MBB: NESCAC

nescac1 · January 26, 2018, 08:47:50 PM

Tremendous road win for the Ephs. Williams kept pulling ahead, and Trinity kept coming back, somehow, until the Ephs ended the game on a 16-1 run which was by far the best stretch of two-way hoops for Williams this season. Key to the Ephs' success was a 1-3-1 zone trap -- I'm not sure I've EVER seen Williams deploy an aggressive trapping defense like that. But I'd guess that in the 7-8 possessions they used it (estimated) Trinity turned the ball over four times and came up empty on the remainder. An effective way to utilize the Ephs' enormous size advantage and totally neutralize the Bantams' speed advantage, although I'm not sure that would be as effective against teams with a bit more skill.

James Heskett was, clearly, the man of the day for the Ephs, playing the best game of his career. He has established himself as the best scorer in NESCAC, and I don't think it's really even close at this point. He can do it all -- from 3, from the line, in the post, off the dribble, he is just an impossible match-up for basically anyone in D3. Tonight, 34 points, 12-15 from the field, 5-6 from 3, and many of those points were with Trinity guys draped all over him. He did have 6 turnovers but I thought three of those were on, ummm, HIGHLY questionable calls (one phantom travel and two ticky-tack offensive fouls). He totally carried the team in the first half and then his teammates stepped up to help in the second. He also played great defense, contributing four steals and a block.

Other guys who made an impact: Michael Kempton, who I thought had his best game of the season. Modest stats, 6 points and 4 boards, but he hit two very difficult shots in the post during a period that the Ephs were struggling to get baskets, and his length was key to the zone trap effectiveness. Keep being aggressive, big guy! Bobby Casey, who had a rough night for about 35 minutes but as usual came up clutch, scoring 7 of his 12 points during the Ephs' late-game run including a dagger three. Cole Teal, who was effective driving to the rim and finished with 11 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, and critically, hit a three and all four of his free throws to bounce back from a bit of a shooting slump (hopefully). Henry Feinberg continues to improve and showed his trademark aggression on both ends while playing a bit more under control: 7 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, no turnovers, all 7 points coming off foul shots on drives to the rim. That is exactly the sort of game Williams needs from him going forward.

Great to see the Ephs win on a night where Karpowicz didn't do much and Casey was off until the tail end of the game. Obviously, Heskett can't give that sort of ridiculous effort every night, but Williams' defense was tremendous tonight and carried the team during periods of offensive struggles. It seemed like Trinity scored its points in basically three ways -- off of offensive rebounds (Ephs did a pretty good job blocking out but weren't as aggressive as Trinity getting to the lose balls), off of broken plays, and via the individual heroics of Eric Gendron, who was tremendous and single-handedly kept Trinity in it in the second half.

Trinity brings in waves of fresh guys and plays a very, very aggressive man-to-man defense, tough to get much space against but they do foul quite a bit. Not a huge amount of skill outside of Gendron, but lots of depth, athleticism, and heart. Not an easy team to beat especially at home.

JEFFFAN · January 27, 2018, 11:54:20 AM

Such a quiet board this season ...

PolarBear16 · January 27, 2018, 12:20:42 PM

Is too bad how quiet the board has been considering what an intriguing season this one is! I haven't really been able to watch any Bowdoin games because of my work schedule, but what a win for the Polar Bears last night! Liam Farley was the star with 20 points on 8-12 shooting. Farley is a talented scorer, but he usually has to take a backseat to Jack Simonds and now David Reynolds as well. It's great to see him stepping up in a big conference home game as a senior. The win gets Bowdoin to 3-2 in conference, and a home win today against Amherst would just be gravy! The Morrell Madhouse (TM pending) is not to be messed with!

Now, I should say that the long drive for Hamilton might have had an effect on the outcome. The Continentals had 19 turnovers, and Bowdoin isn't exactly known for their tenacious defense. 68 points is well below Hamilton's normal output offensively as well. This loss is a huge setback for them, and suddenly they face a must-win game today against Colby. I have a feeling that Gilmore, Hoffman, and co. will come out with something to prove today.

toad22 · January 27, 2018, 12:47:49 PM

Agreed, too quiet, so i'll Chime in. Witnessed a really fun game ay Trinity last night. Coach Cosgrove has his team playing with an intensity that I rarely see in basketball. I guess his team mirrors his personality. If you had put a Fitbit on him for the game, he probably walked about 20,000 steps! The Trinity defense was really stifling. Williams had a hard time running their offense at all. As a result almost no Eph player scored very much, with the giant exception of James Heskett. Heskett put up 21 in the first half, on 9 shots. Talk about efficiency. In the second half, Heskett was held to 13 points, on 6 shots! I witnessed at least three times in the second half where Heskett's defender literally held him in a bear hug. Only one foul was called on these plays - against Heskett for pushing off, trying to get out of the two handed, around the waist hold. I'm not claiming that the refs were biased, just terrible. Of course, nobody wants to see a games where the teams just march to the foul line endlessly. Trinity takes advantage of that fact by daring them to call fouls. A good strategy if the refs arn't very good. In the end, Williams prevailed, but the game was much closer than it should have been. I'm not blaming Coach Cosgrove or the Trinity team for defending the way they did, just the refs for not enforcing the rudimentary rules of basketball, and the NCAA's mandate that "freedom of movement" be maintained.

nescac1 · January 27, 2018, 01:16:44 PM

James Heskett's last ten games: 23.8 ppg on 53/48/88 shooting, including four made threes per game. Those are just insane stats. He's also played stellar defense and is improving as a facilitator for other guys. He is really locked in right now. One thing is for sure: every team going forward is going to tailor their defensive strategy around slowing Heskett down, which hopefully will open some things up for other guys on the roster ...

