MBB: Conference of New England

[broke_ya_ankles]

its impossible to say what the final score would have been had Doyle played, but with or without Doyle my point was UNE is improved compared to years past they have two JR. transfers both from texas that are leading the team and with a new coach this isnt the cakewalk game it used to be for CCC opponents.  personally I think Wentworth is the most overrated team in the conference.  Understanding they have dealt with injuries to this point in the season but regardless even at full strength thats probably only another 2 wins or so max.  They went 17-12 last season and got hot at the right time to win the conference championship.  Wentworth I think is no more than a top 25 team in New England at best

[backboard]

Hard to be the most overrated team when they have the best player in the league, Sherrad Prezzie-Blue, to go along with Doyle.  Not to mention Bynes who is the most dynamic center in the league when not in foul trouble.  Sure their bench maybe weak right now, but once they hit their stride, they'll be back to their dominance similar to last year.  They could be 9-2 if they were healthy this season, having only played a few games with their true starters.

[dwebbs]

To echo the point that was made earlier by someone, WIt gave up 50 points to Gordon in the second half, and after the first five minutes of the game, lost by 24, no thanks to Sherrad "three points in 38 minutes" Prezzie-Blue.

Not to say that that's how Le Bleu plays every time, but if you do believe he is one of the best (if not, the best) players in the league, then you have to give a ton of credit to Justin Kaufman for keeping him from being a factor (also a point that I think was brought up earlier). No matter how you look at it, Gordon beat Wentworth.

That being said, I'm not going to go as far and say they will walk through TCCC play. They do have tough games left, not just WNEC and Endicott, but even Roger (on the road, where they had a tough go at it last year) and CSC on the road, where they also had a hard time, but won last year. But to this point, they have impressive wins and are playing very well. We'll see if they can keep that up.

[Jim Rome Of The CCC]

Getting a little aggro in here. As someone who has profoundly no stance on this I say the Fighting Scotts have all the right in the world to talk to about this last win as they did lay something of a beating.....However the Leopard faithful...which I think is just backboard and maybe CCC Talk can come in and say "scoreboard" and ask how many league titles Schauer and co. have won, because it's 0.

They both end up 11-2 in the league by the way.

[backboard]

Tonights matchups:

Roger Williams at WNEC
Colby-Sawyer at NEC
ENC at Wentworth
Endicott at Nichols
Anna Maria at Gordon
Curry at UNE
Salve at Regis

[scout]

gordon tops anna maria 95-66. gordon was in control for about the entire contest, setting the tempo and imposing their style upon their opponent. it was interesting to see a little more of a fast paced game from the scots, who normally play a slower, more methodical tempo. tonight, however, they played more of a quick transition game, turning the turnovers and rebounds from their ninth ranked defense (ppg national) into points of their own.

this style had a positive impact on the upper classmen who understand things a little better. mike schnackenberg had 17 points and 5 boards to lead the scots. trigg and marstaller each had 14. kaufman posted 12. trigg had 5 turnovers, most of them being rushed passes/bad decisions more than the defense forcing them. if coach schauer sticks to this tempo he will certainly get used to it pretty quickly as he is a knowledgeable student both on and off the court.

the scots will travel to ENC on saturday, their first away game since their championship wins up in new york.

other scores so far...

Eastern Nazarene      50      Wentworth Inst.      72
Colby-Sawyer      104      New England Col.      67
Roger Williams      65      Western New Eng.      52
Endicott      72      Nichols      90
Curry      85      U. of New England      74

The Salve - Regis game hasn't been posted yet. Otherwise, it was blowout night in the CCC...

[zcat68]

Salve 74 Regis 65

[scout]

tonight's games:

Endicott - Emerson   7:00 p.m.
Salve Regina - Mitchell   7:30 p.m.

Emerson's only loss is to Norwich up in Vermont. Let's hope the Gulls can knock off a solid team and win one for TCCC.

[goldenpipes]

Emerson 85 Endicott 53

Ben Chase continued his hot shooting (11-17 from the field) leading the Lions with 27 points. Will Dawkins scored 26 and Jeremy Shannon added 15 and 6 assists as the Lions led by 20 at the break and cruised tonight in Beverly.

Box Score - http://ecgulls.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/ec13.html

[scout]

 Mitchell      67      Salve Regina      89

Senior Justin Woodworth tagged 18 points to lead his team in scoring. (All those points came in the first half)
Otherwise, Salve had 6 players reach double-figures in scoring.

Albeit, this was against a winless Mitchell team.

Salve gets back to league play on Saturday against UNE.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC over Gordon 82-69.  ENC led the whole second half.

[broke_ya_ankles]

wow im shocked, i dont think anyone saw that coming

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon is not nearly as good as they've been the last few seasons.  They have a good core, but I never thought they'd be competing for the conference championship.  That being said, it's still a big win for ENC.  They are much better with Jasmin back playing, but with both teams competitive, this goes back to being a real rivalry, which means anyone can win.

[broke_ya_ankles]

it seems as though the whole CCC isnt nearly as good as it was 3 or 4 years ago.  I guess I'm not as surprised as a few that Gordon is off to such a strong start they have a very talented sr class with Marstaller, Kaufman, etc.  and with colby-sawyer not being who they used to be, endicott the same, It looks as though Gordon should have a real good shot at capturing a conference title. 

on a side not I'm baffled to see Endicott 4-10 after so much success over the past 5 years.  Its not too late for them to salvage the season and put up a respectable conference record but considering this is a program that has won 85% of their conference games over the past 5 seasons (68-12)    Im really surprised to see them struggling the way they are

[Bill Gorman]

Roger Williams 85, Wentworth 84.  GREAT game by both teams--fifth straight in the series decided by 10 or fewer points.  Tied at the half at 28 and no team led by more than six.  Tied at 83 with 40 seconds left (14th ties of the game), Wentworth has two FT's with 16 left and hits one of two.  Fava hits jumper in the paint with 2.2 left.  Wentworth had a chance on a well drawn up play, but Prezzie-Blue's shot missed.  Prezzie-Blue had 19 for Wentworth with having 18 & 8, Doyle 17, 5 & 5, Abbott 13, and West 11.

Gumb had 20 and 6 for RWU with Bashaw adding 19.  Wentworth shot 66.7% from the floor, RWU shot 57.4.  Neither team turned the ball over often (Wentworth 12, RW 8)