2011 Tournament Team Profiles

[atn alum]

Coast Guard Bears
NEWMAC Tournament Champions
14-13 overall, 2-10 in league play (last place)
Head coach: Pete Barry, 17th season

Key wins: 3 straight in the NEWMAC Tournament vs Babson, Wheaton (Mass.) and then No. 13 WPI

Starters: G Al Sowers, G Grant Johnson, F Eric Hudson, F Jeff Prebeck, C Ryan Burgess
(Sowers, Johnson, Prebeck are Jrs., Hudson is a Fr., Burgess is the lone Sr.)

Key reserves: F Steve Blum, G Stefan Lewis, G/F Justin Church, F Frank Cheske

Details: Prebeck ranks 2nd nationally in rebounding at 12.3 per game, leads team in scoring at 15.9 points ... Sowers is right behind at 15.3, had 23 in the title game win over WPI ... Grant Johnson (9 3-pointers vs Babson in NEWMAC quarters) ranks 42nd nationally making 3 3-pointers per game.

Coast Guard averages 69.1 PPG, allows 64.4, has made a habit of playing close games all season. The Bears were up 19 on first-round opponent RIC on Dec. 12, but lost at home, 76-71. They've lost 5 straight to Rhode Island, including 3 in the last 2 seasons.

They are in the NCAA for first time since 1979 and the game against RIC will be played 28 years to the day of their last NCAA Tourney game, amazingly also against RIC

The Bears are one of the Cinderella stories of the NCAA Tournament and anything else you'd wanna know about their season can be found here

http://www.d3hoops.com/news.php?item=930

[fcnews]

Fontbonne University, Clayton, MO. (16-11, 12-6)

How they got there: Coming off an 8-17, 4-10 season in 05-06, FU started the season 2-7. Fontbonnedoes not have a Senior of Junior on the roster. Five of the seven losses came on shots in the last possesion. After losing a well played game @ U of Tampa on Dec 29th, the Griffin's finished the season 14-4 and earned the #4 seed in four team SLIAC conference tournament. FU played host Webster Univ. (#1 seed ) winning 67-62. Fontbonne met #3 seed Eureka in the finals and won 88-79 in OT.

Starters:
Brian Fogerty - 6'5 soph F - 18.6 pts., 8.2 rbs. ranks 33 in nation in fg% 59.9 - 1st All - SLIAC
Trevor White - 6'5 fr. G/F - 15.3 ppg,, 5 rbs, ranks 10th in the country from 3's 47.8% SLIAC NOY
Patrick McCoy - 5'11 soph. PG - 11.7 ppg. and 128 assists - SLIAC Tourney MVP
Josh Branch - 5'11 fr. G - 13-3ppg.
Justin Storandt - 6'8 soph F - team defensive specialist and avg. 8 rebs

Bench:
Chad Fournie - 6'3 soph. G/F
Zach Dill - 6'2 G
Terrance Lovette - 6'7 fr. F (Featured in this weeks Around the Nation

Fontbonne is Coached by Lee McKinney. Coach McKinney (MO. Sports Hall of Fame 1994) starts the tourney with 753 wins and a consecutitive games coached streak of 1296. McKinney started the program -n 88-89 after having coached for 12 yrs at Missouri Baptist Univ.

Fontbonne's last appearance: 1996
Mascot - Griffin
enrollment - uder grads. 1350

Previous Wash U. meeting : a 15 pt. loss in December

[Mr. Ypsi]

Re: Augustana - too late. 

In remorse over their treatment of the CCIW, the NCAA has granted the conference a mulligan.  Carroll is to return to Illinois to face Elmhurst, 2:30 Friday afternoon. 

[ur2004]

University of Rochester Yellowjackets

18-7 Overall, 9-5 UAA (t-3rd)
How Earned Bid: Pool C

Wins vs. NCAA teams: Wash U, St. John Fisher, Brandeis
Losses vs. NCAA teams: Lake Erie, at Wash U, St. John Fisher, at Brandeis, at/vs Chicago

The 'Jackets are back in the tournament two years after reaching the NCAA championship game (winning @Amherst and vs. Calvin along the way), where they fell to WI-Stevens Point.  A number of key players return from that squad, including starters Jon Onyiriuka, Uche Ndubizu, Tim Brackney, and Jeff Juron.

