MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Check out the last second shot on D3 hoops that knocked out Wash U. at home!  Shades of Krill!  Wash U. Has a great coach that was going for his third national title with a fine team, rankled 4th in the last poll.  The path to the National Title got a little easier for the CAC teams, imho.
Remember meeting the Wash. Un. Coach in Salem in the gathering after Amherst won the Title in 2007.  Amherst lost to Wash. Un. the following year in Salem.

[mathteacherjedi]

Duncan Robinson big drive featured on front page over at ESPN as UM defeats MSU. Knows how to step up in rivalry games, huh?

[D3HforLyfe]

Yup, love the clean sweep night one by the 'CAC!

Big time first performance by the whole Wesleyan team, but obviously last night was Austin Hutcherson's show. 33 Points (13-17, 7-9), 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Turnovers, and 2 Steals - the best performance I've seen from a freshman at the d3 level since I have started following closely. Duncan Robinson and Joey Flannery certainly had better start to finish freshmen seasons, but, in a single game, I dont think they reached a level Year 1 like AH did last night. Robinson's 30 Points (13-18, 4-6), 6 Rebs, and 1 Ast in the Final Four against Amherst could certainly be argued, particularly with the circumstances, or Flannery's 43 and 10 in a mid-season affair against Emerson, but I still might go with Hutcherson's on Friday. He completely dominated the first 25 minutes without forcing, and at that point (with the game out of hand), he was incredibly unselfish and decided to get his teammates (who don't usually play as much) involved. He could have pushed for 40, but instead he really impressed me by recognizing that it wouldn't have been the best thing for THE TEAM. Hutcherson's demeanor and maturity seem well beyond his years and hopefully we can have an encore tonight versus a tough, tough swarthmore team.

Also, can't wait for Jordan Sears' putback dunk from last night to circulate. As the Wesleyan announcer appropriately mentioned, it would have been an incredible play at ANY level of basketball.

Great game by Austin—he's a special player. But as far as individual performances and comparisons: you have to consider opponent and stage. 1st round against Southern Vermont or Final Four against a bitter rival and NESCAC champs? There is no comparison here.

Bucket! I understand and appreciate your opinion - I certainly think the circumstances of Duncan's moment were bigger, there is no doubting that. I also would like to say that I think I'm as big of a Duncan Robinson fan as anyone on here (I believe - Marta?). I watch Michigan religiously, and just saw Robinson have his third straight very impressive Big10 tournament performance at Madison Square Garden, this time against bitter rival Michigan State! However, I think you have to also take into consideration the way they went about their dominant performances. Robinson scored most of his points against Amherst in the Four on catch and shoot 3s and transition plays often created by others. Not to say that isn't hard to do because most people miss many of those looks, but they are different. A shooter like him always makes everyone better offensively, but he wasn't creating much for others off of the dribble either. Hutcherson was the maestro of everything for Wesleyan last night. The ball was in his hands the entire time the game was competitive, and if he wasn't creating his shot for himself (most of his 3s were off of the dribble) he was creating a shot for a teammate (and did this with 0 turnovers versus a hectic, trapping SVC team). And while, i repeat, it certainly wasn't the Final Four against Amherst, I do think you are underestimating that moment for our program. Wes was 0-2 before yesterday in the NCAA tournament with a lot of pressure to change that. Packed home crowd. A solid Southern Vermont team. I think it was a pretty big game for him to step up in.

[Bucket]

Yup, love the clean sweep night one by the 'CAC!

Big time first performance by the whole Wesleyan team, but obviously last night was Austin Hutcherson's show. 33 Points (13-17, 7-9), 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 0 Turnovers, and 2 Steals - the best performance I've seen from a freshman at the d3 level since I have started following closely. Duncan Robinson and Joey Flannery certainly had better start to finish freshmen seasons, but, in a single game, I dont think they reached a level Year 1 like AH did last night. Robinson's 30 Points (13-18, 4-6), 6 Rebs, and 1 Ast in the Final Four against Amherst could certainly be argued, particularly with the circumstances, or Flannery's 43 and 10 in a mid-season affair against Emerson, but I still might go with Hutcherson's on Friday. He completely dominated the first 25 minutes without forcing, and at that point (with the game out of hand), he was incredibly unselfish and decided to get his teammates (who don't usually play as much) involved. He could have pushed for 40, but instead he really impressed me by recognizing that it wouldn't have been the best thing for THE TEAM. Hutcherson's demeanor and maturity seem well beyond his years and hopefully we can have an encore tonight versus a tough, tough swarthmore team.

