MBB: NESCAC

[Hugenerd]

Amherst -22.5 @ Westfield State
Over/Under: 151.0

I will take Westfied State to cover the spread on their home court.  Westfield State is no joke, they are undefeated and have given Baruch their only loss on a neutral court: a Baruch team that has deafeated both Richard Stockton on the road (top 10 nationally, made the NCAA finals last year) and Farmingdale State on the road (made it to Elite 8 last year).  They also beat Gordon on the road, which is very difficult to do with the homer refs they have out there.  I think you are really underestimating Westfield with that spread, I think they have a chance to pull an upset tonight.

[nescac1]

Yeah, Westfield v. Amherst should be interesting -- Westfield has one big time guy new to the program, Anthony Griffin, a transfer.  Then again, Westfield's biggest starter is about the same size as Amherst's point guard -- I am sure they will try to run, but 6'8, 6'6, 6'5, 6'5, 6'4 v.s 6'4, 6'3, 6'0, 5'11, 5'10,  Amherst is just gonna kill them on the glass and inside.  And what happens when Amherst's bench, which is even bigger, comes in??

In other non-conference notes, Middlebury may be playing the softest non-conference schedule in years in NESCAC.  I mean, Green Mountain, Southern Vermont, Haverford, Swarthmore, Skidmore, Lyndon State, Castleton State, St. Joseph's??   Putrid.  Other than Hamilton and maybe RPI, I don't see anyone Midd is playing even giving them a game.  They could easily be undefeated until the hard part of their NESCAC slate starts January 30 ...

[nescac1]

Lots of honors for NESCAC here:

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/womensbball/D3NBestofthe2000s.pdf

conference of the 90's, runner up conference of the 00's, team of the decade (Williams 03) and one runner up (Amherst 07), two of the top five programs and coaches of the decade (guess who), Andrew O. runner up for player of the decade, and top two title games of the decade.  Not too shabby ...

[Hugenerd]

Watching this Westfield Amherst webcast, Westfield hanging with Amherst early.  Griffin for Westfield looks like the best player on the court (he has their first 6 points), but Amherst is undoubtedly deaper and has the size advantage.  Westfield up 6-4 early.


*** Westfield now up 19-17 with the ball.  Westfield causing a lot of trouble with their quickness, Amherst has quite a few turnovers early.

*** Griffin has cooled down considerably and not showing the flashiness he did in the first few minutes of the game.  Amhersts size is starting to take a toll on Westfield, as they extend the lead 36-31 to at the half.

*** Amherst storms out of the gate in the second half.  Now up 19.

*** Things getting out of hand for Westfield now.  Amherst has started asserting themselves, working their advantage inside and then kicking out for open 3s. Westfield goes on a short run to cut it to 20.  Looked competitive for a while, but the size factor appears to be too much for Westfield to hang with.  Waller has probably looked like the best player after the first 5 minutes.

***Westfield beginning to play Amherst a bit tougher.  Lead down to 16 with just under 9 minutes left, it had ballooned to as much as 27.

FINAL: 86-68. Westfield covers the spread , but still a decisive win for Amherst. After leading for part of and being competitive the entire first half, Amherst's size and depth take over and lead to a comfortable win in the second half.

[nescac1]

Nice win for the Ephs against an obviously WAY down Salem squad.  Still, seems like the Ephs put it all together, finally, winning 100-71.  Ephs get ridiculous production out of the center position with Emerson, Whittington, and Joe G combining for a Russell-esque 31-24-4-4 (Salem obviously didn't provide much opposition at the five, of course).  Very nice game for Emerson, who is stuck behind the two Eph veterans but will surely play a lot next year as a junior -- he hit all three shots, including two threes, and put up an 8-4 in just eight minutes.  Another big day for Schultz, with 27 points in 23 minutes.  Wang continues to shoot an unsustainably high percentage (especially for a PG), but he did have six TO's this game. 

Great night for NESCAC overall as the conference collectively beat down some decent opponents. 

[Hugenerd]

A UNE team that beat UMD under two weeks ago gets demolished by Colby, 72-48.  Colby improves to 3-0.

Bates also avenges their only loss of the season, beating Thomas 90-71, handing the Terriers their first loss of the season.

[division3]

i like the teams in nescac but to me the problem is that they only play each other once. that is a rinky dink situation and certainly diminishes the conference. most games are out of conference which to me is backwards. are they the only conference that does that? will that ever change?

[muletrain]

I watched the Colby game tonight and their win over UNE was even more impressive than the score. Colby had their starters out at about the 9 minute mark of the second half with a lead over 30. The mules contained UNE's penetration while dominating the glass and breaking the press with ease.

Choice was the best player on the court hands down, while Russell and Woodward controlled the game inside. Russell in particular has been absolutely dominant this season with a recent 20/20 effort in the previous game. I would be shocked if he didn't lead the NESCAC in rebounding this year. Van Loenen has really emerged as great decision maker at point. Also this team has some great shot makers in Haylon and Sherman who both can't be left open.

although UNE was missing their top scorer, this is a team which played Bowdoin down to the wire not to long ago.  After four years at Colby watching pretty much all of their home games, I can say that this team has a chance to be by far the best. Considering that they were 4th in the league last year, I would have to say that there might be a new dark horse title contender. Maybe thats just me being overzealous, but who is playing better right now?

[speedy]

. . . .
although UNE was missing their top scorer, this is a team which played Bowdoin down to the wire not to long ago.   . . .

Not exactly!!!! The score was 80-64 and Bowdoin established control of the game early on . .

