MBB: NEWMAC

[deiscanton]

Babson 82  Salem State  80  (OT)

Consolation game of the Big 4 Challenge.

Whew.  Well, not technically an away game (neutral court), but nice to finally win one away from the friendly confines of Staake Gym.

For Babson, a big game from Dorney (21/21) who is settling in nicely as a starter and being assertive on the offensive end.  Welch had a huge pull-up jumper to help close things out in OT.

For SS, a monster game from Conner Byrne (27/19) on 12/14 from the floor.

SS had the better looks most of the game, but gave up a ton of 2nd chance opportunities on the boards.

This certainly helps going into the break at 6-4, rather than 5-5.  Lots to work on before traveling to Amherst at the end of December.  Babson will play an exhibition game against Harvard on Monday.

The exhibition game will mark the 30th anniversary of the game of December 11, 1991, where Babson defeated DI-Harvard, 100-80, at what was then the Briggs Athletic Center (now known as Lavietes Pavilion)  Babson went on to get their first NCAA DIII tournament appearance in program history that year under former head coach Serge DeBari.  Current Babson coach Stephen Brennan was an assistant under DeBari in the 1991-92 season.  Harvard was coached that year by former DII-Bentley coach Frank Sullivan, with former Brandeis head coach Kevin O'Brien serving as an assistant under Frank Sullivan.

ESPN+ will carry the exhibition game Monday night at 7 PM Eastern.

[SpringSt7]

Babson up 9 at Harvard with 15 minutes to go. Harvard spreading the minutes around more than usual but still playing all of their top guys.

[BaboNation]

Babson up 9 at Harvard with 15 minutes to go. Harvard spreading the minutes around more than usual but still playing all of their top guys.

Yeah, it wasn't sustainable, but nice while it lasted.

I was at the Holy Cross-Williams game that Williams won, attending the game with a Holy Cross alum.  I said before the game 'You'll probably regret scheduling this game'.  Crotty was superb.  Not a fluke win by any means.

[BaboNation]

Kudos to Clark, now 10-0.  A Massey Rating  of 'just' 101 and SOS of 386 going in.
(For some reason Massey is missing the win over Gordon).

Massey still has 4 NEWMAC teams ranked higher (i.e. half the conference).

Since the NEWMAC expanded to 8 men's teams in 13-14, Clark has had just 1 winning season overall and no winning seasons in conference play.

If, as I expect, they beat Wentworth today, they'll enter the new year and league play at 11-0.  And yet, I won't be surprised if they are shut out from ORV in the next poll.  I'm not suggesting they should get votes (really low SOS), but it would be quite the outlier (any historical precedent?) for an 11-0 team to not receive votes.

4pm (H) Wentworth today

[BaboNation]

Babson picks up a much needed big man in early commitments:

Mark Woolhouse 6'9"

https://twitter.com/NERRHoops/status/1474059156256657418?s=20

Interior size has been a deficiency in recent years and some of the recent recruits seem more suited as wings.  With the caliber of big men Babson faces within the NEWMAC, NESCAC (4-5 games per year) and elsewhere, an inside presence is essential.  He looks like he's comfortable inside, but 'bigs' at D3 level are usually a multi-year project.

With Bradanese and Smith likely moving on next year and Grad xfer Cline leaving, the depth at the post was questionable.  They still may covet another grad xfer for experience.  It will be interesting to see if Houston returns at Emerson, but regardless, WPI has major inside depth.

[BaboNation]

Babson 70  Amherst  59

Proud of the team.

This one was reminiscent of the 18-19 game at LeFrak when Babson played without Andrew Jaworski and I gave them no chance of winning, but they came away with a double-digit win.  This time Babson's best player (imo) Bradanese didn't play the entire 2nd half, but they dug in, played with poise, and pulled away late.  I sure hope Brad is ok.  They'll need him for conference play.

Understandably Amherst was without Robinson, but this game shouldn't be considered a fluke.  Babson has now won 4 straight against Amherst, and 4 of the last 5 at LeFrak.  Also, it's now 11 wins in the last 12 games against NESCAC foes, with the sole loss coming in the OT game at Colby.

Day was spectacular for Amherst to keep them in the game much of the way.  That said, I thought Amherst's frontcourt trees were more hurtful than helpful.  I've seen enough of Amherst to believe that they don't have the inside agility and finishing moves as Williams and Wesleyan in the NESCAC.

