MBB: NESCAC

[formerbant10]

Sticks is right, the nickname "Treyball" for Drew Cohen is a high school thing.  His freshman year, first day of tryouts the only words he said all day were "Let me shot the treyball, gimme the treyball!"  He was only about 6'4" that year, but could hit from the outside. 

The treyball has very little to do with his current style and much more effective play.


Overtime....Pat Martin hit one of two, Shepherd goes right to the hoop to score.  Rhoten has already fouled out.

[littlejeff08]

not a good game for rhoten in his last nescac appearance...makes bedford an even easier pick

[walzy31]

Amherst Bates game:

Amherst played well. Zak Ray played great. Bedford, Cas and Wheeler again too much. Amherst 50% from deep to Bates' 18%.

Zak Ray had 30 (26 in second half), 5 steals and 5 boards. Brilliant individual performance. Adolphe nicest dunk of game...two handed tomahawk.

Trinity Tufts game:

One of the most exciting hoops games I have seen all year. Rhoten, Westbrooks and Hoar all fouled out (Rhoten in regulation). Box isn't out yet but Rhoten probably had 10-15 pts and 6 or 7 boards. Pat Martin was the spark for Trinity as they came back from down 21 with 15 minutes to play to tie it up with 8 minutes left without Ty Rhoten.
Brian Kumf had a tough game for Tufts...kept getting in the middle of foul calls on loose balls and missing free throws and lay ups, but Dave Shepard came through as the hero and MVP of the game scoring 24 on 13-13 from the line and the lay up to force OT with 2.5 seconds left. Dan Martin and Russ Martin each got theirs as well.

Amherst -21 Vs. Tufts tomorrow.

Ajsnc13,

As I said in my post, I didn't have time to check the Colby page. I was basing my estimate of Cohen's three point stats on the game he played here at Amherst. He took three 3pt shots that game and they all looked smooth and fluid and he hit 2 of them. How was I supposed to know that those are his only threes of the season? But you're probably right about me not being a serious poster...I posted the freaking All NESCAC All Crazy teams.

[JeffRookie2]

Two great games from LeFrak.

Amherst vs. Bates- Stockwell and Ray both have great games, putting up 47 between them, 30 for Ray 17 for Stockwell to keep the Bobcats close for much of the game. Two weeks ago I said after seeing these two teams play that there was no way you could put Ray in the same category as Olson. After today, I'm changing my opinion. Ray is fast, can shoot and is a good passer and defender. He played with so much heart in the second half trying to keep Bates' season alive. In the end the story was the Bobcats inability to stop the Jeffs or hit three-point shots. I didnt see the final numbers, but after the first half Amherst was shooting a ridiculous 60% from the field. The Bobcats were something like 5 for 27 from downtown, and at least three of those made ones were Ray from well beyond the arc. I think with Ray and Stockwell returning, Bates could really make a run at the NESCAC next year.

Trinity vs. Tufts- AMAZING basketball game. Tufts outhustles Trinity in the first half to pick up a 17 point lead, but could do nothing right for the vast majority of the second half, even with Rhoten sitting with foul trouble most of the time. Led by Michael Hoar and PAT MARTIN (outstanding-didnt know he could be this good) the Bantams charged back, it looked like tufts was a goner when Martin hit a three to put Trinity up by 6. For some unknown reason Sheldon refused to call a time out as the Jumbos were clearly imploding. After FINALLY calling a TO, the Jumbos regained their composure and Shepard led the Jumbos back. Trailing by two with 9 ticks left, Kumf misses BOTH free throws! The poor guy looked terrible on the Tufts bench afterwords, really felt bad for him...UNTIL after a missed free throw on the front end of a 1 and 1(forgot who missed) Shepard comes up with the ball and goes coast to coast for a layup to send the game into OT. From there on out, it was all Tufts, Pat Martin did all he could, but the Jumbos got to the line enough to get the win.

Big story- the refs stunk in both of these games. I think the Bantams have a legitimate beef, Rhoten fouling out killed them. The refs called one touch foul after another and both teams were in the double penalty for a large portion of the second half. You would think in a game of this magnitude they would let them play.

Hopefully Trinity will still get a bid. I know its a long shot, but I hope Rhoten's career isnt over. If so, he was an amazing player, the best in the NESCAC in each of the two years I've watched. (Apologies to Schiel)

Both teams played with amazing determination. Amherst will have their hands full tomorrow.

