MBB: Conference of New England

[Maq Diesel]

Gordon lost by 1 @ Endicott.  EC had a 4 point play with 0.5 seconds left to win it.  I will say more in a few after I cool off a little.

[gullfan]

 First of all, props to both teams. THAT was what College ball is all about. There isn't a D1 game that could give you more to yell about. In my eyes Endicott won, with .5 seconds (as opposed to Maq Diesel's Gordon lost viewpoint). Todd Burton hits a falling down three and is hit for the foul. Tie game. Time out Gordon! Burton steps to the line and nets the free throw. Endicott is up one. Gordon in bounds, length of the court pass is deflected - GAME ENDICOTT!!!!!!! By the way it was the first time the Gulls had the lead all night!
I'm glad I can post this cause I've got no voice left. More later!

Oh by the way - TODD BURTON FOR PRESIDENT and Nemanja just slammed the door shut on player of the year.

[Maq Diesel]

Sorry gullfan,  Endicott won, I was posting as a Gordon fan, so reporting on how they faired.

[dwebbs]

Personally, I think the biggest factor in the game was not Todd bleepin' Burton's 4 point play (although it was impressive/flashbacks to GC/NC), but the fact that with 6:00 left, EC came back from a 11 point deficit. It seemed like they were out of it, but, they got the job done at both ends of the court.

and wouldn't you know it, the game was determined by a foul. Those refs....

No, but really I couldn't see the play from the GC section, so I don't know.

[anECfan]

Wow what a great game, it was all that anyone hoped it would be.   Burton ties it up with .5 seconds left and takes the lead for the first time in the game. It sucks that Whitelaw was on the line for the what would have been the tying three.  It was a great game.  The refs made questionable calls on both sides of the ball so this could not be counted as a factor in the win.  The fact that Marinkovic played really well, or in terms of rebounds and scoring he did well, kind of summed up his POY I think.

I still can't believe Burton hit that three...that should have or should have not happened, and I'm leaninng towards not happening. Wow.... can't wait till playoffs.


anECfan-. wow what a game

[Maq Diesel]

A few thoughts...in the words of Ricky Bobby, "yeah that just happened."

-There is no way if you told me that Nemanja had a 24 points I would have believed you I would have said 15 or so tops.  I guess that is what he does.  I thought Joey B had better game but stats don't lie. 

-Gordon out played Gordon for a total of about 32 minutes, a few in the middle and the last five but that was all Endicott needed.

-dwebbs, marstaller fouled Burton no doubt about it, but why in the world do you foul.

-Jerry Logan had possession of the ball going out of bounds and called a time out and that bald reff, at half court, made a call that wasn't his to make, he did it all night and made bad calls against both teams but this was a big one.  I hate all reffs because the vast majority don't know the rules and have no back bone and show up at games wanting to be the star of the show and the crew last night tried but Burton stole that honor.  a note to reffs you are not the center piece of the games, don't try to be, the best reffs go unnoticed.  They made terrible calls all night against both sides and I cannot stand it any more.

-Essentially Endicott just did what the were supposed to do, win a home game.  The good thing for Gordon is that if they win out they still get to play the playoffs at home.  So that just make the rest of the week even bigger for both teams.  And I would take Gordon's schedule (Anna Maria and UNE both at home) over Endicott's (At NEC and Salve at home) but I have a feeling both teams are going to take care of whats in front of them.  I so hope that EC comes to GC on the 24th of February for the CCC championship game that would be epic.

-gullfan, why no props for Corbet?  Bad shooting night and for as much as you hype his defense he spent the night switching defenders, and was typically on a short guard and only because he had 4 inches and 40 pounds on them.  He is there last defensive option and got abused by Gordon's post guys.  And as for Cain from WPI, I asked him and he said he love to play Corbet every night, he did of course drop 30 on Endicott the night Corbet was all over him.

-Either way I got more the my monies worth last night, I am pissed and mostly because I know how good a win like that feels, see Nichols @ Gordon 2006.  I hoping Gordon takes care of business this week and throughout the playoffs.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

You foul on the three with the opponent three down because most of the time you foul hard enough that the shot has no chance and you make them earn it on the FT line.  Not something I'd call every time, but something I'd think about.  The issue is letting the shot get off anyway.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Round Up!

WIT 87, NEC 75.  NEC got 23 from Jaziri and Evans went for 24 and 11.  It seems like pick your poison night for WIT.  They effectively shut down Sylvia, but allowed Evans to score.  Nevertheless it worked just fine.  PBJ makes his case for POY with 27 and 6 assists; Doyle had 23 with 5 assists.  Gaine had 14 with 6 assists (can you see a pattern; these guys really like playing together) and Bynes went for 13 and 10 with 5 blocks.  NEC was up at the half, but Wentworth poured it on in the second half and pulled away.  WIT earned this one with good play.  They'll be a tough out, especially in third seed.

