MBB: Conference of New England

[backboard]

The only time it would have an effect on the opposition is if a fifth grade girl's team comes rumbling into Biddeford

[YeahBoss]

UNE does have a great record against fifth graders this season.  They have got three tough road games coming up soon.  We'll know more about the team after that.  If they win one or two of those games they should be feeling pretty good depending on how they play.

[backboard]

I highly doubt UNE will be looking ahead on their schedule when Todd Doyle (TCCC Player of the Week) brings his Leopards into town on Wednesday.  While I feel that UNE should win, I'm sure it will a good game and measuring stick for both teams.

Then not to mention Roger Williams right after that.

Certainly should be interesting as their opponents boast a record of 28-12 (in conference only)

[YeahBoss]

I hate it when they overlook Todd Doyle.

[backboard]

Yesterday:

Endicott 56 - Colby Sawyer 67
Jon Chaloux led all scorers with 22 points and CSC out-rebounded Endicott 42-30.

Nichols 81 - Anna Maria 47
As expected.

Regis 40 - Gordon 68
Greg Walker led the way with 22 points and 19 boards.

NEC 55 - Curry 75
Quashed Simmons  and Mark Mastrullo scored 27 and 22 points respectively.

WNEC 73 - Eastern Naz 61
Matt Maynard led the home team with 18 points.

Roger Williams 65 - Salve 68
Windell Hinkson buried a game winning three pointer with less than a second to go as Salve walks out with a huge win against RWU.

UNE 70 - Wentworth 58
Todd Doyle led all scores with 16 points (with 5 assists) but UNE shot 60% for the game and benefited from their balanced scoring attack.  Jefferson had 14 and Simpson added 13.

[YeahBoss]

Pretty quiet. Todd Doyle you're still my boy.

[Bill Gorman]

Feb. 7 Scores

@ Wentworth 90, Anna Maria 52
(Doyle scores 16 on Senior Day...Abbott goes for 18 and 11; no one played more than 25 minutes)
@ Curry 87, ENC 77
Colby-Sawyer 75, @ Salve Regina 73
@ UNE 47, Roger Williams 44 (17 in a row for the Nor'Easters)
@ WNEC 80, NEC 51
Gordon 94, @ Nichols 85
Regis 80, @ Endicott 69

So, with four games left, here's how we stand:
UNE 9-0
CSC 8-1
GC 6-3
NC 6-3
SRU 6-3
WIT 6-3
RWU 5-4
CC 4-5
WNEC 4-5
--
EC 3-6
ENC 3-6
RC 2-7
AMC 1-8
NEC 0-9
Very interesting next two weeks, to say the least.

[backboard]

Looking at the scores and standings this Sunday and only one question comes to mind: 

Can anyone stop UNE?

We all know that they can score as a team, but yesterday they showed that they can win the low scoring, grind it out type of game as well.  Roger Williams may be the best defensive team in the league in terms of not allowing opposing teams do want they want.  Yesterday they held UNE without a field goal in the last 9:53 of the game and only allowed 4 points during that stretch.  But we have to give credit to the Nor'easters for keeping up with their defensive intensity and coming out with the win despite shooting 30.8% for the game.

Jefferson was the only member of UNE to score more than 10 points (he had 12).  For Roger Williams, Pat Flanagan had 14 points and 9 boards while Billy Barrett chipped in with 11.  Final score 47-44.

UNE now hits the road with games against Endicott, Colby-Sawyer, and Gordon before returning home to face Nichols.  Some tough games against fundamentally sound teams that boast some size as well.

Roger Williams travels to Anna Maria but then finishes the season with 4 straight home games:  RIC, Regis, Curry, and Eastern Naz.  The Hawks should finish the season 9-4 in conference.


Other scores:

Wentworth 90 - Anna Maria 52
Senior day already for the Leopards?  Matt Abbott carried the way with 17 points and 11 boards.  Todd Doyle was right behind him with 16 points and 5 boards.  Senior day is always special for guys so congrats to the Wentworth seniors.  Now they have to go on the road with some tough games against Nichols, Curry, Colby-Sawyer, and then NEC.  If they finish 2-2 during that stretch, then Wentworth should make it back to the playoffs with a chance at hosting a game.

Anna Maria finishes their season with home games against RWU, NEC, Regis, along with a road game at WNEC.

Curry 87 - Eastern Naz 77
Despite losing so much talent from last year's championship squad, Curry has quietly hung around.  But now they're done with the soft teams and the real test begins.  They finish up with home games against Wentworth and Endicott while traveling to Salve and RWU.  I don't see them making the playoffs this season.

