MBB: Little East

[7express]

So Eastern is the only LEC team in the rankings at #7.  Usually that 6/7/8 spot is the cut off between teams that make it and teams that don't (depending on how many pool C locks win their conference's pool A), so not a good spot to be in.  LEC is likely a 1 bid league no matter who wins it, and an Eastern win tonight all but guarantees the LEC tourney goes through Willimantic for the 3rd (4th??) straight season, while a Western win likely all but guarantees the LEC as a 1 bid league.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So Eastern is the only LEC team in the rankings at #7.  Usually that 6/7/8 spot is the cut off between teams that make it and teams that don't (depending on how many pool C locks win their conference's pool A), so not a good spot to be in.  LEC is likely a 1 bid league no matter who wins it, and an Eastern win tonight all but guarantees the LEC tourney goes through Willimantic for the 3rd (4th??) straight season, while a Western win likely all but guarantees the LEC as a 1 bid league.

Matt Snyder has them currently 40th nationally, which is squarely on the bubble - they'll likely improve just because of losses to others, but they really, really want to win the AQ.

http://detroitjockcity.com/division-iii-mens-basketball-regional-rankings-data/

[AllStar]

Keene losing to Plymouth is about as bad as it gets.

[7express]

Plymouth's first win in the series in what??  5 or 6 years??  Did Plymouth win any games against them in 2014??

[AllStar]

Plymouth's first win in the series in what??  5 or 6 years??  Did Plymouth win any games against them in 2014??

The Panthers beat them a few years back when Keene was down, but other than that they haven't.  Just a brutal loss.  Keene hasn't had a full lineup since December, but that by no means is an excuse for laughable defeats like that one.  It's worth nothing that Plymouth was just coming off being pounded into submission by Eastern Connecticut on Saturday.  How sad is it that the third place team in the league is 6-5?!

[7express]

Plymouth's first win in the series in what??  5 or 6 years??  Did Plymouth win any games against them in 2014??

The Panthers beat them a few years back when Keene was down, but other than that they haven't.  Just a brutal loss.  Keene hasn't had a full lineup since December, but that by no means is an excuse for laughable defeats like that one.  It's worth nothing that Plymouth was just coming off being pounded into submission by Eastern Connecticut on Saturday.  How sad is it that the third place team in the league is 6-5?!

That or the fact Southern Maine is in second place alone by themselves, I'm not sure which one is more embarrassing.  Take your pick!

Also in 2012 Keene finished the season 10-4 in conference...................and they were the 4th place team that year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  No disrespect to Eastern or USM, but this years Eastern team would probably be 5th best in 2012....and I'm not even sure the 5th place team that year (Dartmouth) was worse then them, so 2016 Eastern might be 6th in 2012.  That '12 Dartmouth team was pretty damn good: Colin Burns, Paul Rose, the big guy in the middle Lance Greene was a double-double machine, Jake Laga (came on later on in his career) and John Genkos coming off the bench as 3 point threats.  They just got unlucky they were together at the worst possible time to be a "decent" team with no big time playmaker in the league.

[amh63]

Watched the ECSU vs WCSU game in Danbury.  First time I have seen the facility....Convocation and Gym.  Nice to have seats with backs.  Video and announcers were out of step with each other for me and the scoreboards seem to flash on and off???  It was a good game to watch.  Kept thinking the Western coach looked like a trim Santa...blame Magic1 for that.
7express, ECSUalum.....were you all able to make the game?   How are the roads?........coming up on Fri for games.
Oh yes, Lindo had a great game,imo.

[ECSUalum]

Watched the ECSU vs WCSU game in Danbury.  First time I have seen the facility....Convocation and Gym.  Nice to have seats with backs.  Video and announcers were out of step with each other for me and the scoreboards seem to flash on and off???  It was a good game to watch.  Kept thinking the Western coach looked like a trim Santa...blame Magic1 for that.
7express, ECSUalum.....were you all able to make the game?   How are the roads?........coming up on Fri for games.
Oh yes, Lindo had a great game,imo.

