MBB: NESCAC

[7express]

The only CAC team I could see losing is Colby............but USM sucks too and is on the road IIRC, so Colby probably wins.

Amherst & Middlebury, while the games will probably be close, are both better than RIC & Keene respectively, so both are favored.
Tufts is a lot better than Dartmouth and even on the road should win by around 10 points.
Conn College is at home and can put up points, while Western can't stop anyone on the defensive end of the court, so I'd be surprised if the Camels ended up as losers.

[magicman]

Tonight's game between Amherst and RIC at Rhode Island College has been postponed due to inclement weather. The Amherst website has a brief article when you click on recap of the game on their schedule. No makeup date has been announced yet.

[NEhoops]

I guess I'll answer my own question. I did the easy part and came up with the top 10 teams, now someone just has to put them in order.

Amherst
Babson
Bates
Eastern Connecticut
Keene State
MIT
Middlebury
Trinity
Tufts
Wesleyan

[middhoops]

I guess I'll answer my own question. I did the easy part and came up with the top 10 teams, now someone just has to put them in order.

Amherst
Babson
Bates
Eastern Connecticut
Keene State
MIT
Middlebury
Trinity
Tufts
Wesleyan

Ok, I'll try.

Babson    ....   then a long, long space


Amherst
Middlebury
Tufts
Eastern CT
Wesleyan
Bates
Keene

Babson, if they stay healthy, could be playing teams from Wisconsin in March.
Amherst has the talent to catch fire but lacks chemistry so far.  But they're really skilled.
Tufts, if they get Palleschi back, jumps up over Midd.
Eastern CT may have a few losses, but they were mostly early in the season to NESCAC teams and they appear to have gained from the experience.  No one wants to see them now.
Don't completely forget Williams.  They are capable of going on the same kind of run that Middlebury did last year once post season play begins.  Like Amherst, they struggle with chemistry.  And consistency.  But, like Amherst, they are very talented.
Perhaps, WPI might belong in this list.  I'd pick them over Keene St.

[amh63]

Middhoops...nice try!  Covered all the bases, my friend plus K
7express....plus K for your comments for an interesting night.  The schedule will allow me to catch a number of the games.
Magicman...you too for the RIC game...that is a downer.  Wanted to see if Amherst has made more adjustments.  Plus K
NEhoops....bold listing on the eve of the first regional rankings.   Plus K.
7...have to wait another day for your K.

[magicman]

Middlebury with a solid first half leads Keene State 44-27 at the break.

Good guard play from the Panthers as Jake Brown has 11 points, Matt St Amour has 8,and Jack Daley has 8 points as well.   Eric McCord also has 8 points and Adisa Majors with 6.

The Owls got 7 points from Jaquel Edwards and 5 points from Ty Nichols.

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin cruises to a 78-72 win over Husson in a game that was not as close as the score might indicate. 

The game was fairly tight until mid-way through the first stanza when Bowdoin took control offensively and opened up a double digit lead.  The Polar Bears went to the break leading 40-32 and were able to stay in control through the second half.

Interesting game for Bowdoin stat wise:

-Hugh O'Neil lead the way with a double double (23 points, 13 rebounds) in a dominant performance;

-Jack Bohrs added 19 points; Tim Ahn had 9 points and 5 assists;

-Jack Simonds did his best Boris Diaw impersonations finishing with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists! 

-David Reynolds (8 points); Liam Farley (6 points) and Neil Fuller (5 points) rounded out the scoring for Bowdoin

This was a nice way for Bowdoin to wrap up their non-conference schedule and get ready for two big games this weekend.

GoUBears!!

[magicman]

Tufts loses to UMass-Dartmouth 91-82.

[magicman]

Middlebury defeats Keene State 89-77.

The 3 starting guards score 57 of the 89 points.

Jack Daley with a double-double that was 3 assists shy of a triple-double. He had a game high 23 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. He was 7x13 from the field, 2x4 3's and 7x10 ft's.

Matt St. Amour had 20 points, 6 boards, 4 steals,  2 blocks and 2 assists. He was 6x12 fg, 2x6 3's, and 6x7 ft's.

Jake Brown had 14 points (5x12 fg, 4x6 3's) with 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. 

