MBB: NESCAC

[Denton]

Polar Bear Nation rejoice!!!   

Although I did not give a spread - I will claim credit for the pick.  What an exciting game - too bad folks were having problem with the web cast.  Hope you finally got sound as it was rocking as Amherst came clawing back and went ahead.  The Bears hung in and pulled out a 1 pt win.

As predicted the Bear handled the size difference very well.  They actually out rebounded the Jeffs 32 - 22!  At the end of the first half Bowdoin's Kyle Jackson (6'3") fed a "Spaulding burger" to Kevin Hopkins (6'10")!  It was like that all night for the P Bear "Bigs".  Soph Mark Phillips had a huge game with 14 pts and 5 board - 4 for 4 from the line!

Probably the biggest issue was the shooting %.  Unlike the first time they met - tonite the Bears were on the right end of a 57% to 43% shooting.

I am certainly not impartial.... but the zebras seemed to call more ticky tacky fouls on the Bears although not  many more fouls (14 vs 10 for the Jeffs).

GO U BEARS

[senatorfrost]

 Since UMass Dartmouth lost today is it possible Amherst will host anyway? I guess it's either Amherst or Brandeis?? That's a guess.

[heart4rose]

Trinity beats Midd 72-63
Hasiuk hit some huge shots down the stretch.
Trin was up 12 or so early in 1st half.
Midd fought back - went up 3 with 3 minutes to go.
Hasiuk hit an NBA 3 from top of the key to put Bants up by 1.
Closer game then final score indicates.
Good Luck Bants Sunday!

[fpc85]

good luck to tc and bc....both teams are very good....the jeffs struggeld in the 1st and almost pulled it out in the end...offensive rebounding and mediocre shooting hurt them tonight...hopefully they will right the ship and come back a better team next week.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Bowdoin on the upset ... they have to be a lock for the NCAA's.  If Trinity loses, they are squarely on the bubble.   Midd is probably one of the just misses although they will return next year as the early conference favorite with all the talent they bring back.  Finally, a non Williams / Amherst team will win the NESCAC tourney, which is an appropriate ending to a crazy, unpredictable NESCAC season. 

[eclinchy]

It's possible -- and this is just a guess, I could be way off -- that this game is irrelevant for NCAAs, since Amherst/Trinity/Bowdoin are now locked in and Midd is out.  Thoughts?

[CCsalive]

Congrats to Bowdoin.
All four teams deserve a bid.

[eclinchy]

That would be amazing... but I have my doubts.

Look at the bracket-busting going on in New England right now.  Coast Guard knocked out WPI; RIC knocked out UMD; and obviously, Bowdoin knocked out Amherst.  UMD and Amherst are both locks for Pool Cs now, and I think WPI probably should be as well.  That really cuts down on the number of available bids for the NESCAC to go four-deep.  Hell, we can't even be certain that the loser today is in.

(Although they definitely should be.)

[eclinchy]

Trinity 25, Bowdoin 21, halftime.

Key stat on this matchup:

Bowdoin-Trinity on Feb. 1 (Bowdoin won 67-62 in 2OT):
Hippert's 3-pt. shooting: 1 for 10
Hasiuk's 3-pt. shooting: 1 for 11

Today's first half:
Hippert: 0 for 4
Hasiuk: 3 for 5

Should be a good second half.  Rebounding is basically a wash -- 17-16.  Westbrooks has been a superb defensive stopper so far as expected, and Sarge has been too, when he's played (only 10 minutes so far).  Game might come down to who can get hot and shoot the lights out in the second half.  If Hippert turns it on, watch out.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Trinity is now up 20 54-34.  It looks like Bowdoin gave so much last night they didn't have much left.  Trinity is playing lights out.

[eclinchy]

60-38 Trinity, 7:08 left.  Hipp's 1 for 8 on threes; Hasiuk's 4 for 6.

[eclinchy]

74-55 Trinity, final.  Bantams played amazingly well today... congrats.

[walzy31]

Congratulations to Trinity for taking the '08 NESCAC title and AQ. They have an uncanny record at LeFrak compared to most, and I think they are undefeated at Amherst when playing schools not named Amherst or Williams.

Bowdoin was sharp on Friday night. The defense they played was a 10/10 (lowest FG% for Amherst in any one game all season?) and a lot of their guys hit huge/timely shots (Hippert and #50). The last eight minutes Amherst almost came all the way back to take the game, but a sloppy final 60 seconds halted what would have been an insanely enjoyable come back.

Trinity with the AQ.
Amherst with the 1st Pool C given out.
Bowdoin is really on the bubble. I think they deserve to get in.
Middlebury is on the outside looking in and needs to hope that the NE ratings and rankings and numbers tilt their way when the committee makes the field.
Williams is out.

I am hoping to see the pairings in NE be something like this:

Amherst
Bye

WPI
Emerson

Stevens Tech
Elms

St. John Fisher (i dont even know if they have a winning record this year. but they are welcome to come to amherst)
Middlebury

Brandeis
Bowdoin

Trinity
RIC

Elms
St. Lawrence

UMD
Bye

[formerbant10]

Fisher won't make it.  Lost in the finals to Naz and don't have a great record.  I'd love to see the Bants come a lil more west and maybe play Naz or UofR/Brockport.....

Gotta respect Trin's first conference title.  Hi Rise must be goin nuts rite now.

[eclinchy]

Midd ... will return next year as the early conference favorite with all the talent they bring back

Interesting point.  How do you think Locke/Smith/Edwards/Coghlan/Rudin stacks up against Bennett/Holsey/Baskauskas/Wheeler/Meehan?  Close call, isn't it?