MBB: NESCAC

[jumpshot]

Five EPH turnovers in the last 5 minutes of the first half and nine in the first 20 minutes allow Tufts to stay even at the end of 20 minutes, along with five  three-pointers by the Jumbos.

[SpringSt7]

Lol no kidding.  Ranked in the top 3 and the world comes to an end because of a single loss to a tough rival.  Were they expecting an undefeated season?  It's one loss, just forget about it and move on to the next one.  Don't think anyone expects the Ephs to slide.

Ephs slide to 4-3 since Brandon Roughley's injury

[nescac1]

But of course one injury doesn't come close to accounting for what ails Williams right now.  That was one of the worst Eph performances in many years.  Ephs are not a top 25 team right now, not close, but plenty of time to turn things around. 

Khai Champion, Josh Bernstein and Theo Henry were great for Tufts.  Williams got disastrous games from nearly everyone other than Spivy.  Hopefully the team brings more focus, poise and intensity tomorrow.  When the shots weren't falling today Williams lost composure on both ends. 

[jumpshot]

Tufts dominates Williams in all categories, winning in Chandler 71-50. Statistics tell the story in points on turnovers, in the paint (lots of layups), off the bench, from assists, etc. Teams are banging EPHS' guards around, and anyone else in the lane. Hard for EPHS to protect the rim with a couple of key players out. Got to regain some confidence and swagger .... no secrets as to any team's weaknesses in NESCAC ....

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... neglected to mention PHS 3 of 18 from distance and 17 turnovers ....

[middhoops]

Only halfway through the weekend but it sure was a good night to be a Middlebury fan.  Bates played great, leading at the half.  Midd came roaring back in the 2nd half to win comfortably.  All the while, Tufts beat the Ephs, Amherst beat Wesleyan and Hamilton took down Trinity.  Whew.
If tomorrow's games are anything like tonight's it could all even out.  That's late season conference play.

Williams fans have reason to be concerned, for certain.  The Ephs at present don't seem to be as intimidating as we thought they were.  Way too early to go all doom and gloom on them, but clearly it's time for the Ephs to catch fire.  I sure didn't see this coming.

[Painter66]

Midds game against Tufts tomorrow is huge. Tufts is really good, and Midd cannot afford a loss in their last  home game of the year in the NESCAC. It will be a war. Midd now really relies on Sobel on offense, with Stevens and Osher only taking 12 shots tonight. I don't think they can win that way, but hope I am wrong.

[Conts Fan]

... neglected to mention PHS 3 of 18 from distance and 17 turnovers ....

PHS  ??

Ephs, I would imagine.

[toad22]

The Ephs were in full collapse this afternoon. They were just plain awful. Tomorrow will tell us a lot. Anything can happen. It should be wild.

[jumpshot]

Toad22, why? What has changed, what is going on?

[Conts Fan]

I feel like Hamilton is kind of flying under the radar this season. They're a last minute loss to Tufts from being tied for first place...kind of coming out of nowhere from what was generally expected of them coming into the season. If they can somehow win the Wesleyan game tomorrow they'll be in great shape.

[Old Guy]

Midds game against Tufts tomorrow is huge. Tufts is really good, and Midd cannot afford a loss in their last  home game of the year in the NESCAC. It will be a war. Midd now really relies on Sobel on offense, with Stevens and Osher only taking 12 shots tonight. I don't think they can win that way, but hope I am wrong.

I think you are wrong, Painter66, my friend. Osher (3-5) and Stevens (4-7) only took 11 shots, yes, but they made 7 of them. The rest of the team took only 47 shots and made 22 of them. That's 50% FGA overall and 43% from three (6-14). I submit they will win a lot of games shooting like that!

Yes, Sobel took 19 shots today and made 8 of them, including a three, for 23 points (he was uncharacteristically cold from the line, 6-13). He had 7 assists and 9 rebounds — that is Jokic-like. He leads NESCAC in points, rebounds, and blocks and is in the top ten is assists. Pretty good.

Midd got a really nice balanced effort, with four starters in double figures: Sobel with his 23, and Stevens 13, Osher 12, Brennan 10 (on 5-5 shooting) and Bobbett had 5 points and 5 assists. We got 19 points off the bench (Witherington 7, Flaks 6, and Moore 6). Junior Charley Moore provided a real spark in the first half, especially when we got down 7-8 points to the very game Bobcats, playing an energetic 10 minutes in all. Charley loves to go to the hoop ("get outta my way!").

This was a tough game. Bates was up 28-20 with 8 minutes to go in the first half. Midd went on a 7-0 run to get it to 37-35 Bates at the half, a good thing. This was a good game till about 3-4 minutes left. Midd hit their shots down the stretch, Bates didn't. Baxter played well, he's a real handful, but we've known that for four years. He's a good player, gets to the basket. Bates's 6'9" senior Cam Riley had 14 points, with two threes and a long two (foot on the line). Their frosh phenom, Cravitz (22 vs Tufts), had 9 points (1-6 from three), I think all in the first half.

I don't think Bates will be able to handle Williams' size. The Ephs are so tall. Yes, they miss Roughley, but their guards are 6'4 (Prowitt-Smith) and 6'6" (Spivy) — then Karran is 6'9" and Porter is 6'7" and Hanson is '6'8" and Arnold is 6'7" (how they ever get beat on the boards is beyond me). Bates is small and fast and game. Might be fun. The Tufts-Midd game could be something of a classic. We'll see. I like close exciting games when I don't have a partisan interest. I might be pacing tomorrow.

Nice to see Ryan Scott of D3 Hoops here tonight and to get a chance to visit. He'll be here for Midd-Tufts. He mentioned that his uncle has worked in the Midd Library for 30 years (I had an office in the Library for ten years). I know his uncle, well! He is a star in Special Collections (Archives) and I hang out there at times. His uncle came to the game tonight, sat right on the floor, next to the NSN broadcaster, Bruce Bosley. I think he had a good time. Maybe he'll come back. He should not be chastised by posters for having never come to a hoop game. Do you know librarians? There's no chapter here of Librarians for Middlebury Hoop!

[jumpshot]

Old Guy: You did the right thing editing out a completely inappropriate portion of your latest post that said more about you than the observation you put forth. Surprised and disappointed when we all initially read it .... Quite unlike your longstanding quality posting.

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EPHS give up 16 points in the paint in squandering a 14-point lead down to 2 at the half. Several backdoor cuts and casual team defense a cause ....Bates knows whom to attack with their offense .... Let's see what happens in 2nd half ....

[JEFFFAN]

Can someone explain how Amherst can score 71 points against Wesleyan last night and yet at halftime versus Trinity today only have 16 points at halftime?  Bewildering team.