MBB: NESCAC

[Bucket]

Midd escapes the Bobcats' den with a 59-56 win as Bates misses a contested 3 at the buzzer that would have sent the game to OT. A couple of Panther missed free throws in the final seconds gave Bates a shot at the end, but it wasn't to be.

Seemed like a very hard-fought, well-played game by both teams. My correspondent in the gym tells me it was as tough in person as it seemed on video. Panthers made some clutch, clutch shots down the stretch (Thompson, Bulluck, Wolfin)to open the smallest of lead margins that they would not give up.

Shooting was almost dead even from the floor, each team shooting around 43 percent, though Panthers had the edge from three (8-16 vs 4-13), which was the difference. Bobcats won the battle of the boards, 28-21, including an eye-opening 14 offensive rebounds. Their game plan was to milk the clock, which they did effectively; the second-chance possessions only enhanced this strategy.

Midd forced more turnovers--'Cats turned it over 13 times--including 7 steals.

Kizell with 17 pts, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals. Great all-around game. Merryman shutout for the first time this year. Thompson had 13 and Wolfin 12 (to go along with 3 assists). Big night for the backcourt. Lynch uncharacteristically cold, 8 pts on 4-9 shooting.

Roberts and Jensen unsung heroes for their job on Bogdanivich. The all-nescac candidate was held to 9 pts on 4-13 shooting.

[nescac1]

Tremendous NESCAC win for Williams, one of their best all-around performances of the season, if not their best.  Story of the game: Williams made four more field goals than Tufts despite 27 fewer attempts (70 percent shooting vs. 37).  For Williams, it was good to see the two Ephs who had tough games out West get back on track in a big way.  Michael Mayer was player of the game with a big 24-13, he cleaned the glass on defense in the second half (an area the Ephs struggled with a bit in the first half) and did it all on offense, driving, posting, and shooting from deep.  Daniel Wohl was clutch on both ends, finishing with 15 points and 3 big perimeter blocks (although it seemed like he had 1-2 more).  The rest of the starters also made big contributions .... James Klemm continued his red-hot shooting, nailing all four of his shots from the floor, including two triples, Taylor Epley was relatively quiet and received a lot of defensive attention, but still finished with 12-3-5 in more of a facilitator role, and Nate Robertson posted his typical box score of 7-6-7 plus 2 steals.  All four bench players scored and made other contributions for the Ephs, allowing the starters to stay fresh for the second half.

The game was pretty even until about a third of the way into the second half, the turning point was a play where Robertson stumbled but managed to thread a pass to a cutting Hoffmann, who finished with a big dunk and a foul shot.  From there on out, it was basically all Ephs, as they forced a lot of turnovers, and basically had their way inside on offense. 

Tufts really struggled from two point range, could not get many clean looks, did make the Ephs pay at times on late rotations in the zone by nailing some open threes, but other than the three pointers and a nice game from Scott Anderson, no one really stood out for the Jumbos on offense. 

For Williams, not much they could do better on offense, Tufts simply had no answer for the Ephs' balance, ball-movement, and individual skill level. Teams are going to have to single Mayer, like Tufts chose to, and usually get burned, or double him and allow Klemm and Epley open looks.  Williams once again was a bit sloppy with turnovers at times, and also continues to give up some offensive rebounds (inevitable when they play zone, really), but these are just quibbles ... if Williams executes that well on offense in future NESCAC games, they will be very tough to beat. 

[7express]

Speaking of Bowdoin, right now they only have 2 losses so they have to still be in the conversation although I don't think they'll end above the other 3 NESCAC teams mentioned. But, they have a chance on paper at the moment.

Speaking of Bowdoin very favorable schedule with Williams & Middlebury in Maine.  They look like the best chance to break up a 1-2-3 Amherst-Middlebury-Williams (maybe not that order, but you get the idea) finish.

