Empire 8

[AUPepBand]

Travel partners face off tonight in Empire 8 to complete first half of conference play:

Alfred (3-3) at Elmira (0-6)
Hartwick (4-2) at Stevens (5-1)
Utica (2-4) at Ithaca (4-2)
and...
Fisher (2-4) at Naz (4-2)

On Saxon Warriors!

[with age came?]

Fisher at Naz.... the memories abound...   Hope your Au does not take Elmira too lightly..

[AUPepBand]

Elmira a vastly improved team....some new personnel this semester. Tonight's finals:

Alfred 61, Elmira 59
Ithaca 83, Utica 74 (correction....previously had women's score)
Hartwick 68, Stevens 66
Nazareth 85, Fisher 67

[Bombers798891]

Sean Rossi. 19 assists. Stat-padding. Discuss

[AUPepBand]

Big weekend coming up in the Empire 8.

FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES:
Stevens (5-2) at Ithaca (5-2)
Naz (5-2) at Alfred (4-3)
Fisher (2-5) at Elmira (0-7)
Hartwick (5-2) at Utica (2-5)

SATURDAY'S CONTESTS:
Fisher (2-5) at Alfred (4-3)
Naz (5-2) at Elmira (0-7)
Stevens (5-2) at Utica (2-5)
Hartwick (5-2) at Ithaca (5-2)

Should be interesting to see whether there's any separation among the 5-2 teams this weekend. Bombers, while at home, probably have the toughest weekend, hosting two 5-2 squads of Ducks and Hawks. Should the Bombers prevail, it will be a feather (or two) in their cap. Pep will go out on a limb and predict that Elmira's Soaring Eagles will get their first win this weekend. They're playing good ball and something's gotta give.

On Saxon Warriors!

[with age came?]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

[magicman]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

I don't think Elmira will beat Nazareth. Fisher could be had but I think Elmira will still be winless after this weekend. On the Multi Regional Page we have the Undefeated and Winless survivor pool. Elmira is on the winless list and is one of 6 teams in all of D3 that has yet to win a game. Hopefully the Soaring Eagles will win a game before all the other teams on the list do so. In this contest the last team standing is not a good thing. I think the best chance for an Elmira win will come on their last home game of the year against a struggling Utica team. 

[AUPepBand]

Pep is just saying that Elmira seems to have become much more competitive of late and Alfred was fortunate to get a win Tuesday night.

Much like AU beat a solid Hartwick team at McLane Center, Pep is thinking Elmira will put together 40 minutes that will result in a win. More likely to happen, at this juncture, against Fisher than Naz. Not sure what's happening at Fisher....four straight double digit losses is uncharacteristic of the Cardinals with Kornaker (AU) at the helm.

Just sayin' it seems Elmira isn't an automatic "W" for anyone right now. Since a blowout loss at Naz Jan. 14, Soaring Eagles' losses are by 5, 7 and 2 points their last three outings, to Ithaca, Utica and Alfred.

Maybe they don't get a win this weekend....maybe against Utica, or maybe even Ithaca or Alfred. Just get the feeling it will happen.

[Bombers798891]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

I don't think Elmira will beat Nazareth.

Considering Nazareth already beat them by 53 points once, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is accurate

[AUPepBand]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

I don't think Elmira will beat Nazareth.

Considering Nazareth already beat them by 53 points once, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is accurate

Go ahead and build your treehouse out on that limb, 798891, Pep thinks you'll be safe.

Fisher easily handles Elmira (0-8) to go 3-5.
Nazareth does the same to Alfred and now 6-2, dropping AU to 4-4.
Ithaca edges Stevens to stay pace at 6-2, Stevens now 5-3.
Hartwick clobbers Utica to remain in the hunt at 6-2, Utica falls to 2-6.

[Old Duck]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

I don't think Elmira will beat Nazareth.

Considering Nazareth already beat them by 53 points once, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is accurate

Go ahead and build your treehouse out on that limb, 798891, Pep thinks you'll be safe.

Fisher easily handles Elmira (0-8) to go 3-5.
Nazareth does the same to Alfred and now 6-2, dropping AU to 4-4.
Ithaca edges Stevens to stay pace at 6-2, Stevens now 5-3.
Hartwick clobbers Utica to remain in the hunt at 6-2, Utica falls to 2-6.

