MBB: NESCAC

[LaPaz]

Tufts @ Williams
Williams -9.0                               Williams and Over
O/U: 147.5

Wesleyan @ Amherst                     
Amherst -13.0                             Wesleyan and Over
O/U: 158.0

Conn College @ Trinity
Trinity -6.5                                  Trinity and Over
O/U: 135.5

Bowdoin @ Hamilton
Hamilton -4.0                               Hamilton and Over
O/U: 144.0

Bates @ Middlebury
Middlebury -17.5                           Midd and Over
O/U: 138.5

With 10 bets and putting down $110 to win $100 on each I expect to go 7-3. Walzy gets his $10 fee per bet and I still come out on top. Please somone let me kno how it turned out

[LaPaz]

Also, in my opinion the only issues I have with the lines are Williams should be favored by at least 16, 9 is to small. With Bowdoin long trek to Hamilton and there easy schedule Hamilton should be a 8-9pt favorite. other than that they look pretty fair. Over / Under always tough to predict on th 1st and 2nd conf weekend because you dont have much to go on. We will see

[walzy31]

Also, in my opinion the only issues I have with the lines are Williams should be favored by at least 16, 9 is to small. With Bowdoin long trek to Hamilton and there easy schedule Hamilton should be a 8-9pt favorite. other than that they look pretty fair. Over / Under always tough to predict on th 1st and 2nd conf weekend because you dont have much to go on. We will see

Tufts looked good first semester and Williams isn't full strength. Re: Bowdoin/Hamilton, everyone else picked Bowdoin...which is what I love most about sports betting (or fake sports betting): different people can feel very confident about the exact opposite picks against the spread.

I will go through and update everyone's picks after the conclusion of tonight's games. I will hand out + or - karma based on betting abilities.

[magicman]

Bowdoin leads Hamilton at the half 37-33. Will Hanley with 15 points and 6 boards  for the Polar Bears.

[nescac1]

Williams is in big trouble, down 11 with 12 to go, the Ephs can not buy a shot, 0-10 from 3, many very open, just over-thinking the shots at this point.  Williams has really struggled on defense, and Tufts is playing great team ball, getting plenty of easy shots, and converting them.  Williams needs Wang/Robertson to take over a bit, and to start hitting threes, if they hope to dig out of the hole, but Tufts has really been impressive.  Mayer is the only guy doing anything for Williams, while Tufts has been very balanced and playing with a lot of passion on both ends. 

[7express]

Williams is in big trouble, down 11 with 12 to go, the Ephs can not buy a shot, 0-10 from 3, many very open, just over-thinking the shots at this point.  Williams has really struggled on defense, and Tufts is playing great team ball, getting plenty of easy shots, and converting them.  Williams needs Wang/Robertson to take over a bit, and to start hitting threes, if they hope to dig out of the hole, but Tufts has really been impressive.  Mayer is the only guy doing anything for Williams, while Tufts has been very balanced and playing with a lot of passion on both ends.

This game is @ Tufts, right??  Because the Williams women lost as well, and have a hard time seeing Williams getting swept at home.

[magicman]

Williams is in big trouble, down 11 with 12 to go, the Ephs can not buy a shot, 0-10 from 3, many very open, just over-thinking the shots at this point.  Williams has really struggled on defense, and Tufts is playing great team ball, getting plenty of easy shots, and converting them.  Williams needs Wang/Robertson to take over a bit, and to start hitting threes, if they hope to dig out of the hole, but Tufts has really been impressive.  Mayer is the only guy doing anything for Williams, while Tufts has been very balanced and playing with a lot of passion on both ends.

This game is @ Tufts, right??  Because the Williams women lost as well, and have a hard time seeing Williams getting swept at home.

This game isn't at Tufts. It's in Williamstown.

[nescac1]

Nope, at Williams.  Just not the Ephs' night.  Women were totally dominated, and men are getting destroyed.  Ben Ferris is absolutely going off and Williams has for some strange reason consistently left him wide open.  Meanwhile, no one on Williams can buy an outside shot, mystifying for a team that shoots 44 percent from 3 entering this game.  Guys are just not in any sort of rhythm at all.  But even if they were shooting well, that wouldn't be enough -- Tufts is simply taking it to them, killing them on the offensive glass and taking advantages of the Ephs' numerous defensive lapses.  Mayer seems to be the only guy playing with confidence on Williams, no one else is creating shots, or when they do, the Ephs just can't find the bottom of the rim from 3. 

