MBB: Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference

[Hawk Backer]

Hilbert beats Greensburg in convincing fashion, 102-89.  Hawks shoot 60.0% from the field in the victory.  Vander Sluis turning into a star, 23 pts., 13 rebs.  Reyes 2 rebs short of triple-double 14 pts., 10 asst., 8 rebs.  Hilbert playing really well right now...

Lake Erie destroys Altoona, 73-45.  Storm breeze with 16 players getting minutes.  Amazing.  Hunt with 15, Richardson (who, by the way, is my pick for POY) had 14.  Lions get 16 from Tyler Franklin.

Frostburg sneaks by Medaille, 80-78 in OT.  McNeil with 48! points on 19-43 shooting... interesting.  10 boards as well.  Kid's a player.  Bobcats have four in double figures, with Owen hitting a 3 w/ :15 to send it into OT.  Frostburg 8-8 in league.  Very nice after horrendous start.

LaRoche has no trouble with Mt. Aloysius, 110-81.  Kostorick w/ 22, 13 above season average.  Kostewicz w/ 19 and 10.  Aloysius falls to 6-9 with game against Lake Erie upcoming.

Saturday shaping up to be huge in race for playoffs...

Hilbert can solidify spot with win over Frostburg.

LaRoche can further its effort with victory over tough Altoona squad (although they played like crap tonight).

Bradford looks to give Behrend third straight loss and help its cause by evening its conference mark to 8-8.

Greensburg vs. Medaille should be a win for UPG but they must stop McNeil... Shouldn't be a problem.

Aloysius needs a win against top squad LEC if they want any chance at tournament berth.

AMCC at its finest...

[Hawk Backer]

Sorry... 29 and 12 for Vander Sluis... can't read apparently!

Nice game Hawks.

[upb88]

Yep, another good game for the Hawks. And a good showing by the Mavs against those pesky Bobcats.

If I was daring, like Hawk Backer, I would call Medaille's "upset" over Greensburg. I'm not going to, but I bet it's a game.

[upb88]

Well Pitt-Bradford gave Behrend a game at Bradford today before a nice crowd, but Behrend prevailed, 67-58. The difference was Kevin Buczynski, who finished 8-11 from the field and 8-11 from the foul line for 24 points, 18 in the second half. He took over a tie game with seven or eight minutes left and keyed the Lions on a quick 9-0 run that effectively put the game away. Bradford led at halftime by a point after overcoming a 12-point deficit but didn't carry the momentum into the second half. Fourth conference loss at home for Bradford in a building where they used to never lose. It's touch and go now as to making the playoffs.

[David Collinge]

Pat has updated the national QoWI standings through games of yesterday.  Tonight, Carnegie Mellon was upset at Emory, but the Tartans retain their control of the UAA Pool A bid by virtue of Rochester and NYU also losing (to Case and Chicago, respectively.)  CMU is now tied with WashU. atop the UAA, and the Tartans swept the Bears so they own the tiebreaker.  NYU, Rochester, and Chicago are all a game back with two games left.  In other words, all bets are off regarding how (and if) CMU is getting to the Big Dance.  In the data that follows, I've updated CMU's QoWI.

So here's the Great Lakes teams in the top 120 of national QoWI, along with their regional record:
Legend:  Team -- Regional Record and win % (ranking w/in region for win %) -- QoWI (national/regional rank)

Wooster -- 19-1 .950 (1) -- 10.700 (11*/1)
CMU -- 13-4 .765 (9) -- 10.556 (13*/2)
Wittenberg -- 16-3 .842 (5) -- 10.368 (17/3)
Calvin -- 10-1 .909 (2) -- 10.182 (21/4)
Baldwin-Wallace -- 19-3 .864 (4) -- 10.136 (23/5)
Hope -- 14-2 .875 (3) -- 9.750 (47/6)
Albion -- 10-3 .769 (8 ) -- 9.462 (59/7)
Bethany -- 17-4 .810 (7) -- 9.333 (73/8)
Lake Erie -- 15-3 .833 (6) -- 9.278 (74/9)
Ohio Northern -- 14-5 .737 (11) -- 8.947 (102/10)
Wilmington  -- 18-6 .750 (10) -- 8.875 (106/11)
Ohio Wesleyan -- 15-6 .714 (12) -- 8.810 (108/12)