[JeffRookie2]

Halas and Cohen must have made for a sick highschool combination.

[formerbant10]

To be honest, Drew didn't play a whole lot when he was a sophomore.  Our best scorer was a kid who went on to be the QB for the University of Pennsylvannia.

Drew came into his own after I had left.  And really grew as a player the summer after his rookie year at Colby when I persuaded him to play in a tough summer league with me.  Drew "Baking Soda" Cohen (yes, we were the only white guys on our team) started to ooze with confidence after playing against some very tough big guys from some of the MAAC schools down in NY.  Look for him to blow up even more next year if he puts on a little more muscle.

As for the Trinity game, I heard the tail end of the game....right when Rhoten fouled out.  Sounded like an absolutely thrilling game, similar to how it was when they matched up in Hartford.  I hope Trin still gets in, its tough to end your career on a loss like that.  Especially when you've been expecting to get back into the NCAA's.  Trust me, I would know.

I'm excited for tomorrow's game, it'll be my first look at Amherst this year.  They seem like they meet the hype.  They have a great advantage by playing at home, playing the early game today and not playing an OT game.  Tufts better have something left in the tank or it could get ugly.

[mrmike88]

What a second game.  I lost my voice, and I didn't even have a rooting interest!

I have to echo JeffRookie - Pat Martin is the real deal.  He brought Trinity back into that game, and held them up after Rhoten fouled out.  We saw great performances from all four starting PGs today - Olson ran a smooth Jeff offense, Ray dominated, Martin stepped up his game late, and Shepherd was CLUTCH.

I was positive that once the game was tied up, Tufts was D-U-N done.  It was an epic collapse.  Credit to the boys in blue for righting the ship before it all slipped away.  And what a great ending.  I wish Rhoten could have come back to play OT, and I too had my questions about the officiating (although I think both teams have a right to complain).

Tomorrow we go on the air at 11:45.  I think Tufts showed us today that they deserve the ticket to the dance.  I wonder if it's the end of the road for Trinity and Bates, though...

[geronimo]

I love Jim Rome fans, got to be amongst the most intelligent, inciteful fans in the country... along with fans of Stephen A. Smith. Tell me, are these people the sports-world equivalent of people who take Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly seriously?

Who are Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly?

War people who namedrop to make themselves appear well informed. 

Seacrest out.

[geronimo]

I love Jim Rome fans, got to be amongst the intelligent, inciteful fans in the country... along with fans of Stephen A. Smith. Tell me, are these people the sports-world equivalent of people who take Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly seriously?

My seniments exactly.  I can't listen to Rome anymore.  My wife told me I had to stop after totalling a 5th car driving into a light pole with anger.

Don't hate on your wife like that bro.

[toad22]

I don't know who should win the POY, but who can doubt after today's games that John Bedford is the best player in the league? I've seen him play a number of times. His performance rarely ever dips below stellar. Nobody has mentioned the play of Kino Clark in the second half for Trinity. I thought his tough, harassing defense on Black rattled the Tufts team and got Trinity going. Without him the comeback would not have happened. Regarding NCAA berths, Amherst and Tufts deseve to get in, and Trinity is really on the bubble. Their odds are no better than 50-50 in my opinion.

[mariner75]

Same scenario as the last weekend of the regular season.  Amherst cruises while Tufts pulls out another death match OT thriller over Trin.  Look for a similar result today..amherst won that game 99-70.
At least the Jumbos should be in the ncaa tourney.
Watch the game on www.d3cast.com (or jumbocast).

[D3Cast]

Thanks, mariner! Saves me the plug. Hope everybody enjoyed the webcasts yesterday (minor technical turbulence aside) -- we'll try to keep it smooth today...

-steve

[formerbant10]

The Daily Dose has their predictions for Pool C bids in and they have both Tufts and Trinity making the field.  Trinity taking the 3rd to last bid.  I hope it happens, and have my fingers crossed that there are no more upsets anywhere else.  It certainly still is tight for the Bants.

Walzy, what's the line for today? 

And I can say I'm a little excited to see the Jeffs play today.

[mrmike88]

Heading down to the gym in a little while to set up...

Today's burning question: Do the Jumbos have anything left after an epic game yesterday?

[mariner75]

Amherst defeats Tufts in OT 94-86.......Back & forth game throughout.....Good luck to both teams in the upcoming NCAA tourney.