MBB: Landmark Conference

[ronk]

Hoopsfan:

Here's a novel idea...
Try having your team ready from the time they take the court rather than finding ways to come back from 22 point first half deficits.

This is at least the 5th conference game they have been behind by huge numbers before the half.

Also, not so sure Scranton did anything magical other than the fact that Susquehanna's shooting cooled off.

If you truly made some adjustments, you would have found a way to get over 45 minutes of starter time to score at least 1 freakin point.

I truly hope the NCAA God's (minus Dave's editorial), give the Royal's some love by extending them a bid to the tournament.

I would love to see Brenden get the chance to break Scranton's "unbreakable record" in an actual meaningful game.
This kid has left his heart on the court each & every game & deserves 1 last shot at showing a national audience what he brings game in & game out.

Truly the best player to wear the purple & white in at least 10 years.

Probably the best in the D3 era although I only have one game remembrance(the '83 NCAA champ video) of Bill Bessoir's play. Overall, I'd rank Brendan just behind Bill Witaconis, Gene Mumford, and Ed Kazakavich, mostly because they excelled against D1 schools, also.

[San Juan]

No upsets yet in the Middle Atlantic region 1ST and 2ND place team from the Landmark and CAC head to the Championship games respectfully.Those 4 teams are ahead of Scranton in the final regional poll also.I think it is looking good for Scranton to get in.Only my thoughts

[NEPAFAN]

FWIW, the "nerds" in the Pool C thread have Scranton getting in. I use that term lovingly of course.

Congrats to the Lady Royals, Landmark Champs and 26-0.

[ronk]

FWIW, the "nerds" in the Pool C thread have Scranton getting in. I use that term lovingly of course.

Congrats to the Lady Royals, Landmark Champs and 26-0.

Still 3 bubble busters left tonight and 6 more tomorrow

[CardsFan]

A night that started as poorly as possible, with Catholic falling behind to Susquehanna 20-8 after 8 minutes, ended much better. Susquehanna got everything they wanted for long stretches of the 1st half, but Catholic was able to close the gap and be down just 2 at the half. Catholic played with the lead for pretty much the entire second half. Kyle Phanord hit three huge 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 17 in the 2nd half. Great gameplan by coach Marcinek tonight, learning a lot from the last meeting. Susquehanna played a ton of zone that really limited Catholic's inside scorers.

Great individual battle tonight with Bryson Fonville scoring 33 points for the Cards and Josh Miller pouring in 32 for Susquehanna.

All that remains now is to see if we can get 3 Landmark teams in the tournament. Hope so.

[ronk]

A night that started as poorly as possible, with Catholic falling behind to Susquehanna 20-8 after 8 minutes, ended much better. Susquehanna got everything they wanted for long stretches of the 1st half, but Catholic was able to close the gap and be down just 2 at the half. Catholic played with the lead for pretty much the entire second half. Kyle Phanord hit three huge 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 17 in the 2nd half. Great gameplan by coach Marcinek tonight, learning a lot from the last meeting. Susquehanna played a ton of zone that really limited Catholic's inside scorers.

Great individual battle tonight with Bryson Fonville scoring 33 points for the Cards and Josh Miller pouring in 32 for Susquehanna.

All that remains now is to see if we can get 3 Landmark teams in the tournament. Hope so.

  Looking good at this point with only 6 bubble busters left tomorrow.

[Matt Letourneau]

Congratulations to the Landmark Conference Champion Catholic Cardinals!  I give this team a lot of credit for mental toughness--they've proven they can take and survive a punch.  Tonight, they came out very flat, and initially everything fell for Susquehanna.  However, as the first half wore on, Catholic really picked up it's defensive intensity, a few shots finally started to fall and they clawed back to even by halftime.

Similar to the Scranton game last week, they came out strong in the 2nd half, took control, and despite a few SUS runs, never relinquished.  This was a 71-60 game with under 2:00 left, so the final score was a bit deceiving as the foul game played out. 

Fonville really was a beast tonight--he can create offense unlike anybody else in the league (that would be the POY argument for him, along with his huge assist numbers).  33 points, 7 assists.  One thing that stood out tonight for Catholic. was how solid the defense was after the initial SUS run.  They forced a lot of turnovers and won that battle big.  9 steals overall.  Kevin Phanord was once again a huge spark plug and helped get the game on track on defense.  Also very good rebounding--quite a few "effort" rebounds.  Tonight it was Kyle Phanord who stepped up from a shooting perspective--it seems like either Louis Khouri or Kyle are going to get hot, and during this run for Catholic one of them have stepped up with huge 3's at critical moments time and time again.

So, congrats to Coach Howes and his staff, and the CUA senior class who get to go out conference champions.  We'll see what's next. 

[saratoga]

Congrats to Catholic...they pulled it together when they had to.

Big time players step up in big games.

All the best to the Crusaders as well as they'll certainly be getting a Pool C.

Overall, one of the most competitive years in the Landmark.

[ronk]

 After 4 of 6 bubble busters dissolved today, the Royals have a good chance of getting a Pool C(#15 of 19 possibles), according to a few close observers; no guarantees, however.

[CardsFan]

Congrats to Catholic...they pulled it together when they had to.

Big time players step up in big games.

All the best to the Crusaders as well as they'll certainly be getting a Pool C.

Overall, one of the most competitive years in the Landmark.

Spot on with regards to competitiveness of the league this year. I'd like to believe the league will keep moving that way. No idea what it'll look like next season tho.

[ronk]

Is Scranton a member of the ECAC?  Last year, when I asked if F&M was going to play in the ECAC, I was told they were no longer involved in ECAC basketball.  Maybe that was a coach's decision.

Here's a link to ECAC declared teams for this year's tourney, F&M among them. Juniata is the only Landmark.
http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/mbkb/Championships/Division_III/2015-16/DIII_Men-s_Basketball_Declared_Teams.pdf

[Matt Letourneau]

The final projected Regional Rankings have Susquehanna ranked ahead of Catholic.  If that is what actually happens, it would be nuts.  Susquehanna has a 1 game lead on Catholic in overall wins, and their RPI is slightly better by a tiny amount (virtual tie), but Catholic's OWP is higher by an even smaller amount, and common opponent record is better. 

More to the point, obviously Catholic just beat Susquehanna when it mattered the most, and also on the road (by 21!).  They were 2-1 head to head.   And against the other (hopefully) tournament team in Landmark, Scranton, Catholic was 2-0 and SUS 1-1.  Those two things should matter the most. 

[CardsFan]

The final projected Regional Rankings have Susquehanna ranked ahead of Catholic.  If that is what actually happens, it would be nuts.  Susquehanna has a 1 game lead on Catholic in overall wins, and their RPI is slightly better by a tiny amount (virtual tie), but Catholic's OWP is higher by an even smaller amount, and common opponent record is better. 

More to the point, obviously Catholic just beat Susquehanna when it mattered the most, and also on the road (by 21!).  They were 2-1 head to head.   And against the other (hopefully) tournament team in Landmark, Scranton, Catholic was 2-0 and SUS 1-1.  Those two things should matter the most.

Matt, if you're using the data from that website everyone is referencing I'm pretty sure the order there in each region has never changed even as SOS and RPI numbers were updated along the way. The order on the website isn't the same as the official NCAA regional rankings. I think we've probably moved slightly ahead of Susquehanna by this point.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

CNU
Catholic
Sus
Salisbury
F&M
Scranton

[CardsFan]

CNU
Catholic
Sus
Salisbury
F&M
Scranton

Seems about right. Thanks.