Empire 8

[RITFAN]

If both RIT and Ithaca go 15-1 (i.e. RIT loses to Ithaca in the final game) gobombers is correct.  If both teams go 14-2 it gets more complicated - first tiebreaker is record vs. subsequest finishers in descending order; next tiebreaker is road record vs. conference opponents.  Third tiebreaker is SOS.

[Bombers798891]

Fisher drops their 4th straight in conference and are now in a three-way tie for third, with Stevens lurking a game behind. Fisher is in a real bad spot, with RIT coming into town next, followed by a trip to Ithaca. If they drop both of those games, it's going to get really interesting. What's going on with the Cardinals?

[FisherDynasty]

whats going on with the cardinals is lack of experience, they play with 3 freshman on the court at most times and lost their 4 man for the year and a key resever that was scoring 15-20 pts in some games.  I think they are finally playing what their talent level is vs in the beg of year they were playing a little bit above.  I think they are about where they should be given there team this year and think its going to be tough to get into the e8 tourny now with their 2 games at rit and ithaca coming up.  should be interesting

[e8bballfan]

Naz over Fisher 79-70. Fisher off from 3, to say the least (2-15, C. Henderson 1-6) while Naz shoots 8-17 from 3 (R. McAdams 5-7). Both teams shoot 27-62 from, Naz outrebounds Fisher 48-28.

I agree with you, Dynasty, I think Fisher is playing at their talent level now, and are where they were expected to be. Tough stretch for them playing at RIT & IC...It's getting to crunch time, we'll see who steps up and joins RIT & IC in the conference tourney.

[Bombers798891]

Bombers squeak out a thriller against Alfred, 73-71. Saxons shoot 53% from the floor in the 2nd half to almost pull of the upset. Stopera goes for 32 points.

Ithaca seemed to miss Jeff Bostic as they had no real offense or defense down low. Word is, he'll play on Tuesday. Sean Burton has 28 points and 10 assists.

[gobombers15]

Bombers squeak out a thriller against Alfred, 73-71. Saxons shoot 53% from the floor in the 2nd half to almost pull of the upset. Stopera goes for 32 points.

Ithaca seemed to miss Jeff Bostic as they had no real offense or defense down low. Word is, he'll play on Tuesday. Sean Burton has 28 points and 10 assists.

I think Ithaca believed they could let Bostic rest his ankle this weekend against Hartwick and Alfred. It was a rational decision. Hartwick and Alfred are teams towards the bottom of the league and Ithaca was killing teams in The Bulb. But it almost cost them today. Stopera went to the line with 5 seconds left and Ithaca leading 72-70. He missed the first FT and made the second, but Ithaca held on. Alfred just seems to be a matchup problem for the Bombers. The Saxons played them tough at MacLane, too.

Huge game for Burton as he goes for 28 pts and 10 assts. His sixth assist of the game gave him 500 for his career. Leahy also has a double-double with 11 pts and 10 rebs. I'm surprised Mullins only played the Brown/Barera combo for a combined 12 minutes.

[Bombers798891]

Bombers squeak out a thriller against Alfred, 73-71. Saxons shoot 53% from the floor in the 2nd half to almost pull of the upset. Stopera goes for 32 points.

Ithaca seemed to miss Jeff Bostic as they had no real offense or defense down low. Word is, he'll play on Tuesday. Sean Burton has 28 points and 10 assists.

I think Ithaca believed they could let Bostic rest his ankle this weekend against Hartwick and Alfred. It was a rational decision. Hartwick and Alfred are teams towards the bottom of the league and Ithaca was killing teams in The Bulb. But it almost cost them today. Stopera went to the line with 5 seconds left and Ithaca leading 72-70. He missed the first FT and made the second, but Ithaca held on. Alfred just seems to be a matchup problem for the Bombers. The Saxons played them tough at MacLane, too.

Huge game for Burton as he goes for 28 pts and 10 assts. His sixth assist of the game gave him 500 for his career. Leahy also has a double-double with 11 pts and 10 rebs. I'm surprised Mullins only played the Brown/Barera combo for a combined 12 minutes.

That was suprising to me too, but Alfred really didn't have a big man so I'm not entirely positive Brown would have helped much. So many of the shots were from the outside by guards and a lot of the rebounds were long. Brown's not going to be a lot of help on the perimeter defensively against smaller, quicker players. Down low, he'll be a presence, but Alfred wasn't really going down there. 

Ithaca simply missed their shots, plain and simple. They hit five FG's in the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. It was unlike anything they've done all season. There's always going to be games like that over the course of a season though.

[Bombers798891]

I have to say, I'm a little concerned about the Bombers. I know it's strange to be saying that about a 20-1 team, but they've had some games recently where they just haven't looked sharp.