[amh63]

Amherst beats Wesleyan in Middletown 75-61.  Amherst shoots over 54% for the game and 59% from outside with Green, Workman, Williamson, Kalema, Killian and Toomey hitting 3's.  Not much inside scoring and Amherst hit only 4-9 from the foul line.  Not many total fouls in the game but game stopped several time for the refs to talk to the players about rough play?  In the second half, a technical foul called off the ball after a shot on Kaasila outside that was questioned by BOTH coaches.  Amherst led by 8 at the half and built a 21 point lead that was cut to 10 after a 11 point run by the Cardinals.  Amherst made a 8 point run and it was over with about 5 minutes to play.  In the battle of top point guards, S. Brown with 15 points; A. Toomey with 23.  Toomey did not drive in the game and was often double teamed but controlled the game.....making 7-10 from outside and went 2-2 on the foul line.  Had 7 assists and 5 rebounds.  IMHO, winner was Aaron on this night.  Workman had 7 boards, 3 blocks, and even 5 points when missing all 4 of his foul shots....took only 4 shots in the game.  Eight player rotation with Conner Green scoring all 11 of his points in the first half coming off the bench.  Still need work on turnovers, imo....by the team.  Still it was as solid game by Amherst and the players played tough defense for 40 minutes.

[maineman]

Midd escapes the Bobcats' den with a 59-56 win as Bates misses a contested 3 at the buzzer that would have sent the game to OT. A couple of Panther missed free throws in the final seconds gave Bates a shot at the end, but it wasn't to be.

Seemed like a very hard-fought, well-played game by both teams. My correspondent in the gym tells me it was as tough in person as it seemed on video. Panthers made some clutch, clutch shots down the stretch (Thompson, Bulluck, Wolfin)to open the smallest of lead margins that they would not give up.

Shooting was almost dead even from the floor, each team shooting around 43 percent, though Panthers had the edge from three (8-16 vs 4-13), which was the difference. Bobcats won the battle of the boards, 28-21, including an eye-opening 14 offensive rebounds. Their game plan was to milk the clock, which they did effectively; the second-chance possessions only enhanced this strategy.

Midd forced more turnovers--'Cats turned it over 13 times--including 7 steals.

Kizell with 17 pts, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals. Great all-around game. Merryman shutout for the first time this year. Thompson had 13 and Wolfin 12 (to go along with 3 assists). Big night for the backcourt. Lynch uncharacteristically cold, 8 pts on 4-9 shooting.

Roberts and Jensen unsung heroes for their job on Bogdanivich. The all-nescac candidate was held to 9 pts on 4-13 shooting.

Midd will have to play much better on Saturday to beat Tufts.  The Bobcats guard play was superb as they made many key layups off pics and screens.  I didn't see much of that from Midd.  The offensive rebounding by Bates was excellent and Midd will have to work on boxing out players.  The Panthers were very fortunate to win and it should be indicative of how hard it is to beat any NESCAC team on the road.

[Bucket]

So if the Bobcat guard play was so superb and Midd's play so poor, how did the Panthers win?? Is Bates that bad then?

Oh well, as Herm Edwards said, "You play to win the game."

[nescac1]

re: Amherst, figured it was only a matter of time before Toomey, who has been struggling a bit with his shooting, lit it up ... he is simply too good.  IF Amherst can hit 3's at that rate (something they have not done in their two losses), they will be very tough to beat.   

Wesleyan is REALLY struggling right now, with three straight losses, the last two by double-digits.  The  The problem is that the Cards are way too reliant on only three guys (all of whom are seniors, so the future is not terribly bright), with no other guys on the roster managing to average over 7 points.  And with their two primary perimeter threats each hitting 3's at around a 30 percent clip, the Cards are way too reliant on having to beat guys off the dribble.  Really shocking how far short of the pre-season expectations Wesleyan has fallen.  Things could get REALLY ugly for Wesleyan with 4/5 games road games vs. Williams, Amherst, Tufts, and Midd, followed by two more NESCAC road games.  That's brutal for a team that is already hurting. 

On the bright side, with Avery Robinson (Barack's nephew) now in a starting role, that increases the odds of the Pres showing up for a NESCAC game. 

This is a non-NESCAC story, but incredible and worth sharing / discussing (and full disclosure, I've followed this particularly closely because Mrs. Nescac1 is a Hamline alum). 

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2013/01/hamline-suspends-entire-team

The Hamline coach may be familiar to NESCAC fans as the dude who coached very talented SUNY-Brockport teams to a few NCAA wins over the NESCAC elite.  He was starting to build a very promising squad at Hamiline, with very talented frosh and sophomore classes.  That looks to be all over now.  For those who haven't read about it, a frosh hoops player punched a girl so hard in the face that she broke several bones.  But what is just as bad is that NO ONE on the team called 911 because they were afraid of getting in trouble for breaking curfew.  Unbelievable, but kudos for Hamline for doing the right thing -- something I can't imagine any D-1 school doing. 

