MBB: NEWMAC

[Hugenerd]

Lets see if Brandeis can come back from the loss at Laselle to play like their ranking.  Should be a statement game for both teams early in the season.

[Hugenerd]

Congrats to Jimmy B for going over 1500 points for his career in the loss to Gordon.  He is on pace to be the first 2000 point scorer in MIT history (school record is 1699). He is now 10 points away from being alone as 3rd on the all time list.

Tonights MIT Fun Fact: Brad Gampel has 12 steals on the season, putting him one-sixth the way to the school record in just 2 games.

[T990]

MIT defeated Rose Hulman in the MSOE tournament tonight, 69-43. 

Live stats are (were?) here:

http://livestats.prestosports.com/rosehulman/

At the moment, WPI leads Brandeis 64-50, 5:06 left.  67-53, 3:32.

[Hugenerd]

Two big wins for WPI this week.  They were very impressive.

MIT ends up winning going away.  Billy Johnson plays for the first time this season.

[golflax99]

How about this start to the season for the NEWMAC?

All 7 teams have a winning record and are a combined 20-5.

Babson, Clark & MIT all play in Championship games today of Tip-off Tourneys, wonder if they can go 3-0.

[Hugenerd]

MIT trails by 6 at the half in Milwaukee.  They really seem to be playing subpar.  Soumare has gotten in a bit of foul trouble and MSOE's post guy had gone off.

[T990]

Milwaukee Engineering beat MIT 69-64.  MIT took a 4-point lead in the second half but couldn't close it out as 3 players fouled out (Johnson, Tucker, and in the last minute Somare).

[golflax99]

Babson wins its annual Invitational Tournament for the first time since 2004 beating Union 68-58. Underclassmen for Babson gave them 55 of thier 68 points. They have three freshman starting for them and one playing 15+ minutes off the bench. This young team led by Senior Zach Etten is looking like they have some real potential. As a team they are averaging 5 more assists per game than last season and they seem to have a lot team chemistry already.

Babson (3-0) hosts a very talented Emerson (2-0) team Tuesday night, this should be a great game.

[massd3fan]

Good Day,

  I finally got out to see a game.  I attended the WPI/Brandeis game on Sat.  I was really excited at seeing the WPI team that had already knocked off one top 20 team play another.  I figured Brandeis would really be up after losing their opener.  Just a few thoughts from an older school guy.

   The game was a great win for WPI, but I do have to admit I was very disappointed with Brandeis.  As I just posted in the UAA forum, I guess their ranking was way off, at least to start the season.  They seem like a team that does not yet understand who they are.  I was amazed at the fact Deluca was not the focal point of their offense, especially in those critical possesions when they could have made the game close.  He missed a shot to open the 2nd half, and then Hollins got a nice low post basket, and the game was a 4 point game.  Deluca then took just one other shot for almost 7 minutes.  Granted, WPI was playing good defense, but we are talking about a first team All-american who is capable of getting off his shot.

For WPI, this is a great start, beating 2 ranked teams inside of 3 days!  I would assume they should be in that top 25 when its updated.  Their seniors are doing a great job and Adam Lirette may be the toughest kid I have seen on court in a long time.  It seems like every minute or two, he is only the floor after taking a charge, diving for a ball, or contorting himself to get off a shot.  Also Ben Etten is fierce defender and not afraid to mix it up underneath.

WPI did a great job of shooting in the 2nd half (70%).  Their help defense was fantastic, but I would think a team who really commits to the low post game will give them trouble.  Also, while they have won all their games, I noticed looking at the box scores that they have been out rebounded in every game.  They only have 2 players over 6'4" and only one appears to be in the normal playing rotation.  This will be an issue for them on nights when they are not shooting the lights out.

I will say this, I was hearing this was a rebuilding year at WPI, If that is true, looks like they have done a good job!

[Hugenerd]

Good Day,

  I finally got out to see a game.  I attended the WPI/Brandeis game on Sat.  I was really excited at seeing the WPI team that had already knocked off one top 20 team play another.  I figured Brandeis would really be up after losing their opener.  Just a few thoughts from an older school guy.

   The game was a great win for WPI, but I do have to admit I was very disappointed with Brandeis.  As I just posted in the UAA forum, I guess their ranking was way off, at least to start the season.  They seem like a team that does not yet understand who they are.  I was amazed at the fact Deluca was not the focal point of their offense, especially in those critical possesions when they could have made the game close.  He missed a shot to open the 2nd half, and then Hollins got a nice low post basket, and the game was a 4 point game.  Deluca then took just one other shot for almost 7 minutes.  Granted, WPI was playing good defense, but we are talking about a first team All-american who is capable of getting off his shot.