Positives for Babson: 

First game back for Beau Smith after suffering an injury against St.Joe's in mid-November.  I thought he'd be done for the year.  He's vital as Bradanese's main replacement.  Had a solid contribution in this one, including a sweet reverse layup.

FY Amado (17/7 in this one), easily the most athletic player on the roster, and a possible NEWMAC ROY continues to show star potential down the road.  His looong, clock shot winding down 3 @ the 4 minute mark stopped a mini-Mammoth run and put Babson up 8.  Then, a beautiful turnaround jumper effectively ended the game at the 2 minute mark (up 10).

Andrew Kirkpatrick in the starting lineup.  Yes!  He's missed most of the season and brings veteran leadership and poise when running the offense.  We could have used that at Colby.

Just 5 turnovers for the game.

Dorney, Cline, Crouch, and Kirsch continue to reduce forced shots as they get better acclimated to each other and what is expected from their roles.

[BaboNation]

Babson  80  Emerson  73

Finally the real (conference) season begins and we're able to compare apples to apples.

Wow.  What a game at Staake.  Babson overcomes a monster game from Emerson's big man Houston, who put up the unconventional triple-double of 24-19-10 (10 blocks)!  The senior also altered innumerable other shots and has gotten better and better each year on offense, setting up camp in the low post and imposing his will.  Really only WPI can match up with him in the NEWMAC.

It was a 1 possession game with 30 seconds left and Babson passed beautifully, culminating with Kirsch finding Bradanese for an easy lay-in.

Dorney has emerged as the X factor for Babson on both ends.  Over the last 5 games he's led the team with 16.3 and 8.8 (20/10 tonight).  Really good rebounder and he's expanding his inside game week by week.

Andrew Kirkpatrick:  This is why I kept harping on the hope he wouldn't be out all season.  In just his 2nd full game back he played 34 minutes and finished with a team high 21.  That only begins to tell the story of how he stabilizes the offense and makes sure the right guy gets the ball in the right spot.

Beau Smith has put things together in his senior year where he is now contributing in meaningful ways in key situations.  He had a nice block on Houston, held his own, and finished with 7/3.

FY Nate Amado started, had a solid 9/7 and was on the floor at the end.  He'll be in the NEWMAC ROY mix.

Overall there's reason to believe this unit will be able to close games out if they have late leads.

The only rotational piece missing in this one was Gorgol, who also missed the Amherst game and is perhaps the team's best wing defender.

Emerson's seniors accounted for 60 of their 73 points.  They'll lose a lot to graduation.

The conference schedule is very favorable to allow the team to get out to a good start.  5 of the 7 games the first time through are at home, with only WPI & Clark on the road.  If they hold serve at home they should be no worse than 5-2.

And getting way ahead of things, there is still a path to an NCAA bid even without the AQ.  I believe with their strong OC SOS, if they can go 10-4 in conference, and get to the NEWMAC championship, they'd still be 18-9 if they don't get the AQ.  They'd be straddling the fence for sure, but they should match up favorably with other fence-straddlers.  Of course it would matter which 10 games they win;  it's conceivable they could sweep Wheaton-Springfield-USCG, and split with Emerson-MIT-Clark-WPI; and getting a W against WPI would almost be a must.

Next up, Springfield at home on Saturday.

[BaboNation]

It's officially time to stop dismissing Clark University.

They beat MIT on the road tonight in OT to reach 12-0.  MIT was missing a couple of players, but still ...

FY guard Isaiah Taylor is averaging 23.8 over his last 4 games (against improving competition);  sophomore Saintilus continues to be productive on both ends;  and Davern is Mr. Dependable for that team.  Since they've gotten this far they may not be stopped until traveling to WPI Jan. 19th.

[deiscanton]

I watched the 2 NEWMAC games from last night on-demand this morning.

Clark v MIT had no commentary.

Babson v Emerson had Tyler Davey on PxP.  Mr. Davey also does color for DII-Saint Anselm basketball on NE10Now, and also does PxP for ESPN+'s coverage of DI Harvard men's hockey.

I enjoyed Tyler Davey's commentary on the Babson/Emerson game.  He seemed more well-rounded and did not reflect the persona of a hockey person trying to do basketball commentary (unlike Ralph "Rocky" Perrotta who did PxP of the RIT women's basketball game on Tuesday.)

[WPI89]

Babo - sadly looks like WPI heading for empty gym home games - any other NEWMAC schools doing that?  There is a last-minute push to allow parents/family, but I do not believe that has approval yet.  What are other schools doing?

