MBB: NESCAC

[lemonjello]

This board has been extraordinarily quiet considering 2 NESCAC teams will be taking the floor in the next 4 hours to try to advance to the Elite Eight. I'm        Go Plattsburgh State!! Maybe that will help.

I imagine my fellow Amherst partisans have been busy praying for the health of Connor Green.  Or else all the talk of cheerleaders and handsome players has everyone distracted.

[jayhawk]

Will be interesting to see Williams match with Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus has some big, strong players -

[magicman]

This is my post from the SUNYAC board about the Plattsburgh-Amherst game. Obviously I'm a little biased and I didn't want to disappoint middhoops who expected to hear from me this week.    I notice he has been wishing me good luck ever since we got together back in January, but has been conspicuously silent over the past few days. Conference allegiances, I'm sure.  

The Sweet 16 Game

Plattsburgh State Cardinals 24-5  at   Amherst Lord Jeffs   25-3

The teams meet again in a rematch of a 2nd round game from last year. That game started out with the teams trading baskets for the first 4 minutes but with the score 8-7 in favor of the Cardinals, the Lord Jeffs' high powered offense kicked into another gear and the Cardinals couldn't keep up. Seven different Amherst players scored over the next 11 minutes and the LJ's outscored the Cardinals by a 37-10 margin to take a 44-18 lead with 5 minutes left in the 1st half. The 26 point advantage would be their largest of the night.  The Cardinals went 4x20 during that span which proved to be their undoing. They did outscore Amherst 19-6 over the final five minutes of the period as they knocked down 7 of their final 8 shots and made all 3 of their free throws. They managed to cut the lead in half and narrow the gap to 50-37 at the break. A three pointer to open the 2nd half got Plattsburgh within 10 points but the Cards could get no closer and the LJ's won by an 89-72 final score.

It's been 370 days since that game and tonight the Cardinals have a chance to gain a measure of revenge. The positives for Plattsburgh is that they have the players back in the lineup that were absent during the SUNYAC playoffs. The return of their top 2 scorers, Shamoy McIntosh and Shavar Fields will give the Cardinals all of their weapons against a team where you need to bring all of your weapons. John Perez will play against the LJ's for the first time as he missed last year's contest with an injury. I expect the Cardinals to use an 8 man rotation in today's game with a starting 5 of Manning, Perez, McIntosh, Hodgson and Correa. Mitchell, Fields and Thomas will be the main subs with Siergiej possibly spelling the big men if any foul problems arise.

The Cardinals have a solid group that I would rate to be a better team than the one that faced off with Amherst last year. The addition of Perez will be a big difference for Plattsburgh and the team has the advantage of 3 games in NCAA play under their belt as opposed to last year when none of the players had ever been in a tournament game before.

This Amherst team is once again making waves in their attempt to go back to back  as National Champions. Last year they dominated most of the teams they came up against in the tournament and although they didn't dominate York in their first game this year, they did end up winning by double figures. They were missing their 2nd leading scorer Connor Green in that game but I expect to see him back in the lineup today. The LJ's should open the game with a lineup of Toomey, Green, Killian, Kalema and George. The main players off the bench will be Gach, (a player from my neck of the woods, Saranac Lake) Mussachia and Levine.

I don't think this year's edition is quite as good as the LJ's were last year. The loss of Willy Workman, Big Pete Kaasila, and Allen Williamson were 3 big holes to fill. Green, Kalema, and George have certainly done an admirable job though, but I think that last year's team was loaded.

The oddsmakers have kept the line on this game steady over the past week with the Lord Jeffs listed as a 5 point favorite. If this game was played in Plattsburgh, the Cardinals would be listed as a slight 1 point favorite, and the LJ's would get the nod on a neutral court by a 3 point margin. All of that tells me that this game is basically a tossup. A 3 pointer here, a couple of missed foul shots there, a key turnover down the stretch, a bad call (and I hope that doesn't happen) can all turn the game around. I know the Lord Jeffs haven't lost in LeFrak all year long and beating them there will take the best the Cards have to offer but I can't pick against my guys even if the spread was 20 points instead of 5. Somehow I think this team can get it done today. I believe if they can come out and stay in this game early and put enough pressure on Amherst to make the LJ's uncomfortable, then the upset that most people don't think will happen, can happen. Plattsburgh wins this one 77-74.   GO CARDS!!                     

