MBB: NEWMAC

[toooldtoplay]

MIT won in overtime. Gordon could not stop Hollingsworth inside or outside as he had 28.  MIT could not contain the Gordon shooters in the first half as they launched at will.  Foul shooting still is poor but turnovers way down today (10).  Latter is a good sign.  The ability of anyone to get to the rim except Kates is troublesome and leads to few foul shots overall.  Ball movement appears slow at times - maybe to try and cut down to's.   OVERALL - best start in program history at 8-0 with possibly more to come. Jim Burke and Bill (big shot) Bender had clutch 3's late in the game. Neither seems to be bothered by pressure. Bodes well moving forward.

[tball]

Any idea where Tashman was today?

[Hugenerd]

I was at the game and it was extremely close as the score indicates.

MIT started Ben Montgomery at the 4 instead of Wil Tashmen because Tashmen was out due to illness.  Hopefully he will return for the games next week.  The absence of Tashmen was a big one for MIT, because it really thinned out the MIT big-man corps, which caused the other guys to play more minutes than usual.  This was especially problematic because Gordan is very deep and skilled at the post positions.  Hollingsworth really responded and came up huge with 28 points, but you could tell he was getting a bit tired at the end of the game as he started defening more with his hand than his feet, and was subsequently called for some fouls which resulted in him fouling out with about 2 minutes to go.

Here is a full game recap:

MIT rushed out to an early 10-0 advantage, but allowed Gordon to shoot way too many wide open 3s and Gordon got back in it on a 9-2 run.  MIT then went on a run of their own, extending the lead to 19-9.  Gordon would not go away, though. Mitch Kates went out at the 11:30 mark with his second foul with MIT up 21-14.  Gordon took advantage and went on an immediate 6-0 run, including a 3 by Aaron Trigg.  MIT responded and pushed the lead to 31-20 over the next 4 minutes.  Gordon would not go away and they played really aggressive over the final 5 minutes to go on a 13-5 run to finish the half.  The run was sparked by Brady Bajema, as he scored 10 of the 13 points for Gordon in that run.  The final score was 36-33 MIT at the half.

Second half was very close the whole way.  Gordon tied the game 12 seconds in at 36 on an and 1.  MIT then went on a 10-4 run to take a 46-40 lead with 16 minutes left, behind 7 points from Noel Hollingsworth.  The game was back and forth for a bit, but Gordon closed the gap again, at 50-50, with 12 minutes to play on a 6-0 run.  MIT scored to take the lead, but relinquished their first deficit of the day with 7.5 minutes to go at 56-58.  MIT then went on an 8-2 run to go up 64-60 with  4 minutes to play.  Gordan responded with an 8-1 run over the next 3 minutes to go up 68-65, a span in which Noel Hollingsworth would foul out.  Gordon would hold the lead until under 1 minute left in the game.

The stage was again set for MIT's Robert Horry to step up, Big ____(insert superlative here) Bender.  With MIT trailing and hopes fading as they had been utterly ineffective over the past few minutes, Bender would nail a 3 from the right wing off an offensive rebound by Mitchell Kates to tie the game at 68.  Ben Montgomery would then take a HUGE charge on Gordon's next posession to give MIT 25 seconds to win the game.  It was not to be however:  Mitch Kates drove on his man, getting into the lane, the help came from the corner, leaving MIT's 5th year senior, Bill Johnson, wide open for the game winning 3, which ruthlessly rimmed in and out. OT.

The overtime saw Gordon come out strong, they scored a basket on their first posession to take a 2 point lead.  A big 3 by freshman Jimmy Burke with 3.5 to play, however, gave MIT a lead they would not relinquish.  That 3 was followed by another 3 by Robert Horry with 2 minutes to play to give MIT a 4 point lead.  Gordon got as close as 3 a few times, but were hurt by poor FT shooting.  MIT made most of their FTs, including some big ones by Burke to ice it, and were able to hold on to the 78-73 lead.


General impressions/notes:
I was very impressed by Gordon, they had quality bigs and very good guards who could shoot and had size.
MIT won because of their defense on Trigg and Bajema in the second half (Bajema had 16 in the first half, 4 in 2nd half and OT, Trigg had 10 in the first half and 10 in the second half and OT).  In addition to his huge shots, Robert Horry effectively shut down Bajema in the second half and OT.
Both teams shot poorly from the line (Gordon: 17-29, MIT: 8-15).  However, MIT made 12-26 from 3.  Gordon also shot well from 3, 6-12, but obviously made 6 less.
Hollingsworth absolutely could not be stopped.  He essentially did whatever he wanted on the offensive end, scoring 28 points on 12-20 shooting; however, he could have had more as he missed 6 FTs.
Gordon killed MIT on the boards, which can partially be explained by the absence of Tashmen.  Tashmen gives MIT another 6'8" big who can score and rebound.  He has averaged about 13 points and 11 boards over the last couple games and MIT could have used him today (he also gives them 5 more fouls and all of MITs bigs were in foul trouble all afternoon).  Without him, Gordon was +15 (43-28), including 14 offensive.
MIT had their best game of the year in terms of turnovers, only 10, and forced 19 by Gordon.