For WPI, this is a great start, beating 2 ranked teams inside of 3 days!  I would assume they should be in that top 25 when its updated.  Their seniors are doing a great job and Adam Lirette may be the toughest kid I have seen on court in a long time.  It seems like every minute or two, he is only the floor after taking a charge, diving for a ball, or contorting himself to get off a shot.  Also Ben Etten is fierce defender and not afraid to mix it up underneath.

WPI did a great job of shooting in the 2nd half (70%).  Their help defense was fantastic, but I would think a team who really commits to the low post game will give them trouble.  Also, while they have won all their games, I noticed looking at the box scores that they have been out rebounded in every game.  They only have 2 players over 6'4" and only one appears to be in the normal playing rotation.  This will be an issue for them on nights when they are not shooting the lights out.

I will say this, I was hearing this was a rebuilding year at WPI, If that is true, looks like they have done a good job!

WPI's size may be an issue on the national scene but it wont be that important in the NEWMAC.  The entire league is small and guard-oriented.  If they are really as good as they have played the first couple of games, they shouldnt have much of a problem performing well in conference.

[massd3fan]

From what I am seeing looking at Lasell, that WPI height issue will be put to the test tonight.  Jose Guitian will test that WPI small "D".  Anyone going to this game tonight?  It would be interesting to see how WPI defends him.  Should be a good game!

Some other games tonight involving NEWMAC teams:

Babson (3-0) Vs Emerson (2-0)

Wheaton (3-1) Vs Salem St. (3-0)

Clark (2-2) Vs Anna Maria (2-2)

MIT (2-2)  Vs Curry (0-3)

[Hugenerd]

I dont think WPI will have a problem with Lasell.  My prediction is a 75-62 WPI victory.

[Hugenerd]

I was a bit off on the spread, but WPI edges Lasell tonight 78-77.

[JustAFan]

WPI got lucky tonight, but at the same time they did a great job giving themselves an opportunity to grab a win by fighting back from an 11 point deficit midway through the 2d half after squandering a 3 point halftime lead.

Lasell was up one and had the ball with 28 seconds left, and 25 on the shot clock.  They got it in to Guitian above the top of the key and rather than working the clock he immediately took a jumper and missed.   WPI got the rebound and had a chance to call a timeout and set up a play.  The WPI play broke down, however, and Etten alertly penetrated into the key and squeezed up a jumper in traffic in the lane with the clock winding..a very clutch shot.  Lasell inbounded the ball with 6 seconds left and threw the ball away but the refs said WPI's coach had called a timeout before the ball was inbounded and awarded the ball to Lasell for a second chance.  Lasell got the ball quickly up court in the hands of guard Charles Horton, who had been money all night.  Horton had some space to take a 3 or go to the hoop but he passed to Guitian for some reason and time ran out before he could get a shot off from deep in the corner.  I don' t know why Horton didn't take the shot himself since he had some space and he was deadly from 3 point land all night long.

Another scrappy win for WPI in a game when their outside shooting wasn't on and they were consistently missing layups when they penetrated to the hoop (attributable to a lot of body checking defense by Lasell that was let go by the refs). 

I thought WPI's 2 freshmen forwards--Fernando Perez and Jerome Stewart--played very well. Both are physically mature for their years, and neither backed down to the Lasell big men.  Stewart is the better one defensively and on the boards, while Perez, a lefty, has a very good offensive game.  In fact, he got open down on the blocks a bunch of times but the WPI guards either missed him or found him too late--the Engineers need to work on that because this kid works too hard to get position not to get rewarded.  Etten, Kirkland and Lirette played their typical complete game for WPI and showed a lot of leadership.  Finally, sophomore guard Jeff Robinson continues to improve and gain confidence.  He'll be a good replacement for Lirette next year along with classmate Kyle Nadeau. 

[Hugenerd]

MIT beat Curry 90-63 tonight.  Jimmy Bartolotta went for 43 points (8-12 from 3), 5 reb, 5 assists.

The 43 points by Bartolotta is an MIT single-game record that had stood for 46 years.  The previous record of 41 was held by the one and only David Koch.  For those of you who dont know who David Koch is, you have probably heard of people he is richer than (such as Donald Trump).  Koch is currently the richest resident of New York ($10 B) and he and his brother own the largest privately owned company in the world, Koch Industries.  He also has at least 3 buildings or programs (1 under construction, the Koch Cancer Institute) named after him at MIT and is still a prominent figure at MIT (there is a portrait of him in the lobby of the chemical engineering building, the bio building is the Koch Building, there is also the Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice).  I heard a rumor that there would be a reward for anyone who broke the record, but that is just speculation.


He also tied a record for most 3s in a game with 8.
Congrats