MBB: NESCAC

[middhoops]

A first for me, at least.
The "Jumbocast" of the Tufts/Trinity game has instant replays.  Really.  This is even more progress.
Hey, OG, Vandy, nescac1 and amh63; did you ever think we'd see this technology?  For free?
(nescac1 is included here only for respect purposes.  he's a kid.)

[pinseeking1]

Looks like these rescheduled games will keep the Bowdoin and Colby teams from getting home in time for the Super Bowl. Too bad.

[jumpshot]

Williams fortunate to be down only by 1 to Wesleyan at the half after committing 12 (count 'em 12!) unforced turnovers in the first 14 minutes.

How can this affliction continue this late into the season ....?

[nescac1]

Williams actually had 8 TOs, all I think in the first 10 minutes, but many of them were ugly.  Wesleyan no better -- the Cards have 10 turnovers.  Both teams playing very tough, aggressive defense and very, very sloppy offense.  Ed Flynn and Dan Aronowitz have been excellent on the inside for Williams, but the Ephs can't buy an open jumper, they've missed some pretty clean looks that they need to start hitting if they want to win.  Meanwhile Mackey for Wesleyan is unconscious, three triples, two of them from probably 26 and around 28 feet respectively, crazy shots unless they go in. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Is it just me or is the webcast from Lewiston always very choppy.  I seem to run in to the same problem every two years.  Anyway, that and work have made the game a little challenging to follow.

Amherst has a 41-33 lead at the half.

The story of the half is the continued reemergence of Johnny McCarthy.  Kid has 20 points and 10 boards...at the half.  David George has also been sensational for Amherst.

Very unusually for what is ordinarily such a balanced team, only four Jeffs have scored so far. 

Looking forward to a good second half. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Just goes to show.  The one time I am kind of genuinely rooting for Williams (so Amherst could win the Little III outright), they go ahead and lose.  I have no idea what BJ Davis was doing on that first three attempt of the final possession (seemed way too early in the shot clock), but that second three wasn't bad.

Here is an interesting trivia question.  When was the last time Williams went winless in Little III competition in both football and men's basketball in the same academic year?  Could this have ever happened before? 

[jumpshot]

Nescac1 ---I include offensive fouls in setting screens in unforced turnovers.

Ephs lose by 3 on a three-pointer with 2 seconds left in the game. Ephs not able ever to get on a run due to more unforced turnovers  (5) in the second half. A year of erratic possessions ....

Coach Reilly does a good job of getting the ball into the hands of his players who make big plays with under two minutes to go.

[nescac1]

Another NESCAC game that goes down to the last possession, another loss for Williams.  It's just been that sort of year, what can you say.  For the second time this year, BJ Davis makes a great individual play to beat the Ephs.  He had an incredible second half and made the plays that star seniors are expected to make. 

For Williams, this loss came down to rebounding.  It's been an issue all year, and will be until at least next year.  Wesleyan has guys who are physical and ferocious and who go after every lose ball.  Krill and O'Brien in particular -- neither is all that skilled, but both have tremendous will and ferocity pursuing loose balls.  Williams played FANTASTIC half court defense all game long on first shot attempts.  But Wesleyan had 17 second chance points off of 16 offensive rebounds.  A big problem all year has been rebounding off foul shots -- I think Wesleyan had at least three boards off missed foul shots.  That killed Williams vs. Trinity too.  It's just something Williams doesn't seem to have the ability right now to handle against teams with bigger, quicker, stronger more aggressive front court dudes.  And of course, the game winning shot was set up by a tie-up by Wesleyan off, yes, a defensive rebound.  Was it a foul?  Possibly, the call could have gone the Ephs' way.  But probably not the way the game was being called.  And the Wesleyan guy just made a really, really aggressive play, as they had been doing all game.