Hello amh63,
My wife, son and I were at the game last night.  Western Connecticut has changed the layout this year for basketball at the Feldman Area, which I think is one of the best facilities in the LEC.  The team benches are on the opposite side of the court (under the press box) and the seats under the press box are rolled up. All the seating now faced the benches, (BTW were full last night).  Last night the roads were perfect, (State of CT does a nice job getting snow off), and a nice crowd for the cross state rivalry!  Western kept it close for about half the first half then ECSU pulled away for a 11 pt lead at halftime.  Second half was all Eastern, WCSU pulled within 8 with 5 min left, however final was 81-66.  If Eastern can keep teams generally below 65 points, they typically win.  Nice balance of scoring from the starters, ( Brown 24; Preston 17; Lindo 16; Leumene 15), all playing close to 40 minutes  only Shiro and Jordan came off the bench all game.  for WestConn, Green and Starks played well with 22 & 21 resp.  However, top scorer Luis Bridtter was contained pretty well the whole game by Hugh Lindo. Western committed 17 TO and 21 PF which contributed to the loss.
If Eastern can get the 4 starters in double figures ie high teens, Lindo get his normal double-double, and with their D, they will beat most teams and will need this same type of result in the LEC tourney to win it, however, I have seen an inconsistency of play from a couple of players this year that has taken Eastern from a top 10 preseason team to a top 40 team. The losses to RIC and USM were close but should not have been, and showed a lack of focus that is the difference between good teams and great teams IMHO.  Hopefully they can keep the momentum for the rest of the season and Conference tournament.

[ECSUalum]

Watch Hugh Lindo's quickness in this video,,,,amazingly talent young man!!! He runs the full length of the court to block the fast break lay-up, (off the Tarchee Brown TO), by KSC's Ozella!!!!
click on "Hugh Lindo Block"
https://www.facebook.com/ECSUAthletics/videos

[7express]

For the 3rd straight year and the 4th time in the last 5 years, the LEC men's tournament is heading through Willimantic.  Congrats to the Warriors!  The Warriors haven't locked up the regular season championship quite yet, but the only team that can catch them (USM) loses the tiebreaker to the Warriors regardless, so even if the Warriors lose the next 2 games, and the Huskies win the next 2, the Warriors will finish with a better record against Western or Dartmouth then USM would have, so that gives them the tiebreaker.  This is exhibit A for if you lose in conference, it's better to lose to bad teams and exhibit A for why the conference should start those "record against conference opponents" from the bottom and the last place team then the top and the first place team.  I doubt it will happen anyways, so this is likely all a moot point regardless, but for arguments sake let's say Eastern does lose to Keene & Boston, and USM beats Plymouth and Dartmouth on the road (which they couldn't even do at home).  In this scenario even though Eastern would have gone 2-2 against the 7th & place finishers they would still win the tiebreak.  Sure, it would've been beneficial for USM to beat either Keene or Dartmouth, but they went 4-0 in the "cleanup" games, the games against not very good teams.  Eastern/RIC is probably the best rivalry in the conference going (since Eastern has beaten Western 10 straight times and 12 of the last 13 times they've played the only "rivalry" going there is whether Western can keep it to within single digits.  I think 8 of those 12 wins have been by double digits, so really none of the games have been that close either), so I can see how RIC plays them tough, but really if you are a contending team you win those games, bottom line.  USM did, they aren't even a good team, and they came down from Maine on a Tuesday afternoon and won there!  Eastern is 45 miles away, they play on a Saturday, don't even have to leave that early (since it's right down route 6) and lost.  I know people disagree, but that's my 2 cents on the tiebreaker topic and I'm sticking to my theory.