Also, can't wait for Jordan Sears' putback dunk from last night to circulate. As the Wesleyan announcer appropriately mentioned, it would have been an incredible play at ANY level of basketball.

Great game by Austin—he's a special player. But as far as individual performances and comparisons: you have to consider opponent and stage. 1st round against Southern Vermont or Final Four against a bitter rival and NESCAC champs? There is no comparison here.

Bucket! I understand and appreciate your opinion - I certainly think the circumstances of Duncan's moment were bigger, there is no doubting that. I also would like to say that I think I'm as big of a Duncan Robinson fan as anyone on here (I believe - Marta?). I watch Michigan religiously, and just saw Robinson have his third straight very impressive Big10 tournament performance at Madison Square Garden, this time against bitter rival Michigan State! However, I think you have to also take into consideration the way they went about their dominant performances. Robinson scored most of his points against Amherst in the Four on catch and shoot 3s and transition plays often created by others. Not to say that isn't hard to do because most people miss many of those looks, but they are different. A shooter like him always makes everyone better offensively, but he wasn't creating much for others off of the dribble either. Hutcherson was the maestro of everything for Wesleyan last night. The ball was in his hands the entire time the game was competitive, and if he wasn't creating his shot for himself (most of his 3s were off of the dribble) he was creating a shot for a teammate (and did this with 0 turnovers versus a hectic, trapping SVC team). And while, i repeat, it certainly wasn't the Final Four against Amherst, I do think you are underestimating that moment for our program. Wes was 0-2 before yesterday in the NCAA tournament with a lot of pressure to change that. Packed home crowd. A solid Southern Vermont team. I think it was a pretty big game for him to step up in.

Yeah, I'm guessing we're in about 90-percent agreement on this—huge game for the Wes program, and for a frosh like Hutchinson to step up the way he did is huge. And I'm not surprised by it; I was really impressed with his play, seeing him in person a few weeks ago. And that leads me to a huge caveat—I didn't see the game yesterday (as I was occupied with watching the Panthers). I respect your opinion, so when you report how he played (beyond what one can read from the stats), that accounts for a lot, in my book. So I concede my counter-argument.

[nescac1]

Tough end to a tremendous season for Williams, and a well-earned victory for Thomas Bonacum and Ramapo.  I think that was the first home NCAA loss for Williams, or at least the first one in many, many years. The story really was Bonacum.  I've heard his game compared to Mike Nogelo's and I can sure see why, that was one of the best games by an opposing player in the history of Chandler.  I know his stats were down a bit this year for reasons unknown, but he sure looked every bit of a two-time all-American today, guy could do no wrong.  33 points, 13 boards, 3 gorgeous assists, and near perfect shooting, just unreal. 

Williams played well enough on defense to win but simply could not make enough shots, and could not get into any sort of rhythm on offense at any point in the game.  The aggressive pressure defense from Ramapo was very effective and kept the Ephs from getting into an easy flow.  Williams was killed by some missed FTAs, a few missed open threes, and a bunch of missed close-in shots in the first half.  Karp had a really tough night and just couldn't get the ball to drop, although there was some physical play inside that contributed to it, several of those were shots that he has been getting to fall most nights.  Heskett had some TOUGH made baskets inside, including a spectacular alley-oop back-door dunk conversion, just an unreal finish, but ultimately had trouble finding his deep shot.  Bobby Casey had a stellar inside-out game and was definitely the player of the night for the Ephs.  But the Ephs didn't give those two guys enough help and especially struggled to get points on the interior. 

Tough always to end the season especially when they were set up for a potential deep run but in the end they lost to a very good team which was in the preseason top 5 for a reason.  Ramapo will be a tough out for anyone, for sure, especially if Bonacum keeps playing like that. 

Congrats to Midd and Hamilton, hope they continue to represent NESCAC well!

[amh63]

Nescac goes 2-2 tonight.  Hamilton wins a nail bitter at York, while Midd blows out ECSU in Willimatic. ct. Wesleyan loses to Swarthmore at home.  The Cardinals gets within 6-8 in the 2nd half only to lose by a bunch in the end.  As Nescac1 pointed out, Ramapo wins a nail bitter in Willytown. 
Guess the homecourt was not an advantage in MBB tonight.

[D3HforLyfe]

Tough ending for the Ephs, indeed. Ramapo is a very good team and many predicted this due to the fact that they are a healthy pre-season top 5 team hitting their stride at the right time, but Im still surprised. I really liked this Williams squad and thought they were good enough to get to Salem... I guess the beautiful, but also extremely difficult aspect of this tournament is that in one 40 minute game, the best team certainly does not always win.

