MBB: Conference of New England

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Now for the run-down:

NC over UNE 74-65.  17 and 14 from Stickney, 10 and 16 from Button, 15 points from Marriott, 10 from Floyd and 8 assists from Farynaz.  Belmonte looks to have gotten hurt, playing only 10 minutes at the beginning of the game.  NC was led by 19 from Wilcox and 16 from Vallee along with 12 from Paquin and 11 boards from Powers.  UNE had 18 turnovers to Nichols' 7, rebounds were even, but NC hit the FT line a ton more to make the difference.  Both teams shot pretty poorly from three.

GC 77 - CC 53.  Jones had 17, Brittian had 14 and Bowers had 11.  GC was led by Marstaller with 17, Bajema had 12, Trigg had 11 and both Logan and Herr had 10.  It's hard to get outrebounded by Gordon, but Curry managed to do it.  To answer the question on Brittian.  He shies away from contact, so he stays on the outside.  He's kinda like Vince Carter in that way.  He could take over if he wanted to, but he just never seems to have the desire.  That's why he's working on school #2.  GC shot the three well, but didn't get to the line much, then again, they didn't have to.  Curry just played poorly.

ENC comes close, but falls at home to CSC 72-66.  ENC actually led at halftime, but typically, couldn't hold on.  Seaberg had 19, Jasmin and Hueston (one of the newcomers) had 10 a piece.  CSC was led by Cousins with 15, Fouriner had 13 and Murry got 10 boards.  ENC was pretty consistent throughout, but CSC picked it up just enough in the second half to pull it out.  FTs hurt ENC again.  They were only 58% from the stripe.

Salve kills NEC 89-61.  Jaziri only had 15, Evans and Farragher had 12 each and Quinn had 10.  Salve was led by Hazzard with 24, Grendal with 18, DeSantis with 11 and Woodworth with 10.  Goodridge had 5 assists.  Salve just shot at a really high percentage and turned on the defense big time.  They look to be a sleeper come tournament time.  Lots of talent and if they get it together in a big game, they could be really dangerous.

EC over RWU 62-58.  Big win for EC.  Billy Barrett had 14 as the only RWU player in double figures, although three others had 9 points a piece.  Marinkovich all but claimed player of the year with a monster 22 and 18 night, almost single-handedly willing his team to victory.  Sullivan had 17 and Burgos 12 for Endicott.  RWU shot out of their minds, but had 22 turnovers and got outrebounded which led to an extra 18 shots and the victory.  FTs were the difference in this one too with RWU going 14-21 while EC hit 11-13.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

As far as the playoffs go:

Gordon clinched a spot.  UNE is mathematically eliminated. 

NEC and ENC are still technically alive, although they face near impossible tasks.

[akirk]

To bad for Gordon.  Bates is no longer ranked!

[akirk]

Tonight's Games:

Eastern Nazarene at Endicott       
Wesleyan at Salve Regina       
Roger Williams at Wentworth Tech       
Curry at Colby-Sawyer       
New England College at University of New England       
Bates at Gordon       
Nichols at Anna Maria

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Tonight's Games:

Eastern Nazarene at Endicott       
Wesleyan at Salve Regina       
Roger Williams at Wentworth Tech       
Curry at Colby-Sawyer       
New England College at University of New England       
Bates at Gordon       
Nichols at Anna Maria

akirk steps up when I'm slacking.

[backboard]

WIT over RWU

[scout]

Bates tops Gordon in overtime...
82-74...

It was even the whole way through. Jon Marstaller got fouled on a layup with 4.6 seconds to go. The ball went halfway down the hoop and rimmed out. He then coolly made the two free throws to send it into the extra period.

After a bogus call on the first play (Jerry Logan had a 3 tipped, and it bounced out of bounds untouched. The refs gave the ball to Bates) the visiting team went on a run and forced around 3 or 4 clutch turnovers. It was sealed after the first two minutes of overtime play.

The game pretty much meant nothing for Gordon, other than a test to prep them for tournament time. It was a non-conference game that they weren't expected to win, and they still sit atop the CCC ready to close it out with confidence.

