MBB: Little East

[7express]

Of the 5 games that took place last night, Western Connecticut was the only team that won.....and they beat a team playing it's 4 game ever.......AND gave up 92 points in the process!  Not good, and the bad year continues.  At this rate I wonder if any of the other 5 teams can beat NEAC schools??  Conference falls to 23-17 but I improve to 29-8 as I correctly predicted the LEC failing throughout the night.  Oh how I wish I would get proven wrong one night!

Wednesday's lone game has Trinity (CT) (+3) @ Keene.  Bantams are 1-2 losing to Dartmouth (by 7), Southern Vermont (by 3) and getting win #1 vs. Elms pre Thanksgiving.  The Owls meanwhile have been rolling over their opponents with the closest of their 14 victories by a mere 14 points (the 1 road game they played), while averaging 94.3 points per game this year.  This will probably be the closest game Keene has had to date, but I'll still give them the edge to win 81-74.

[AllStar]

Really poorly officiated game in Keene.  The Owls won 76-66.

[warriorcat]

Keene held off a scrappy Trinity squad in Keene tonight. The Owls opened up a 12 point halftime lead taking it to 16 early in the second half. Trinity closed the lead to just two points with 7 minutes left. But Keene's starters returned to close the game with a 17-9 run.
The game was dominated by a referee crew that called numerous touch fouls on both teams robbing them of key players for long stretches of time. Trinity had three starters foul out including their two leading scorers - Ogundelco and Turnbull. All five of Keene's starters finished the game with four fouls.  Lucas Hammel led all scorers with a career high of 21 points on only 3 baskets but 14-16 from the line. Four Owls were in double figures - Nicols 15, Ozella and Wright 10 each.  The most surprising team stat was the 38-33 rebounding advantage the undersized Owls enjoyed.
Individually, the Keene defense held Trinity's outstanding big man Ed Ogundelco to 10 pts and 2 rebs far below his averages of 23 and 13. 

[7express]

Keene wins Wednesday's lone matchup in what sounds like a horribly officiated game.  24-17 conference, 30-8 me.

Plymouth (pick em) @ Lyndon State.  Hornets are 1-2 but are 1-0 against division 3 teams losing to Fisher & University of Vermont.  Hornets finished 21-4 last year but lost @ Plymouth by 23.  Plymouth 67-65
Dartmouth (-3.5) @ Bridgewater State.  Bears lost by 20 at Dartmouth last year.  Dartmouth 74-67
Western (-5) @ Westfield State.  Colonials got the win by 1 in Danbury last year.  Western 89-84

[AllStar]

Quick recaps of Thursday:

Plymouth State led throughout and held off Lyndon State, 68-63.  The Panthers (3-2) will have their conference opener at RIC on Saturday, which will likely be much more of a test than any of the non-conference games they've had to date.

UMass-Dartmouth rallied past Bridgewater State 77-71.  The Corsairs host Keene State on Saturday at 1:00.  There is no women's game at that venue, as for some reason the KSC women are going to Wesleyan for a tournament tomorrow and Saturday.  The Keene State women go to North Dartmouth on Thursday, 12/8.

Western Connecticut used a big 2nd half (51-35) to overtake Westfield State 88-75.  Rashard Rodriguez and Bobby Bynum combined for 41 points on 8-of-16 shooting from three.  Struggling Westfield was done in by 26 turnovers.  The Colonials (5-1) host the UMass-Boston Beacons on Saturday afternoon.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

UMass-Dartmouth rallied past Bridgewater State 77-71.  The Corsairs host Keene State on Saturday at 1:00.  There is no women's game at that venue, as for some reason the KSC women are going to Wesleyan for a tournament tomorrow and Saturday.  The Keene State women go to North Dartmouth on Thursday, 12/8.

This was Brian Baptiste's 600th career victory.

[7express]

3-0 on Thursday for both me & the conference gets the conference to 27-17 and me to 33-8.  Not great, but certainly better than how the LEC women are doing (22-22 non conference record).  Onto the 4 LEC games as we kick off LEC play, and since the LEC is probably only getting 1 team in (Western certainly isn't getting a pool C bid, Eastern probably isn't either, Keene's a toss up) these are the games that matter in the season.

Keene (-4.5) @ Dartmouth.  Owls swept them last year (including in the LEC championship game) and have won 3 of the last 4 overall.  First to 70 wins??  Owls 82-76
Boston (+11.5) @ Western.  Colonials swept them last year and have won 5 of the last 6 since Boston swept them in the 2013 season.  This game should also get a lot of points as Western couldn't stop a nose bleed.  Western 96-89
Eastern (-4) @ USM.  They split last year with each team holding serve at home, but the Warriors have won 7 of the last 8.  These were the games I always worried about with Western, long, overnight trip.  Start slow, but end fast.  Eastern 67-61
Plymouth (+2) @ RIC.  They split last year but RIC has won 21 of the last 23.  Last year's RIC team was probably the worst team they fielded in 12+ years (before Walsh) and they STILL managed to win at home by 23 points.  Panthers haven't win in Providence since January 12, 2002.  History says the Panthers are due to win there eventually but I'll take the numbers with me.  RIC 67-59

[AllStar]

A terrible loss for Keene State and a bad start to the conference schedule.  May never have been #13 to begin with, let alone now.  I'd probably put them out of the poll entirely if I was voting.

