MBB: NESCAC

[MENESCACFAN]

Bates 77 UMaine-Farmington 64

Safford did not dress for the game and the rest of the starters seems to split plenty of time with bench guys for the Bobcats.  Mike Boornazian the best player on the floor and having a fine season.

The Beavers have had some pretty strong teams in recent years, but seem to be having a seriously down year.

[Bucket]

Middlebury streaks past Keene, 96-83. Sinnickson and Merryman each with 27. Sinnickson records his 12th double-double of the season--10 boards to go with the 27 points.

Jake Brown was terrific against tenacious pressure--11 pts and 6 assists. Tarantino with 13 boards, several while battling down low against Keene's 7-footer.

Very physical game--nearly 60 fouls called.

The only point of dismay was Matt Daley going down after a blow to the head early in the first half. He did not return after going through the concussion protocol. He did stay for the rest of the game and was engaged with his teammates, so hopefully nothing serious.

[MENESCACFAN]

What happened to Sabety Hoop Master?

[booyakasha]

Bad news from Waterville. Hudnut is in all likelihood done for the year with a tear in his knee he suffered during the Bowdoin game.

Colby already has some depth issues on the interior. Looking on the bright side it will provide some younger players with the opportunity to get some valuable time down the stretch. Colby will have nothing to lose the remainder of the season, and will be returning almost everyone from this group, including Patrick Stewart, who has been out all season, and may be an all conference caliber player next year.

[nescac1]

Wow, terrible break, obviously, for Colby, and for Hudnut; Hudnut was a lock for first-team all NESCAC before the injury.  I have a hard time seeing them winning any of their next three NESCAC games without him ... after a 3-0 start, they are in real danger of missing the NESCAC tourney entirely, now.  First report I've heard that Stewart was out with an injury as well -- he was also a big loss this season.  If healthy, Colby will have, by a wide margin, the best group of seniors in NESCAC next year: Hudnut, Stewart, Willson, Westman, Jann --that's a pretty dynamite all-senior starting five, all guys who have been double-digit scorers and two or three potential all-NESCAC guys.  If they can develop a bit of depth behind them (after that incredible first class, Strahorn's recruiting seems to have fallen off quite a bit), they should be primed for a huge season next year. 

It looks increasingly like the bottom three in the current NESCAC standings -- Colby, Hamilton, and Conn -- are likely to stay there, although due to owning the tie-breaker, Colby could edge out Wesleyan.  Trinity is going to be the top seed, and it's gonna be a mad scramble for seeds 2-8.  Bates and Tufts are both positioned well, being 4-2 with favorable remaining schedules, but whatever is ailing Safford and Sabety has to be a big concern. 

[grabtherim]

There is so much basketball to be played, but for now I sort of agree.  I think the top spot and the 10-11 spots are set, but the battle not be bubble boy and finish at the 9 spot is far from decided.  As I have said before, each regular season game is bigger than in recent memory to stay out of that dreaded 9 spot.  Regardless of regular season battles/results, anyone who makes it can win this year's tournament and move on to the Dance.  Based on all of this, I see the league getting one bid.  The only shot I see for a 2nd bid is a #1 seed losing a tough one in the Final.     

[NothingButNESCAC]

Hello gentlemen,

We over here at NbN don't post very often, but we are avid readers of the boards and love the discussion. Also, a big thank you to everyone collectively, because often you all tip us off to things that we might have missed.
Firstly, just wanted to comment on something I read a week or so back about Sinnickson and his eligibility. I spoke to him and he is very much undecided about playing another season. He plans to play baseball this year, and could play baseball again next year without applying for a red shirt, but he will need to apply if he wants to play basketball again. If and when he comes to a decision about that, we will report it as best we can. But knowing Dylan he might wait until the last possible day to make the call.
Secondly, we just posted an article that I thought might be of particular interest to this group, so I invite you all to read and comment (disagree). Here's the link: http://nothingbutnescac.com/2015/02/04/point-guard-power-rankings/

Cheers,

Joe M

[amh63]