[BaboNation]

Babo - sadly looks like WPI heading for empty gym home games - any other NEWMAC schools doing that?  There is a last-minute push to allow parents/family, but I do not believe that has approval yet.  What are other schools doing?

I believe only Clark & Emerson have taken it to that extreme.  MIT (the way I understand it) only allows MIT pass-holders (i.e. no away team fans).

Very sad to see this, particularly for a team like Clark that finally has a strong team and they won't get the home crowd lift they deserve.  And when you include WPI and Emerson, and half of MIT, that puts a real damper on what would otherwise be more entertaining games at the top of the NEWMAC.

Babson requires vax and masking.

[BaboNation]

Babson  83  Springfield 74

I sometimes get the feeling this team is playing to the level of their competition.  That can be good or bad.

Springfield, which had been reeling and came in 2-8, on a 3-game losing streak, and blown out at home in their last game (WPI), gave Babson all they could handle for 35+ minutes before Babson settled in and closed this one out at home.

Until Nate Amado scored on an offensive rebound and put back with just over 2 minutes to play this outcome was still in doubt.  Just a freshman, he was the home team star and finished with 20/5.  And Welch gave a solid contribution off the bench with 21, including 5/9 from 3.  He is instant offense when he starts feeling it as he did all of last year's abbreviated season.

Beau Smith had good effort in 20 minutes of action.  On the other hand, he got more time because Bradanese's minutes have been dwindling since the Amherst game when he missed the entire 2nd half.  The last 2 home games he's been limited to 4-minute runs and is on the stationary bike when not on the court.  Hamstring?

The first half was a combination of soft passing into tight windows, poor spacing, and questionable shot selection from the home team.  12 first half turnovers - hard to watch.  In the 2nd half they took it inside more, got Springfield into early foul trouble, and fought back into the game.

For Springfield, Nick Bray demolished his career high of 7, with 21, 4/6 from 3, and too much quickness for any of the Babson guards.  Costa chipped in with 20, including several highly contested jumpers.

The focus and effort will need to be much better than this when they travel to WPI next Wednesday.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Schedules throughout Division III have become a moving target. We are all used to seeing some postponements or cancelations this time of year thanks to Mother Nature, but these mass changes are giving some PTSD to the 2020-21 "season."

Monday night on Hoopsville, we chat with teams who are still playing for now. Plus those who may deserve a little more attention thanks to tremendous starts to their seasons. And hear from those who are steadily flying slightly under the radar.

We also take a look at all the postponements and cancelations and discuss what may or may not happen as we move forward with the season.

Plus, we react to the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 polls released on Monday.

You can watch the show LIVE (or on demand) here: https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2021-22/jan10

We are also simulcasting on our Facebook Live page (www.facebook.com/Hoopsville) AND tonight on our YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/Hoopsville)

Guests include (order subject to change):
- Klay Knueppel, No. 25 Wisconsin Lutheran women's coach
- Trevor Lydic, Berry men's interim coach
- Tyler Simms, Clark men's coach
- Bob Quillman & Ryan Scott, Top 25 Double-Take

Hoopsville is hosted by Dave McHugh from the the NABC Studio. It is presented by D3hoops.com and thanks to our partner WBCA. All guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline.

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[BaboNation]

WPI  88   Babson  57

This was a take-you-behind-the-shed-butt-whipping.

When this was still a game in the first half, it wasn't the usual suspects of Lowther and Adams doing damage, but WPI has such size that 6'10" O'Donnell supplied production inside, and guards McNamara and Callahan were scoring on drives to the rim, floaters, and 3-pointers (25 between them in the 1st half) to open up an 11 point advantage at the half, including a long buzzer-beater from Callahan.  The guards torched their counterparts.

For the game, Babson shot 2-18 from the arc, compared to 8-23 for WPI.  It should have still been a competitive 2nd half, but Babson lost its composure while WPI was cooking on all cylinders.

Babson will have to find a way to win one against WPI if they have any hope of getting into the tournament.  They may get 2 more chances.

I've said it before;  I believe WPI will go as far in the tournament as their guard play (Downing-McNamara-Callahan) takes them.  Their defense and frontcourt (Lowther-Adams-O'Donnell) will hold their own with just about anyone.

[WPI89]

Wow - thanks for the recap Babo.  I was not able to watch last night.  Suprised with the final score - but as you said about WPI and their Wesleyan game - sometimes you just need to throw one out.  Fun next 2 months ahead - hope the virus behaves and we can all get to a few games.