The loss should not have a negative effect upon the Scots, as they played hard and left nothing on court in the end. The experience of a close overtime game and playing from behind for a bit can only help them out come two weeks from now.

[backboard]

Just curious, which tournament are you talking about?

[dwebbs]

I can't speak for scout, but I'm pretty sure the only tournament Gordon is thinking about at this point is the CCC.

That being said, GC did play great for 40 minutes against Bates. They showed they had the offensive firepower to hang with a team known for defense (Bates opponents average 60 pts. per game). However, the gave up 8 straight points before finally scoring in OT, and the game was pretty much set by then. Unfortunate.

Meanwhile, WIT is knocking off everybody at home (except CSC, who they really could have used a W over). From what I gathered from the players reactions after their win over GC, they feel like they're not getting the respect they deserve. While they should be considered dangerous come playoffs, they really need to get a good road win to be fully respected. (While beating GC and EC at home, they lost by 15 to both teams on the road). They have that chance this Saturday at Salve.

The WIT win over RWU sets up Gordon for their most important game of the season this Saturday at CSC. With a win, GC controls the tie breaker in the North (assuming they beat UNE and AMC at home to end the season), and since it looks like the North controls the number one seed, has it in their own hands to win home court through out the post season, again. Should be a great game Saturday.

[Maq Diesel]

I am assuming Scout was talking about the CCC tourney because that is certainly the only tournament Gordon is guarenteed to be in this year.  Even with a win tonight their QOWI wouldn't have been in the right ball park to merit an at large bid.  That aside, Gordon played very well tonight and competed hard against a very good Bates team that would be with out a doubt the class of the CCC if the were in this league.  Zak Ray is very good and Stockwell does what ever he wants to in the paint.  Gordon struggled against Bates when they went to a 2-3 zone but they were the better team when they were playing man-to-man.  Gordon has a tough trip, although certainly not as tough as years past, to New London this weekend and then a trip over to the POst center where they haven't won for as long as I can remember.  With that being said, after tonights RWU loss, are in the drivers seat for the number one seed in the conference tourney.  Assuming they win on Saturday at CSC and Endicott wins as well that will bring Gordon to the Post center at 11-2 in conference and Endicott will be sitting at 10-3, assuming they win against CSC and Nichols at home this week.  That got me to thinking about what Gordon has to do to get the number one seed.  Win out is the short answer.  However if they were to lose here is how the tie breakers work.

III. TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE:
In the event of a tie at the end of regular season play, the following procedure will be used to determine seeds for the tournament:
1) Head to Head
2) Record in Division
3) Record top to bottom in division
4) Record top to bottom on other division
5) Record against non-conference common opponents
6) Overall record versus all teams with a .500 or better record
7) Coin toss ( in a three way tie using flip, "the odd toss is out leaving a head to head review of tie breaker

Head to head would be split.  Record in division Gordon would be 7-2 with UNE remaining and Endicott would be 6-3 with NEC remaining.  And Endicott loss to CSC at this point would give Gordon the edge in the 3rd tie breaker.  So essentially Gordon could lose to Endicott and still keep the number one seed as long as they won the rest of their games.  I hope the win out and take the suspense out of the last week and half, but in any event its should be a very fun close to regular season.

The Post center should be rockin' on Tuesday night, but Gordon needs to take care of business on Saturday at CSC first. 

[Maq Diesel]

I just wanted to throw something out there.  I know many of you think that Nemanja Marinkovic will win player of the year, but I have a name you might not think of but is the most valuable player to his team, at least in my opinion and that is Jerry Logan.  The kid goes all out every night and he just makes big plays.  He is averaging 13.4 points, 3 rebounds and 3.4 assist per game.  The thing that stands out to me the most is how good of a defender he is.  He get the opposing teams best guard every game and he does just plays so hard.  With out him Gordon is not 10-2 in conference.  Just thought I would throw his name in for consideration.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Marinkovic is going to win.  Logan's got another year doesn't he?