[magicman]

Middlebury is pounding Bates 57-32 with 11 minutes to go. AA Ryan Sharry with another big night. 22 points and 9 boards already.

[7express]

Amherst in a dog fight with Wesleyan 44-41 little more than halfway through the second.
Wesleyan 57-55 2:34 left.
Looks like Amherst will win; Toomey converts a layup with 28 seconds to play to put them up by 4.  Now 16 seconds left, Amherst shooting free throws.
Amherst survives 66-64

Tufts completes the sweep, men's team won 79-70, Bowdoin over Hamilton 74-61, Mid 79-57 over Bates, Trinty 70-53 over Conn College.

[magicman]

Amherst breaks loose from a 59-59 tie with 1:47 to play with back to back buckets. They hit 3 of 4 free throws, the last 2 by Aaron Toomey with 3 seconds to go to make 66-61. Wesleyan's Brian Galvin with a bomb at the buzzer to make the final 66-64.

[nescac1]

Williams finally brought some intensity to cut the lead in half, but it was too little, too late, as Tufts held on for the upset.  Brutal day for the fans in Chandler. 

Tufts was the more aggressive team, yes, Williams shot poorly (2-17 from 3, I can't remember a worse shooting night for a Maker-coached Eph team), but the lack of defensive cohesion and, in particular, the rebounding differential (38-19) were what doomed Williams.  Williams has struggled to defend the three all year and that continued vs. Tufts.  Also bizarre that the Ephs' best shooter, James Klemm, got only 1 fga on a night no one was feeling in ... maybe Tufts worked hard to take him out of the game, but Williams HAS to get him more looks somehow, especially when the other outside shooters are off.  The only bright spots for Williams were frosh Parker Semin, who got five quick points to give the Ephs a chance late, and who plays with a lot of intensity (he needs more time out there, he brings a spark) and Michael Mayer, who continues to be a great finisher on the offensive end, albeit still a work in progress on D.  For Tufts, Ben Ferris was simply awesome and served notice that he will be a force in NESCAC going forward.  Scott Anderson and CJ Moss also gave Eph defenders fits.  Both Tufts guards are very confident out there and really impressed with their poise for frosh playing their first NESCAC game. 

Without Whittington and with Wang not really able to do what he used to, Williams can't rely on star power anymore.  The Ephs need to work hard and play great team ball on both ends of the court, working together for good looks, and tonight that didn't happen.  I think Williams will rebound as at the very least they won't shoot 2-17 from 3 often, but they will need to play a lot tougher if they hope to make the NCAA's and/or make a serious run at a NESCAC title.    In particular, the Ephs need to work on communication on the perimeter so they aren't giving up so many open threes. 

Amherst holds on for a narrow win, but even still, I think the big three is now down to the Big One, with Middlebury head and shoulders above the rest of NESCAC at this point.  I still think Williams and Amherst in some order will get it together and be the top threats to Midd later in the year, but Tufts and Wesleyan, and maybe Bowdoin, are clearly all in the conversation as well. 

[7express]

5-5 on Walzy's picks if I have my math correct (and I probably don't since I suck at math).   Stupid 2.5 points in the Mid/Bates game or I would've finished over .500.

[amh63]

The other posters gave the highlights and the drama a bit.  Seems the game started badly for Amherst when two of their best foul shooters, Williamson and Toomey missed foul shots.....6 foul shoots missed by Amherst players in the first half by my count. I point this out because it was a game that the people in the stripes decided to take over, IMO.  Fouls were called when there was no fouls and vice versa.  In the last two minutes when the foul shots were critical (the game tied or the lead going back and forth)....a lane violation was called on a made Amherst foul shot.  The game was decided by the defensive play s in the last few minutes by Amherst.  Holmes blocking shots and Williamson making a steal, etc. that allowed Amherst to get the lead on the foul line.  Wes. coach was clever in that he subbed players in and out to make the game choppy and stop any Amherst offensive flow.  Wes. players did make critical 3's in the last 5 minutes and played hard and with emotion.....especially cutting a 10 point lead  at the half by Amherst in the early part of the 2nd half.   It was a nail biter for the last quarter of the 2nd half. 
It should be interesting in the game in Middletown...hoping Amherst will get the calls there like Wes. did in Amherst.  This game is the critical one that counts towards the conference standing.

[magicman]

Middlebury wins comfortably 79-57. Sharry with a double double of 24 pts and 10 boards.