In summary, Gordon is a great win for MIT.  MIT has 3 more games next week before a layoff. 11 games in the first 4 weeks of the season makes for a nice schedule for the second half of the season.  This is the last week of classes for MIT, so I hope the guys can get their rest and get 3 more wins before the break.

[tball]

Great win when you consider that MIT did not have 2 of their top 7 players and had three freshman & 2 sophomores contributing most of the damage versus seniors & juniors for Gordon.

How about some love for Burke! , key shots my man!

MIT looks like a force for the 2011-2012 season.

[Hugenerd]

Great win when you consider that MIT did not have 2 of their top 7 players and had three freshman & 2 sophomores contributing most of the damage versus seniors & juniors for Gordon.

How about some love for Burke! , key shots my man!

MIT looks like a force for the 2011-2012 season.

I think Burke is great.  He has a very pure shot.  He scored 11 big points and logged big minutes (36).  He is shooting 53% from the field and from 3 for the year, while making 2.6 3s per game.

[Hugenerd]

Congrats to MIT sophomore Noel Hollingsworth for being named NEWMAC player of the week for putting up 70 points and 31 rebounds this past week.  Full release:

http://www.newmacsports.com/sports/mbkb/awards/weekly/2009-2010/mbkbweekly120709

"Hollingsworth played a big part in a 3-0 week for MIT, averaging 23.3 points and 10.3 rebounds, as the Cardinal and Gray got off to its best start in program history. Hollingsworth's finest performance came in a win at Newbury on Thursday when he dropped a career-high 30 points to go along with 11 boards. He then scored 28 and grabbed 7 rebounds in an overtime win over Gordon College on Saturday. He began the week with another double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds) in a 66-51 win at Emerson. The Engineers ran their record to 8-0 on the season, the best start in Institute history. "

[Hugenerd]

MIT has their highest ranking ever at 27 in the country (I beleive), they received 86 points and were just 4 points shy of making their first appearance in the top 25.  WPI is still receiving votes with 12 points, but they drop to #36.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

MIT has their highest ranking ever at 27 in the country (I beleive), they received 86 points and were just 4 points shy of making their first appearance in the top 25.  WPI is still receiving votes with 12 points, but they drop to #36.

So do we have some Ewing Theory potential here this season?  Does it count if its one season to the next or does it have to be losing a star during one season?

[Hugenerd]

MIT has their highest ranking ever at 27 in the country (I beleive), they received 86 points and were just 4 points shy of making their first appearance in the top 25.  WPI is still receiving votes with 12 points, but they drop to #36.

So do we have some Ewing Theory potential here this season?  Does it count if its one season to the next or does it have to be losing a star during one season?

I think for the Ewing theory to be in effect, the injury or player leaving has to occur in the same season the team succeeds (like Brady for Bledsoe in the first year they won the Super Bowl).  This has more to do with the freshman being really good and Coach Anderson finally having some real big men in his system (that dont quit), in my opinion.  Nice thought, though.

[nescac1]

I think the Ewing theory can apply to the immediately subsequent season.  For example, Tiki Barber retiring prior to the Giants' Super Bowl season has been cited as a Ewing Theory example, if I'm not mistaken ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, MIT DID end up in the sweet 16 last year, so this team would have to exceed that for the Ewing theory to apply. 

[Hugenerd]

I think the Ewing theory can apply to the immediately subsequent season.  For example, Tiki Barber retiring prior to the Giants' Super Bowl season has been cited as a Ewing Theory example, if I'm not mistaken ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, MIT DID end up in the sweet 16 last year, so this team would have to exceed that for the Ewing theory to apply. 

I wish they had made the sweet 16, they barely lost to Farmingdale in the round of 32.

Your point is correct, though, MIT won 21 games last year, which tied an Institute record, so they would need to surpass that before we call the Ewing theory into effect.

[Hugenerd]

WPI crushing UNE 54-28 with 1.5 minutes to go in the first half.  This is the UNE team that beat UMD ealrier in the season.

***WPI handles UNE 88-70, wasnt really even that close though.

[Hugenerd]

MIT handles Mass-Boston 74-54 and improves to 9-0.  Tashmen back in the lineup for MIT, he had 10 and 4 in 25 minutes of action.   Another big game for Hollingsworth, 23 and 13 (6th double-double of season), 4 blocks and 3 steals.  8 points 6 assists for Mitchell Kates, 12 and 7 for Billy Bender, and 9 points (including 2 3s) for Jimmy Burke.

Sounds like the game was relatively close in the first half, MIT led by 9 at the break, but MIT lead by at least 12 for the final 15 minutes of the game.

Next up for MIT is Salem State at home on Thursday.

[toooldtoplay]

It looks like they held Michael Mitchell, Jr. in check with 4 points although he did have 9 assists.   He was rookie of the week twice in the Little East.  Looking at the boxscore it looks like 21 assists on 30 baskets.  The ball must have been moving.   I am impressed with Hollingsworth. He seems to bring it every game.  2 games left before the break are both potential wins. Salem State (1-6)got their first win tonight over a good Babson team so maybe they are playing better. Should be a good one with both games potential wins.

[T990]

Upcoming MIT opponent Harvard beats BC tonight, after losing by only 6 at UConn.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=293430103