Wesleyan ran into an absolute buzzsaw tonight versus Swarthmore. I was very impressed - talented, big, and VERY well-coached. Landry Kosmalski (Swarthmore HC) is a Davidson guy through and through, and he has taken more than a few pages from Bob McKillop's coaching book for which was enjoyable to watch. Beautiful offense as expected from a Davidson disciple, but what was most impressive was the way they absolutely dominated the paint and glass. They are an old-school team that plays through and around their bigs despite having a very talented All-American guard Cam Wiley (who was fantastic tonight as well). In an age where more teams jack more 3s than ever, it was certainly interesting to watch a team do it differently. I very much respect it.

While the Garnett are a great team, it was just their night as well. Not only did they hit a number of back-breaking shot clock buzzer beating shots, they went 21-22 from the line with their only miss coming in the waning moments of the game. The toughest (and most important) one of those heaves came when it was 63-60 with about 10 minutes to go. Wesleyan, who trailed by 18 at the half, had an electrifying run (that included an absurd alley-oop from Bonner to Sears) following the under 16 media break and cut it to the 3 on an ATO three-ball from Jordan Bonner. However, it was quickly matched by a late clock bomb from, I believe, #31 on Swarthmore. That proceeded to ignite a rebuttal 15-1 run of their own and essentially put the Cards to rest as they were out of energy from the first come back and didn't have enough in the tank to make another one.

All in all, a huge step forward for our program. What an incredible atmosphere in Silloway the last two nights, what college basketball is all about.  I am truly sad that I won't get to see Jordan Sears play defense, Nathan Krill hoist 3s, or JR Bascom get in tussles down on the block anymore. A great season for a fantastic senior class (and great group of guys).

Good luck to Hamilton and Middlebury. Both are talented enough to win two next weekend as well. Represent the 'CAC as it deserves to be. I can't wait until the day my Cards take their next step and can experience the Sweet 16 too.

PS - Thx, Buckets!

PPS - Did anyone see the post game activities following Ham-York where a York fan tried to confront someone in the Continentals fan base? Looked like a policeman got involved to split it up...interested if anyone has details on what happened

[toad22]

I was sorry to see Williams lose tonight, but very thankful for the wonderful season they had. After losing Kyle Scadlock, I was worried that the season was seriously compromised. The Ephs overcame that lose to win the NESCACs. I have been worried all year that we were one top gun short,  particularly against high quality teams. That was our downfall tonight. When a couple of primary scorers had off nights, they didn't have enough fire power to overcome a very strong Ramapo team. In my mind, it doesn't diminish the terrific season they had.

[Old Guy]

What a turnaround for the Panthers: a terrific weekend. Jack Daly again shone — 11 points (just six shots, made four), 12 rebounds, but "only" 7 assists,after his triple double last night. Big nights for Dahleh (16) and Farrell (19). Very solid play again by the front court — McCord, Tarantino, Majors.  22-35 (FGM/FGA), 35 rebounds in two nights of play.

I'm in Maine on important family affairs: listened to most of the game on my car radio on Route 95 (don't ask me how: Old Girl hooked her phone up somehow) and then watched the last ten anticlimactic minutes. Brave new world. So proud of the Panthers for bouncing back after the tough last weekend of the regular season. A very resilient group, easy to like.

Wes fans: Swarthmore was easily the best team to play in our gym this year, beating Midd by 16 in early January (91-75). Very balanced, impressive group.

[AllStar]

One NESCAC team in each bracket...should be interesting to see who hosts.

[hoya73]

Longtime Amherst fan and now NJAC follower and I thought I would weigh in on Ramapo for the Eph fans.  NESCAC's suspicion on Bonacum are correct.  Well-rounded smart player.  I understood him to be battling an old leg injury most of the year—when TCNJ beat them at home I was surprised how little they called his number but it now makes more sense.  Very nice young man, by the way.
Apologies up front, but it's good for the NJAC to get that win.  It's a difficult league—physical and called that way by the refs—a lot of times the teams go into the Tourney, get refs calling the rules, and collapse.  At TCNJ the last two years I am sure that they are top 30 but one loss or two drops them out of Pool C consideration.  Two straight 14-4 conference records and no bids.  C'est la vie.

By the way, proof that there is life after the Amherst-Williams rivalry, Chessie Jackson (Williams '11) and Matt Goldsmith (Amherst '08) were both conference coaches of the year in the NJAC for TCNJ.  Good buds and most supportive of one another.  Who knew?

