Empire 8

[dcahill44]

E8 is off to a very shaky start. The best teams in the league are having trouble this year. Naz is 3-2 but the loss to Roberts Wesleyan doesn't count. So a win against RIT technically puts them at 4-1

[magicman]

St John Fisher leads Rochester 37-24 at the half in the 3rd place game . Cardinals with a double digit lead at the 13:31 mark and never allowed Rochester to get closer than 8 points the rest of the period.

Tyler Hart with 8 points, Mcvay with 6, Lott with 6 and Ryan with 5.

Vernon and Borst-Smith with 5 each for the Yellowjackets.

[sjfcards]

Fisher is letting Their bug lead slip away. Only up 8 with lots of time left.

[sjfcards]

Fisher survives and wins by 2 against u of r. A nice Wendy's tournament for Fisher. Now let's start racking up some wins.

[magicman]

Nazareth wins the 7th place game with a 74-51 defeat of old E8 foe, but now Liberty League member, RIT.

RIT came into the tournament with a 5-0 record. and left with a 5-3 record. Dessert wasn't served in the Wendy's Tournament so no cupcakes were available.

[AUPepBand]

Nazareth wins the 7th place game with a 74-51 defeat of old E8 foe, but now Liberty League member, RIT.

RIT came into the tournament with a 5-0 record. and left with a 5-3 record. Dessert wasn't served in the Wendy's Tournament so no cupcakes were available.

Pep is curious whether Alfred's fast start (5-1) is just a result of an early season sweet tooth...and can the Saxons maintain the pace once Empire 8 competition begins? Saxons are averaging 104.3 points per outing to date against some less than stellar programs.

On Saxon Warriors!

[Bengalsrule]

Nazareth wins the 7th place game with a 74-51 defeat of old E8 foe, but now Liberty League member, RIT.

RIT came into the tournament with a 5-0 record. and left with a 5-3 record. Dessert wasn't served in the Wendy's Tournament so no cupcakes were available.

Pep is curious whether Alfred's fast start (5-1) is just a result of an early season sweet tooth...and can the Saxons maintain the pace once Empire 8 competition begins? Saxons are averaging 104.3 points per outing to date against some less than stellar programs.

On Saxon Warriors!

  Good question Pep. I thing that your schedule may have some disadvantages when E8 play begins. 5 wins over teams with a combined cupcake schedule/record of 7-33 makes it difficult (IMHO) to get ready for the likes of St John Fisher (i've seen them up close and personal), Naz and others. I'd curious as to what Magicmans take would be on this.

  Currently with a 5-1 record massey has Alfred ranked 265. The only conference title eligible team that is ranked lower is Utica. Could be tough sledding but i hope, for your sake, that 5-1 is a good indicator of what lies ahead.

  Glad to see that you keep up with the hoops. I know that you know your football inside and out!

[magicman]

Nazareth wins the 7th place game with a 74-51 defeat of old E8 foe, but now Liberty League member, RIT.

RIT came into the tournament with a 5-0 record. and left with a 5-3 record. Dessert wasn't served in the Wendy's Tournament so no cupcakes were available.

Pep is curious whether Alfred's fast start (5-1) is just a result of an early season sweet tooth...and can the Saxons maintain the pace once Empire 8 competition begins? Saxons are averaging 104.3 points per outing to date against some less than stellar programs.

On Saxon Warriors!

I think the Saxons wanted dessert, Pep, and 2nd's and 3rd's and ...well you get the picture. I actually hope I'm wrong about them but close games against the likes of Canton, and Fredonia, who I believe will come in last in the SUNYAC doesn't lead me to believe that the
hoopsters from Happy Valley will make the E8 playoffs this year. I do see 4 or 5 more wins on the horizon but they will struggle to get to .500. 

[AUPepBand]

Nazareth wins the 7th place game with a 74-51 defeat of old E8 foe, but now Liberty League member, RIT.

RIT came into the tournament with a 5-0 record. and left with a 5-3 record. Dessert wasn't served in the Wendy's Tournament so no cupcakes were available.

Pep is curious whether Alfred's fast start (5-1) is just a result of an early season sweet tooth...and can the Saxons maintain the pace once Empire 8 competition begins? Saxons are averaging 104.3 points per outing to date against some less than stellar programs.

On Saxon Warriors!

I think the Saxons wanted dessert, Pep, and 2nd's and 3rd's and ...well you get the picture. I actually hope I'm wrong about them but close games against the likes of Canton, and Fredonia, who I believe will come in last in the SUNYAC doesn't lead me to believe that the
hoopsters from Happy Valley will make the E8 playoffs this year. I do see 4 or 5 more wins on the horizon but they will struggle to get to .500.