Against Elmira, Ithaca only up one with about 12 minutes to go in the 2nd half, and against Alfred, they were in a battle all game. I know they were missing Bostic today, and no-one's saying that they need to win every game by 30+ points, but these were two home games against opponents with a combined 3-20 record in conference, and 10-31 overall. They shouldn't be struggling in games like that. They trailed SJF early, but that was a road game and Fisher was 14-4 at the time.

Tuesday's game against Stevens is looming large. The Ducks need a win to stay in the conference hunt and the Bombers needed a massive comeback to top them earlier. I think a healthy Bostic makes a difference, but Ithaca's going to need to step their game up a bit.

[FROMAFAR]

I understand the situation between IC and RIT if they tie for first... Assuming both 15-1, First tie breaker head to head, then record in descending order, then I BELIEVE is road record, then SOS. Which means it come down to SOS. BUT if I am right about the 3rd criteria being Road record, that will come into play big time if there is a log jam for the last 2 spots. Again, I am not sure but I think thta's how IC got the home court last year against Stevens. Bot tied for first and both had the sam records against all in descending order... it came down to road record. 

Of the 4 teams looking for 2 spots it is amazing whats left.  Utica looks like they are in the best position because they already played IC and RIT twice, BUT they lost all 4.  So if NAZ Stevens or Fisher can pick one off then that hurts Utica. Utica also has 4 out of 5 left on the road.. One at Stevens. Thuis could be a good thing for them since they held homecourt against the Ducks earlier. A loss only ties them on that breaker.  NAZ plays 3 road games out of last 5 and they seem to be hottest of the 4 remaining.. The game at Utica is obviously BIG, Stevens is at IC and RIT this week. If they can pick one off that puts them back in the mix. If they lose both it is going to be tough as that means the best they can do is 8-8 and they have a tough time with the tie breakers. Fisher has 4 at home left which should serve them well. They SOULD beat ALfred and Elmira at home which gives them 8 wins... That makes the UTICA game at home huge.   Utica plays all 3 NAZ STEVENS and Fisher... NAZ at home the other two on the road. They have to beat Alfred and Hartwick both on the road to get to 8, then pick off one of the contenders.   It appears Stevens has the hardest task, while Utica has a slight edge over the other 2....... 9 wins gets 3rd, 8 gets 4th... with te breaker involved.   I don't think more than one of tehse 3 teams can win 9 games. remenber IC and RIT are not going to lie down as every win is important for first place......   A lot of huge games coming up, but what do I know    

[magicman]

Ithaca moves up a notch in D3 Hoops Top 25 checking in at #8. RIT picks up a little more support and comes in at #32 and St. Lawrence gets noticed and checks in tied for the #34 spot. If the Bombers keep winning I can see them possibly getting as high as #6, which would be 1 spot higher than Plattsburgh State managed last year with their 27-2 record heading into the NCAA tournament.   

[Michigan452]

A huge game tonight between RIT and Fisher.  This game could make or break Fisher since they have to go to Ithaca this Saturday.  What I dont understand is how RIT is getting no respect nationally.  I dont know if you can call a team underrated when they are undefeated in their conference, but it seems like RIT is.  They really dont have any great players besides Carson, but they keep on winning.  As for Fisher they are realing right now and need to hold court tonight.  If they loose another home game they could be on the outside looking in for the e8 tourney.  I would love to see what their 10 coaches do then.  Maybe they will start playing.  I know some of them still have their eligibility.  Cant wait to see the outcome.

[gobombers15]

E8 Player of the Week: Anthony Passalacqua (Stevens)

E8 Rookie of the Week: Brendan Harder (RIT)

Full slate of conference games this evening. Here's my best guess:

Utica (72) at Hartwick (61)
Nazareth (75) at Alfred (68)
Stevens (75) at Ithaca (87)
RIT (66) at Fisher (62)

[bamm]

I would love to see what their 10 coaches do then. 

I will never get tired of jokes about Fisher's ridiculous bench. 

[magicman]

St. John Fisher up 33-32 over RIT at the half,  breaks the game wide open with a 23-3 run to open the 2nd period and coasts to a 72-51 win. Much needed win for the Cardinals and could put a stop to all the Ithaca- RIT tiebreaker talk. 

Fisher was led by Ozell Franklin who topped all scorers with 20 pts along with 7 rebounds. Connor Henderson added 16 pts and Jordan Gettings chipped in with 16. RIT was led by Mark Carson with a double double of 16 pts and 15 boards.

[gobombers15]

Utica nips Hartwick, 63-60.

Ithaca handles Stevens, 81-68.

Naz thumps Alfred, 80-68.

Fisher rips RIT, 72-51

I would love to see what their 10 coaches do then. 

I will never get tired of jokes about Fisher's ridiculous bench. 

Or the fact that despite the ridiculous amount of assistants, they have about 6 cheerleaders for every player and assistant.