MBB: Conference of New England

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Nichols over ENC 101-90.  Typical NC high scoring, no defense game.  Max Barbosa had 23 to lead ENC; Ezeigbo had 21 and 10.  Nichols put six! guys in double figures, led by a 19 and 7 night from Langadas.  Kuntz was back, but played only 11 unproductive minutes.  This team is ready to surprise.  Maybe not this year, but mix in a little defense and they're scary and young.

WIT crushes Endicott 80-65.  Callo didn't play - do we have any word about injuries?  Henault took his place in the starting line-up and led the team with 17 points.  Dombrowski showed by for WIT with 18.  When Dombrowski plays well, Mayo disappears.  They've got to figure out a way to get both of those guys involved in the offense at the same time.

Salve squeaks by WNEC 70-66.  Birrell went for 23-10-6-6 and continues to solidify his POY status.  WNEC is indeed coming on - four guys in double figures.  If they can keep the turnovers down and sneak into that #8 seed, it could be a good first round match-up.

UNE goes on the road and takes out Curry.  Unpredictable game of the year so far - 73-61.  Charles Fenner III with 31 points!  Where did this kid come from?  Jones played only 24 minutes for Curry - that screams foul trouble.

RWU over Gordon 61-55.  Dempsey had 17 as Gordon drops its 7th in a row.  Flanagan went for 11 and 11.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Thursday night games:

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

[uconn05]

It's too bad that EC didn't have Callo for the game, he is huge piece for them and does a lot more than just rebound and block shots (yes, pun intended). 

POY race seems to be a showdown between Birrell and Flanagan. They both have had monster years. If RWU or Salve wins the the regular season title than their best player will win POY. However, if neither team wins the league then the voting would be pretty interesting.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It's too bad that EC didn't have Callo for the game, he is huge piece for them and does a lot more than just rebound and block shots (yes, pun intended). 

POY race seems to be a showdown between Birrell and Flanagan. They both have had monster years. If RWU or Salve wins the the regular season title than their best player will win POY. However, if neither team wins the league then the voting would be pretty interesting.

Flanagan has been isolated and stopped on occasion - his teams have also lost games when he's put up huge numbers.  Birrell rarely has an off night and they just don't lose when he's really on.

[Gordonhoops123]

Solid win tonight for GC. I know it was just UNE, but a win is a win. Gets them back on the right track a win at ENC and EC would be huge.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

EC over Nichols 93-83.  Still no Callo, but Makris scored 27.  Kuntz got limited, unproductive minutes again and Sheehan was shut down (2-14 from the floor).

WIT over a surging WNEC 53-50.  Dombrowski and Mayo both in double digits - someone saw my recap of Tuesday's game.  Shaw went for 12 and 9.

ENC almost pulls a shocker, but once again can't close out a close game, losing at home to Salve 71-72.  Birrell was held to "only" 10,8, and 7, while William Smiley scored 31 to save SRU.  ENC put three guys in double figures, outrebounded Salve and shot 22-25 from the FT line.  Not sure they could have played any better.  Too bad about that one last point.

Curry over RWU 64-60.  Jones had 17, but AJ Stephens had 26 and 12 off the bench (in only 22 minutes) - what is it about Groundhog Day that brings out the best in no-name bench players?  Flanagan scored 15, but only managed 3 rebounds.

Gordon avoids a double-digit losing streak by crushing UNE 77-45.  The miracle that was Charles Fenner III came to an end.  No one hit double figures; the highest scorers for UNE were the guys at the end of the bench in garbage time.  Dempsey had 14, but GC's bench did a lot of the scoring load as well.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Saturday's slate:

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

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wentworth takes care of Nichols 92-84.  Wentworth put six guys in double figures, led by 19 from Colin Johnson off the bench.  They're getting to the FT line a lot, shooting threes well and improving shot selection.  Wentworth is really coming on here late in the season.  Sheehan had 9 points and 7 steals, but only took 8 shots (very unusual).  Marlon Bennett led the team with 20 off the bench.  Kuntz played 24 minutes and began to contribute.  He may be back to full strength by playoff time.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC goes down to Gordon 58-74.  This one was close the whole game, until a barrage of threes with two minutes to go closed the door.  Dempsey went for 19 and 10.  ENC had a better team effort, but they just can't seem to put it together at the end of games.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Down goes Salve.  Sedale Jones puts on a masterful performance as Curry beats the conference leaders 80-73.  Salve had a lot of trouble with CC's physicality, getting in a ton of foul trouble.  Birrell had 16 and 8, but SRU hung tough due to 5-13 three point shooting from Pringle.  Jones managed 32 points and 8 rebounds (12-12 from the FT line)

Menwhile UNE over Roger Williams 60-48.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

WNEC takes out Endicott at EC 83-74.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC @ Endicott tonight, making up a previously postponed game.

WNEC travels to Springfield for no apparent reason.  I mean, yes, for a basketball game, but why you'd schedule Springfield in the middle of a pretty tight conference schedule is just a little hard to define.

[pjunito]

Regional Rankings will be interesting as well; first one comes out this Wednesday. The teams that play the best in February usually make big runs in Conference Tournaments and beyond... Are there any teams that might be off the radar right know that anyone thinks might have a run left in their respective conferences?

In the GNAC, I think Johnson and Wales could be dangerous. They have a great scorer in Lamont Thomas; they won the conference last year and have the ability to shoot the 3 ball very well.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Endicott over ENC 89-83.  Chima went for 29 and 11.  Still no Callo for EC, but Markis and Maghee picked up the slack.  EC's defense seems to be suffering without Callo, either that or they're speeding up the pace of play without him.  A lot of scoring last night - and a score that was much closer than I expected.

WNEC goes down to Springfield 70-85.  Shaw had 21 on 5-6 from deep.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

No recaps this week.  I've been out of the time zone.  But we are down to just two conference game remaining.  Here's what we've got:

ENC has been mathematically eliminated.  Salve, WIT, EC, and Nichols are definitely in.  Placements to be determined.

I'll have the match-ups/break downs and tiebreaker scenarios after games on Tuesday.