[ECSUalum]

 I can see how RIC plays them tough, but really if you are a contending team you win those games, bottom line.  USM did, they aren't even a good team, and they came down from Maine on a Tuesday afternoon and won there!  Eastern is 45 miles away, they play on a Saturday, don't even have to leave that early (since it's right down route 6) and lost.  I know people disagree, but that's my 2 cents on the tiebreaker topic and I'm sticking to my theory

7,
I agree totally, which means that the LEC tourney is completely up for grabs, especially since ECSU has not done a particulary good job wrapping up the NCAA auto bid in recent years!!!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It might be a holiday for those romantically inclined, but it is also getting down to the end of the Division III basketball season. Just two weeks remain between now and the end of the regular season and nothing has been determined.

On Sunday night's Hoopsville, Dave McHugh will talk to some teams who have emerged from no where to be in a position to surprise when their conference tournaments begin. McHugh also talks to a few teams who can't seem to be knocked off their conference pedestal, but still feel they have something to prove. And the hectic schedule of conference travel can take it's toll.

Sunday's show start at 7:00 pm ET and promises to go well into overtime. You can watch the show here: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb14

Guests included (in order of appearance):
- Tara Macciocco, Marywood women's coach
- Dr. George Barber, Greenville men's coach
- Ruth Sinn, No. 8 St. Thomas women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Rusty Eggen, Northeast Region Report, WPI Sports Information Director
- Angela Santa Fe, Regis (Mass.) women's coach
- Andy Partee, Colorado College men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project is halfway to the deadline but we are not that close to the goal. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509.

Thanks!

[7express]

Hey guys could I have you vote for Fairfield Warde here: http://www.therudenreport.com/vote-for-the-ruden-report-team-of-the-week-34/.  Thanks!  Gotta represent my boys and make sure they get noticed.

[AllStar]

Hey guys could I have you vote for Fairfield Warde here: http://www.therudenreport.com/vote-for-the-ruden-report-team-of-the-week-34/.  Thanks!  Gotta represent my boys and make sure they get noticed.

I gave you one just now.

[7express]

In the upper half of the conference: Eastern beats Keene & Western loses to RIC  , while USM beats Plymouth.
In the bottom half of the conference: Dartmouth beats Boston.

What this means: Eastern as already mentioned has locked up the #1 seed, USM with the win and Western loss locks up the #2 seed for the Huskies (USM the #2 seed!  That tells you all you need to know about how awful this conference is this year!) RIC locks up the #7 seed and Boston locks up the #8 seed.  3-6 is a complete mess, smh.  There still lies the possibility of a 4 way tie at 7-7 between Western, Dartmouth, Plymouth & Keene, so let's take care of that first.  In that scenario Plymouth would have the superior winning percentage against those 4 teams.  Plymouth would be 4-2, Western 3-3, Dartmouth 2-4 and Keene 3-3, so Plymouth would have the 3 seed.  Now we take out Plymouth and use the other 3 teams: Each would be 2-2 against the other with Western sweeping Keene and getting swept by Dartmouth and the Owls sweeping the Corsairs so we can't use superior winning percentage.  Now I think the next way to break the tie (and most conferences work this way) is to compare winning percentages of the 3 teams against other teams in the conference starting at the top.  Do to Keene's win against Eastern, they would have a superior winning percentage against the Warriors then the Corsirs or Colonials would have who both got swept, so Keene I believe would be the #4 seed in the 4 teams tie.  Now with 2 teams (Dartmouth & Western) is easy: Dartmouth swept the season series so they would be the 5 seed which leaves the Colonials the 6 seed in the 4 team tie.

Now let's figure out tiebreakers: in a 2 way tie, Western owns the tiebreakers over Keene (head-to-head sweep), and Plymouth (Western was 1-1 against USM while Plymouth was 0-2), Keene owns the tiebreaker on Dartmouth (head-to-head sweep) along with Plymouth (they were 1-1 against Eastern while Plymouth finished 0-2 against them), Dartmouth owns the tiebreaker only on Western (head-to-head sweep) while the only tiebreaker Plymouth wins is the one with Dartmouth (head-to-head sweep).