MBB: NESCAC

[Hugenerd]

Middlebury has their hands full with Scranton, down 6 with 16 to play.

[oftdip]

Refs kept Amherst in the first Half - several tick-tack fouls against F&M who should be up by 8 instead of 1...

[Hugenerd]

Yeah I've got MIT at 12-16 from 3fga. Karraker just missed his 8th after starting 7-7. Kates is 5-5. It's like they have a video game cheat code on. This would be a game if jut one of them wasn't on fire.

Karraker has made 9 3s in a game earlier this season, so not surprising he makes them when he's open.  He has 106 3s on the season (he holds MIT records for 3s in a game, season, and career).  Kates was spectacular, though, on both ends of the court.  To do what he did on offense and effectively guard a guy as quick and talented as Tibbs for 38 minutes is no small feat.

[magicman]

Tough loss for Middlebury as Scranton hits a 3 pointer at the buzzer to break a 55 all tie after Joey Kizell drives to the hoop for the tying basket with 6 seconds left. Thought it was going to overtime but Scranton's Travis Farrell hits the big three at the buzzer.

Final 58-55.

[mass_d3fan]

NESCAC crashing right now, Middlebury loses on a buzzer beater at home and amherst down 5 with 3:34 to go.

[WPI89]

WOW!!!!

[magicman]

Franklin & Marshall defeats Amherst 80-71. F & M's Georgio Milligan with 30 points. Aaron Toomey leads Amherst with 21. He was the only Amherst player in double figures.

[mass_d3fan]

Amherst loses 80-71.  Toomey with a bad night going 6 for 20 and Amherst goes 4 for 21 from beyond the arc.

Milligan with a big night  - 30 pts on 11for 16 shooting and 8 for 10 from the FT line.


Eastern Conn fell tonight too.   I believe that leaves MIT as the only NE team left standing.

[jumpshot]

"Amherst may have difficulty with a good Franklin & Marshall team this Friday night in Lancaster. I have seen F&M play this year ---Milligan is a good guard and Gyokchyan is an unorthodox skilled power forward unlike anyone in NESCAC. F&M has height, speed, quickness, and depth. Also Glenn Robinson makes in-game adjustments well. Should be a physical contest. F&M's soft spot is a weak schedule."

One could feel this monumental upset coming earlier in the week ....

[mass_d3fan]

Upset - possibly...

monumental....

I dont think it's monumental when #9 in the country beats #2.

[nescac1]

Wow, to say I'm stunned by the results puts it mildly, will be curious to hear what happened from those at the game.  Sorry, Midd fans, for jinxing the team, I never thought they would have trouble given what seemed to be a huge inside advantage.  Seemed like a perfect storm of everything going wrong for the Panthers, based on the box score: very poor three point shooting and foul shooting, while Scranton was very hot from three, plus foul trouble for the Midd big guys limiting their minutes / impact.  Amherst loss is less surprising, coming on the road to a traditional power with a star player, but still a bit of a surprise.  With Wooster going down as well, there will now be 3/4 teams in the Final Four as pretty big surprises, definitely a weird year in D-3.  Sorry for Midd fans not to have a chance to see their boys clinch a Final Four berth at home.  As an Eph fan, can't say I'm sorry for Amherst, given that Williams maintains the lead among NESCAC teams for another year at least, with six Final Four appearances. 

Too early to think about next year in NESCAC?  I think it will be crazy competitive.  Midd loses only Sharry, but what a huge loss he is; still, with the veteran back court returning, they have enough candidates to replace Sharry up front that they will be the favorite.  Amherst has a less favorable schedule and loses three key guys, and will need to find perimeter scoring help for overwhelming POY favorite Toomey, but Toomey and Workman are a great foundation.  Williams I am confident will be back in a big way, the tougher conf. games will be at home, they can't help but have better luck with injuries, they return 5/6 top scorers, and Mayer, Epley and Robertson are all capable of big time break-out seasons.  Wesleyan should be even better and may finally earn that elusive NCAA bid, and Tufts will be very tough as well. 

But for now, a bit surprised that no NESCAC team made it deeper in the tourney this year after two straight years of big time tourney runs, but I guess strange things can happen in an elimination game ... I'm now pulling hard for MIT to represent New England and make their first Final Four appearance. 

[Reserved Seat]

Amherst didn't have the advantage inside that they expected.  After a slow start, Salandra and Early battled for the rebounds.  Toomey was never able to get an easy, open three with Milligan and Porter constantly on him.

[oftdip]

Amherst is a class team... Never gave up and if Toomey had a couple of threes drop, it might have been different... When F&M plays strong, not 'soft' as many opponents have labelled them this year, they are just so tough... And if Georgio and Hayk are both on, they are definitely Salem material...
Hixson is a great coach and his boys had a spectacular year... Any thoughts on MIT/F&M?

[Bucket]

It was the perfect storm that you described, nescac1.

Scranton hit huge clutch shots (and huge 3s) in the second half every time it looked like Midd was going to make a run and go ahead. And they milked the clock on every possession taking it under 10 seconds, and often under 5, every time down the floor. We shot better in the second half (though not from three, going 4-17 for the game), but we were limited to only 20 attempts in the half. There weren't that many possessions. We were getting good inside looks, converting many, though Scranton also put us on the line a lot and we struggled mightily there. (Which again was uncharacteristic for us this year.) We also had several big offensive fouls go against us down low, turning the ball over on precious possessions.

Still, we tie it w/ five seconds left and it looks like we're going to OT, but Scranton had just one second too many, pushing the ball up the court and hitting a deep, off-balance three w/ a hand in the face at the buzzer.

It was a crushing, heartbreaking loss. It seemed like we were so close to gutting it out and escaping on a night that clearly wasn't our night, and then, just like that, it's over.

Will post more later when I have my wits about me. Tremendous effort by this special group of guys, and I hate to see this run end for them.

[NEPAFAN]

Great game and you are a class act, Bucket!