Rochester is known for a methodical, grind-it-out, efficient halfcourt offense (lots of deadly three-point shooters as well as dunks and layups in the post), attacking the boards, and stingy defense.  They have a balanced game but don't score a ton, though they don't give up much either (opponents' 35% FG shooting).  Rochester plays a tough schedule (finishing #9 in the men's RPI as reported on the front page earlier in the week) in a tough league, and have plenty of tournament experience.  They are coached by veteran Mike Neer, who has an NCAA championship plus three Final Fours under his belt.

Starters:
F Jon Onyiriuka (6'7/230 Jr.) - 12 pts/8 reb/2 ast per game, 49% FG shooter
F Uche Ndubizu (6'6/245 Jr.) - 10 pts/7 reb/1 ast per game, 59% FG shooter
G/F Mike Chmielowiec (6'3/190 So.) - 13 pts/3 reb/2 ast per game, 44% 3PT shooter
G Tim Brackney (6'1/180 Sr.) - 11 pts/1 reb/2 ast per game, 42% 3PT, 80% FT shooter
G Jeff Juron (6'1/160 Jr.) - 9 pts/2 reb/4 ast per game, 83% FT shooter, 2:1 ast/TO ratio

Key Reserves:
F Eric Snider (6'7/215 Sr.) - 55% FG shooter
F Dan Millbrand (6'6/215 Jr.) - 46% FG shooter
G Rob Dominiak (6'3/165 Jr.) - 46% 3PT, 92% FT shooter
G Max Kaplan (6'0/170 So.) - 44% 3PT shooter, 2 ast/game in 13 min/game

[mattapn02126]

Salem State Vikings
24-2    (14-0 MASCAC)

Key Wins : WPI , do Gordon or Bridgewater qualify?
Key Losses : Roger Williams, Wheaton

Starters:

Eric Downie :  Senior  6'4'' swingman, 2 Time MASCAC Player of the Year. Averages of : 21.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 45.3 FG %, 44.1 3PT FG %, 1.56 STL.

Brandon McCombs: Senior  6'5'' plays 3/4. Well Built, has some range, runs the floor well.
AVGS:  15.2 PPG, 9.7 RPG (1st in Con.), 46.5 FG%.

Dylan Holmes: Sophomore  6'7'' F/C.: Fundamentally sound big man who is still improving.
AVGS: 12.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 52.8 FG%, 2.35 BLKS.

Marquis Victor: Junior  Plays both backcourt slots. Athletic, can shoot it, active defensively.
AVGS: 9.3 PPG, 2.4 APG, 1.4 STLS, 33.6 3PT FG %.

Nick Tokarski: Freshman Point who had a great rookie campaign.
AVGS: 6.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 1.87 STLS, Assist - Turnover : 1.92 (2nd in Conf.).

Key Reserves

Guard Alex Finn brings offense off the bench (8.1 PPG) as a deadly 3 pt shooter: 47%, good for first in the MASCAC.

Guard Ramon Cruz handles the ball well and can push it as well as run the half court sets effectively.

Forward Rawleigh Preaster brings a big body and rebounding tenacity.

Pretty much an 8 man rotation, Downie, McCombs, and Holmes all average 30+ minutes.

Coach Sean Doherty has compiled an impressive 91-19 record in 5 years at the helm of SSC, including a 51-4 mark in MASCAC play. He has yet to reach a Sweet Sixteen, twice eliminated in the 2nd Round. He was an assistant at Holy Cross for 4 years prior to his present head coaching post.

Outlook: Salem is very athletic and has pretty good size. The guard play is erratic, but at times very good. It is easy to fall in love with them when they run the floor and share the ball, but can sometimes appear disinterested. The biggest knocks on them are: how weak their conference is this year, and their lack of quality wins (aside from WPI). Ive seen them six times this year, and if they play together they will give any team in NE trouble. I have never seen teams from other regions, so I couldnt even guess about what could happen if they advance out of their bracket.

                 

[gordonmann]

Here's my seven minute scouting report on JHU to help the cause...

Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays
23-4 overall, 15-3 Centennial Conference regular season and tournament champions
How earned bid: Pool A (AQ)

Wins vs. NCAA teams: None
Loses vs. NCAA teams: Mississippi College (75-51 in California)

The Jays are in the tournament after losing in the Conference finals last year to Ursinus.  They flew out to a comfortable lead in the conference standings by winning 13 of first 14 Centennial contests.  JHU also won the Provident Pride of Maryland tournament which features eight Division III teams from that state.  The Centennial has been eliminated in a Thursday evening game the last two tournaments (Ursinus loses at home vrs NYCCT and Farmingdale State).  Most of the conference's NCAA postseason success belongs to Franklin & Marshall.

Likely starters

F - #55 Matt Griffin (17.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg):  Jostens Award finalist...profiled in this week's "Around the Nation"...a very strong post player who has become a better jump shooter but is still most dangerous around the rim...decent defender, very good rebounder...second biggest arms I've seen on a player this year to...
F - #45 Danny Nawrocki (12.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg): Very similar to Griffin...biggest threat to score near the basket, but offense will run through Griffin and him on the perimeter...pretty sure his biceps are bigger than my thighs
G - #05 TJ Valerio (12.6 ppg): Good outside shot and maybe the key to Blue Jays' success...needs to shoot threes to extend defense so Griffin and Nawrocki can work inside.
G - #02 Colin Kamm (4.3 ppg, 2.3 apg): Sophomore guard who has started all but one game...only 86 FG attempts all season
F - #35 Kevin Roach (2.5 ppg, 2.8 apg): Tall enough to play forward but fast enough to defend guards...likely will be used in tandem with Morley and Armen

Key reserves
G - #43 Doug Polster
G - #22 Pat O'Connell
F - #33 Chris Morley
F/C - #32 Zach Armen

Things are going well when:[Griffin and Nawrocki are not just passing the ball around the perimeter but creating open looks for each other off those passes...Valerio and Polster are hitting open shots to prevent defenses from playing zone...Armen and Morley can contribute with rebounds and defensive intensity and don't have to worry about scoring a lot

[kiltedbryan]

Capital University Crusaders
(19-8, 13-5 OAC)
OAC Pool A Bid Representative

Capital sports a varied attack with varied personnel.  10 players average over 10 mpg, and only leading scorer Nate Stahl (14.2 ppg) averages above 30 minutes per contest.  Stahl anchors the guard attack; he leads all of Division III with 52% shooting from distance.  Two others, Ross Niekamp and Ryan Wood, shoot nearly 40% from 3.  Steve Kyser anchors the inside attack, with 12.9 ppg and 5.1 boards.  I've also been impressed with the agility and defense that reserve Quintin Mitchell brings in the post.  Capital likes to move the ball quickly upcourt, but can settle down into a traditional half-court offense if a quick shot isn't available.

Defensively, Capital seems to use man-on-man defense exclusively.  They like to put a lot of pressure on guards out front.  Brian Alge and Ryan Wood tend to draw the opponent's best.  Alge in particular will hound a guard all over the court, denying passes all the way out near the mid-court line.  Cap's deep rotation helps them be able to put forth tons of effort, since a fresher body is always available on the bench.  They can switch in and out of a full-court press several times during a game, so offenses need to be aware or else be caught off-guard.

Weaknesses?  An off-night shooting could sink Capital.  I've seen them take over games via the 3- including a memorable 21-7 run that featured 6 straight made 3 pointers in their OAC quarterfinal victory.  To shut down Stahl you have to mark him all over the court- but Niekamp and Wood are good enough that you can't leave them open, either.  Also, Capital could be hurt by a team with an exceptional post, as evidenced by the OAC final: Cap essentially had no answer (other than to just outscore him) to John Carroll's Brandon Mimes, who logged 34 pts. and 8 boards in the OAC final against them.

Capital is alreadly riding something of a mini-cinderella run.  They weren't supposed to be the winners of the OAC anything this year- the preseaon OAC poll had them fifth in the conference.  In a trend that both #23 Centre and #2 Wooster hope fails to continue, this season Capital has gone 3-1 vs. teams ranked in the d3hoops Top 25 at the time Cap played them.  That includes two victories over ONU (as #2 and #19), Baldwin-Wallace (#13), and a double OT loss to #10 Wittenberg.

[Greek Tragedy]

Salem State Vikings
24-2    (14-0 MASCAC)

Key Wins : WPI , do Gordon or Bridgewater qualify?                 

If Wisconsin Lutheran qualifies for Oxy, then yeah!