Curry takes the other backyard brawl over ENC 84-75.  Jasmin had 18, Noel had 15 and Seaberg had 10.  Alex Brown had 7 assists for ENC.  There is some talent emerging in Quincy, perhaps this new coach can work some magic over the summer and put together a respectable squad next year?  Curry got 20 and 12 from Bowers, 16 with 5 assists from Jones, and 14 a piece from Mastrullo and Brittian.  ENC played really well, shooting and defending, but came up just short.  It seems like that win got some pressure off of them and allowed them to play a littler freer.

UNE in another home upset over Colby-Sawyer 73-67.  What is it about Biddeford?  CSC got 22 from Rosso, 14 from Chaloux, 12 from Cousins and 10 boards from Murray.  UNE was led by 20 from Farynaz, 17 and 15 from Stickney, 15 from Floyd and 12 points 7 assists from Belmonte.  Tom Button had 13 boards.  If only they could have put this kind of game together earlier in the season, they might have challenged for a playoff spot.  CSC went 5-26 from deep and won the TO battle 8-25.  Yes, they had 17 less turnovers and lost the game.  That might be a record.  UNE got 23-39 from the FT line and totally dominated the boards.

EC with the one point win over Gordon 62-61.  We know how it ended.  Kauffman had 12 with 5 assists, Schnack had 11, Logan and Marstaller had 10 each.  EC was led by Nemanja's 24, Burgos had 13 and Burton had 11 with 6 assists.  The numbers were back and forth.  EC won the rebounding battle, Gordon had more threes.  Sounds like another great one.  By the way, this is the point where I officially announce that Coach of the Year is no longer a one horse race.  Where I thought Tom Devitt at Wentworth had it locked up, Millette now enters the race.  If EC win the regular season title again, with this team, I thinks it's got to be his award.  This is an unbelievable performance he's getting out of these guys.

Salve picked up AMC 71-60.  No box score.  I don't really care.

[akirk]

Great game last night (GC-EC).  I have to give EC a lot of credit for coming back from an 11 point deficit.  One other note:  Why was Marstaller in on the last play?  If they get the three pointer, it goes to over time.  John had three fouls at the time.  Why give him the opportunity to pick up another one with 5 seconds left.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Playoff update:

North
GC is in the driver's seat; if they don't lose, they win the conference.  Third and fourth are set.  (UNE and NEC are still duking it out for 5th.)

1. Gordon 11-3 (UNE and AMC, both at home) - Gordon has all the tiebreakers
2. Endicott 11-3 (at NEC and home vs SRU)
3. Wentworth 9-5 (at CC, at ENC)
4. Colby-Sawyer 8-8

South
This one is tight and nothing is set besides who's in.  Curry has all the tiebreakers with RWU, so if they end up with the same record, Curry wins the conference.  However, if Curry loses both remaining games and either Nichols or Salve wins out, it gets interesting.  Curry beats Nichols is a tiebreaker, but loses to SRU.  However, in the event of a three way tie, Nichols would take second place, with Salve third and Curry fourth.

So,

RWU (10-5) can finish either first or second (if tied with Curry)
Curry (9-5) can finish first, second, third or fourth.
Nichols (7-7) can finish second, third or fourth.
Salve (7-7) can finish second, third or fourth.

[backboard]

As of last night, the POY looks like it will come down to Marinkovic and Prezzie-Blue.  It didn't help Martstaller to foul in the key situation towards the end coupled with the lack of offensive power.  Although the edge seems to lean towards Marinkovic, I still feel Blue deserves some serious consideration.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I can't see one team sweeping both awards.  Either Wentworth or Endicott is getting Coach of the Year and the other one is getting Player of the Year.  That's just my thought.


Anyone want to nominated some rookies?  The coaches don't like to give it to transfers, even though they are technically eligible (Brittian and Bowers would be the only ones with any outside shot).

Spratling at AMC; Rosso at CSC; Mastrullo at Curry; Bajema and Trigg at GC; Evans at NEC; Wilcox, Paquin and Riley at NC (can we vote for a group?); Laughton at RWU; Wirth at Salve.

Brittian and Bowers at Curry are both transfers, but I don't think either will get it.

I might have to give it to Rosso, although I'm not totally sold.

[backboard]

I like Bajema from Gordon, his game reminds me of Goodridge from Salve.  However, it's probably going to hurt him that Trigg is on his team has just as good of a chance to win it.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Yeah, this is the first time in a while the conference hasn't had a (or more than one) stand-out freshmen.

[Maq Diesel]

I have not see a freshman play well against Gordon this year other that Whitelaw last night.  So it is tough for me to have a qualified opinion on the other rookies.  Not trying to be a Gordon homer but let me make a case for Bajema.  He has had a bigger impact over the conference schedule.  Although he is averaging 5.4 point a game it is more like 8.5 and he has been dishing out assists early.  That being said Trigg was huge early.   If I were a coach I would give it to Trigg and Bajema together that have done a lot for Gordon's back court, they have played above average defense and have been a big part of helping Gordon to be in 1st place (tied).    But that is just one man's opinion.  Gordon has a bright future this freshman class is very good and only two of them are playing.  The two big men might be the best players in the class.  They will be special during their time here, awards or not, I know that.