MBB: Conference of New England

[Pat Coleman]

Did anyone else feel as though Bartelle was forced to write what he did last night?  It was almost as if his coaches caught wind of his posts, and gave him the choice of continuing his ghost writing, or playing college basketball.

If so, that's pretty hypocritical, considering his posting position is hardly unique.

[CCC Fan]

Close.  Colby-Sawyer 84, New England College 82

[24/7/365]

GC over UNE 71-66.  Vogelzang for GC had 20 while Stickney for UNE had 23, 4-5 fromt 3pt land. 

[roy_williams]

EC over WIT, 83-73. game was tied at 35 at the half. from reports it sounds like it was a back and forth game til the end. EC shot 55% to escape their 21 turnovers. i guess y'all weren't impressed enough by the nostradamus like performance of 24 with the Curry pick, but now ya got to give some dap. not including the natty ice induced post from brethen over at EC, most of you scoffed at the notion WIT could hang.

Darko and Matty George were HUGE for EC, combining for 45, 19, and 13. Darko 24, 13, and 5 while Matty paced with 21, 6, and 8 with both shooting lights out from the floor. A good sign for Gull fans as the only chance of an EC run come tourney time rests on the hopes that Darko, and more importantly Geroge, play like the preseason CCC 1st teamers everyone thought they would be.

Todd Doyle probably locks up my vote for ROY with 18pts for WIT. This would give back to back ROY selections to WIT, albeit PB&J's selection is suspect at best.     

My boy Burgos showed some flashes of brilliance with 9pts and 3blks.

lets get some chattah going for Throwdown Thursday up in New London. #2 and a home play-off game are on the line. (hoops--the colby site says CSC needs a win over EC and another EC loss to move to number 2? which is correct)
plus, as it stands now i believe the 3 seed in the north will have to travel to Curry in the 1st round. ouch, indeed.

[dwebbs]

I think the tiebreaker between EC and CSC comes down CSC is 0-2 against GC while EC is 1-1. Although, Curry beat EC and lost to CSC, but I think the tiebreaker goes to the North opponents before the South. So if that's right, EC has the tie breaker against CSC.

[24/7/365]

While an EC/CSC match-up should never be scoffed at, this years meeting may be a little less intense as it has been in years passed.  I am not discounting either of these teams, nor am I saying that the game won't be competitive.  Rather I feel that both these teams are s-t-ruggling.  For CSC to only beat NEC by 2, and for EC to only beat WIT by 10, at home, is not the norm for these two ball clubs.

I'm not sure if it's the long season catching up with EC, or if their coach is finally feeling 1st year pressure, or if EC has plummeted back to earth, and is now playing to their actual capabilities, I don't know.  But whatever the reason is, they need to correct it quickly, because when next Tuesday swings around, their play is not going to be enough to make a three-peat run.

CSC is equally as difficult to figure out.  Here's a team that everyone thought would just roll.  They have the best player in the league, ever, and they maintained a core group of guys.  I, as well as most of you, would have never thought CSC would be teetering on the brink of 4 conference losses.  Again, their play right now could mean an early exit from playoffs.  It might be delayed if they receive a #2 seed, because they'll be at home.  But when this team goes on the road all bets are off.

GC is not without their woes as well.  Even though they are in the midst of a 15 game winning streak, it seems as though they have hit a wall.  Now they have become the target team in the CCC, earning everyone's best play, every time they take to the court.  But I find it hard to believe that everyone, before this streak, only brought their C game when playing GC.  It may be pressure, fatigue, contentment, I don't know, but whatever it is, I for one would like to see GC get back on their "blow out train" and have a few statement games before the season ends.  In saying that, a flat out win against CC would be a statement in any form.

Whatever the reasons may be for our top teams to a little lackluster, that does not negate the fact that two teams from the south are making a name for themselves, and may be forces to recon with next week.  I do not know much about either CC or SRU, but both have come on hard and fast these last few weeks.  The chatter about SRU has been very quiet until recently, and the CC talk has been mostly about off the court actions rather than their on court play.  I'm hoping we can get some good insight from CC and SRU fans before Tuesday comes and goes.  And hopefully we can avoid the player opinions.  The last thing, we as posters need is more drama from them dang players.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You're right with the tiebreaker.  It seems dumb to me to go from the top down, but what do I know.  To me losing twice to the #1 team is not as bad as losing once to a team below you in the standings.  I do understand why they do it.  Frankly it doesn't matter too much; the only thing it determines is where they play the conference championship if they both make it there.  I guess it also determines whether your second round match-up is at Gordon or at Curry, but right now neither one seems like a better alternative.