[diehardfan]

diehardfan posted on the SCIAC board that she'd appreciate a capsule report of the Oxy team, so I took a stab at writing one.

Ignore my tablemakeing friend ... and thanks!

[superman57]

St. John Fisher College Cardinals 22-5 11-3 Empire 8

Key Wins: Utica x2, UofR, Brockport
Key Losses: UofR, Brockport, Alfred

Starting 5

G Frosh. Matt Newman
G Sr. Dan Mueller
F. Frosh Chris Baltz
F. Jr. Justin Beigel
C. Sr. Dan McSweeny

Key Reserves
Adrian Fenyn
Isiah Smalt


Fisher plays an Inside outside game...if Mueller and Baltz are hitting 3's they are tough to beat. McSweeny and Beigel are tough on the inside glass. Beigel tends to be a key to this team as he needs to have a good team. Smalt is a good tough big man to come off the bench and releave the starters.  Fisher will try to win the game in the first 8 minutes of each half. They will try and usually do make big runs to start off the game.

Weakness-Fisher is putting a lot of pressure on two freshman. If you pressure Newman on the way up he is prone to throwing the ball away.  Don't let Mueller get an open look because he can kill you from behind the arc.


P.S. PLEASE feel free to ad to my assesment of Fisher or call me an idiot if you want

[Greek Tragedy]

Oxybob,

I was trying to be funny...apparently it wasn't a good effort.

Anyway, I have nothing against Oxy and your post was informative.  No big deal, don't take my sarcasm the wrong way...hence my " " in that post. 

I was there to see WLC upset Aurora, and yes Aurora is in the tourney, but I still wouldn't consider that a "key win".  Like I said, you took my post too seriously, sure it was a little jab at Oxy, but in a friendly manner.

Anyway, frodotwo already put in a review for my team that I support.

[njlincolnlion]

Lincoln University (PA)
Mascot: Lions
Conference: Independent
2006-2007 Record: 18-8
Head Coach: Garfield Yuille, 3rd Year (64-20),  Lincoln Univ., Class of 1991

Key Wins: North Central, NJCU (2x), Ramapo
Key Losses: Ramapo, Richard Stockton, PSU-Altoona

Likely Starters:  Sami Wylie, Dwight Dean, Tyreek Byard, Darryl White, Thomas Lahart.


Key Reserves: Vincent Carter-Bey, Dante Blanton, Earl Miller, Garrick Wooten, Lavine Grimes


Last NCAA Appearance: This is Lincoln's second consectutive NCAA appearance followind a 1 point loss to eventual national champion VA Weselyan at Norfolk, VA during the sweet sixteen.

Details:  Lincoln is 23-3 on neutral courts the last three years, and are 7-1 this season.  The Lions key defensive players are Darryl White (shot blockings) and Vincent Carter-Bey & Thomas Lahart (steals).  Sami White is the "trey speacialist" , with Dwight Dean cleaning the backboards.

The Lions go 10 deep in their rotations, without any fall-off in talent.  Unfortunately, Lincoln has had tendencies to get out of the gate too slow and has had rallies fall short.  Lincoln's most successful rally was at NJCU when after giving up 51 points in the first half, the Lions only allowed 25 points in the final 20 minutes.  The Lions forced the Gothic Knights into 20 turnovers including seven in the final 77 seconds.  Of the eight Lion losses, four were to DII and NAIA teams on the road. 

The Lions have received at least two points from 23 of it's 24 players who have played at least once this season.  The Lions lost one player (Kyle Myrick) from last years NCAA participants.  This will be Lincoln's last DIII NCAA appearance, as the Lions will be moving to DII next season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'm not from Wentworth, but I'm guessing no one else will give a preview for them.

Wentworth is a young team on a big run right now.  They've been a perennial joke in the relatively weak Commonwealth Coast Conference for some time now.  Last year, they began recruiting well and the results have shown the second half of this year.

Due to some construction delays they only played 3 games on campus this year, playing the majority of their home games at other gyms around Boston.  The team finally came together with the return of Weonard Bynes who sat out the fall semester due to monetary constraints, which allowed for a three guard line-up, moving Sophomore PG Todd Doyle to shooting guard and giving the playmaking responsibilities to Junior Ed Bolton.

The Leopards are led by Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Affectionately called PBJ to those of us on the CCC Board) a junior who also won Conference Player of the Year for the CCC this year, due in part to his leadership of WIT's massive turnaround.