Old Guy · January 27, 2018, 03:04:21 PM

Visiting in-laws in Mexico. Long story. I happily watched the Bowdoin-Hamilton game yesterday on line (with the other games as back-ups). Now about to turn on Bowdoin-Amherst, and intending to watch Midd-Trinity tomorrow. Didn't seem long ago that I waited till the next day's newspaper to find out the score of the previous day's game. Tomorrow we'll hook up the Midd game on the big screen with a simple cable and have a few Tecates. It's a miracle.

lumbercat · January 27, 2018, 03:16:48 PM

any one else having difficulty with Conn College Bates feed?

amh63 · January 27, 2018, 05:06:52 PM

All the NSN feeds were about 10 minutes late! It was not until after 3 PM before video came on....BAD! The stats were running just fine.
Oh yes, Amherst beat Bowdoin by 15....men's game.
The WBB game got most of my attention.....BIG crowd in LeFrak! Amherst beats Bowdoin by 4. Bowdoin was ranked number 3/4 in the two polls. Amherst no. 1 in defense and Bowdoin no. 3 in scoring defense....like a Tufts vs Amherst battle...score...49-45...52 straight wins by Amherst!

ECSUalum · January 27, 2018, 05:24:05 PM

Quote from: amh63 on January 27, 2018, 05:06:52 PM
All the NSN feeds were about 10 minutes late! It was not until after 3 PM before video came on....BAD! The stats were running just fine.
Oh yes, Amherst beat Bowdoin by 15....men's game.
The WBB game got most of my attention.....BIG crowd in LeFrak! Amherst beats Bowdoin by 4. Bowdoin was ranked number 3/4 in the two polls. Amherst no. 1 in defense and Bowdoin no. 3 in scoring defense....like a Tufts vs Amherst battle...score...49-45...52 straight wins by Amherst!

The Lord Jeffs are the D-III UConn Huskies!! Congrats on a fantastic record!!

amh63 · January 27, 2018, 05:43:33 PM

ECSU ....thanks! However, it is 53 straight wins!...my error. Speaking of UCONN WBB, their HC congrated Amherst's WBB team when the team won it's 100th straight home court game....breaking a UCONN record. Nice gesture by UConn's coach.

Old Guy · January 27, 2018, 05:49:25 PM

Quote from: lumbercat on January 27, 2018, 03:16:48 PM
any one else having difficulty with Conn College Bates feed?

Couldn't get it at all.

Greek Tragedy · January 27, 2018, 08:39:00 PM

Man, my Jumbos look like they have to win out (and obviously lose in the conference tourney) to get a Pool C bid. 3 losses in 5 games. 14-6 is not looking pretty. That Bates loss is really gonna kill em.

Cards Fan · January 28, 2018, 10:13:16 AM

Pretty amusing to me that Wesleyan can temporarily move into first place with a Middlebury loss today. Just 2 weeks ago they were sitting at 2-2!

Wesleyan looked dominant against Bates from start to finish. The lead stretched to as much as 30 with just 5 minutes remaining before taking their foot off the gas and coasting. Nobody's stats were eye popping in this one, as Jordan Bonner finished with 16 points. JR Bascom, who is becoming one of the most underrated players in the NESCAC, finished with 2 consecutive double doubles this weekend.

Against Tufts, the Cardinals led all the way until 5 minutes remaining, when Tufts took their first lead of the game. Wesleyan pushed through the late rally, however, and won the game by 8. Antone Walker played spectacular for the cardinals, but stats won't show it.

It will be tough to read whether the cardinals fall or rise in the rankings. The last second loss to SUNY Purchase is a crusher, but I believe they will still rise a spot or two.

middhoops · January 28, 2018, 10:32:21 AM

Wesleyan's theatrical loss to SUNY Purchase is going to lower their RPI, so probably not going to raise them in the rankings as the Bates win can't compensate for it given their (and SUNY Purchase') SoS.
Wesleyan is good enough to win the conference tournament, regardless.
Plenty of games left.

amh63 · January 28, 2018, 11:21:26 AM

Need to add some comments here wrt the men's game in Maine. Amherst played a solid game with points spread evenly among 4 starters. A methodical 15 point win in "hostile" grounds

. Much better overall game, IMO than the one at Colby. Interesting that Colby also gave Hamilton a tough time. If Colby gets to the Tourny, they can be a dangerous team.
The Bowdoin game announcer was the one that makes the " Bingo" comment...not with the same energy as the other one. Fine announcer that was prepared. I say that because the one covering the Colby game was a disaster, IMO. He got the names of Amherst players all mixed up throughout the game....Amherst's front court players mixed up and top players confused, etc. If I were not watching the game, I would not know who scored, fouled or was in the game.