[john]

 if i had to put a wild guess out there,i would say that both csc and ec thought tues nights games would be easy and looked ahead to the match up thurs night.  shows what can happen to any team and does alot..........

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The rundown:

CSC 84 NEC 82.  This is a typically close game for NEC.  They were at home and usually keep games close at home.  I always thought this was because of the long drive most teams have to make, but I guess not, seeing as how CSC is like 45 minutes, tops.  Those young NEC guards can score, just imagine how dangerous this team would have been if Onyechi had stayed healthy.  Jaziri had 19, montrod had 17Vanjak and Quinn had 13 each and Sylvia had 11.  JUst as NEC was led from the backcourt, CSC's superior frontcourt kept them alive.  St. Clair went for 22 and 10, Thorpe for 18 pts of his own.  Truncilleto had 10.  CSC was up pretty big at the half because they took nearly twice as many shots and hit 7 threes.  NEC came back with some really great shooting in the seceond half and held CSC to only one from behind the arc.  NEC was 7-9 from three in the second half, while CSC pounded the ball inside to keep pace.  9 TOs for Colby-Sawyer to 16 for NEC.  Great game; I'm sure it was fun to watch.

Curry 87 AMC 51.  Good showing for Curry, which looks much better as all the other contenders struggled against lesser teams.  Adam O'Malley appears out of no where (literally, I don't think he's played since November) and scored 18 points.  Without him, I can't imagien how bad this game could have been.  Curry got 20 from Lamb and 17 from Bartelle (who didn't start together, yet again).  They also got 11 from Mohrin and 10 from Prescod.  It seems Wynn let a few of the bench guys start (seniors probably), but they all did quite well.  Curry is still not hitting the boards enough, something CC has always been known for in the past.  Not beating out AMC in rebounds is a problem, especially for the playoffs.  Lamb's rebounding numbers have been down all year, I hope for their sake he was just saving his energy.

GC 71 UNE 66.  Another close one here.  UNE just hung tough the whole game, as GC's outside shooting seemed to let them down.  Stickney had 23, lighting it up from long range; Oliver had 14 and McManus had 12.  Vogelzang led the way for Gordon, as the rest of the line-up struggled.  V went 8-9 from the floor for 20 points.  Kauffman had 14 and Marstaller 11; Herr chipped in 10 rebounds.  Both teams hit FTs and handled the ball well.  It seems like this a story of UNE having their best game and catching GC on an off night.  There were a lot of fouls from UNE and not too many from Gordon.  That tells me the UNE guys probably had to work harder for their production.  It was a chance at an upset, but Gordon held them off; good job all around.

SRU 75 RWU 54.  Well, I guess this tells us which RI team is playing the best right now.  Nice win for Salve, trying to land themselves a home game.  They will still need some help, however.  SRU got 31 and 13 from Walsh and 15 and 15 from Grendal as Salve continues their domination of the boards.  Coute had 18.  This team is really rounding into form at the right time.  RWU's big bodies again looked weak as Salve dominated the paint on both ends of the floor.  Paciorkowski, a little used freshman off the bench was the only RWU player in double figures with 12.  Just an awful day for RWU.

EC 83 WIT 73.  Another close call from a contender.  We're really trying to get our late season upset out of the way, but its no where to be found.  Maybe this is the year it doesn't happen.  Doyle had 18, Hall had 14 and PB&J had 13.  Marinkovic led EC with 24 and 13, George had 21 and 8 assists and Ellis got 10 points.  The 6,7, and 8 guys off the bench were solid contributors as well, very important to see for the playoff run.  EC committed 21 turnovers on 10 WIT steals, but the also dominated the boards and shot better, leading to the win.  It seems like WIT is not yet ready to put a 40 minute effort in against a top team, but the gap between the haves and the have nots is dropping with each season.  The CCC could get quite competitive very soon.