*I've approximated where Wooster and CMU would be based on CMU's loss tonight, which was only a 3-QoWI-point game for them).  The other national rankings may be slightly off, due to the other UAA results tonght, but should be close.

I think we can officially strike OWU, Wilma, and ONU from any further Pool C consideration; it's win or go home for these teams next week.  Lake Erie and Bethany are hanging on to a tattered fringe of Pool C at the very best; Bethany still looks fairly solid for a Pool B bid, and LEC can still get in by winning the AMCC tournament.  The top 7 then shape up this way, as I see it:

1. Wooster
2. Calvin (beating Albion on Weds. was a big boost to their QoWI, while Hope's QoWI actually fell in beating lowly Alma)
3. Baldwin-Wallace
4. Wittenberg (mostly because B-W beat Wooster, who beat Witt twice)
5 (tie). Hope
5 (tie). CMU (a cop-out, but CMU's QoWI is still 0.8 higher than Hope's, offsetting the poor win %)
7. Albion (and Albion's QoWI will go down this weekend, win or lose vs. lowly Olivet)

Pool C prospects: 
NCAC: Woo and Witt are both in regardless of what happens.  So if OWU wins the tournament, NCAC gets three bids. 
MIAA:  Calvin is in regardless; Hope is in if they reach the MIAA final.  Albion likely needs to win the MIAA to earn a berth.  All three suffer from playing QoWI-damaging first-round games in the MIAA tournament (against Olivet, Alma, and Adrian, all with win %s below .333 and therefore just 8-point QoWI wins).  Plus Albion has a season-ending game with Olivet that will hurt them even more, QoWI-wise.
OAC: Baldwin-Wallace is in regardless; anyone else has to win the OAC tourney to get in.
AMCC: Lake Erie's last two games are worth 11 and 15 QoWI points if they win, so a trip to the conference tournament final may put them in the running for one of the last pool C bids.

[upb88]

I've got to give some love to LEC's Reggie Richardson, who reached into Pitt-Bradford's throat last night and pulled out their heart, nailing five three-pointers, all near the end of the game, to bring the Storm back from the dead. LEC was down by 10-13 points in the final five minutes until Richardson got hot and started popping in treys, like people eat Pringles. It was one of the greatest performances I've seen at Bradford games in years. One of the threes came with just 7 point something seconds left to tie the game. Then some scrub hit another three pointer with less than two seconds left in overtime to give LEC the lead by two. Unbelievable!

Lake Erie had an off night and trailed by 17 early in the second half. They got their focus back and pulled themselves together long enough to win the game, but really only because the second leading free throw shooting team in the nation fell apart at the foul line in the final minute. So, yeah, I wasn't terribly impressed by the Storm. They were a pretty cocky bunch before the game and seemed to play like they didn't take Bradford seriously, which was a mistake given that the Panthers needed the game to stay alive.

Now, what's the opposite of giving some love? I won't mention the player's name, but one of the Storm was called for traveling in the first half, out by three-point line. A few seconds after the call, out of frustration (I guess), he drove to the hoop and dunked the ball with one hand, like it was an NBA Slam Dunk Competition. He got the T, of course, but I thought he should have been gone. Not sure what it takes to get tossed from a game.

One other comment: I think LEC's head coach might just give Andy Moore a run for his money. He was off the bench all night. Dude, lose the man purse!

Honestly, I can't begrudge the Storm their fun. They've been a bottom tier AMCC team for awhile, and this is their time. Their play by play announcer was certainly enjoying himself. Mr. Microphone.