Eastern Naz has the opportunity to play spoiler with games against NEC, Nichols, Salve, and Roger Williams.

Nichols 85 - Gordon 94
Brady Bajema showed up for this one with 37 points, including 9-13 from 3-point range and even added 9 assists.  Trigg and Greg Walker both added in 14 points.  For Nichols, Pete Atkins had 27 and Ryan Wilcox had 16.

Gordon finishes their season with CSC, WNEC, UNE, and then on the road against Salve.  It's not going to be easy and while they should still make the playoffs, I wouldn't be surprised if the Fighting Scots do not have a home playoff game.

Nichols finishes up with Wentworth and hits the road with games at Eastern Naz, Regis, and UNE.  If they finish 2-2 during that stretch or even 3-1, they could host a playoff game.

WNEC 80 - NEC 51
Matt Maynard scored 18 points while Kyle Fredette returned from injury.  The Golden Bears travel to Regis and Gordon before finishing up at home against Anna Maria and CSC.  It will be tough for them to make the playoffs.

Endicott 69 - Regis 80
When I first saw this, I thought it was a typo.  No way would Endicott lose to Regis, especially at home.  Derrick Neal took charge with 31 points as Endicott had no answer for him.  Endicott out-rebounded Regis 51-35 but only shot 30.8% for the game including 3-22 from 3-point range.

Endicott has their senior day on Tuesday (vs. UNE) and then finishes the season on the road against Salve, NEC, and Curry.  I would be very surprised if they made the playoffs.

Salve 73 - Colby-Sawyer 75
Impressive win for CSC.  Matt Lemieux scored a game winning layup while Will Bardaglio and David Rosso scored 21 points each.  Justin Woodworth had 15 of his own but only shot 2-7 from range.

CSC finishes up with games at Gordon and WNEC with home games against WIT and UNE.  Four tough games so it should be very interesting to see how they finish.

Salve ends with home games against Curry, Endicott, Gordon, with one road game against Eastern Naz.  2-2 during those game would get them into the playoffs.


Another thing to keep in mind would be the Player of the Year award.  The main question is who are the legitimate candidates for the award?  We all know about Doyle, Trigg, and Woodworth.  But there are other players who deserve mentioning such as:  Derrick Neal, Johnnie Jefferson, and Quashed Simmons.  There's still a lot to be decided.

[number1chargerfan]

I think UNE should feel lucky to win 2 out of their next 3..those are the 3 best home court advantages in the conference, and long road trips for a team that has played the majority of their schedule at home or in the state of Maine.

It's too bad there's not a Regis poster out there to let Endicott have it, thats a big win for their program and a tough loss to take for the Gull faithful.

This is going to be a great week of TCCC basketball!

[cccc-fanatic]

Not only did UNE have to play a slowed-down game, a lot of their players were battling the flu that day.
Hopefully the next four games will be a good test for all of the best teams in the conference.prove

Looking at the scores and standings this Sunday and only one question comes to mind: 

Can anyone stop UNE?

We all know that they can score as a team, but yesterday they showed that they can win the low scoring, grind it out type of game as well.  Roger Williams may be the best defensive team in the league in terms of not allowing opposing teams do want they want.  Yesterday they held UNE without a field goal in the last 9:53 of the game and only allowed 4 points during that stretch.  But we have to give credit to the Nor'easters for keeping up with their defensive intensity and coming out with the win despite shooting 30.8% for the game.

Jefferson was the only member of UNE to score more than 10 points (he had 12).  For Roger Williams, Pat Flanagan had 14 points and 9 boards while Billy Barrett chipped in with 11.  Final score 47-44.

UNE now hits the road with games against Endicott, Colby-Sawyer, and Gordon before returning home to face Nichols.  Some tough games against fundamentally sound teams that boast some size as well.

[backboard]

More great games last night:

ANNA MARIA 80 - Roger Williams 70
So the Endicott game wasn't just a fluke.  Awful loss for the Hawks as they basically play themselves out of a home playoff game.  Good for Anna Maria.

Regis 69 - WNEC 84
Real quietly, WNEC is hanging around and could be a difficult match-up for some teams in the playoffs.  Rick Johnson had 22 points while Matt Maynard added in 18.  The Golden Bears are holding on to that last playoff spot.