Eric McCord had 12 points (5x9 fg, 2x2 ft and completed his double-double with a game high 11 rebounds.

Nick Tarantino had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 18 minutes of court time.



Ty Nichols led the Owls with 22 points (8x15 fg, 3x5 3's, 3x4 ft). He also had a double-double with a team high 10 rebounds. He added 4 assists, 3 steals and a block.

Jaquel Edwards had 16 points (6x15 fg, 1x2 3's, 3x3 ft) 6 boards and 1 assist.

Matt Ozella had 11 points (4x8 fg, 1x4 3's, 3x3 ft) with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Lucas Hammel had 11 points (3x11 fg, 0x3, 3's, 5x6 ft), 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Lots of turnovers for both teams, 21 by the Panthers and 17 by the Owls. Rebounding had a big difference as Midd had 51 rebounds to 34 for Keene State. The Panthers had 9 buckets from downtown, the Owls had 5. That's a 12 point differential....that was also the margin of victory. Slightly better shooting percentages by Midd from the field and deep. While the Owls had a higher percentage from the line 88.9% to 80% by the Panthers, Keene State only made 16 of 18 while Midd hit 20 of 25.

Nice win for Middlebury and should help their resume if they need an at large bid. Will help it even more if the Owls can manage to win the LEC conference again.   

[Cards Fan]

I guess I'll answer my own question. I did the easy part and came up with the top 10 teams, now someone just has to put them in order.

Amherst
Babson
Bates
Eastern Connecticut
Keene State
MIT
Middlebury
Trinity
Tufts
Wesleyan

#1 Babson
#2 Middlebury
#3 Tufts
#4 Wesleyan
#5 Amherst
#6 Trinity
#7 Eastern CT
#8 Bates
#9 MIT
#10 Keene State

Middlebury and Tufts are two quality Nescac teams for sure. Wes I put at 4 because they topped both Amherst and Trinity quite smoothly, and came close with Tufts. Amherst beat Trinity, so they take that spot. I also would give Hamilton an honorable mention, as they have great offensive ability.

[AllStar]

As a Keene fan, good luck to the Panthers the rest of the way.

[BigMike33]

Babson
Middlebury
Tufts
Wesleyan
Amherst
Eastern Connecticut
Williams
Bates
MIT
Trinity
Also receiving votes : Hamilton, Worcester Tech, UMass-Darmouth

Worcester Tech could upset Babson in conference rematch at home. They lost a close game 65-59 at Babson in early January.

Keene State graduated their 7 footer last year and looked very beatable tonight, not Middlebury's A game for sure.  Nice W though.

Another Tufts loss on the road. 10 points better than UMass Dartmouth who beat Keene State...only when they had Palleschi. Time to recalibrate

[AllStar]

Babson
Middlebury
Tufts
Wesleyan
Amherst
Eastern Connecticut
Williams
Bates
MIT
Trinity
Also receiving votes : Hamilton, Worcester Tech, UMass-Darmouth

Worcester Tech could upset Babson in conference rematch at home. They lost a close game 65-59 at Babson in early January.

Keene State graduated their 7 footer last year and looked very beatable tonight, not Middlebury's A game for sure.  Nice W though.

Another Tufts loss on the road. 10 points better than UMass Dartmouth who beat Keene State...only when they had Palleschi. Time to recalibrate

I'm a little confused at the last sentence.

[BigMike33]

Last comment was for 7Express

Tufts is a lot better than Dartmouth and even on the road should win by around 10 points.


Finally go back and read my call for Tufts to win a game on road of note. Since that call... Losses at Bates & UMass Dartmouth

Now they have the Trinity & Amherst weekend..... 

[polbear73]

Aside from a few insightful comments by this Board's more venerable posters and the heartbreaking loss at Amherst, Bowdoin's rebuilding effort,  has been under the radar for the most part and, given its current conference record, deservedly so. 

If NESCAC gave an award for the Most Improved Player, Hugh O'Neil would have to a leading part of that discussion.  Last night against a good Husson team (12-6, 10-2), O'Neill put up a career high of 23 points and 13 rebounds, many of his points coming from Jack Simonds' 11 assists.  Every week even the most inexperienced eye can see tangible improvement in O'Neill's overall game.