MBB: Conference of New England

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon comes out strong, beating Roger Williams 77-62.  They shot 60% from the floor and the arc - Carnes, Hamilton, and Thomas all shot well.  Dempsey went 8-11 for 19, 7, and 7.  Great game.  Flanagan had 19 on what is appearing more and more a one dimensional squad.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC falls to Nichols 56-60.  Another tough loss for ENC. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wentworth makes a big comeback, but it's not enough, EC wins 62-69.  Both teams shot terribly, but EC won the rebound battle and EC spent a ton of time on the FT line.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Curry and UNE was evidently postponed.  They had some live stats up, but they were from the previous game.

[Chantastic]

Salve defeated Gordon 73-63 today in a matchup of the league's only undefeated teams.

Gordon was up 58-49 with 12 1/2 left and scored only 5 points the rest of the way.

Very impressed with Salve.  That's a savvy team. Ryan Birrell was fantastic.  They have no height, even by TCCC standards, but their ball movement and shot selection is outstanding.  When they took the lead they knew how to close it.

Dempsey went for 18, 6, and 5 for Gordon.  Early in the second half he dunked in traffic with his off hand - one of the most athletic plays I have ever seen at the D3 level.  Gordon is clearly still a work in progress and will have an interesting week with road games @ EC and WIT.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon really does seem to be coming on of late.  They could make some waves as they continue to find form.

Roger Williams seem to have taken the "one man team" criticism to heart, winning over WIT with next to nothing from Flanagan.

Nichols survived a scare against UNE, but the bench bailed out a bad game from Sheehan.

WNEC proved to be the real "one man team" in the conference, losing at home to ENC.

Endicott over Curry in sloppy, sloppy game.

[Gordonhoops123]

Gordon v. Endicott tomorrow, should be a good one. If Hans can be more physical in the paint and Hamilton gets some looks Gordon could be right in this one

[Chantastic]

The only way that Gordon will NOT be in this game is if they make even more turnovers than they have been.

We are 1/3 of the way through the conference season.  Gordon is first in the conference in FG% and FG% defense.  They are first in 3PT% and 3PT% defense.  They are absolutely crushing the league in rebounding margin (+12.7).  They are leading the conference in blocked shots and assists.

At the same time, they are dead last (by a wide margin) in turnover margin (-8.7).

The frontcourt of Dempsey, Miersma, and Carnes is easily superior to the rest of the league, and they are only getting better.  This team only has one senior in their rotation and he plays about 10 minutes a game.  All the guards are freshman and sophomores.  I would suggest that the ability of those guards to get to a league average level over the next ten or twelve games will determine whether anyone else has a chance to beat Gordon once the playoffs start.

[uconn05]

I think that Salve will be a tough match-up for them for the rest of the year, no matter how much better those guards get. Sure, they will gain some experience. However, you can't rely on freshman in February - especially with a lot of three game weeks. The season is much longer than a high school season and it is very difficult for every first year player that is getting significant minutes.

With Salve averaging 13 steals/game in conference play they will give every shaky backcourt a very tough time.

[Chantastic]

Salve is going to be a tough matchup for anyone, especially if they get homecourt advantage.

Nobody on their team really blows you away with their athletic ability, but they know exactly what they are trying to do.  Gordon's current point guard Park Thomas isn't good yet, but he has the most potential of any of their current point guard prospects.  When he tried to play with 4 fouls late in last week's game, Salve ran a set play, posted him up, picked up the 5th foul, and then closed out the game against Gordon's backup PG.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Tonight:

WIT @ SRU
NC @ RWU
WNEC @ CC
UNE @ ENC
GC @ EC

I pick the home teams down the line.

[uconn05]

Are the students back yet for the Beverly Brawl? If so, I'd love to be in the gym for that game.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon and EC are tied at 40 with 11 minutes to go.  Gordon is not hitting threes and has some foul trouble, but they're hanging tight for now.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Roger Williams reverted back to a one man team (Flanagan is 11-11 on the night), but they're making a run at Nichols (whose bench had really come alive of late).  Already 63-54 with ten minutes to play.  Shoot out!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

EC wins 68-62.  Dempsey had 13, but some foul trouble.  Park Thomas had 16.  They shot terribly, but kept it close.  Lance Green had 16 for EC and really came through down the stretch.