MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

Good one brewing in Middletown. My stream has been down for the last 5 minutes (hope I'm the only one) but Wesleyan pulled ahead 37-32 at half on back to back threes from FY Oscar Edelman in what was otherwise a half that the Ephs led for 13:36 as much as 8. They have outshot Wesleyan comfortably (52%-32%) but are getting outrebounded 19-14 and the Cards have taken 10 more FTs while Hudson Hansen already has 3 fouls.

A much improved showing for Williams but didn't get as much out of it as they would've liked. The start of the second half will be big

[orangeballfan]

Middlebury looking rough in first half against Trinity.  Midd struggles to score offensively-no good looks at basket and few open shots. They have some solid players but can't get it together. Trinity is well coached and has solid defense and offense. 

[jumbomumbo]

Tufts pounced on Bowdoin turning a 13-3 lead into a 76-54 win. Maybe Bowdoin needs to schedule some tougher non-conference opponents... as Harvard clearly did not prepare them for this game. Tufts proving to be the top team in the "brainpower triangle".Morakis out with an illness, but it didn't matter. Reilly 5-8 from 3 leading the Jumbos with 17, 15 and 9 for Bernstein, 10 and 10 out of Gyimesi. Jumbos defense was overwhelming. Cuevas couldn't get anything going, as he was hounded by Kennelly all night long. Bowdoin will go 3-7 or 4-6, unbelievable that Coach Amaker at Harvard can't put together a stronger squad and or strategize a better a game. Lukas Schmidt is going to be a problem in the future, only getting end of game mins at the moment but you can tell by his size, physicality, ball handling skills, and confidence that he would be starting at most NESCAC schools. Before anyone beats me to it, yes strong end result from Williams. I think people are ahead of themselves on Wesleyan, they haven't played anyone good. Still think Trin beats Williams by 24 tomorrow to cover 30 points.

[SpringSt7]

Wesleyan wins a great game 67-61 - parts of it were great, but the rest of it, we couldn't see because of stream issues. Embarrassing stuff on that end.

Williams was the more efficient group but gave up 17 offensive rebounds and lost the turnover battle 11-6. Wesleyan took 12 more shots and 12 more free throws and that was ultimately the difference.

Aidan Yates had 18 points on 7-11 shooting in his first career start and the offense looked much different and much better. They overcame some early foul trouble from Hudson Hansen and played some excellent defense for the entirety of the game other than the fouls but ultimately came up short and fall to 0-1 in the league. No moral victories here and another great opportunity slips away

[NESCACBBALLFAN]

Middlebury drops the first NESCAC showing of the year to Trinity - as a Panther fan, no loss is "to be expected", but I would encourage any aspiring college coach to sneak a camera Connor Stallions style into a Bantam practice and learn how Cosgrove coaches defense. They simply do not get beat on the perimeter - even if they pick up a few hand checks here and there, it ultimately deters the offense from making an aggressive attempt to get downhill. I felt like the moment the Panthers got into their offensive sets in the half court, the possession was a wash - they guard offensive actions so well. The Bantam offense is often stagnant (outside of a few key guys, they don't have an absurd amount of talent), but they are suffocating defensively. Vetter was effectively a non-factor scoring tonight, but the Bantams still controlled from start to finish.

For the Panthers, I think they should look to incorporate an offensive scheme far more reliant on "run-and-gun" principles. That 2019-2020 team was admittedly poor on defensive (that team conceded like 70pts a game), but Farrell and Kornaker were so fast up and down the court it never mattered - they would just beat you down the floor. The back court of Flaks and Joseph are far better suited to get up and down than rely on hard-nosed, low possession games. They rarely, if ever, go into a low post player in the half court, so who cares if you leave one of the big guys in the dust - they probably weren't going to be involved in the possession anyways. I think they need to spend a bit more time in the short corner instead of the paint to clear up some room for guys to get downhill - it's too clogged to drive. I think that, even two years out, the Panthers are still clinging to some (now detrimental) tendencies they developed when Sobel was there. With that being said, I still have the upmost confidence that this team can figure it out - might take some soul searching amongst the players / coaching staff and some challenging "we might just not be a great defensive team" conversations, but there are ways to put makeup on deficiencies. But that is what Coach Brown is best at - letting his players be his players. I expect them to beat a solid Cardinals team tomorrow afternoon (though it's been a minute since we've came away victorious in Middletown - that's a longgggg bus ride back to VT)

[el_jefe_90]

My take on the first night:

Impressive showings by Trinity and Tufts. They were picked by many as #1 and #2 and both showed that to start. By transit of properties, it would mean Tufts would blow out D1 Harvard?  :O

No surprises on my end of Colby knocking off Conn. The two bigs for Colby dominated, especially Civello off the bench.

