MBB: NESCAC

[JEFFFAN]

Do we have a regular season champion residing in Amherst, Massachusetts?

[Old Guy]

This is where I make some mature, sportsman-like statement about competition and the quality of league, etc. Maybe later. Nightmare.

[middhoops]

Yes, OG.
Nightmare.
Make it stop.

[rainchild908]

Do we have a regular season champion residing in Amherst, Massachusetts?

I'm not the NESCAC office, but Amherst has the best record among the five tied teams. Congrats to the LJs Mammoths on an amazing run to end the season.

(Mea culpa: it appears Bowdoin will be the #8 seed no matter what. Trinity-Tufts winner is #6, loser is #7. Bates is out. I erroneously believed Bowdoin had beaten Trinity when I posted this morning.)

[amh63]

My inner hopes were answered by the Defensive play of the Amherst TEAM this weekend!
Team play, sharing the ball, rebounding and the contribution of "bench" players AND several Seniors on Senior Day! 
Several comments wrt to how big the wins were for Amherst. 
Amherst beat the No.5 and the No. 8 ranked teams by double digits.  Got the big leads in the first half and stopping the comebacks. 
Against taller teams, Amherst dominated the rebound stats and the critical offensive stats.
Amherst gets to play in LeFrak in the first round. 
Not ranked AND regionally ranked...they get a chance to go to the post- season by winning the CAC title

[old_hooper]

Congratulations to Amherst and Coach Hixon...800 wins!  What a weekend.  Who would have thought after the game on Tuesday at Wes that the outcome would be hosting CAC tourney.  The impressive thing about the weekend was how deep they went and the fine contribution from everyone who played.  Also once they got the big leads in both games they protected it.  Rebounding and the defense were stellar.  Just need to take better care of the basketball.

[nescac1]

Missed this weekend's games but happy to see the Ephs emerge with the tough road split.  Absolute carnage among ranked Northeast teams this week, with Midd and MIT going down twice, and Hamilton, Keene, Williams, Eastern Conn, Springfield going down once.  Wow.  I think that Williams, Midd, Wesleyan and Hamilton all have legit claims to the top spot but the Ephs have the best argument due to sheer number of wins over regionally ranked teams (Hamilton, Wesleyan, Salem St, Springfield, Stevens, and if Amherst squeezes into the rankings, that would be one more).  Should be interesting! 

I have to think that the four Nescac teams with five losses each are near-locks for Pool C right now, although all would feel more secure with one more big win.  Amherst probably still needs to win the league tourney but two more wins for the Jeffs might be enough to squeeze in. Especially with the continuing carnage up and down the Top 25.

To answer Frank's question, I think any Nescac team could make a run to Salem this year. Or lose in round one.  That kind of year in the league, and the country.   

[ECSUalum]

What an exciting end to the NESCAC regular season!!  Congratulations to the "Lord Jeffs", ( I cannot force myself to say Mammoths), on a gritty comeback to tie for the NESCAC lead. LeFrak must have gone bezonkers today  !!! Amazing how this Conference is soo tough and good!!  Going to be fun Conf. and NCAA tournaments for all who qualify!!

Oh and congrats to Coach Hixon on his 800th win!!

[JEFFFAN]

Not sure how many folks other than AMH63 are interested in a little analysis of Amherst, but it is worth noting how selfless McCarthy became as the season went on.   The unusually deep bench that Hixon went with this year (nine players with 14 minutes plus today) as well as the type of outside players he has dictated that McCarthy was not going to get the shots that he got earlier in his career.  Nature of this year's team.  So what does he do over the last five NESCAC games of the year?  How about average over 10 rebounds per game including two games (Tufts and today vs Middlebury)?   Selfless, team-centric move on the senior's part.  Kudos to his leadership and terrific four-year career, which fortunately is not over quite yet.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs on today's convincing victory over my Panthers.  As of today they are unranked and the Nescac regular season champions.  It was only two seasons back that Middlebury stood as the unranked winner of the Nescac conference tournament.  That same Panther team also had lost it's two final regular season games, the latter, again, to Amherst, in LeFrak, by a similar 83-70 score.  Those 2015-16 Panthers went 14-10 in the regular season and yet fell three points short of making the Sweet 16.  It took that group a while to find themselves as a team.  Today's winners are doing the same.  It won't surprise me if either squad still has five or six games left to play.   