[middhoops]

Ephs and Albertus Magnus both playing well in first half.  Williams taking it to the hoops at every chance.  Fouls are going to matter here.

[GnacBballFan]

Very very impressed with Williams offense

[WPI89]

All I can say about William's first half is - WOW .

[pjunito]

Williams coaching staff had an excellent game plan. They attacked and attacked and I think caught Albertus by surprise. They forced the action and played smart defense. Still plenty of time, but if the Williams continues to get easy looks, then it will be hard to come back.

[magicman]

Is anybody else experiencing  difficulty trying to get the video feed from Amherst. An error message keeps popping up and the video won't load. Can't get the Stockton game at all... have no idea what the score is... live stats says it's 70-67 in favor of Morrisville with 7:05 to go..  The D3hoops scoreboard says it's 88-81 Morrisville with 13 seconds left.   Help!!

[Pat Coleman]

Yeah. Looks like the video stopped right at the end of the game and since the live stats were dead, it's not clear what the final was.

[magicman]

Yeah. Looks like the video stopped right at the end of the game and since the live stats were dead, it's not clear what the final was.

Well At least I have a video feed now showing the Cardinals and LJ's warming up and the live stats have switched to those two teams. Progress has been made. Thanks for the reply Pat.

[magicman]

Amherst putting on a clinic as they lead the Cardinals by 20 points at 49-29. Looks like a replay of last year's game. Cardinals need to come out on fire or this game will be over early.

Amherst shooting 53%... Plattsburgh shooting 33 %. Cardinals getting killed on the boards as well 25-14.

David George with 12 points and Connor Green with 11 lead the LJ's.  Killian with 9.    Toomey and Kalema with 7 each. Starters all shooting well.

Plattsburgh is led by Eddie Correa with 8 points and Ezra Hodgson with 7.

[pjunito]

Congrats to Williams... They played an excellent game; they attacked and forced Albertus into a one on one offensive game. Williams gets all the credit, the young men played an awesome game and the coaching staff did a great job of preparing them. This was the first time that I watched Williams play and I was very impressed. My falcons can't win it all but I am rooting very hard for the Williams team.

Good luck in the Elite 8.

[ECSUalum]

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs on their NCAA elite 8 status and to the Plattsburgh St Cardinals for another fine season!!

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs on their NCAA elite 8 status and to the Plattsburgh St Cardinals for another fine season!!

Exactly what I was about to post, ECSUalum.  So I guess I better add something else, especially since my poker buddies are using my name in vain right now for calling in sick tonight.  Great game.  Congratulations to Amherst and also to Coach Tom Curle and the Plattsburgh St. five.  Every time they looked like they might have a comeback run in them Amherst answered decisively.  I was really hoping to see Toomey reach 2000 points.  He'll do it tomorrow night I'm sure.  What can you say about a player needing 16 points to reach such a milestone who falls one shy while dishing out 12 assists.  As difficult as it is for me to realize that I've seen Joey Kizel and James Jensen play for the last time I know it will be just as tough a realization for Amherst fans to deal with concerning this great player when he makes his final exit from the court wearing the purple and white.  I thought the student commentators did a fine job, btw.  And congratulations to the Ephs as well.  Go NESCAC!

[amh63]

Amherst wins by over 20 in a somewhat sloppy second half by Amherst....due primarily by the pressing defense of the Cardinals.  In the end,  the LJs' offense was clicking when not making TOs.  The key to the game was the interior offense of the Amherst FY centers.  Ball goes inside and George scores inside. Since Levine is out, Nabatoff comes in and he dunks for his first two points.  George has at least 7 blocks for the game.  Meanwhile Toomey is quiet early and slowly gets within one point of reaching the 2000 pt level.  He has to wait for Saturday.  Toomey again gets 12 assist for the game. 

The Cardinals were very competitive in the 2nd half...playing Amherst even but they dug themselves in a hole in the first half.  Connor Green and Tom Killian were scoring.  When Amherst has at least 4 to 5 scorers playing well, not many teams can keep up.

Morrisville State is another quick athletic team that can score with a big man down low.  Another tough opponent awaits Amherst.