[bballbliss]

Jerry Logan is a senior this year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Round-up:

ENC rocks ENC 102-78.  Jasmin got 19 and Seaberg had 16 for ENC; they're still taking too many threes, but they played well on the offensive end.  Any news is good news for them at this point.  Defense, however, is another story.  EC shot 57% from the floor and actually better (65%) from deep.  They also hit 25-29 free throws and the starters only played about 22 minutes.  Crobett led with 17 off the bench; Stewart had 14.  Burgos had 11 and Burton had 10.  Marinkovic didn't get many shots or play a whole lot, but it seems he was the only one to have an off night.  I assume Jasmin had something to do with that.  On the whole this game seems pretty typical, ENC's only weapon is Jasmin down low and it seems EC got a lot of points by abusing the guards.

Salve dropped one to Wesleyan 81-87.  It's non-con and they're a NESCAC team, but Wesleyan is not good this year.  I'm not surprised by the result, but I was really thinking they'd pull it out.  Goordridge had 20 with 5 assists, Hazzard went for 19 with 10 boards, Wirth was 12 and 10 and Grendal had 11 points and 5 assists.  Numbers are pretty even throughout; Wesleyan got a few more free throws in the second half and pulled away.

WIT over  RWU 74-64.  By the way this is only their second home game all year.  The CSC loss was the last "home" game they played in another gym.  Their currently undefeated in the new digs and have some bright prospects for the future.  This was a big win for them as they are still alive in the hunt for 2nd place up north.  Bashaw led RWU with 17, Barranger had 11 and Barrett had 10.  RWU was outrebounded by the smaller WIT squad that was led by 25, 6 and 6 from Doyle; 18 points and 5 assists from PBJ and 11 each from Gaine and Bolton.  Bynes seems to have been contained by the taller RWU bigs.  This looks to have been pretty even, although WIT stepped up the shooting in the second half.  Good game; good win.

Curry walks into New London and comes out on top 81-75.  Wynn only played seven guys and it payed off.  Tim Jones had 26, Brittian 19 and Mastrullo 15.  Prescod got ten boards.  CSC was led by 18 a piece from Rosso and Fouriner (5 assists, also), 14 from Cousins and 12 from Szeliga.  Murray got ten rebounds.  FTs seem to be the difference 21-24 from Curry vs. 5-13 for CSC.  The freshman, Rosso, is really starting to emerge for Colby-Sawyer.  They might have found another quality freshman class.

NEC tops UNE 79-77.  Jaziri had 25, Quinn had 16 with 6 assists and Evans had 14 points.  Sylvia pulled down 17 boards.  He's quite high in the national rebounding rankings.  UNE got 15 and 17 from Tom Button, 17 from Farynaz, 12 from Marriott, and 11 from Floyd.  NEC went inside and UNE, as usual, tried to rain down threes, but came up short.  Probably a fun one to watch.

GC goes down to Bates in OT 74-82.  This is one of the most talented teams in New England and GC made a very good showing, especially with Bates having a formidable big man.  Stockwell dominated the paint, but Marstaller held his own on the offensive end, getting 19.  Herr scored 17 off the bench on some good outside shooting.  Logan had 19 and Bajema had 10.  They got 5 assists out of Kauffman.  Once GC develops those young big men they've got, they'll be able to compete with a team like Bates, but the inside-outside combo of Stockwell and Bates is very good and they were too much for Gordon.  I'm amazed that this even went to overtime.  Very good show from GC; absolutely nothing to be disappointed about.

Nichols squeaks by Anna Maria 95-83 in the hangar.  Anthony McDonald scored 21 for AMC, they got 14 from Spratling and 13 from wells, all off the bench.  Daigineault put in ten of his own.  Nichols was led by 26 from Vallee, 20 from Lindgren, 12 a piece from Powers and Wilcox and 11 from Paquin.  Both teams were absolutely on fire with AMC hitting 14 threes and Nichols netting 13.  This one had to have been really fun.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Jerry Logan is a senior this year.

Kauffman is the junior; I keep getting them mixed up in my head.  Sorry.