Empire 8

[magicman]

Just in case there is anybody out there that's interested, the Plattsburgh State head coach, Tom Curle, will be on the marathon 12 hour Hoopsville show taking place today on the D3hoops website. 

Hoopsville, hosted by Dave McHugh will come on the air at 10:00 AM today and run for 12 straight hours until 10:00 PM tonight. Here's a link that should bring you to the correct website or you can get it off the front page of D3hoops: 

http://d3hoops.com/hoopsville/index

Coach Curle  is scheduled to be on the show at  approximately11:00 AM for an interview that will last around 15 to 20 minutes.

As an added attraction, your friendly neighborhood magicman, will also get to mutter into the microphone for a few minutes at the end of Coach Curle's interview. Hopefully for the benefit of the hoopsville listeners it will be for a very few minutes.

And don't forget this marathon broadcast by Dave McHugh is part of his Hoopsville Contribution Campaign to raise money to upgrade the program and make the D3 experience better for all of us. If you haven't already done so please consider making a contribution to help Dave (and ultimately all of us that have chosen to make D3hoops a part of our life) improve the overall quality of the only program out there that is devoted to Division 3 basketball. Remember you don't have to make a $100 or $250 contribution to be counted . In these tough economic times a $10 gift, done by just a small percentage of the people that enjoy this website would put Dave way over the top of his desired goal. So dig deep and give up a couple of drinks at the local watering hole this week and you won't even feel that contribution leave your pocket. Thanks for listening.            

[AUPepBand]

Pep was working part-time at Alfred State at the time Coach Curle was head coach of the Alfred State Pioneers. Top notch guy. Have followed his coaching career ever since.

[magicman]

Pep was working part-time at Alfred State at the time Coach Curle was head coach of the Alfred State Pioneers. Top notch guy. Have followed his coaching career ever since.

You got that part right Pep. Plus K as ususal.

[NYHOOPS8]

Thanks Pep,

I thought about what you said earlier about the up and down fast paced play leading Coach Kornaker to go with a different lineup but thought it might have led to reduced minutes for Ryan but not a complete shutdown of the big guy. He can get up and down the court fairly well.

You were right though, the Cardinals did manage to overcome that 9 point deficit without Ryan on the floor. He may not have made any difference in the outcome.

The rolled ankle certainly explains things. Hope he is ready by Tuesday when they travel to Nazareth. Plus K

Keegan Ryan did not play Tuesday. If he can't play this weekend, Fisher may be in line for an 0-2 weekend that would put them in danger of missing the E8 tourney. Alfred can be the benificiary and make a statement by going on the road and taking two winnable games at Utica and Elmira.

[AUPepBand]

Is there an E8 team any hotter than the Nazareth Golden Flyers right now? They win AT Hartwick, 82-72 tonight to hand the Hawks only their second conference loss.

Meanwhile, St. John Fisher's big man Keegan Ryan back in the lineup for the Cardinals tonight, but they fall at Stevens, 76-59, their third straight loss. It doesn't get any easier tomorrow as the Cardinals visit Oneonta to face the Hawks, who are not likely happy after dropping a home game to the Flyers.

Alfred ekes out a 96-93 win at Utica, despite trailing most of the game. A Ryan Mahon 3-pointer with 1 second remaining lifts the Saxons to victory. Saxons are off tomorrow and play at Elmira Tuesday night.

On Saxon Warriors!

[NYHOOPS8]

Is there an E8 team any hotter than the Nazareth Golden Flyers right now? They win AT Hartwick, 82-72 tonight to hand the Hawks only their second conference loss.

Meanwhile, St. John Fisher's big man Keegan Ryan back in the lineup for the Cardinals tonight, but they fall at Stevens, 76-59, their third straight loss. It doesn't get any easier tomorrow as the Cardinals visit Oneonta to face the Hawks, who are not likely happy after dropping a home game to the Flyers.

Alfred ekes out a 96-93 win at Utica, despite trailing most of the game. A Ryan Mahon 3-pointer with 1 second remaining lifts the Saxons to victory. Saxons are off tomorrow and play at Elmira Tuesday night.

On Saxon Warriors!

Alfred is in a great position to get into the E8 playoffs. Nazareth has been on a roll and their loss was to today's opponent: Stevens. Should be a good one in New Jersey today.

[AUPepBand]

Is there an E8 team any hotter than the Nazareth Golden Flyers right now? They win AT Hartwick, 82-72 tonight to hand the Hawks only their second conference loss.

Meanwhile, St. John Fisher's big man Keegan Ryan back in the lineup for the Cardinals tonight, but they fall at Stevens, 76-59, their third straight loss. It doesn't get any easier tomorrow as the Cardinals visit Oneonta to face the Hawks, who are not likely happy after dropping a home game to the Flyers.

Alfred ekes out a 96-93 win at Utica, despite trailing most of the game. A Ryan Mahon 3-pointer with 1 second remaining lifts the Saxons to victory. Saxons are off tomorrow and play at Elmira Tuesday night.