Starters
PG - Ed Bolton, Jr. (6'0" 188) 6.8ppg, 4.5rpg, 2.67apg
SG - Todd Doyle, So. (6'0" 180) 15.4ppg, 50% FG, 47% 3ptFG, 2.8apg
G - Sherrad Prezzie-Blue, Jr. (5'11" 165) 20ppg, 57% FG, 46% 3ptFG, 2.9apg
F - Brian Gaine, Sr. (6'2" 200) 11.1ppg, 54% FG, 6.5rpg, 2.1apg
F - Weonard Bynes, So. (6'3" 200) 9.1ppg, 49% FG, 6.8rpg, 2.4bpg

This team is small and quick, relying on timely passing and good shooting.  They struggle on the boards, but all five of their major players can pass the ball very well.  They have proven the ability to stay with teams even when their defense doesn't get stops.  If the shots are falling they can be dangerous, but there is little chance they'll be able to compete with St. John Fisher.  Next year will be their better shot to compete.  This bid was an unexpected and welcome surprise.

[tballs]

Not sure if this is too late but:

Trinity College Bantams: 21-4 (8-3 NESCAC)

Starters: F: R. Martin (15 pts 5 rebs)                          Reserves: F: R. Taylor III (13 pts, 5 rebs)
               F: M. Hoar (4 pts 6 rebs)                                              F: P. Rowe
               F: A. Westbrooks (4.5 pts, 2.5 rebs)                            F. S. Dunn
               G: Kino Clarke (13.3 pts, 4 rebs)                                  G: P. Hasuik
               G: P. Martin (11.5 pts, 5 asst)


Team: The Bants are a well balanced, athletic, deep team that looks to push the temp when possible and extend pressure on the defensive end.  Will often play the entire game with full court pressure defense with all of these 9 guys play meaningful minutes.  Offensively they are paced by their guards and their big man R. Martin.  Martin is a 6' 8" forward with excellent post skills and all around game, able to shoot out to 20 ft.  P. Martin is the point guard of the team looking to distribute.  He will also put the ball on the floor and get to the hoop and is not hesitant to shoot the 3 to a distance.  K. Clarke is an explosive scorer who has had 30+ points more than once this season.  A. Westbrooks and M. Hoar provide the defense for the starters.  Off the bench R. Taylor is an extremely athletic G/F with a solid shooting touch. The rest of the bench are all athletic guys who contribute in different ways.

The Brandeis matchup with be v. tough, and it will be interesting to see if trinity wants to go up and down with the judges (who have a lot of good athletic guards) or use their size advantage and pound the ball inside.  The bantams get into trouble when they stop running and rely too heavily on outside shooting with out getting R. Martin or R. Taylor touches in the post. 

Should be a great game

[pabegg]

The Washington University Bears return to the tournament as champions of the University Athletic Association and the #8 team in the country according to D3Hoops.com.

Starters

F Troy Ruths 6'6" Jr, 19.2 PPG, 7.8 Reb
F Tyler Nading 6'6" So, 15.2 PPG, 6.2 Reb
F Nick Nickitas 6'5" Sr, 6.4 PPG
G Sean Wallis 6'2" So, 13.6 PPG, 7.4 Assists
G Aaron Thompson 6'3" Fr, 7.2 PPG

Key Reserves

F Cameron Smith 6'5" Fr, 4.7 PPG in 21.4 minutes/game
none of the other reserves see over 10 minutes/game

Strengths

Troy Ruths, an Academic All-America, is the focal point of the Bears offense in the post. As he frequently draws the double-team, many of the points are actually generated by finding Nading or Wallis open outside.

The Bears are solid defensively, not allowing any opponent over 75 points in regulation this year and yielding only .420 field goal percentage.

Weaknesses

Depth is a major problem for the Bears, who lost starting guard Danny O'Boyle in game 4 of the season, and do not have the bench that most teams at the top level have. They are only 2-3 when they have a player foul out.

As a result, look for the Bears to play a very controlled game, with very deliberate offensive and defensive sets.

Outlook: The Bears went 5-3 against tournament teams, plus 1-1 against near miss NYU, so they have a lot of experience against top level schools. Look for that experience and patience to wear down their opponents this weekend, and potentially be the most dangerous challenger to UW-Stevens Point run to the title next weekend.