MBB: NEWMAC

WPI89 · January 04, 2011, 08:56:33 AM

Just catching up on some NEWMAC news. Bummer about Hollingsworth. Great to see the NCAA was actualy reasonable regarding the medical waiver though.

Glad to see WPI bounce back.

PS - saw the Westconn/Albertus Magnus score. Watch out for that Westconn team. They will get bored and lose a game or 2 during the season but if they make the tourney they wil be a very tough matchup for anyone.

mass_d3fan · January 04, 2011, 10:49:05 AM

MIT points total goes from 187 to 180. Apparently the voters feel Hollinsworth's presence or non-presence was very insignificant. Very Strange, but interesting.

It will be very, very interesting to see the effect on MIT votes next week. WPI's point total this week went from 86 to 23 after losing by 15 to a ranked team on the road. MIT loses for the 2nd time to a team not even getting votes - this time at home by 12.

Top 25 aside, the #1 seed position in the NEWMAC will most likely bedecided by who comes out on top in the 4 games of head-to-head play between MIT. WPI & Spriingfield. All 3 have the ability to beat each other.

WPI & MIT should both have resumes that get consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAAs. I think Springfield will have to win the AQ bid to get in.

One thing is certain, both WPI & MIT must avoid the bad losses they had in conference last year.

Hugenerd · January 04, 2011, 12:58:23 PM

Quote from: mass_d3fan on January 04, 2011, 10:49:05 AM
MIT points total goes from 187 to 180. Apparently the voters feel Hollinsworth's presence or non-presence was very insignificant. Very Strange, but interesting.

It will be very, very interesting to see the effect on MIT votes next week. WPI's point total this week went from 86 to 23 after losing by 15 to a ranked team on the road. MIT loses for the 2nd time to a team not even getting votes - this time at home by 12.

Top 25 aside, the #1 seed position in the NEWMAC will most likely bedecided by who comes out on top in the 4 games of head-to-head play between MIT. WPI & Spriingfield. All 3 have the ability to beat each other.

WPI & MIT should both have resumes that get consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAAs. I think Springfield will have to win the AQ bid to get in.

One thing is certain, both WPI & MIT must avoid the bad losses they had in conference last year.

I disagree, I don't think MIT will have the SOS to get an at-large bid, unless they win their remaining two non-conference games and go at least 10-2 in conference. Last year, for example, they only had 3 DIII losses on selection day (two to Wheaton and one to Clark) and they were the last team in from the NE, falling below a 7 loss Brandeis team, because of SOS.

Going 10-2 in conference will be difficult for any team to do this year because I think the teams know eachother so well and there are some really strong teams in the NEWMAC. I wouldnt be surprised to see some tiebreakers come into play with teams tied at 9-3 or 8-4 at the top.

WPI and Springfield have stronger SOS's, but Springfield already has 5 losses, so realistically I think WPI is the only school with a shot at the at-large. If they can win their remaining non conference games and only lose 2-3 games to the top teams in the NEWMAC, they would probably be in good shape for an at-large.

mass_d3fan · January 04, 2011, 09:11:41 PM

HN

Sorry, I didn't explain my assumptions further. My thoughts on MIT having a resume worthy of consideration was based on the idea they would lose only a game or two and lose in the tourney title game. That would give them a 21-4 or 20-5 D3 record if they were the #1 seed in the NEWMAC. It may or may not actually get a bid, but would at least be under consideration.

I do agree the SOS in not going to be in their favor since is would appear that WPI will be their only opponent this year who is getting votes for the Top 25.

You are correct about Springfield. I do not see them going unbeaten in the conference regular season. If they have to garner an at large bid, they will have too many losses to be considered.

Hugenerd · January 05, 2011, 09:57:23 PM

MIT comes back from 10 down with 7 to play to beat Tufts tonight. Maybe this is the comeback they need to get rolling?

mass_d3fan · January 06, 2011, 12:36:34 AM

WPI survives a slow start tonight to defeat Wheaton 77 to 58. The Engineers were led by Jeff Robinson(18pts/9assts/6rebs), Kyle Nadeau(13pts), Matt Carr(11pts/10rebs/3blks), David Brown(10pts/6rebs), & Ben Etten(10pts).