The Ephs' were also hurt by Aronowitz's foul trouble.  HE missed much of the second half and when he came back he was much less aggressive playing with four fouls.  The Ephs' got their best combined effort all season from their center duo -- Ed Flynn was awesome inside the paint on offense, and Soto was fantastic on defense with four blocked shots, all clean, in limited minutes.  The rest of the team, other than one scorching hot streak by Cole Teal in the second half, couldn't do much offensively.  But again, a game the Ephs could have won if they could just grab a few more defensive rebounds (also hurting the team is that they continue to miss the front end of one-and-ones, two more of those tonight). 

[rainchild908]

Here is an interesting trivia question.  When was the last time Williams went winless in Little III competition in both football and men's basketball in the same academic year?  Could this have ever happened before?

You'd have to go all the way back to the 1915-16 academic year, just the second year of Little Three MBB competition:

http://wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/all-time-records/littlethree.html
http://wesleyan.edu/athletics/mbasketball/all-time-records/littlethree.html

The only other years in which Williams went 0-4 in men's basketball Little Three competition are 1936-37, 1937-38, and 1979-80; they were also technically winless in 1943-44, but Little Three competition that year consisted of a single Wes-Williams game in Middletown.

[nescac1]

Those Little 3 stats are pretty incredible ... in an era of unprecedented dominance for Eph women's sports (two national titles already this year, and two more teams ranked first in the country, a number of absolute national powerhouse sports year in and year out), Eph men's sports, in particular men's team sports, have fallen on hard times.  Fortunately, I am quite confident that this year is the nadir.  A new football coach can only improve on that situation.  Men's soccer and men's basketball both had very young squads this year due to coaching transitions following the departure of two tremendous coaches ... both will almost certainly be massively improved next season.  With hoops you can see some of the pieces in place, it's just a few plays here and there that SHOULD be correctable over time that keep the team from winning some of these games that go down to the wire. 

Football will take longer, at least a few years to rebuild, but will be back at some point, could be sooner rather than later if admissions helps out just a bit.  Right now, though, it's a pretty situation for Eph men's team sports, other than Ice Hockey. 

[AmherstStudent05]

Here is an interesting trivia question.  When was the last time Williams went winless in Little III competition in both football and men's basketball in the same academic year?  Could this have ever happened before?

You'd have to go all the way back to the 1915-16 academic year, just the second year of Little Three MBB competition:

http://wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/all-time-records/littlethree.html
http://wesleyan.edu/athletics/mbasketball/all-time-records/littlethree.html

The only other years in which Williams went 0-4 in men's basketball Little Three competition are 1936-37, 1937-38, and 1979-80; they were also technically winless in 1943-44, but Little Three competition that year consisted of a single Wes-Williams game in Middletown.

Great stuff, rainchild!  Those links are very interesting and are very much appreciated.  I also can't believe that this will be the first time since 1937 that Amherst and Wesleyan have split a Little III basketball title. 

[AmherstStudent05]

If it makes Williams fans feel any better, we were apparently last shut out of any Little III glory in 1990-91.  For Wesleyan, the most recent shut out was 2012-2013. 

[toad22]

Tough, close loss again for Williams. The same ref screwed us again tonight. He also did so at Trinity. I hope we never see that guy again.

[Old Guy]

The "Jumbocast" of the Tufts/Trinity game has instant replays.  Really.  This is even more progress.
Hey, OG, Vandy, nescac1 and amh63; did you ever think we'd see this technology?  For free?
(nescac1 is included here only for respect purposes.  he's a kid.)

No, I couldn't imagine I would ever be watching NESCAC games on my TV. I love it. my focus as a fan is pretty local - I'd  rather watch any NESCAC game than any D1 game. Watched Trinity-Wesleyan tonight - good game.

The downside is that I stay home and watch the Midd men on-line when they have an away game - and don't watch the Midd women in our gym. Feel a bit disloyal.

I remember having to wait for the newspaper in the morning to find out the score of Midd's game the previous night. This is better.

[nescac24]

You have to feel bad for Williams guard Chris Galvin, all alone out there twice (once in December, once in February), checking B.J. Davis with no help at all and the game on the line. Very tough situation. And all props to Davis for making terrific plays both times.