So, where the hell is everyone? It's just getting good, and this board has gone to sleep. Maybe I woke everyone up... I hope so.

[jzflak15]

The Playoffs are shaping up..heres how its goona be....
1. lake erie- bye
2. greesburg -bye

3 behrend bs 6 frostburg
4 hilbert vs 5 la roche

behrend will defend and win the first rd game easily
hilbert and la roche will be a good game....the game is at hilbert that is in their favor....if la roche can start hot they have a chance...they have been playing inconsistent all season...no 1 wants to step up on that team..vandersluis has been one of the best players in the conference this second half of the season...

Also here is my all conference team selections

Co-Players of the year: Duke Cooper/Reggie Richardson UPG-LEC
Coach of the year: marcus Kuhn- UPG (they lost Conlon and Moye and still finished 2nd)
Newcomer- james mcneil Medaille...may be the best scorer in the region

1st team
Duke Cooper - Total team player.. 17 ppg..6 rpg 5 apg..enough said
Reggie Richardson- Iverson like.......team leader..can score pass defend
Roman Mims- 23 ppg....turned around a bad aloysius team
Tyler Franklin- 19 ppg...best players in conference
Kevin Buscynski- behrend go to guy 18.5 ppg...overall 19-6

2nd team
Ryan Race-20 ppg...tough kid..lost alot of close games this season
Dan Ryley- frostburgs leader 14 ppg 10 rpg...does it every year
Dallas reinard- go to guy....good shooter....tough all around 17 ppg
james Mcneil- 25 ppg on a bad team....tough player
JJ ferguson-missed game with an injury..best shooter in conference lights out 14ppg...

Honorable mention
Corey Vander Sluis- really came on in 2nd half 16.5 ppg
Dan Thomas- 15ppg...tough kid quick athletic...will be a good team next season
Nate Davis- 11ppg...5 rpg...60% from the field....la roches most consistent player
Robert Williams- 12.5 ppg....streaky but athletic and team won the regular season conference championship
Bill Scavincky- scrappy player 15.0 ppg...good second option besdies cooper...good down low

Just missed out
Justin Ohler- great career 15.0 ppg this season..injuries hurt him a little bit...overshadowed by mims
Frank Davis- 10ppg..5 rpg...best defensive player in amcc....
Rob Copley- great soph season...with him race and thomas...they could be the favorites next season
Stacy Grady- 13.0 ppg....good shooter...bad defender...inconsistent...overall decent player...will be back next season
Sam Hanik- good option for the mounties.....will be back with mims next seaosn...team will be better..

[cantbestopped]

So Pitt Brad loses the tiebreaker even if frostburg loses and they win today? 

And I know its just your opinion but why put Franklin on the first team instead of Mcneil (they both play on bad bad teams) but i would take Mcneil because of his dynamic scoring ability (avg over forty the last 3 games) and he did avg 26.5 in conference and shot a respectable 44%

I know you r all getting a kick out of this because I call him a gun, McChucker, a hog, a terrible teammate, etc.  throughout the year but if their coach can get some help there they have a chance of doin something in the next couple years. 

PS- I still think hes a gun but a pretty damn good one

[hut1]

Pitt-Bradford knocks off LaRoche and Pitt-Greensburg knocks off Frostburg but according to Frostburg website they will travel to Behrend on Tuesday

http://sports.frostburg.edu/news/releasedetail.cfm?id_number=4095

[upb88]

http://amcconf.org/tiebreakercriteria.htm

As it turns out, if Pitt-Bradford had beaten Lake Erie, the Panthers would have finished fourth and hosted a first-round game. Instead, they lost a big lead late and ended up eighth!

Wow, Behrend put a hurting on Lake Erie a night after Lake Erie played poorly at Bradford. LEC hosts the conference tournament, but that has meant almost nothing over the years. This thing is wide open. Good luck to the playoff teams.

