MBB: NESCAC

[Bucket]

Think one point is missed.  The Middlebury team was allegedly so sick (no proof) they forfeited, so we want them to play 2 games back to back Sat/Sun with no rest day?  Doesn't seem a fantastic idea to be honest.

I'll answer this one honestly: 9 players with a stomach bug makes a 5-hour bus ride tricky. I believe there was as much of a concern of getting to the game on Friday as playing the game.

[amh63]

Boy there are many interesting games to watch in the conference this afternoon....player matchups,,,,conference defining....that if I had any other game to watch than the Amherst vs Trinity one...I would be hard pressed.  There is the Tufts at Bates game...who will stop the Jumbos?; and then the big men contest when Bowdoin meets Colby.
Watched some ESPN GameDay this morning.  It was at the Un. of Mich......and the HBC was chatting with the analysts/announcers a bit.  Discussed a key player injury, young players on team, etc.  The HBC rose through all levels of college basketball and caught the attention of the others conveying long rides in upper NYState in a snowstorm and when he would sometimes remarked to his team "you win or there is no dinner"...not possible today of course...but much laughter, etc.
The Coach provided the insight that I was not able to articulate in earlier Amherst related posts.  He stated that with today's defenses, one needs to drive the lanes to get the offense going; to get the ball inside behind the defense...passing or driving.  Amherst has many good outside shooters, but one still needs to get the ball inside to score or to kick out to uncovered shooters.
Enjoy the games ahead posters

[MENESCACFAN]

So predictions for today?  I will go with the following.

TUFTS @ BATES - Given Tufts is one game above .500, they are either playing a fantastic schedule, or shooting with only their weaker hand on non-confrence games.   Cant see anything other than a Jumbos win here.  Interested to see if the Safford injury rumors are true, as that could be season defining for Bates.  Tufts by 10+.

WESLEYAN @ CONN - Game with likely playoff implications between two teams currently in the bottom three.  Wesleyan have produced a quality win over Bowdoin while Conn seem to be in for s truffle this year.  A loss here will see them likely spend the season scrapping for the #8 seed.  Wesleyan by 5.

WILLIAMS @ HAMILTON - Williams likely not thrilled with the start, and a win over bottom feeding Hamilton needed to get them on track.  Williams by 10+

BOWDOIN @ COLBY - Hands down game of the weekend.  Maine rivalry paired with the fact that both teams sit with 3-1 NESCAC records.  Colby beat Bowdoin in the early season non-NESCAC game, home court gives them a buzzer bater win here.  Colby by 1.

TRINITY @ AMHERST - Trinity are one gam up in the standings, and do stick out as a very hard working team this winter.  I think Amherst's heavy home defeat to Tufts is a blip, and they win this one.  Amherst by 3.

[P'bearfan]

BOWDOIN @ COLBY - Hands down game of the weekend.  Maine rivalry paired with the fact that both teams sit with 3-1 NESCAC records.  Colby beat Bowdoin in the early season non-NESCAC game, home court gives them a buzzer bater win here.  Colby by 1.

Honestly I hope it's that close.  With Pieri and Fuller out, Bowdoin will need to play a great game to be in position to win at the end.  It's doable but a challenge.

GoUBears!

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin trails Colby 27-36 at the half.

Bowdoin fell behind early but came back to tie the score mid way through the first period.  The difference in the game has been 3 point shooting.  Colby is 6-12 (50%) from behind the arc while Bowdoin has only shot 2-8 (25%). 


Bowdoin had a chance to cut deficit to 5 right before the half but Colby stole a tough cross lane bounce pass on a transition play and scored an easy bucket.

All things considered Bowdoin is playing well.  Hopefully the Mules will cool off a bit from downtown and the P'bears will heat up.  If that happens we could have a barn burner on our hands.

[P'bearfan]

Amherst is trailing Trinity 30-32 at halftime. Wow.

Has anyone been watching?  Going into this game I would have given Amherst a respectable edge.  Curious to hear comments/ observations.

[nescac1]

So much for the Amherst/Williams/Midd big three ... all three will need to win NESCAC to make the dance after tonight.  NESCAC is almost certainly a one-bid league at this point, and no one is really looking all that impressive out there. 

That was one of the worst Williams losses I've ever seen.  Up by 12 in the second half and cruising, and they simply gave the game away even though Lin fouled out.  The Ephs were HORRIBLE from the foul line, just horrible ... when your three best free throw shooters each miss front end of 1-and-1's, that is six points you are just giving away.  They also had tons of careless turnovers through over-dribbling or long passes late in the second half, and just basically lost their composure on both ends.  And they continually put Hamilton on the line with needless, off-the-ball fouls.   Finally, Hamilton continually beat the Ephs to long rebounds, as Hamilton got a lot of second-chance points after bricked shots following 30 seconds of good defense.   Good to see Hayden back and firing away, he has a big game from deep, but the rest of the team didn't give a ton of help.  The zone gave the Ephs a lot of open looks which they hit plenty of, but it neutralized Wohl and Aronowitz from hurting Hamilton much on the inside.     

Hamilton won the coaching battle tonight, as well, as the Ephs really didn't handle either the Hamilton zone, or the full court pressure, very well, and Hamilton smartly fouled Williams twice down the stretch instead of allowing a three-point shot to tie it.  Williams just looked a bit too casual with the lead and did not value each possession, on both end, while Hamilton did.  Also, why did Wohl touch the ball so little in attack position late in the second half?  He is your go-to guy, he's been great late in games, and it felt like he barely touched the ball in the last 5-6 minutes.  Really a frustrating loss for the Ephs, I'm sure.