The Lyons got 18 from Anthony Coppola and 10 from 6'10" Mike Hall who looked much improved from what I saw last year. Shawn Daily & Anthony Weeks both pulled down 8 boards.

The Engineers cannot afford to start next week's match-up with MIT as flat as they did tonight

jabnike23 · January 06, 2011, 12:42:39 AM

Springfield beats Babson 64-59 in OT. Springfield narrowly escaped their slow start. Sloppy game played from both ends of the by both teams.

jhawk · January 06, 2011, 04:56:19 PM

Tough loss .
Where is Mc Dermott if injured , when is he expected to return ?

Good player. I am sure Babson misses him

Hugenerd · January 07, 2011, 01:27:47 PM

Bartolotta playing this season in the top league in Iceland: MIT Hoops Blog.

gordonmann · January 07, 2011, 04:01:59 PM

QuoteMIT points total goes from 187 to 180. Apparently the voters feel Hollinsworth's presence or non-presence was very insignificant. Very Strange, but interesting.

I'm not sure how many voters were aware of his injury. That type of information isn't included in the material distributed to voters. I only knew it through these boards. So I dropped MIT from my ballot in advance of its loss to Bridgewater State.

Hugenerd · January 07, 2011, 07:11:23 PM

Quote from: gordonmann on January 07, 2011, 04:01:59 PM
QuoteMIT points total goes from 187 to 180. Apparently the voters feel Hollinsworth's presence or non-presence was very insignificant. Very Strange, but interesting.

I'm not sure how many voters were aware of his injury. That type of information isn't included in the material distributed to voters. I only knew it through these boards. So I dropped MIT from my ballot in advance of its loss to Bridgewater State.

Well I am sure the loss will get peoples attention. He is no longer listed on the teams roster (MITathletics.com), so that is probably official as it gets.

Pat Coleman · January 08, 2011, 12:58:36 PM

I tend not to downgrade a team for an injury before they actually lose.

jabnike23 · January 08, 2011, 03:30:32 PM

Springfield beats Coast Guard 67-60. Really chippy game, referees were poor for both sides. Really slowed down the game and had no flow. Billy Harkins had a great game for the Pride with 16 pts. Darvis Rankins also chipped in with 14. Pride now 2-0 in the NEWMAC and will face off against Wheaton on Wed.

Hugenerd · January 08, 2011, 10:51:17 PM

MIT just couldnt find the stroke today against Babson. They had some chances to make a run in the second half, but never could knock down a couple shots in a row, and Babson made their foul shots at the end (with MIT still not making any shots) to account for the wide margin at the end. They dont seem to have figured out their offense roles since Hollingsworth has been out. Hopefully they will figure it out soon...

mass_d3fan · January 08, 2011, 10:51:46 PM

I was planning to go to Clark today, but was under the weather so I watched the WPI/Trinity game on the net.

WPI overcomes another sluggish start to beat Trinity 69-61 in Hartford. Fernando Perez, Matt Carr & Jeff Robinson led the way for the Engineers. Perez came off the bench to score 18, grab 6 boards and hand out 3 assists. Carr struggled in the first half, but came up big in the 2nd posting 16 points and a game-high 11 boards. Robinson also had a slow start but, finished strong especially at the FT line late as he put up 14 points with 5 assists. Jamie Shannon scored 8 including a big 4-pt play halfway through the 1st half. Joe Wesoloski chipped in with 2 big 3's.

For some reason, Robinson did not start this game. WPI was really out of sync in the 1st half with Robinson & Carr going 2 -12 for 4 pts between them. Perez kept the Engineers in it 10 1st half points. In the final 20 minutes, Carr made some huge plays including draining a 3 from the corner as the shot clock was about expire with just under 2 minutes to go. Perez had 2 big offensive put-backs that gave WPI the lead each time. Robinson created well & went 5 for 5 from the line in the last 4:30 of the game.

WPI defense limited the Bantam's top scorer, Luke MacDougall to 2 points. On the bright side for Trinity, senior Brian Ford put up a game-high 22 points & sophomore Adam Skaggs scored 10.