We've had a little pick em contest over the past several years on this board. So here I go with the first round games:

Behrend over Frostburg -- I always say that Frostburg in dangerous come the postseason. Behrend has been playing better since their funk, and the win over Lake Erie tonight convinces me they will take care of the pesky Bobcats.

Hilbert over La Roche -- Hilbert stumbled in their two road games this weekend, but they should have enough to hold off La Roche, who looked pretty lifeless in their game at Bradford today.

[hut1]

I really like Behrend also would not be suprised if they can get into the finals

My son was at the LE/UPB game and he said he was in awe of the shooting down the stretch from the Storm

[cantbestopped]

This board is a joke.....all year long i listened to all the bradford fans and hilbert hawk backers run their mouths about their supposed knowledge of the conference or about the game of basketball overall. Now that its playoff time and 1. UPB is bye-bye and 2. Hilbert players are not available for comments.........the board isn't saying a damn thing, sad sad sad
Here is my words without wisdom:
1st team
Cooper
Buscynski
Richardson
Vander Sluis-reinard wasnt the "man" if ya saw more than two games
McNeil-team blows but hey the kid is a scoring machine
Other awards
POY
Cooper or Richardson (either or is fine by me)
LVPOY(Least valuable player of the year)
Stewart-Smith Ethan (14ppg last year to a whopping 7.7) way to progress throughout your career
COYLake Erie first year man
WCOY(worst coach of the year)
Dick from Medaille two-year 4-46 medaille record speaks for itself, plus someone said earlier"at least they are out of the basement" WRONG

I am rooting for the Hawks in the playoffs but who really cares.....
it will probaly be LE and PSB in the finals and then the winner will lose in the first round of the NCAA's
PS SEAN KENNEY zip it up, no body gives a rat's a_s_s about your words of wisdom. The current hilbert players don't and we sure don't either.

[jzflak15]

Vander sluis is a good player...not 1st team worthy tho......2nd team now for sure......to tell u the truth tho......the only teams that are consistent and actually decent are lec...behrend and upg...the rest are very "average".......I can name a handful of players who should be first team over vander sluis....mims...franklin.....ferguson if he wasn't hurt second half....I like lake erie 2 take it all beings there undefeated at home all season....reggie and duke shuld be co players of the year.....as for stewart smith.....he shuldntof even played the kid practically broke his ankle he's a tough kid and still a great player...he'd give u work clown.....kenney was a average player...culdnt hold goias jock strap.....those 8 and 10 teams in the conference all stink....inconsistent.....as for next season watch for bradford......they return thomas race copley austin will be playing....there goona be tough....they had a hard luck season.....a lot of teams are on the rise...so la roche and frostburg beter start recruitng or they will be the ones on the odd end out....next season

[upb88]

You guys going to give your picks or just talk trash?

cantbestopped... man, cheer up, it's almost spring. The sun and flowers will come out soon. That is the most depressing post I've ever read on here. Wow. Why didn't you just end with, "We're all going to die, it's doesn't really matter who wins, does it?"

Coach of the Year: Hilbert's coach deserves serious consideration. The Lake Erie dude had so much talent to work with -- he coached a preseason favorite to the league title. Not sure that is COY-worthy. But we are all forgetting something. Behrend had a good year. Who else is Coach of the Year but Dave Niland! All hail Niland! Niland Power! Sieg Niland! Sieg Niland!

jzflak15, I like your comments about Bradford. Sometimes teams that lose a lot of close games one year come back with a vengeance the next. Just depends how this season sits in their belly. It shouldn't be sitting well. A lot of guys are coming back, but depth and size will again be a concern, unless they have some serious contributors from the freshman ranks. All in all, there's reason for optimism.

[berlychick]

Well seeing that I havent really seen that many games up close I am not going to make any picks..
And cantbestopped...gee fellow...relax its just a game!

As for recruits to UPB...My son spent some time with them a few weekends ago...still no height