For Hamilton, Lin is a very tough cover and fun to watch, definitely has some of his brother in him.  Aronowitz and Teal both played very good defense to keep in relatively in check.  Kazickas and Pittman both played very well for Hamilton, making lots of hustle plays and hitting mid-range shots. 

[pinseeking1]

Shocking day developing... Tufts loses to Bates, Williams loses to Hamilton, Colby blows a big lead and loses to Bowdoin, and Amherst down in the 2nd half to Trinity, not to mention Middlebury losing to unknown Maine - Fort Kent.

I watched the Bates-Tufts game. It started out looking like a very long afternoon for the Bobcats as they fell behind early and were missing everything. They managed to make a late run in the first half to close a 14 point deficit to 2 points.

In the second half, the Bobcats continued their run and ran away with it. Two offensive rebound dunks by Marcus Delpeche and a huge slam by Billy Selmon left Tufts in a daze. In the second half, Tufts looked like they didn't know what hit them. Just a complete collapse.

Tufts had looked so good in the other games I watched this year that I couldn't believe this was the same team. Poor ball movement, poor shot selection, and turnovers put this game out of reach for them today. I had thought that Tufts was rising to the top of NESCAC, but now I just don't know. I think it's totally up for grabs.

Very exciting season this year...

[madzillagd]

There is common denominator to all the Eph losses over the past several weeks, the rotation completely stops around the 8 minute mark for the key guys.  In this one HRL played the entire 2nd half, Aronowitz & Kilcullen played the last 7:30, Wohl played the last 5:30 (which is rare because he's been going the final 8 routinely).  Guys get tired, they start missing shots and committing those turnovers you talked about NESCAC1.  You can't circle the wagons at the 8 minute mark and try and coast in for victory.  You have to keep rotating guys until 3 or 4 minutes left and then ride your main guys down the stretch. It's a strategy that hasn't been working so hopefully that changes.

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin defeats Colby 68-65.

Incredible win for the P'bears!  Early in the second half, Bowdoin was down by 12 but clawed their way back to take the lead with 8 minutes left.  The P'bears built as much as a 6 point lead before the final minutes when foul shots took over. 

At the very end of the game it looked like Colby was going to get a miracle.  With time running out they took a 3 point shot and while the shot wasn't good Hurley was called for the foul.  Incredibly the webcast cut out right then so I didn't see what happened.

Bowdoin's second half surge was lead by Lucas Hausman who at points was simply unconscious.  He drove past defenders, hit 3 pointers and a couple of circus shots after twisting in the lane.  Bryan Hurley was the other big story. Hurley hit a 3 pointer from at least 3 feet behdind the NBA line late in the 2nd half when Colby trying to close the gap.  That shot simply took the air out of the building.  Liam Farley also deserves credit for adding 7 points from the bench.

This win was huge for the team and I can't give enough credit to all the players and the coaching staff.  Despite missing 40% of their starting line up and getting blown out by Colby just a month ago, Bowdoin played a great game and with Bates defeating Tufts, the P'bears are now tied for first place in the conference standings. 

Bowdoin has many tough games ahead of it but the players, coaches and fans should take a minute to enjoy an incredible accomplishment.

GoUBears!!!

[jumbo_hoops]

The Jumbos definitely seemed to have collapsed in the 2nd half.. some looked very tired. Regardless of todays play, I think Tufts has looked excellent the past several games, and are still up to be top contenders in my opinion. Not going to let one game change my mind. Lets hope they bounce back for next weekend's events.

[Bucket]

Shocking day developing... Tufts loses to Bates, Williams loses to Hamilton, Colby blows a big lead and loses to Bowdoin, and Amherst down in the 2nd half to Trinity, not to mention Middlebury losing to unknown Maine - Fort Kent.

I watched the Bates-Tufts game. It started out looking like a very long afternoon for the Bobcats as they fell behind early and were missing everything. They managed to make a late run in the first half to close a 14 point deficit to 2 points.

In the second half, the Bobcats continued their run and ran away with it. Two offensive rebound dunks by Marcus Delpeche and a huge slam by Billy Selmon left Tufts in a daze. In the second half, Tufts looked like they didn't know what hit them. Just a complete collapse.

Tufts had looked so good in the other games I watched this year that I couldn't believe this was the same team. Poor ball movement, poor shot selection, and turnovers put this game out of reach for them today. I had thought that Tufts was rising to the top of NESCAC, but now I just don't know. I think it's totally up for grabs.

Very exciting season this year...

Maine Fort Kent unknown for a reason--they're not an NCAA team, but belong to what is known as the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association. A big chunk of their schedule is against Canadian competition--their most proximate schools! Roster consists of a couple of Mainers, with the rest of the roster split between JUCO transfers and international players.

Strange game. Midd played hard, but had a couple of poor stretches, which was the difference.

[polbear73]

Does anyone know the nature of Keegan Pieri's injury for Bowdoin and how long he'll be out?

[P'bearfan]

Unfortunately he has a concussion (not his first this year) and he may be finished for the season.

[polbear73]

Thanks, P'bearfan. A horrible break for the Bears and a roster that was thin to begin. Hoping for a quick recovery.