[maineman]

So if the Bobcat guard play was so superb and Midd's play so poor, how did the Panthers win?? Is Bates that bad then?

Oh well, as Herm Edwards said, "You play to win the game."

Wrong, Midd's guard play wasn't poor.  I never said that, you did.  In my opinion, Bates overall guard play was better than Midds as was their rebounding.  Midd won the game on better perimeter shooting and by sinking 5 more free throws. They shot a better field goal percentage but had 9 fewer attempts due to the rebounding differential.  Why would you ask if Bates is bad?  They nearly beat Midd, the number 2 team in the poll. 

[lumbercat]

Cmon Bucket- Maineman was saying that Bates came at the Panthers hard with good guard play. The Bobcats performed well on the boards with a dominating effort. At the end of the day the Panthers got out with a win on the road what the hell are you whining about?

[Old Guy]

Caught the Bates-Midd game at the Shrine (Bates's Alumni Gym, my boyhood home). A fan without a rooting interest would have loved this game: tight, hard-fought, well-played. A partisan, I was a wreck. Glad Bates was on break as the student section would have loved this one and created a wild atmosphere.

Middlebury's experience at guard (Wolfin, Kizell, Thompson) was important in the last minute and a half. Protected the ball, hit big shots from the field and line. Bates has four good guards and matches up well against us. In the tense last few minutes (Midd was up six, I believe, with a minute and a half to play) Bates just spread the floor, five players on the arc, and one of their quick guards went hard to the hoop and usually finished, as Midd was reluctant to help and give up their perimeter defense for a dish and trey.

Lynch was victimized by some hard fouls, uncalled (I don't complain about the officiating as a principle, read my posts: the complaints always sound lame, no matter if they're true). My point is, I talked to Lynch after the game, and he said, "I'm still supposed to make the shot."

How about this: Two teams playing hard, mostly man defense, pressure in the half-court - and the first foul of the game was called with three minutes left to play in the first half. Two fouls called in the whole half. Took about 5 minutes, it seemed, to play the half. One point game at the half, 26-25 Midd. Anyone watching hoop for the first time would have been hooked forever after watching that 20 mins., back and forth, back and forth. Bates executed its game plan, kept the game in the 50s, almost pulled it out. 

Bates, perhaps the smallest team in NESCAC, outrebounded the Panthers by 18 boards, 42-24 (Bates had 14 offensive rebounds). Won't win a lot of games with a rebounding deficit like that.

Remember the name Mike Boornazian, Bates frosh. You'll be hearing it in the future, the near-future. He's a player. 5-9 tonight (two threes ), 6 rebounds, in 25 minutes. 6'5", 200lbs - can play inside or outside. Impressive. Comes off the bench, not for long, I bet.

Without taking into consideration national rankings, comparative records, and other extraneous concerns, this was a nice grind-it-out road win for the Panthers.

[lumbercat]

What a great post from a Middlebury guy with Bates Garnet roots--- great memories of M.L. who did more for Bates Athletics than anyone.....
No team in the NESCAC works harder than Jon Furbush's Garnet Bobcats. Coach Furbush has instilled a great culture in the Bates program. When opponents come into the Bobcat Den they need to be ready to play and tonight was a great example of that. Middlebury has a fine team but the Bobcats play everybody hard- too bad the Cats didn't get this one but the philosphy in the Bates program is to build a team that everyone hates to play against---their biggest guy is 6'6" but they are tough as nails.......Frosh Boornazian is a future force for the Garnet and Black. Kudos to Coach Furbush who is doing a job at Bates.

[gordonmann]

Trinity is tied for first.  This is likely to be the only 18-hour window all season where I can say that, so I'm going to enjoy it.

[7express]

I think Trinity can beat Wesleyan tomorrow.

[gordonmann]

That would make me very happy. Moderately surprised, but very happy.

[nescac1]

Nice features on two future Ephs:

http://www.highschoolsportscenter.com/article.aspx?id=1711

http://www.columbusacademy.org/assets/documents/DanielAronowitzSpotlightWeb.pdf

Should be interest to see how Williams and Midd perform today, both have long road trips following tough games, and Bates or Tufts could easily pull an upset over either.  But if both pull out wins today, the schedule sets up pretty well for a potential (and of course there are no guarantees) undefeated showdown for first in NESCAC on the 26th (the first Williams-Amherst game in January is a non-conference game).