A little too much gloom and doom wrt to the post season for me GTR after the conference sweep of some good LEC teams.  Then again, a pragmatic outlook maybe required.  Recall there was a discussion here on the number of conference wins to reach the title/tourny?  Hoping for 7-3....someone threw that number out..though 6-4 maybe the number to get to the CAC dance.  Amherst's lost to Williams...in Willytown...looking bigger by the week
Amherst has two big away games this weekend, with the one at Wesleyan the tougher of the two...though both are uncertain these days.
Some comments wrt to the RIC win..particulars are posted on the Amherst website for those interested.  Superb video but the new announcer seemed "overwhelmed" wrt to players names as Coach Hixon shuffled in players...rotated players is a better term.  It was a good game for Amherst's youthful players...against a very quick RIC team that also played a physical game....a LEC brand of BB?  RIC played a full court trap/press often in the second half that created TOs and problems for Amherst.  Though smaller overall, RIC out rebounded Amherst overall....though in the 2nd half the battle for boards seemed more even.  Remembered that this RIC team beat the twin towers of Tufts in Boston.
Amherst still has problems with foul shooting but it was much better in the 2nd half when fouling was a means to get the ball back by RIC, especially in the last 5 minutes of the game.  There were a number of questionable calls by the refs during that period that caused Coach Hixon to chat with the refs.   Yes, it is part of the game these days.  Rough play under the boards with no fouls called and touch fouls and walking calls on experienced Amherst players...uneven calls that persisted throughout the game.  RIC has the game tapes available for another look..will look at them in a more critical manner...less emotional.
No Amherst player broke out in a scoring rampage...four players scored in double figures.  Good news...Conklin made a valuable contribution to the win; Pollack had more time on the floor; Racy was hot from outside as Green cooled off; everyone played good overall defense.  Bad news is that DGeorge seemed to me to be affected by the hard block that landed him on the floor...face down.  Only 13 minutes with no points and few rebounds.  Hope it is a temporary thing.
RIC played all their players available, I believe.....10..a big D1 transfer on the roster did not appear in person on the bench.  RIC big SR star player fouled out and was not much of a scoring threat.  Needed around 19 points to enter the 1000 point club....did not reach that mark last night.  Will look to see how Amherst took him out of the game flow when I look at the videos.
Some backfill info...watched the achieved video.  George did score 2 points..knocked to the floor twice.  Dawson and Berman contributed offensively...Dawson outside, Berman on the foul line ,inside, assist and RBs.  Points spread around...very encouraging.   Defense on RIC's star seemed to be spread around...Green early, JMac and others sharing.   

[MENESCACFAN]

Awful news about Hudnut, would agree Colby struggle to make the NESCAC tournament now.  Anyone know a projected return of Sabety?  I watched Tufts lose to Bates when he was clearly their best player so imagine that hurts too.  Some pretty high profile injuries in the league this year. 

[NothingButNESCAC]

Not so sure that Trinity has the top spot locked up because Tufts owns the head to head tiebreaker over them. Tufts remaining four games are Hamilton, Williams, Colby, and Bowdoin while Trinity has to play Wesleyan, Conn College, and Middlebury. The big thing is that Tufts seems to have lost Sabety for the year, though this doesn't say so definitively.

Per Tufts newspaper, "6′ 8″ sophomore center Hunter Sabety suffered an apparently serious knee injury. The timetable for Sabety's return is unclear, but according to coach Bob Sheldon, the Jumbos are prepared to move forward without their mammoth inside presence."

Even with Sabety out, Trinity is not a lock for number one considering they needed OT to win two of their conference games. They could easily go 1-2 in their final three games (all of which are away).

[grabtherim]

Gloom and doom?  Not sure I see it that way.  Gloom and doom are reserved for much bigger things than who makes a basketball tournament.  Simply put, based on the regional rankings, records, and having watched the teams play, at this point, that's my opinion. Still, as I said before lots of ball to be played, things may well change, and if it doesnt we will all be fine. 

A little too much gloom and doom wrt to the post season for me GTR after the conference sweep of some good LEC teams.

[NEhoops]

Here's my take on the top teams in the Northeast - in alphabetical order with regional records. 

Albertus Magnus (15-0)
Babson (16-2)
Bates (15-2)
Eastern CT (12-2)
Trinity (12-2)
WPI (13-2)

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Here's my take on the top teams in the Northeast - in alphabetical order with regional records. 

Albertus Magnus (15-0)
Babson (16-2)
Bates (15-2)
Eastern CT (12-2)
Trinity (12-2)
WPI (13-2)

You cross-posted, so I will, too.  This year all d3 games count as in-region so long as 70% of total games were played against regional opponents.  So these records will need to be updated a little.

[jumpshot]

Having played in and watched countless basketball games in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, I can always count on a Hope-Calvin contest to be an enjoyable experience. Tonight's game at Calvin had everything one could wish from all players on the court: sound fundamentals, great shooters (three-pointers, mid-range, getting to the hoop), fine passing, multiple "bigs"  (the entire populace of western Michigan is "long") with good inside moves and ball-handling skills, few turnovers, lots of clever plays, about 20 lead changes, enthusiastic students from both schools ----plus a television-quality webcast with outstanding professional announcers. Attended my first Hope-Calvin game before either school had their new arenas.

So, if you like Williams vs. amHerst, go see a Hope-Calvin contest sometime. It's worth the trip....

[booyakasha]

jumpshot  - Hope/Calvin has been on my bucket list for awhile now. Add to it the fact that some awesome steelhead fishing can be found nearby during hoops season adds to the allure. I may have to make it out next year.