On Saxon Warriors!

Alfred is in a great position to get into the E8 playoffs. Nazareth has been on a roll and their loss was to today's opponent: Stevens. Should be a good one in New Jersey today.

Alfred will have a tough stretch coming up...at Elmira Tuesday, which always plays the Saxons tough, then there's Stevens and Hartwick coming into McLane Friday-Saturday. The Saxons are 6-0 at home this season but the competition, aside from Naz and Elmira, hasn't been of the caliber they'll be facing next weekend. Pep is just hoping that the Saxons get the student/community support they so deserve with these big home games down the stretch. Pep Rally!

On Saxon Warriors!

[AUPepBand]

In Empire 8 action today, Elmira gets a 76-65 win over Utica.
Hartwick outscores Fisher 46-25 in the second half to earn a weekend split by beating the Cardinals, 77-65.
And, Stevens snaps a Naz win streak, edging the Golden Flyers, 73-69.

Hartwick and Stevens atop the standings at 8-2, Alfred and Nazareth hanging around at 5-2 and 6-3, respectively, while Fisher still in contention for the Conference Tourney at 5-5. Elmira at 2-5, has won two in a row over Houghton (does not count in standings) and Utica.

Pep was at a bustling Hornell Wegmans early this afternoon and saw a few members of the Saxon basketball team and, upon seeing them, made a scene by raising his arms above his head and declaring, "SAXONS!!!"

On Saxon Warriors!

[NYHOOPS8]

The E8 has an opportunity to gain some attention nationally when Stevens hosts Williams in New Jersey tonight. Stevens upset Williams last year on the Ephs home court. I can see this being a very close game to the end.

[magicman]

The E8 has an opportunity to gain some attention nationally when Stevens hosts Williams in New Jersey tonight. Stevens upset Williams last year on the Ephs home court. I can see this being a very close game to the end.

I think for Stevens to keep this game close they need to have their best effort of the year. I hope I'm wrong but I can see Williams winning this game by double digits.

[NYHOOPS8]

The E8 has an opportunity to gain some attention nationally when Stevens hosts Williams in New Jersey tonight. Stevens upset Williams last year on the Ephs home court. I can see this being a very close game to the end.

I think for Stevens to keep this game close they need to have their best effort of the year. I hope I'm wrong but I can see Williams winning this game by double digits.

Agreed. I don't believe Stevens has the weapons to outscore Williams but Stevens seems to be a very good defensive team and playing at home on a weekday is a huge advantage.

[dcahill44]

I think playing at Stevens is one of the hardest places to play! Stevens is a very very good team i believe. They are Quick, they pressure the ball and make shots. Stevens can win this game.

[amh63]

NYHOOPS....FYI, D3hoops website now shows a direct link to the Williams vs. Stevens game.  Starts at 6PM.

[AUPepBand]

Saxons drop an 80-63 game at Elmira as the Soaring Eagles take their third straight win and shut down the high-scoring Alfred team. Elmira opened the game with a 16-0 run and led 38-27 at halftime. Saxons never really recovered. AU didn't look sharp early and couldn't buy a basket. Here's hoping the Saxons fare better this weekend.

On Saxon Warriors!

[magicman]

Final score:    Williams 83  Stevens 68

I was hoping that I would be proven wrong but Williams had too much firepower for the Ducks to handle. I was afraid of 6'7" freshman forward Duncan Robinson and  6'9" senior center Mike Mayer in particular. They didn't disappoint as Robinson had 22 to lead all scorers and was deadly from long distance where I thought he would be. He was 5x8 on his 3 point attempts. Mayer had 18 points mostly on inside layups and showed why he's consider one of the best big men in the NESCAC conference.

Stevens hung tough and actually had the lead at the break 33-32. The Ducks continued to play well into the 2nd half and still had the lead at 42-41 with 14:27 left to play. That's when Williams broke out in a big way as freshman guard Mike Greenman nailed a three pointer. Robinson followed that with a 3 point play of his own that featured a hoop and harm. Greenman made another 3 pointer, reserve Ryan Kilcullen got into the act with his 2nd three pointer of the game and just for good measure junior guard Daniel Wohl dropped one in from long distance. Suddenly Williams went from a point behind to a 14 point lead at 56-42 in the span of of 4 minutes. Stevens finally broke the drought with a dunk by Patrick Sabatino only to have Williams' Daniel Wohl convert another 3 point play to make it 59-44 and the Ephs had made 6 conseccutive 3 point scores by 5 different players to stun the Stevens crowd.  The Ducks fought back and got the lead back to single digits only to have Mayer hit another layup, and a short time later was followed by back to back three pointers again, by Duncan Robinson, to once more extend the lead to the largest of the night at 69-53 with just under 5 minutes to play.  The closest the Ducks got after that was 10 points as the Ephs hit 4 of 6 from the line and Mayer got loose for another pair of layups to close this one out.

Nice effort by Stevens for 3 quarters of the game but Williams had too much talent for this team, this year.