Indeed, Pep just found where the Saxons are picked to finish last in the Empire 8. Gosh, that means any wins in the Empire 8 this season can be considered upsets!  Pep is looking forward to this season nevertheless. The Saxons, from Pep's perspective, have no "franchise players" but Coach Wellman has a good long bench of string beans who like (and have been let loose) to run and gun. He's got some shooters and when they're hot, they could perhaps cause problems for some of their E8 foes. How far they run and gun, of course, remains to be seen.

On Saxon Warriors!

[NYHOOPS8]

Alfred's style of play may lead to an upset or two down the road in the E8.

[Bengalsrule]

Alfred's style of play may lead to an upset or two down the road in the E8.

I'm hoping the best for them, if for no other reason than the fact that AUPepband is a terrific fan/supporter of D3 sports!

[sjfcards]

Fisher finally gets back to action tomorrow against Oneonta. I feel like this early season schedule has been really strange. Can't wait to finally get going with the league.

[magicman]

Oneonta defeats St John Fisher 67-65.

Red Dragons pull off the mild upset.  Much like the first half which had Fisher with the lead for the initial 10 minutes or so of the period, the Cardinals led this contest throughout the first 8:32 of the 2nd half. The Red Dragons would take the lead for the first time in this period, 50-48 on a jumper by Jackson Zuvic with 11 minutes remaining. Oneonta would extend that lead to 58-52 on a layup by Zach Mager with 5:39 left. Unlike the first period, when the Cardinals lost the lead only to retake it at the break, they did not come back and regain the lead. They fell behind by their largest 2nd half margin at 62-55 and although they would get it to within a single possession on several occasions they never came all the way back.   

Oneonta's Zac Mager was the leading scorer in the game with 22 points. Jackson Zuvic had 12 points and led Oneonta with 7 rebounds. Mikey McElroy had 9 points and a huge 3 pointer with 1:55 left that gave the Red Dragons a 5 point lead that put them in control. Fisher did have a chance to tie or win the game as they rebounded a Red Dragon miss with 18 seconds left. After a Fisher timeout, they worked the ball for a three point attempt to win the game. Looks like it was partially blocked and Oneonta came away with the ball to end the game.

Fisher was led by freshman Keegan Ryan with a double double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Stefan Bock had 14 points and Tyler Hart had 11.

Oneonta improves to 3-4 and will be off for 2 weeks until they travel south for a 2 game road trip. They take on the Averett Cougars on December 30th at 7 PM.They will face off against the Greensboro Pride on January 1st at 2 PM and hopefully get the New Year off to a good start.

St. John Fisher falls to 3-3 and is back in action on Wednesday December 18th when they host the Bethany Bison from the Presidents Athletic Conference. The Cardinals will have their hands full with that matchup as the Bison are currently undefeated at 6-0 heading into a game tonight. Bethany owns a win over Ohio Northern who beat Buffalo State in Buffalo several weeks ago. They have also defeated Mount Union by a 79-61 score. Mount Union handled Hartwick  rather easily back on Nov. 30th by a 95-81 score.     

[Bengalsrule]

I think Brad Ford, Mitch Ford, Patrick Sabitino, Frank Mitchell, Tom Sweeney and Jared Suderley are all better than Keegan Ryan! 

Young man... Have you looked at the E8 stats recently??

Keegan Ryan - St John Fisher
10th in Scoring
5th in Rebounding
5th in Ft %
3rd in Fg%...
( I stopped looking after that).

Please find another E8 big that tops those top 10 stats in at least 4 categories!!! If he stays healthy, he's your 1st team center!!

[Bombers798891]

I think Brad Ford, Mitch Ford, Patrick Sabitino, Frank Mitchell, Tom Sweeney and Jared Suderley are all better than Keegan Ryan! 

Young man... Have you looked at the E8 stats recently??

Keegan Ryan - St John Fisher
10th in Scoring
5th in Rebounding
5th in Ft %
3rd in Fg%...
( I stopped looking after that).

Please find another E8 big that tops those top 10 stats in at least 4 categories!!! If he stays healthy, he's your 1st team center!!

Seriously?

First off, his points and rebound per game numbers both lag behind several of the big men listed.

Ford: 20.7/11.2
Mitchell: 17.1/9.1
Jeffers: 14.4/13.3
Ryan: 14.3/8.7

Second, he gets to the line so infrequently for a big man, his advantage in FT shooting is meaningless. He's made just 14 free throws on the season, compared to Suderley (28) Ford (30) and Mitchell (37). Being an 87% free throw shooter is great, but there's a minimal impact when you only go to the line twice a game.