MBB: Landmark Conference

[Tim the Enchanter]

Gritty win by the Royals tonight over Bates in Miami.  Down 16 with just over 9 minutes to go, they whittle it down to an 8 point deficit over the next 5 minutes, and then score the last 12 points of the game to win 68-64.  Another strong game for Mancuso with 22 and 9.

[ronk]

 Yes, the bandwagon suffered a flat tire early in the 2nd half when they went down by 16, mostly due to at least 3 1-on-1 moves that failed miserably and a Bates reserve going 7-9 on 3s, many of which were 5' behind the arc.
  Royals hopefully learned that 1-on-1 is not their strength.
  Looks like the gap between the NESCAC and the Landmark widens in view that Scranton thought to be the best of Landmark and Bates near the bottom of the Nescac.

[NEPAFAN]

Bates scored 2 points in the last 6+ minutes. Are they really projected to be at bottom of the NESCAC?

They get Jim Calhouns squad tomorrow.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Bates scored 2 points in the last 6+ minutes. Are they really projected to be at bottom of the NESCAC?

They get Jim Calhouns squad tomorrow.

They aren't expected in the top half ... Amherst, Colby, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Wesleyan, Middlebury, and maybe Williams ahead of them ... off the top of my head (and in alphabetical order). Bates may surprise, but it will be a very difficult hill to climb.

But the gap between the Landmark and the NESCAC is pretty large. NESCAC is one of the Top 5 conferences year in and year out in Division III (in nearly all sports, as well). Landmark ... is in the middle somewhere. Not lower half, but not in top 15.

[NEPAFAN]

Yes, the bandwagon suffered a flat tire early in the 2nd half when they went down by 16, mostly due to at least 3 1-on-1 moves that failed miserably and a Bates reserve going 7-9 on 3s, many of which were 5' behind the arc.
  Royals hopefully learned that 1-on-1 is not their strength.
  Looks like the gap between the NESCAC and the Landmark widens in view that Scranton thought to be the best of Landmark and Bates near the bottom of the Nescac.

Bandwagon would have gone off the road, down a ditch and into a river if they didn't come back...

[ronk]

 just a minor setback; this bandwagon has enough going for it to overcome any bumps in the road. Plenty of room left at this point. All aboard!   

[Tim the Enchanter]

Royals escape with another win in Miami, as much as they tried to give it away.  They were too casual with the ball, especially in the backcourt, and gave up too many points off of turnovers.  They didn't finish consistently around the basket.  They were beaten off of the dribble.  Yet they pulled it out.  Hopefully they can tighten things up during their two week break!

[NEPAFAN]

my heart can't take this. Lot of missed chippees in the first half. BIG 3 buy BOSLAND.


Work to be done, hope the boys get some beach time though!

[Rofrog]

My question is-What is wrong with Ems is he hurt or just in Carls  dog house?

[saratoga]

Emms will be like John Vitkus...2 years of quiet study under big man zen master Carl & then his junior & senior years he'll be an unstoppable force.

[NEPAFAN]

My question is-What is wrong with Ems is he hurt or just in Carls  dog house?

You want him to play over Genachevich?

[ronk]

 Turned the game on a few mins late. With no audio or graphics, I thought the Royals were rolling on a 13-0 run; didn't find out til later in the half that they were down 17-5 b4 the run started.
  That was the most animated play from Bosland in his 1 1/2 seasons.
  The bandwagon needs a tuneup - too many fruitless 1-on-1 moves. Next stop - back @ the Long Center for Kings.
  For the benefit of recent Royals' fans(any 1 under the age of 60), a Scranton-Kings game was 1 of the top 10 rivalry games in college bball. The home court at the time(Scranton CYC, now the home of Lackawanna JC) would be filled to capacity(4000), twice the enrollment of the 2 schools combined.
  When the game moved to the Long Center(new home - 2800 capacity), hundreds were turned away at the door and 50 Scranton Swat team police were massed to handle the situation.
  1 of those games was a 3OT thriller 117-112 for Scranton preceded by a skirmish on the court between fans from both sides. The Msgr director of the CYC threatened to call off the game if there was anymore trouble. The soph star of Kings(Tom Hamm) had 45 pts and Scranton's Little All-American(Bill Witaconis) had 42.
  This was when Scranton and Kings played home-and-home in the same season, even though they weren't in the same conference.
  Alas, no more, not for many years.

[Rofrog]

Most definite.Genesavitch likes shooting 3s I like a guy that likes to stay low and bang like Henry Condron,Derrick Elphick and like Saratoga mentioned Vitkus!

[CardsFan]

So far it looks like Drew, Susquehanna, and Moravian will be battling it out for the 2-4 positions in the league. I don't think Scranton has done anything to weaken their firm grip as preseason favorite.

I saw Drew in person when they were in DC to play Catholic at the start of the month. Solid team, but they struggled to pull away from Catholic for a while in that game. Also, I wonder about the strength of their schedule so far. But with upcoming games against Hopkins, either Stevens or TCNJ, Rutgers-Newark, and Carnegie Mellon we'll know more soon.

Moravian seems to be defending very well but a quick glance at their stats suggests they're struggling to shoot.

Obviously it's still early, but I would be surprised if these 4 aren't the 4 teams in the conference tournament. Elizabethtown, Juniata, Catholic, and Goucher all appear to have real structural weaknesses that will prevent them from winning consistently in the league.

As for Catholic, it continues to be a work in progress. The roster is very low on experience with 10 players who are either freshman or sophomores, and frankly many of the sophomores were simply not in the plan last season. The team is playing with great energy but they simply cannot score consistently, which is to be expected given the inexperience. The noticeable change at the defensive end of the floor has been most welcome. The team is expending much more energy there this season than in the recent past. They have defended well enough to be in every game. All in all, this season will bring a number of losses but the promise of progress is there.

[ronk]

 Is the Cards' Riley Hayes injured? He's a quality player, worthy of all-conference consideration.