A nice win by the Mammoths on the road at Bates. The trip to Maine is never easy and Bates has been playing well as of late (already double the win total of last year). 5 in double figures is a good look.

Game of the night certainly in Middletown. Good win for the Cardinals to stay composed after blowing a double digit second half lead as they used a 15-5 to end the game. This team is legit.

For Williams, a much better showing against Wes a month later. This team, for whatever reason, over the last few years goes on major offensive droughts. It seems like it happens at least once per game. No different last night as they scored just 3 points over the last 7+ minutes. They also had another spell to end the first half scoring 2 points in the last 5:30. Not going to win a lot of games getting outscored 26-5 combined to end halves.

Here's to another action packed Saturday!

[GoUBears]

By transit of properties, it would mean Tufts would blow out D1 Harvard?

Ummmm. be careful with that one. Tufts lost to Nichols who only beat Curry (NPI 399) by 5 and who lost to Gordon.

Bowdoin came out flat and did not play at the same level they played against Emory or Harvard, but that does not mean they are not a good team. Also, Reeves came out with an injury after about a minute of play which hurt. Tufts size is a real problem and I think that will serve them well in NESCAC play.

Credit to Tufts for an overwhelming performance. They played physical and shot the ball well to run away with the game early.

[SpringSt7]

Williams defeats Trinity 56-51, covers spread by 29. Vintage defensive effort. Lot of work to do but to get out of this weekend at 1-1 is huge

[jmh21]

I seem to remember some people saying Williams would lose both games by a combined 30+ points this weekend...

[rdanie03]

I seem to remember some people saying Williams would lose both games by a combined 30+ points this weekend...

I said it and I will own it. That was a much better Ephs team than I had seen so far this year this afternoon

[D3BBALL]

Great game by Williams, they are right there now as a top team in conference. 2 close games and a win, they have to be happy about that.
Trinity on other hand might not be that good, 6 for 38 on threes (and a lot of them bad threes) and zero offensive flow.
Tufts and Wesleyan both did what they needed to do and both with blowouts on 2nd day impressive

[Pat Coleman]

I seem to remember some people saying Williams would lose both games by a combined 30+ points this weekend...

Next time you should post before the game!

[jumbomumbo]

Congrats to Williams for proving me wrong by a lot! Always good to see the Bantams go down. Think I'll have chicken for dinner tonight.

Tufts 90-82 over Colby. Colby played us tough, they have good big men. Refs were brutal per usual. Bernstein and Kennelly in foul trouble, but that paved the way for Gettings and Wooten to hero's down the stretch. Getting 2 monster dunks, one posterizing a Mule. It set the tone and demoralized them the rest of the way. The other dunk was set up by a beautiful pass out of the pick and roll by Wooten. Gyimesi and Reilly were also critical in the closing mins. Love to see the boys play the right way and earn a hard fought win, especially against a team we should have beat last year.

[nescac1]

Three straight Trinity - Williams games - all great games - in which no one scored 60.  Those two teams aren't always pretty, but they do get after it on defense.  Awesome, gritty win for the Ephs.  Great to see Declan Porter making some huge shots, his first buckets in nearly two years - and the Ephs sure did need them! And Yates with a huge weekend looks very much for real and will only get better.  Also great to see Ben McGraw work his way back into the lineup after a tough knee injury last year.   

Wesleyan - sadly lacking a hype man on this board - is definitely looking like the big dog in NESCAC this year.  Regan just finds ways to score and the team is very deep and stifling defensively. The schedule leaves something to be desired for sure, but the way they crush most teams they play can't be ignored. A brutal four game stretch ahead will show if they are a legit national contender.

Tufts might be right there but Wesleyan has been by far the most consistent this season.  Williams (looking better with each game), Trinity and Hamilton are right there too.

[toad22]

I have been writing for some time that Williams would grow into a really fine team, but it needed time to integrate new players and players returning from injury into their lineups. That process is starting to bear fruit, though those efforts are far from complete. Aiden Yates had a sort of a coming out party this weekend. He started both games this weekend and was the high scorer for Williams in both. The future seems incredibly bright for this young player. He is a three level scorer who has a startling aptitude for putting the ball in the basket. With both Declan Porter and Ben McGraw back playing again, the coaches can now put many lineups with multiple elite shooters on the floor. It makes Williams much more dangerous. Additionally, Williams' defense has shown signs of improving as well. I am hopeful for the future.