[warriorcat]

A poor start in the LEC for Keene State.  UMass-Dartmouth showed great desire, depth, and fortitude in this well earned win.  They dominated the Owls both inside (using their size advantage to get numerous second and third chance opportunities on 26 offensive rebs) and outside shooting 7/14 from three point range.  The Owls shot poorly, had 25 turnovers and never looked like they were in control even when they battled back to take a 3 point lead early in the second half. 

All Star is correct. This is not the #13 team in the country but if they can regain their focus and learn from today's game they will be a factor in the LEC.

[ECSUalum]

Hugh Lindo had 25 boards and 18 points today to lead ECSU to a 73-51 victory over USM.  Lindo scored most of his stats in the first half and if it wasn't for 2-3 missed layups in the 2nd half would have had a 20-20 double/double.  Just a dominating force today for Eastern, incredible!!!  Tyrell Arnem played very well with 15 points. James Starks had 18 with the Warriors holding the Huskies to just over 50 points... they average 78 pts.  Stifling D today!!

[AllStar]

A poor start in the LEC for Keene State.  UMass-Dartmouth showed great desire, depth, and fortitude in this well earned win.  They dominated the Owls both inside (using their size advantage to get numerous second and third chance opportunities on 26 offensive rebs) and outside shooting 7/14 from three point range.  The Owls shot poorly, had 25 turnovers and never looked like they were in control even when they battled back to take a 3 point lead early in the second half. 

All Star is correct. This is not the #13 team in the country but if they can regain their focus and learn from today's game they will be a factor in the LEC.

I'm afraid if they play like they did today, they'll struggle to beat anybody, let alone a good team.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

25 boards means Lindo hit 1000 for his career - a very enviable mark.

[ECSUalum]

25 boards means Lindo hit 1000 for his career - a very enviable mark.

from gowarrioratheletics.com: Lindo's rebounding total Saturday gives him 1,015 in 90 career games (11.6 per game) and moves him to within 22 of breaking the 44-year-old record of E-Club Hall of Famer Lou Chartier (1,036). He also moved to within 75 of his 1,000th career point by scoring a team-high 17

These totals will certainly secure E-Club Hall of Fame status for Hugh Lindo, probably one of the best Warrior basketball players I have seen, not only from a statistical standpoint, but from sheer excitement to watch!
BTW he is already the program leader in career blocks, and if there was a category for exhilarating slam dunks, he would have that as well!

[ECSUalum]

A poor start in the LEC for Keene State.  UMass-Dartmouth showed great desire, depth, and fortitude in this well earned win.  They dominated the Owls both inside (using their size advantage to get numerous second and third chance opportunities on 26 offensive rebs) and outside shooting 7/14 from three point range.  The Owls shot poorly, had 25 turnovers and never looked like they were in control even when they battled back to take a 3 point lead early in the second half. 

All Star is correct. This is not the #13 team in the country but if they can regain their focus and learn from today's game they will be a factor in the LEC.

I'm afraid if they play like they did today, they'll struggle to beat anybody, let alone a good team.

Allstar,  IMHO the Keene State Owls have shown in the past that they play their best in the LEC Tournament....so still a dangerous team

[7express]

And Western loses at home to Boston.  Their defense is completely atrocious and unacceptable.  They are allowing 84 opponents points per game on the season, and 87.5 their last 4 (which includes a game they "only" allowed 75 otherwise it'd be even more pitiful than it already is).  AllStar knows this well, but the LEC women have pretty good defensive units (Keene, RIC, Western women all better defensive teams than offensive teams) but unless you have a great defense like the Tufts women or Amherst women do, you have to be semi competent on the offensive end of the floor to be even a decent team.  And for the Western men I'll say the exact opposite: Unless you run a Grinnell or Greenville system that cares less about points allowed, and only cares about how many points & how many 3 pointers you attempt, you actually have to be semi competent on the defensive end of the court if you want to be a good team.  As I said last night, this Colonials team couldn't stop a nose bleed, and unfortunately, they don't run a Grinnel/Greenville offense that can score 130+ every night to make up for the piss poor defensive effort.  If Boston can score 93 on them I shudder to think what teams with an actual offense like Keene & Dartmouth can put up on them.  Keene will have a complete field day with them if they don't shore up the defensive side of the court!

Also congrats to the Panthers.  Last time they won in Providence before today I was halfway through my freshmen year of high school......and this upcoming summer (2017) will be 12 years since I've graduated high school!