MBB: NESCAC

[SpringSt7]

Roanoke leads Catholic by 9 at the under 4. Catholic is without its best player due to illness but otherwise this game was expected to be a toss up, so wouldn't really favor Trinity either way hypothetically. In Middletown, the Mary Washington Cinderella story is still alive and well, they lead Emory by 3 with 17 minutes left.

As an aside, Redlands is crushing Hampden-Sydney.

[SpringSt7]

7-0 run for Catholic as I typed this out

[SpringSt7]

Hard to believe but Jamie Cosgrove is now the NESCAC active leader in Elite 8 appearances with 3. App with 2 and Reilly a few minutes away from joining the list.

Trinity is playing the best basketball of anyone left in the tournament in my opinion

[toad22]

Hard to believe but Jamie Cosgrove is now the NESCAC active leader in Elite 8 appearances with 3. App with 2 and Reilly a few minutes away from joining the list.

Trinity is playing the best basketball of anyone left in the tournament in my opinion

Agreed, Trinity looks great. All the games should be fun tomorrow. Williams' old friend Aaron Kelly at Catholic had a great win today. They might be very tired though.

[nescac1]

Catholic won in OT last night despite missing its top player thanks to a 36 point game from a player who'd never before made it to 20.  I don't see anything like that recurring against Trinity and on paper Catholic is the sort of smaller slower team Trinity is custom built to lock down, especially if Neylon remains out. 

Trinity has been on such a massive roll since February 1 - undefeated with nearly every win by double digits (including three comfortable NCAA wins and two blowouts of Tufts) other than a seven point road win at then number one Wesleyan.  They've given up 45 or fewer four times in that stretch, including against some very good teams - that's just crazy defense.   Something really crazy would have to happen for Trinity to have trouble, playing at home as the much fresher team. No matter what happens over the next week I expect them to enter next season at number one nationally. 

Wesleyan - Emory should be a lot more fun, a battle of the two best guard pairings in the nation.   

Better than 50-50 odds at this point of an all NESCAC/UAA final four. I think it's been awhile since a UAA team made it but this year it's looking extremely likely they get at least one.  As much of a roll as Redlands has been on, and as difficult as they are to play with no preparation time, NYU has so many good ball-handlers and shooters that I still like them by about ten in that game.  NYU-Trinity would be an epic title game and those are clearly the two favorites right now. 

[D3BBALL]

Neither Wesleyan or Trinity has played a close game yet. I think that changes today for at least one of them, probably both.  Trinity playing great, lots of depth and off the charts defensively. But Catholic can shoot it, will be interesting.

I like NYU and Wash U to get to the final four. The other two games are tossups.

[nescac1]

I'd personally rank the odds for the favorites as Trinity: 90 percent; NYU 75 percent; Wesleyan 65 percent; Lacrosse 55 percent.

 

[jumbomumbo]

Trinity 83-57 over catholic
Emory 77-72 over Wesleyan

[SpringSt7]

Trinity-Wesleyan next week for a spot in the National Championship. UAA-NESCAC, spicy! Congrats to both, Trinity keeps rolling and Wesleyan's offense has looked pretty bad for about a month but they found a way again this time in OT. The national semifinal will be an absolute war

[nescac1]

Congrats to Trinity and Wesleyan. The third time that two NESCAC teams will meet for a trip to the title game, after two Amherst vs. Williams games in 2004 and 2014.  Wesleyan's first Final Four - the sixth NESCAC team to make it - and Trinity's third.  Trinity will certainly be slightly favored the way they've been rolling but the teams are as even as it gets on paper. 

We are also gonna have finally the first non-Amherst/Williams NESCAC team in a D3 championship after several have come close.  I believe NESCAC's record in title games right now is 3-4 overall so a chance to get to .500. 

[WPI89]

Congrats NESCAC. reload every year. Incredible.

[D3BBALL]

Trinity down 17-5 early. Couple possessions later it was 17-12. Second unit came in and continued momentum. Not sure there is a better 2nd unit in country. Last 34 minutes of game , catholic out scored 79 to 46. Trinity just defends.
Wesleyan Trinity part III should be fun to watch.
Still wish the would reseed final 4. Trinity vs NYU and Wash U vs Wesleyan. Give each conference a chance to play against each other in finals.
I got 3 out of 4 correct for final 4, tufts urgh!!!!

[CacBball]

Congrats to Wesleyan and Trinity. Great for the league and for all of us to get to see that matchup one more time.

Great point re Trinity's second unit, D3BBall. In games that I have seen this year, there have been countless times Trinity gets off to a slow-ish start before the second unit comes in and puts things back on track. Teams are forced to either (a) keep their starters in beyond maybe a common 6-8 minute range to start the game or (b) go to their generally weaker players off the bench. Either way it seems the Bantams' second unit consistently takes advantage. I don't think there are 2 better guards in the country to be bringing off your bench than Berry and Ayles. Berry is one of the purest scorers this league has to offer, despite his modest playing time, while Ayles is incredible defensively and does a good job of directing traffic on offense. I'd add that McDonald in the frontcourt is just a classic Cosgrove player. Gritty/grinder/hustler etc. etc.

[names jaismith]

Congrats to Trinity and Wesleyan.  Wesleyan dodged a bullet yesterday - both teams excellent but Emory missed so many wide open threes and shots right at the rim. 

Wesleyan Trinity Part III should be a classic.

I like Trinity in a close one because of depth and defense.  Let's say Trinity 73 Wesleyan 66, not decided until final minute.  No need for a scouting report for either side!

[jumbomumbo]

Loved Coach Reilly calling a timeout with 0.8 seconds left in OT up 3 after Emory coach had already drawn up a play and players took the court. No idea what was changed but def screwed w the mind of Emory coach and I'd say it worked out well.