MBB: NESCAC

CCsalive · February 13, 2009, 10:19:09 PM

Congrats to Midd and Williams. Fantastic efforts.
Conn can clinch the #8 with a win on Saturday. At the very least, it's great to have something to play for.
Colby better get it done vs Wes.

ephoops · February 13, 2009, 10:33:08 PM

Quote from: frank uible on February 13, 2009, 10:18:02 PM
Williams beat Amherst at Lefrak in 2003 and 2007.

Frank:

I believe Bucket meant to say that it was the first regular season win for the Ephs at Lefrak in over a decade. You are correct that the Ephs won at Lefrak in '03 and '07 in the NESCAC tournament.

eclinchy · February 14, 2009, 01:35:00 AM

Quote from: ephoops on February 13, 2009, 10:33:08 PMI believe Bucket meant to say that it was the first regular season win for the Ephs at Lefrak in over a decade. You are correct that the Ephs won at Lefrak in '03 and '07 in the NESCAC tournament.

Must be nice to find a way to beat Amherst that doesn't involve Chris Shalvoy going absolutely insane and hitting seven threes, hmm?

golflax99 · February 14, 2009, 03:17:20 AM

I was at the Midd Trinity game tonight. Trinity played this Middlebury team VERY tough. They were very aggressive on the boards and played great perimeter defense against a team that we all know loves to shoot the three.

It seemed as if there were points in the game where the Midd offense was stalled, but Rudin stepped up and came through for them in the clutch. It really felt like Trinity had it in the bag during the first OT... Down 6 with about 50 seconds left... Midd came down the court and Jamal Davis put up a three that he ended up getting fouled on, this was not only big because it was a chance to cut the lead in half w/out time running off, but because it was Paul Rowe's 5th foul. Davis made all three and after only making one of two from the line, Midd got a quick basket and then forced a turnover and Rudin finished it off tying it with 9 seconds left in OT.

It just seemed as if both teams were so exhausted in the 2nd OT... With Paul Rowe fouled out for Trinity and Aaron Smith fouled out for Midd, both offenses seemed to just stall. The lone field goal Middlebury got in the 2OT was the only they needed as Rudin drove left down the lane, underneath the basket and gave Locke a nice bounce a pass which he then layed up for the win and silenced the Trinity crowd.

Truly a fun game to watch, Middlebury really showed they had some heart fighting to come back from down 6 with 42 seconds left. Rudin also showed how he's a candidate for NESCAC POY with his performance tonight, brilliant.

Congrats Midd on the win and hopefully they left some in the tank for Amherst tomorrow.

frank uible · February 14, 2009, 04:01:56 AM

Williams has beaten Amherst in basketball 112 times. Shalvoy played in only one of those 112.

nescac1 · February 14, 2009, 08:30:03 AM

Seems like Rudin all but locked up player of the year with that performance. Baskauskas has an outside shot if the Jeffs win the NESCACs and he explodes in carrying them, but that's about it. Both are locks for all conference first team. Choice, Curtrone, Pierce, Snyder, Schultz all are locks for at least second team at this point (I'm guessing Pierce makes it and Snyder and Cutrone get the nods as seniors). Last three spots may be fairly up for grabs, I'd say at this point Bernier, Phillips (Bowdoin) and either Conor Meehan or Wilson from Bates will snag the last spot ...

ROY is pretty interesting. Porter and Mendell put up the best numbers, but easier to do on on bad teams. Meanwhile Waller, Sharry, and now late-charger Wang are all key cogs on contending teams. Those five form a pretty solid all-rookie team. And the pair of rookies from Bowdoin will probably be all conference type guys before they are done as well. O'Connell who was very hyped is coming on after a slow adjustment to the college game ...

BankShotCharlie · February 14, 2009, 08:31:49 AM

Thanks Frank, very insightful.

frank uible · February 14, 2009, 09:21:41 AM

No problem.

eclinchy · February 14, 2009, 12:30:10 PM

Quote from: frank uible on February 14, 2009, 04:01:56 AMWilliams has beaten Amherst in basketball 112 times. Shalvoy played in only one of those 112.

I guess I deserved that. What I was implying was that they hadn't won with reasonably human shooting since '03, but you already know that...

My guess for all-conference:

Rudin (lock)
Baskauskas (lock)
Pierce (lock -- I know his team flopped, but the numbers are too absurdly good to ignore)
Choice (lock for at least second team)
Snyder (lock for at least second team)

Schultz
Cutrone
Smith (I know he was hurt part of the year, but they tend to honor seniors who've had great careers, and if Midd goes undefeated, two Panthers instead of one would make sense)
Wheeler
Bernier

POY: Rudin
COY: Jeff Brown, Midd
ROY: Porter. I think he'll get a lot of credit/name recognition for being "the guy that filled Stone's shoes." That could easily put him over the top.

nescac1 · February 14, 2009, 12:44:31 PM

I don't think Wheeler will make it, considering he's been out half the conference season with an injury ... and in any event, while Wheeler is a great shooter, Meehan I'd say would be a better choice from Amherst anyway as he contributes in more ways.

eclinchy · February 14, 2009, 02:51:21 PM

Well, he's played 19 games, which is close enough to the 20-23ish range that everyone else has. And plenty of coaches in the league know who he is, even if they haven't seen him play this year. But maybe you have a point.

Conn leads Bowdoin 30-28 at halftime in the one early game. Camels looking good to clinch that 8 seed.

nescac1 · February 14, 2009, 04:27:02 PM

Ephs about to go down to Trinity it looks like. Totally fell apart late in second half. Trinity's defense was a factor, much stronger than Amherst's, but also everything the Ephs did well against Amherst -- protecting the boards and working the offense -- they aren't doing in this game. During Trinity's big run the Ephs jacked up about five 22-25 foot 3 pointers in a row, all of which missed, all early in the shot clock.

fpc85 · February 14, 2009, 04:32:23 PM

Amherst beats Middlebury by about 6.

speedy · February 14, 2009, 05:21:53 PM

Bowdoin downs Conn College, 56-51.

Apparently Bowdoin grabs the 5th seed in the play-offs and will play archrival Colby in the quarters. Conn College sneaks in at the 8th spot.

CCsalive · February 14, 2009, 08:26:55 PM

I'm looking forward to a week of chatter with Old Guy, Bucket, et al. You know I'm gonna bring it.
As a CC fan I'm proud to be the 8th best team in this conference. Sure beats 9 and/or 10.
Glad to see that Conn almost pulled it out vs Bowdoin; the reason's why they did not, at least statistically, are glaring and I look forward to bearing all this coming week. Again, I prefer to loaf on the weekend and focus on d3hoops.com while I am at work. Lastly, I think I'm going to be able to make the trek to Panther Country...Go Camels!

MBB: NESCAC

speedy