 3:00 pm