Although it's the last thing on his mind at the moment, congratulations to Jack Daly on scoring his 1000th point this afternoon.  The ultimate leader by example, it will be a sad day for Middlebury basketball when he walks off the court for the last time.   

Congratulations to Coach Hixon on his 800th career win.  I'm not sure why anyone, save the most ardent Panther supporters, thought Middlebury stood a snowball's chance in hell of winning today.  In LeFrak Gymnasium?  Considering what was at stake, there was no way his players were going to let him down this afternoon.    Love him or hate him, you have to respect him.  It's a truly remarkable achievement by one of the best coaches in the history of the game.   

[Cards Fan]

It is disappointing, to say the least, that Wesleyan sits in 4th at the moment. I'm not questioning the numbers or the system, it just felt like Wes would be higher coming into this weekend, as they had beaten Middlebury and Amherst out of the top 5 teams. However, you take what you can get. The home game against Midd could be crucial in what will be a packed playoff game. It will be difficult to beat the Panthers twice in a season.

[Bucket]

   

Although it's the last thing on his mind at the moment, congratulations to Jack Daly on scoring his 1000th point this afternoon.  The ultimate leader by example, it will be a sad day for Middlebury basketball when he walks off the court for the last time.   

   

I know Jack would rather have the win, but we need to take a moment to reflect on this—and other—milestone(s) that he has set.

In scoring his 1,000th point, he becomes the first player in NESCAC history to record 1,000+ points, 500+ rebounds, and 500+ assists in his career. What an incredible achievement.

[toad22]

The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. You can quote me! After having traveled in rain and snow, gotten stuck behind a 100 car slow down for an hour, and having suffered a horrible defeat at Amherst, the win at Hamilton was soooooo sweet. In the NESCAC this year, there is rough parity among 6-7 teams. Nobody as great, but a bunch are pretty good.

I like my Williams team to win the league title, but, of course, i'm completely biased. Even though we are down our best player (Kyle Scadlock), and our point guard, captain, and 5 year starter (Mike Greenman),  James Heskett and Bob Casey are both playing like 1st team All NESCAC players. Other guys, including Adam Kroot, Mickey Babek, and especially Henry Feinberg, are stepping up and are playing with a lot of confidence. Kroot's road to this moment is heartwarming. Hurt most of this year, I bet that he assumed he would finish his career on the bench, cheering on his teammates. He is a senior, with essentially no playing time in the last two years. He is a captain, a great teammate, scrappy, tough, one of our best defenders, and is always calm, no matter what craziness is going on around him. Adam started on senior day, and played so well that Coach App played him for 16 minutes in that game. He hardly played against Amherst, but yesterday, Mickey Babek couldn't play due to a minor injury, so Adam was called into action again, in probably the most important game of the season. He played 15 extremely solid minutes. He played great defense, made a big 3 pointer, stole a pass, got 3 rebounds, an assist, dove on the floor and got a loose ball. Every team benefits from having guys like Adam Kroot. I am very happy for him.

[amh63]

Some comments upon reflections on the comments posted on the games played over this weekend.  Am awaiting the Tufts vs Trinity game.  Seems that game will impact the Tourny seedlings as refective of the Nescac MBB standings posted today.  It presently has Bates in the 8th place spot.
Do have a question for the smarter posters on this board.  Amherst's record includes a lost to a non D3 team...a NAIA D2 team ranked 7th in the country at the time.  Is that counted in the D3 regional rankings...as number of losses seem to be weighed heavily in polls.  Believed a presently D3 ranked team lost to a non D3 team and does not list that lost...York(Pa.)? Maybe?  Yes two questions.
Anyway, back to my comments..
ECSU...thanks to your positive comments wrt Amherst's wins, the conference and on HC Hixon!  Plus K
old hopper...spot on remarks! Agreed on the TOs.  However, I see the turnover numbers as a result in part to the "bench" players sharing the ball...and the presses by the weekend opponents.
Vandy74.... a most heartfelt post from a true Panther...and Commodore fan .  Only a few posters here are aware of your deep LJ family ties.  Plus K.  I will reveal several.  Vandy's father is an Amherst alum.  Vandy's  niece is presently at Amherst.  After the death of one of his brothers, a Lord Jeff alum, Vandy helped in the raising of his niece. 

[Pat Coleman]

Games against non-Division III teams are generally not considered in the regional rankings, no. They would be considered among the secondary criteria, which is more of a tiebreaker. The secondary criteria are generally considered only in the last handful of Pool C slots.