MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Ephs down by 9 to Trinity at the half in Willamstown ....simply not ready to play for the first 15 minutes ... followed by careless turnovers, unnecessary fouls, missed layups .... no three-pointers, no assists, etc., not the best approach against a hungry, energetic  Trinity team. Will take a much improved second half ....

[Conts Fan]

Tuned in for second half of Trinity/Williams and Trinity is losing the second half 31-7. Their offense has been tough to watch, to put it mildly.

[nescac1]

Obviously a much different story in the second half of this game!  Ephs were just awesome on defense, combined with the fact that Trinity simply could not buy a shot even when they had the occasional good look.  As hot as Callahan-Gold was in the first, he was just as cold in the second, with Hansen and Spivy doing a great job of blanketing him.  But frankly they did a good job on him in the first, too, he just hit some really tough ones. 

I guess Trinity had enough of Williams lighting teams up from 3 and gave Williams absolutely nothing on the perimeter.  But in doing so they single-covered in the post and Karren and Roughley murdered them inside, especially in the second half.  Lots of other guys got involved on the interior for Williams, with nearly every Eph bucket coming two feet from the rim, even Lee, McGraw, and Porter were scoring in close in the second half against a very extended Trinity defense.  Nate Karren as he has been doing a lot of late was awesome, finishing with 16-15-2 plus three blocks.  Roughley showcased his beautiful footwork, so great to have him back.  Evan Glatzer also had a great two-way game for the Ephs. 

Now time to watch Tufts-Midd!

[jumpshot]

Ephs win the second half 41-17 and the ball game 62-47 over Trinity. A tip of the hat to Williams' players and coaches showing mental fortitude on a day when things were not going Williams' way until second half ....

[nescac1]

So far, four NESCAC tourney games, and three overtimes (at least).  Gotta love it!   

[nescac1]

If Tufts closes this game out, Midd will certainly point to a pretty ridiculous sequence.  Bernstein (who does have a TON of potential, he looks really good in big moments) pushes Sobel in the lower back to secure a rebound, Sobel falls down on the play, I thought a foul but not crazy for the refs to let it go, then Sobel quickly gets up, plays perfect D on Bernstein, and the refs call Sobel for his fifth on an utterly ridiculous touch "foul."  After that happened Midd seemed to lose its composure, but can't really blame them, already exhausted and losing their star on such a brutal call. 

[ItsATuftSituation]

Great win for the Jumbos over Middlebury.

Continually impressed by the grit of this Jumbos team, could have easily folded after losing a big lead late in the second half. But they didn't. They forged on, got some great contributions from Scott Gyimesi and Josh Bernstein and Dylan Thoerner was a DUDE in overtime. Also love Carsen Cohen and the way he dictates the game pace. I think this all but locks up a Pool C for them regardless, especially with Wes losing.

Seemed like a great atmosphere at Midd, broadcaster mentioned it some but it came through on the broadcast.

I do agree that with NESCAC1 that losing Sobel really took the wind out of the sails of Midd. Seemed like from that point it was hard for them to get refocused, but that's a very good team. They're going to host in two weekends and definitely could make a run.

Should be a fun weekend of hoops next Saturday and Sunday!

[nescac1]

Tufts is definitely playing great (and I don't want my complaint about the Sobel foul to take away from that - Tufts definitely earned that win), the team has waves of very good players, really lose nothing when the second unit guys come in, which is very tough to deal with as the game progresses.  Gyimesi and Bernstein are going to be VERY un-fun for the rest of the league to deal with as an interior duo for the next three years.  And Thoerner is absolutely on fire of late. 

I think the NESCAC NCAA situation look like this:

Williams is a lock for Pool C, a lock to host a pod even with a loss to Colby, and probably will be a top seed in one quarter of the bracket with two more wins (maybe even with just one more win, the way teams are falling like flies at the top of the NCAA rankings).

Midd is a lock for Pool C, and if the season ended today would host a pod, but I suspect that Tufts would move ahead of them as a host with two more wins (MAYBE even with one more win and then a loss to Williams in the NESCAC title game).  And there is no way three NESCAC teams are hosting along with St. Joe's, just too many New England hosts in that case. 

Tufts is a lock for Pool C and as noted I think has a real shot at hosting a pod with two more wins, or maybe even one more win. 

Colby and Hamilton both PROBABLY need the Pool A bid, but I think Colby might squeeze in to the tail end of the bubble with a win over Williams, or Hamilton might squeeze in to the tail end if they beat Tufts and lost to Williams. 