[ContinentalDomer]

The post-game squabble at York was brief. Some disappointed (angry?) York students started a verbal barrage during the Hamilton celebration.  Security walked them away quickly.  Nothing further.

More important, Hamilton's performance was tough-minded throughout.  Hoffman, Grassey and Groll were each saddled with early foul trouble.  All sat for much of the first half.  Down one at the break, Hamilton seized control on the defensive end and on the boards - they shut down the York guard who had 4 3s at the half and made life tough in the post for #34, although not before Hoffman fouled out with 10 minutes left and Groll was tagged with his fourth. Ham had a few run outs with Kena Gilmour and Grassey found his range. Tim Doyle was huge after taking zero shots the night before.

Gilmour (2) and Joe Pucci (1) each made gutsy steals during the final 2 minutes, which led to FTs that accounted for the difference. Ham's last FG came with 4:58 remaining. The rest of the way featured dirt dog defense.

Tough ending for the Ephs, indeed. Ramapo is a very good team and many predicted this due to the fact that they are a healthy pre-season top 5 team hitting their stride at the right time, but Im still surprised. I really liked this Williams squad and thought they were good enough to get to Salem... I guess the beautiful, but also extremely difficult aspect of this tournament is that in one 40 minute game, the best team certainly does not always win.

Wesleyan ran into an absolute buzzsaw tonight versus Swarthmore. I was very impressed - talented, big, and VERY well-coached. Landry Kosmalski (Swarthmore HC) is a Davidson guy through and through, and he has taken more than a few pages from Bob McKillop's coaching book for which was enjoyable to watch. Beautiful offense as expected from a Davidson disciple, but what was most impressive was the way they absolutely dominated the paint and glass. They are an old-school team that plays through and around their bigs despite having a very talented All-American guard Cam Wiley (who was fantastic tonight as well). In an age where more teams jack more 3s than ever, it was certainly interesting to watch a team do it differently. I very much respect it.

While the Garnett are a great team, it was just their night as well. Not only did they hit a number of back-breaking shot clock buzzer beating shots, they went 21-22 from the line with their only miss coming in the waning moments of the game. The toughest (and most important) one of those heaves came when it was 63-60 with about 10 minutes to go. Wesleyan, who trailed by 18 at the half, had an electrifying run (that included an absurd alley-oop from Bonner to Sears) following the under 16 media break and cut it to the 3 on an ATO three-ball from Jordan Bonner. However, it was quickly matched by a late clock bomb from, I believe, #31 on Swarthmore. That proceeded to ignite a rebuttal 15-1 run of their own and essentially put the Cards to rest as they were out of energy from the first come back and didn't have enough in the tank to make another one.

All in all, a huge step forward for our program. What an incredible atmosphere in Silloway the last two nights, what college basketball is all about.  I am truly sad that I won't get to see Jordan Sears play defense, Nathan Krill hoist 3s, or JR Bascom get in tussles down on the block anymore. A great season for a fantastic senior class (and great group of guys).

Good luck to Hamilton and Middlebury. Both are talented enough to win two next weekend as well. Represent the 'CAC as it deserves to be. I can't wait until the day my Cards take their next step and can experience the Sweet 16 too.

PS - Thx, Buckets!

PPS - Did anyone see the post game activities following Ham-York where a York fan tried to confront someone in the Continentals fan base? Looked like a policeman got involved to split it up...interested if anyone has details on what happened

[amh63]

The hosting sites have been announced on the men's side.  Ramapo is a host for the sectionals.  Go to the updated brackets on D3hoops to see who goes where.  Swarthmore is playing host too!
Good to hear from you again, hoya73 .

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Looks like I get to see Hamilton again.  I'll be at Swat for the games next weekend.  I have to apologize to the Continentals - I was down on them most of the year, but the defensive performance they put on this weekend was truly impressive.  That's a team worthy of Salem and I'm glad I'll get to see them battle for the opportunity to go.  I'm really hoping for a Ham-Swat sectional final - I'd love to see that matchup - it should be just as good as the battle with York, which was one of the best games I've seen in a long time.

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like I get to see Hamilton again.  I'll be at Swat for the games next weekend.  I have to apologize to the Continentals - I was down on them most of the year, but the defensive performance they put on this weekend was truly impressive.  That's a team worthy of Salem and I'm glad I'll get to see them battle for the opportunity to go.  I'm really hoping for a Ham-Swat sectional final - I'd love to see that matchup - it should be just as good as the battle with York, which was one of the best games I've seen in a long time.

Jonathan Patron might have something to say about that, Ryan. That man is an astonishing basketball player.