Stevens beat Ithaca

[magicman]

Thought that Elmira was improving and obviously I was right as AU wins a squeaker.  AU Pep are you going to predict who Elmira will beat for that first W?

I don't think Elmira will beat Nazareth.

Considering Nazareth already beat them by 53 points once, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is accurate

Go ahead and build your treehouse out on that limb, 798891, Pep thinks you'll be safe.

Fisher easily handles Elmira (0-8) to go 3-5.
Nazareth does the same to Alfred and now 6-2, dropping AU to 4-4.
Ithaca edges Stevens to stay pace at 6-2, Stevens now 5-3.
Hartwick clobbers Utica to remain in the hunt at 6-2, Utica falls to 2-6.

Stevens beat Ithaca

That is correct. Pep obviously got his score off the D3hoops scoreboard and whichever SID entered the score got it backwards. Stevens had the 71 and Ithaca had 67.

[AUPepBand]

Pep apologizes. Goes to show one can't always believe what one reads.
Saxons hold on for 77-70 win over Fisher to move to 5-4 in conference play, after dropping a 68-48 loss to Naz last night.
Don't mess with my Saxons on a Saterday afternoon.

On Saxon Warriors!

[magicman]

Results from today's action:

Hartwick 78  Ithaca 75 

Hatrwick comes back from a 69-61 deficit with 4:26 to play and finally catches the Bombers on a 3 pointer by Mike Geisser to complete a 10-0 run and take the lead at 71-69 with 2:43 on the clock. Ithaca falls behind by 4 but a trifecta by Sean Rossi ties it again at 75 with 9 seconds left. Just enough time for Anthony Keane to nail a triple of his own for the game winner with 4 seconds left.

Stevens 94  Utica 85   

Once again the score posted on the D3hoops scoreboard is wrong as they show Utica winning by an 85-84 score.
The Ducks were up by 1 at the half 45-44 before pulling away in the final 10 minutes to get the win. Up 65-65 with 11:02 left Stevens got an 11-2 run to give them a double digit lead. The closest the Pioneers could get after that was 6 points as Stevens extended their advantage to 13 and won away from home once again. The Ducks are still undefeated on the road with an 8-0 record. 

Alfred 77  St. John Fisher 70

Alfred led at the half 33-31 but opened up a 13 point lead in the 2nd period and Fisher never got closer than 7 points. They sweep the Cardinals for the first time in how long Pep? I don't recall it happening in at least 10 years and maybe longer. The last time they won a game against Fisher was in February of 2009. They were 2-14  going into this season against the Cardinals. Alfred moves into a 4th place tie with Ithaca, but currently holds the tiebreaker for the 4th and final playoff spot.

Nazareth 90  Elmira 78

Certainly a lot closer than the first time they met. Golden Flyers up by a 46-32 margin at the break but Elmira closes to within 5 and narrows it to a single possession at 54-51 with 15:31 to play. Back and forth action over the next 4 minutes until Naz gets a little daylight and opens up a 70-61 advantage with 9:26 to go. The Soaring Eagles would narrow it to 3 points on two more ocassions but down 76-73 with 4:16 remaining they allowed Nazareth to open up a ten point lead at 85-75 and that was the ballgame. Naz would hit 5 of 6 from the line to close it out. Good effort for the Eagles to try and break into the win column.


Updated Standings:

                      Conference               Overall
Hartwick              7-2                       18-2

Stevens               7-2                      15-4

Nazareth             7-2                       14-6

Alfred                  5-4                         12-6

Ithaca                 5-4                        8-12

St. John Fisher     4-5                       10-10

Utica                   2-7                       6-14

Elmira                 0-9                       0-19

Edit: Stevens score has been corrected on the D3 scoreboard.

[FranElia]

Just saw this online - turns out Hartwick's game-winning shot just beat the buzzer, after Ithaca had tied the game with less than 5 seconds left. There's video with the story at:

http://ithaca-cortland.ynn.com/content/sports/571843/buzzer-beater-gives-hartwick-men-thrilling-victory-at-ithaca/