Everyone else's season is over. 

[lumbercat]

Ephs win the second half 41-17 and the ball game 62-47 over Trinity. A tip of the hat to Williams' players and coaches showing mental fortitude on a day when things were not going Williams' way until second half ....

Mental fortitude? You couldn't have been at the game.

[Greek Tragedy]

Man, so disappointed in Wesleyan. Basically a "win and you're win (the NCAAs)" scenario and they couldn't get the job done at home. smh.

[nescac1]

Tough ending to two straight Wesleyan seasons, both talented squads suffering heart-breaking last-minute losses in home elimination games in which they were certainly favored.  The good news for Wesleyan is that Nicky Johnson was absolutely insane down the stretch and may start next year as a pre-season all-American.  The bad news is that they lose a tremendous senior class, guys who have been major contributors since day one, with few obvious replacements for all that production.  If Maccoux returns for a fifth year, then it looks a lot better for the Cards.  But losing 3 out of 4 top guys would be very tough.  I do think a Johnson/Regan backcourt with Pohlman (who looked good early in the year before falling out of the rotation) off the bench will be really dynamic next year.  I assume the young center duo will improve, and Wesleyan desperately needs them to improve a LOT.  Langs in particular is a guy with a lot of unrealized upside I'd say.  But big and athletic and/or skilled wings don't grow on trees, and Wes graduates three of 'em. 

Lumbercat, not sure what you mean by that last post.  Ephs went down 15 and were clearly - and fairly - a bit flustered after Callahan-Gold drained four triples from wayyyy downtown, several heavily contested, in quick succession.  From that point on, the Ephs quickly regrouped and locked Trinity down, going on a crazy 39-7 run over the next 20 minutes of play, during which they held Callahan-Gold scoreless. To Trinity's credit they totally changed their defensive plan from the first time these teams met and it took Williams a bit to realize how to adjust its attack. 

Trinity had a very rough last month of the season but I still like the core of young talent.  Dorian and Vetter are a pair of talented guards who can attack off the dribble.  Vetter will be an all league guy down the line.  Okorogu reminds me of a lot of past Trinity wings, great athlete and tough defender whose offensive game should round out a bit over time.  He has a lot of upside, could be a really tough cover and ace defender in time.  Callahan-Gold can obviously hit from anywhere but needs more help on the perimeter.  Trinity also needs badly to improve its interior game, not much post defense or offense.  But if one of their young big guys develops quickly to allow Callahan-Gold to slide to his more natural perimeter role on D, they could be much improved in future years; the underclass talent base, especially the first year class, is strong. 

[Colby Hoops]

A few thoughts from yesterday. Great game. Colby kept hanging in only for Nicky Johnson or Gabe Ravetz to hit what seemed like a backbreaking shot. Johnson was absolutely unreal - shooting, passing and defensively, he had several excellent steals. Ravetz is just a tough shot maker and mostly had it going. Maccoux had an off game - he had a few good looks that he just couldn't get to go down.

For Colby, they just hung around and hung around until they were able to somehow tie it in a wild sequence at the end. Noah Tyson was spectacular on both ends, playing the full 45 minutes and finishing with 22 and 6 on 8/11 shooting. (Side note: Don't think it's possible to track this, but Tyson must average the most minute per game of any Nescac player for his career. He's been top 6 or better in the league in minutes per game all 4 years he's played.) Lucas Green kept the Mules in it with some hot shooting early in the second half, and Will King dished 12 assists and controlled the game down the stretch despite an off shooting game. Max Poulton struggled for the first 30 minutes of the game and then hit some huge buckets late and in OT.

Colby remains a tough out  and huge kudos to them for bouncing back from an 0-4 start in conference. The first Wesleyan game was really the only uncompetitive game all season. Big opportunity at Williams - Colby led by 9 midway through the second half on the road earlier this season, but the Ephs are back playing at an elite level of late, so will be a tough one.

[Hamilton4]

Bob Quillman has both Hamilton  and Wesleyan getting in. That would be 5 nescac schools.

[TheOsprey]

Bob Quillman has both Hamilton  and Wesleyan getting in. That would be 5 nescac schools.

LOL!

[SpringSt7]

https://twitter.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1627404548401770497/photo/1

No Wesleyan on this list, plus don't think it is accounting for bid thieves either.