Eastern Naz 75 - NEC 49

Endicott 72 - UNE 81
This game was not as close as it looks.  UNE took charge of this early but lost composure (two technicals) and allowed Endicott to tie the game at the half.  But in the second half, UNE took over with a 19-0 run and iced the game.  Graham Whitelaw had 23 points for the Gulls but he's basically their only legitimate scoring option.  For the visitors, Anthony Johnson had 19 points while Johnnie Jefferson added in 14.  18 games in a row now for the Nor'easters

Salve 76 - Curry 65
Justin Woodworth had 21 points as Salve shot 47% for the game.  For Curry, Mark Mastrullo scored 26 points and TCCC player of the week Quashed Simmons added in 18.  Salve is looking at a home playoff game at the moment.

Gordon 64 - Colby Sawyer 94
First of all, congrats to Aaron Trigg for achieving the 1,000 point mark for his career as he scored 17 points on the night.  Second, this game was a beatdown from the very beginning and I can only imagine how quiet the "Pit" was during this.  For the Chargers, Jon Chaloux scored 29 points and Colby-Sawyer shot 58% for the game including 55% from 3-pt range.  Saturday's match-up against UNE (@ CSC) most likely will be the biggest game so far this season.  I don't know what the tie-breaker situation is, but if I had to guess, Gordon is the #5 seed right now if the playoffs were to start today.

Nichols 79 - Wentworth78
I've been to several Nichols games this year (since they're only 10 minutes from me) but this game was the most entertaining.  I want to start by saying that this was the worst officiated game I've ever seen in the CCC, for both sides.  The referees were completely lost as several phantom calls were made against both teams and it resulted in some pathetic make it calls as well.
The game went back and forth for the entire 40 minutes played.  At times Nichols went up 5 points and it seemed like they could coast but Wentworth came right back and established a 5 point lead of their own.  During the first, Nichols did a good job of containing Todd Doyle for the first 15 minutes but fell asleep in the last 5 before halftime and Doyle burned them.  On the night he finished with 27 points and now is the leading scorer in the league.  Five minutes into the second half, Matt Abbott fouled out for the Leopards and they lost their advantage in the post.  Nichols was able to get into the paint without any real threat of a shot blocker.  WIT was still able to maintain a lead and were up 4 points with 1:26 left in the game.  Pete Atkins (this kid is going to be good if he stays) of the Bison was able to cut the lead to 1 as he scored and was 'fouled' by Doyle.  On the ensuing play, Wentworth tried for the hailmary pass down the court but it was stolen by Nichols.  With 8 seconds left, Chris Paquin got into the paint for a layup and the lead 79-78.  Wentworth had the chance to win the game as all 5 Nichols' players collapsed on Doyle as he drove into the paint.  Doyle got the pass off to Shane West and his layup went in and bounce right out.  Tough break for Wentworth but a great victory for Nichols.  In all, Wentworth is probably the better team, but questionable play calling down the stretch. as well as the refs, doomed them.
For the Bison, Jeff Lindgren had 26 points as he made several tough shots all night.  Todd Doyle was able to answer back with 27 of his own.  Bryan Riley added in 15 for the Bison as well.

[YeahBoss]

UNE ranked regionally for the first time in the program's history. What a story!

[yeah buddy]

congrats to UNE on the ranking. that's a great achievement.

the pit was pathetic on tuesday..

[number1chargerfan]

The Stable is anxiously awaiting a visit from newly ranked UNE on Saturday

[scout]

Sorry to be off on such a long hiatus... Being away from the action is certainly a damper on the ability to be relevant.

Nonetheless, the CCC has kind of gone topsy-turvey in terms of normal pecking order.

Endicott, Gordon, Roger Williams all are not what they once were...
UNE, Nichols, Salve atop the standings?

The only consistent name is Colby-Sawyer...

Still, the tournament brings surprises. And we are only a few weeks away.

It will be interesting to see how UNE deals with pressure it hasn't felt in a while. If the team can deal with a team that has both an inside presence and a solid guard to get the ball over midcourt during their press. I believe such a team can beat UNE... Not sure if the CCC has one of these teams, but if I had to choose, I'd pick Gordon... Despite the recent mess.

Speaking of Gordon... I'm a little curious at the lack of consistency. The team has a lot of talent and has proven it can play top teams (see early non-con schedule). Yet, when playing in the CCC, it has difficulty beating marginal teams. I'm all for parity, but I still am a little baffled by it all...

Sorry for rambling, but it's my first post in a while...
Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things.