NC 74 ENC 67.  Another close one here too.  Lewis had 22, Vallee 14, Mercer 11 and Butler 10 for NC.  I know you'll all get mad at me, but I think Justin Lewis deserves a look for first team, all conference this year.  Marcellus led ENC with 20 points off the bench, Seaberg had 14 with 6 assists and Shields had 12.  Nichols has a lot of active big men, they had the whole ENC team in foul trouble and Jasmin fouled out in only 15 minutes of playing time.  ENC did well to stay close without him.  Nichols made 26 free throws and ENC only took 20.  That has been the story all year at ENC, other teams have won games from the free throw line.  Nichols is another young team on the move.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Playoff scenarios:

North
#1. Gordon clinches with any win or any EC loss.  Endicott can get it with two wins and two GC losses.
#2. Endicott clinches with any win or any CSC loss.  Gordon has this if they lose two and EC wins two.  CSC gets this with two wins and two EC losses.
#3. CSC has this locked up unless they win two and EC loses two, then Endicott would get this spot.
#4. NEC clinches with a win over UNE (I think NEC has the tiebreaker over WIT, but its sketchy) or a win over Salve and a WIT loss.  WIT can clinch with two NEC losses or with a win over GC and an NEC loss to UNE.

Basically, there are still questions, but most likely GC is #1 and NEC is #4.  EC just has to win one of their last two to get the #2.

South
#1. The winner of Thursdays game between Curry and Salve clinches.
#2. The loser of the RWU-Curry game clinches with a win in their last game (GC or EC).  Salve can clinch with a win and two RWU losses (SRU does not win a tiebreaker with Curry).
#3. Salve gets it by default, unless RWU loses twice, then it's RWU's spot.
#4. Nichols has this locked up.

[dwebbs]

In response to 27/7's post, the close games the past few weeks with GC, EC, and CSC don't necessarily mean that the top northern teams are weaker right now. Teams like WIT, NC, NEC, and UNE are going to be playing their best right now in search for a playoffs spot. Seniors are going to be playing their best (or in some cases their worst) for their last games. I've only seen GC, but I don't doubt that there has been sloppy play. But the fact that GC, CSC, and EC were able to beat who they should be, instead of being upset, just proves that they are in fact, the better teams.In response to 27/7's post, the close games the past few weeks with GC, EC, and CSC don't necessarily mean that the top northern teams are weaker right now. Teams like WIT, NC, NEC, and UNE are going to be playing there best right now in search for a playoffs spot. Seniors are going to be playing their best (or in some cases their worst) for their last games.

I've only seen GC, but I don't doubt that there has been sloppy play. But the fact that GC, CSC, and EC were able to beat who they should be, instead of being upset, just proves that they are in fact, the better teams.

Until Salve's Walsh can put up 31 and 13 on one of the top Northern teams, I think Curry is going to be the only threat out of the south. I'd still like CSC's chance of going into RWU or SRU and making it to the second round.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

CSC-Salve seems like an interesting match-up to me.  Coute is a great player, but he hasn't been on form in more than four or five games all year.  Both teams have really top-notch front court players who can rebound.  Obviously, I think the CSC experience and depth will prevail, but it would be interesting to see what happens, especially after CSC has to take the longest drive in the conference to get down there for the game.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Before we can get to the playoffs, we have a couple more game days to get through.  Here are Thursday's games:

CC @ RWU - for first place in the South
ENC @ AMC - AMC doesn't want to go winless in conference
EC @ CSC - for a chance to keep hopes alive of CSC getting a home game
NEC @ UNE - for NEC to clinch their playoff spot
GC @ WIT - for GC to clinch first place

There's a few playoff implications here.  I pick, CC, ENC, CSC, NEC and GC in this one... no upsets yet.

[akirk]

Hoops,

I agree with you.  No upsets tonight.  How often do the regional rankings update?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

New rankings will be out today.  Will they take all day to come out like last week?  It's anybody's guess.  Pat should have them up on the front page or in the blog as soon as the are available.  Keep checking.