[muletrain]

"UNE got as close as six points, 64-58, with eight minutes remaining"- Bowdoin website

maybe "down to the wire" was too strong but leading by six with eight minutes to go is far from "establishing control of the game early on."

My only point was that Colby absolutely dominated the same team that Bowdoin struggled with until pulling away late.

[magicman]

Yeah, Westfield v. Amherst should be interesting -- Westfield has one big time guy new to the program, Anthony Griffin, a transfer.  Then again, Westfield's biggest starter is about the same size as Amherst's point guard -- I am sure they will try to run, but 6'8, 6'6, 6'5, 6'5, 6'4 v.s 6'4, 6'3, 6'0, 5'11, 5'10,  Amherst is just gonna kill them on the glass and inside.  And what happens when Amherst's bench, which is even bigger, comes in??

In other non-conference notes, Middlebury may be playing the softest non-conference schedule in years in NESCAC.  I mean, Green Mountain, Southern Vermont, Haverford, Swarthmore, Skidmore, Lyndon State, Castleton State, St. Joseph's??   Putrid.  Other than Hamilton and maybe RPI, I don't see anyone Midd is playing even giving them a game.  They could easily be undefeated until the hard part of their NESCAC slate starts January 30 ...

nescac1,
Agree with your thoughts about Middlebury's non-conference schedule to a point. I posted this earlier on another board:

St Lawrence fell to 1-3 tonight losing to Plattsburgh St and travels to Vermont on Thursday Dec 3rd to take on nationally ranked and unbeaten #15 Middlebury Panthers (5-0). Personally I think that ranking is a little too high for the Panthers right now and SLU is probably going to be the best team they have faced this year to date. SLU beat them 84-71 last year and advanced deeper into the NCAA tournament than Middlebury did. Both teams lost their leading scorer from last year, Tom Wopperer for the Saints and Ben Rudin for the Panthers. The Saints also lost Bela Vonnak and Richard Williams which will probably hurt SLU more than the Panthers loss of Kyle Dudley and Matt Westman but SLU is a better team than their record would indicate and it wouldn't surprise me if they pull off the upset. It could be a great momentum builder for the Saints.

Plattsburgh St also travels to Middlebury on Jan.5th and they could give the Panthers a hard time. Plattsburgh was edged out last year by Middlebury in a game that could have went either way. A field goal that would have given the Cardinals the lead with about a minute to play was waved off for offensive goaltending, and while Middlebury was coming down after that call and scoring to go up by 2 Plattsburgh's coach got T'd up by the official he was arguing the call with and that was your ballgame. Plattsburgh returns everyone from that game and has added 2 JC transfers. Both of the new guys are averaging double figures with one of them leading the team in scoring. I think SLU and Plattsburgh will both give Middlebury a tougher time than Hamilton or RPI will.  Panther's stock will rise if they handle both of these teams.   

[nescac1]

Magicman, fair point about Plattsburgh State in particular, they sound pretty strong. 

Ahh, the annual ritual on this board of Colby fans getting a LITTLE too excited over early season results.  Colby, Midd, Amherst, and Williams all have looked strong, each undefeated, each averaging a margin of victory well into the double digits.  None have played anyone all that stellar (including RIC -- they are clearly a bit down this year after graduating the vast bulk of their key players).  It is really hard to tell much until they start playing more competitive teams, which for Colby and Amherst will come soon (Bowdoin and Lasell, respectively), for Williams most likely later this month (potential meeting with top-ten team Randolph Macon in its home tourney), and for Midd, not until January (Hamilton and Plattsburgh, still have trouble getting excited even if they beat St. Lawrence, as that would be a home win over an 0-3 team).  All four are certainly potential NESCAC contenders at this point, but Colby, on paper, seems not quite as deep or balanced as the other three (I am assuming Midd will be bolstered by the return of its injured guards).  Bates and Bowdoin look solid as well, so there should be some great CBB match-ups this year.  

Tufts loses to Lesley?  Wow.  Looks like a long year ahead for the Jumbos ...

Congrats to Blake Schultz for scoring his 1000th career point for the Ephs ...

Al Shaw obit in the Globe:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2009/12/02/alex_shaw_basketball_coach_won_301_games_at_williams/

[walzy31]

Amherst -22.5 @ Westfield State
Over/Under: 151.0

Amherst 86
Westfield State 68

Amherst -22.5 @ Westfield State (Westfield State Cover +4.5)
Over/Under: 151.0 (Over +3.0)

[Hugenerd]

Tufts loses to Lesley?  Wow.  Looks like a long year ahead for the Jumbos ...

What a horrible result for Tufts (and the NESCAC).  Lesley?  Really?  Looking at the box score, the one thing that jumps out at you is the FT shots, so there may have been some home cooking there.  Tufts attempted 3, Lesley 24.  They were +18 points from the line.  And it isnt like Tufts wasnt taking it to the whole, Tufts outscored Lesley 32-24 in the paint. Lesley was only called for 9 fouls the entire game. That said, Tufts did lead by as many as 11 in the first half and by 9 in the second half.    

[duffer]

Nothing going right for the Jumbos right now. Not shooting well; twice the number of turnovers as assists. Seems like they're playing with no heart. Not thrilled with coaching decisions either.They got up by 12 in the first half and Sheldon subbed in four out of five. Subs let Lesley back in the game, then starters struggled to get it back. Similar situation in the second half. On the other hand, Coach looked to get the ball inside, but guys come in and are airing it out from all over the place. Not a lot of discipline going on there at this time.