MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[Saint-Paul]

Final Score  :  MIT  70  /  Emmanuel  46

     Last night's game was a contest of polar opposites, MIT  12 - 4 vs Emmanuel  4  - 12.  Another poor shooting performance for the Saints on their home court going 18 - 55 from the field.  MIT used a 24 - 6 run midway through the first half to put this game away early.  The second half was played just to determine the final score.  The Saints played without passion or energy in the second half and never put a scare into the Engineers who were able to substitute freely most of the game.  At least the Saints did not open up in their legendary full court man press, they had enough sense to pack in their defense into a tight 2-3 zone.  The sharp passing and quick ball reversals by MIT was impressive.  The Saints looked completely overmatched in this game.

[pjunito]

Saint..

MIT has been a strong program for a few years now.. I am surprised by the final score.. I would have thought that the Saints would have played with more passion and heart. Seems like they gave up in the second half. I know MIT is solid defensively and excuse their offense very well, but I would have expected a better effort last night.

[lildave678]

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cb2014&sub=11620

Albertus up to 20th in the Massey after last night's win...

[pjunito]

Correction, I just found out..The Technical at the beginning of the game was for dunking in the lay-up line... Jennings would have received a technical if he didn't remove his undershirt.

[Saint-Paul]

Preview   J & W  /  AMC

      I would like to wish good luck to the supports of both teams for this game. I hope you enjoy the game. I have seen both teams play twice this year once live and once on video and I have been very impressed with both teams. Both teams field very long, athletic players who can rebound, score, and defend.  They both like to push the ball up the floor and will also step back and shoot the 3 ball. Should be a real good game.  It will be very interesting to see if both teams play man to man defense, or, after scouting each other they both decide to slow the other team down by playing a zone. I don't think that will happen.  I believe that both teams have too much respect for the other team to sit back in a zone.  The key players on both teams need to be guarded man to man.

      It is possible that both starting five groups may neutralize each other and the game could be decided by the bench players.  I think that Garrick, Touze, Walker, and Wiggins, are all quality players who could start for any other GNAC teams.  The contributions off the bench could be a significant factor in this game.  I hope the game is well played and well officiated.  Good Luck.

[Albertus2007]

Big game at Albertus tonight.  What's the scouting report on JWU?  Anyone going to the game?

[pjunito]

Welcome to the boards Albertus... Saint did a good job of giving a preview.. He also watched JWu a few times already so he has a better feel of the team than me. But, here I go...




Johnson and Wales comes into New Haven tonight; a battle for first place. Albertus is 10-0 and JWU 9-1.

Here is a look at the match-up:

Johnson and Wales has last year rookie of the year in Greenway, an athletic guard who is averaging 20 points a game. JWU has balance scoring: they have 5 guys who average over 10 points a game.

Starters:
G – #22  Lewis 6-1 So. -  14 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast
G – #15 Greenway  6-3 So. -  20 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast
G –  #4 Lucas  5-10 Sr. – 11 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast
F - #3 Robinson 6-5 Jr. – 6 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast
F - # 23 Barboza 6-7 Sr. – 6 pts, 3 reb
Key Reserves:
#12 Garrick 6-4 guard So. – 11 pts, 5 reb
#24 Touze 6-6 Forward Sr. – 16 pts, 10 reb

JWU averages 79 pts a game, 41 rebounds, and 14 assist. They are not deep, so they play a zone to try to stay out of foul trouble. But, they play the zone well; they are long and have good athletes. They have good ball handlers and run their offense through their guards. Both starting forwards average a combine 12 pts and 6 rebounds.. This tells me there is a lot of pick and rolls and set plays for guards. Starting forwards don't crash the boards. Lucas has 5 offensive rebounds and Barboza 7 in conference play.. yes, that is combined 12 rebounds in 10 conference games from your starting front court.
JWU shoots the ball well, 48% from the field this year, but only 35% from long range. They work the mid game well and get easy hoops in transition. Greenway, Lewis, and Lucas are guards who get easy looks at the basket. Greenway is the most skilled and can create his own shot. Lewis likes to shoot the 3 ball (23-65). These two guys work well together.

Off the bench, there are two guys worth watching..
Touze is average 16 and 10 off the bench. Unlike the starting forwards, he likes to grab offensive rebounds, he averages over 2 a game in conference. He is a guy that does his work within 8 feet of the basket. He is quick and knows how to finish. He has also gone to the line 80 times this year, but shots at under 70%.
Garrick, is an offensive threat of the bench. He doesn't take a lot of shots only 68 in conference play through 10 games. He has a high percentage, 53% from field and 38% from three point land. I think they set up plays just for him to take shots. He is a set shooter in my opinion and won't be creating shots for himself. But, we can't let a guy like that get hot and gain confidence.

This is another test for the Falcons. These guys can run up and down the court with Albertus and plays an excellent half-court offense; Albertus defense played well on Monday but has not been consistent. Look for a lot of pick and pop, back door screens, and motion style offense from JWU which has given Albertus a lot of problems. Albertus should control the boards as JWU doesn't put a lot of pressure on the glass on the offensive end.  I am concerned about tired legs and a let down from Monday night.

But, I think Oliver is an excellent coach and there are enough experience guys on the team to avoid a meltdown. JWU is not as good defensively as Purchase. If Albertus can shoot the ball better than they did on Monday, they will have a good chance of winning.

[Albertus2007]

Sounds like it's gonna be a great game. Maybe the New Haven Register will send a reporter to the game tonight.  Sad that a local paper does not cover this team.  They beat a top 25 team and got a 4 line article. 

[ECSUalum]

43-40 Albertus at half
72-70 Abertus 1.50 to go
76-74 Albertus with 9 sec and Albertus possession..... what a game
Ljuljdjuraj  unbelievable!!!
78-74 Albertus final!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GREAT GAME congrats to AM great fight by J&W!

[Albertus2007]

Albertus wins 78-74. 

Need to make foul shots and take better care of the ball going forward.

[GnacBballFan]

43-40 Albertus at half
72-70 Abertus 1.50 to go
76-74 Albertus with 9 sec and Albertus possession..... what a game
Ljuljdjuraj  unbelievable!!!
78-74 Albertus final!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GREAT GAME congrats to AM great fight by J&W!

What a game is right ECSU! Thx! Let down hangover game combined with a tough JWU team made for ALMOST an upset. Trap game written all over it. Albertus looked lackluster for most of the game, hate off to JWU they are def one of the top10-15 teams in region. Albertus was down 74-72 under one min bout found a way. On to st joes!

[GnacBballFan]

Hats *

[pjunito]

Best win of the year.. Albertus was not sharp offensively.. JWU played excellent defense and put a lot of pressure on Albertus, but they found a way to win... As a great coach use to say.. A win is a win is a win....

Hopefully, Albertus gets some rest.. St. Joe will be a tough game on the road.

[7express]

I'd be worried about Albertus on Saturday.  I've never been up to St. Joes Maine, but from what I've been told it's right down (up??) route 202 from Southern Maine in Gorham.  That's always a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong trip for Western, RIC & Eastern, and when those 3 teams play @ USM, USM plays them extremely tough, if not pulls off wins.  In 6 of the last 7 years, USM has gotten victories at home against at least 1 of those teams in a season, and 4 of those 6 years saw USM finish with either a 3-11 or 2-12 conference record and they were still able to get it done.
SJME was also the last team that defeated Johnson & Wales before AMC did, and that was also in Maine.  IF Albertus is sloppy/comes unprepared, SJME could definitely and easily win, because that team will be ready to play, and after 2 grueling wins vs. Purchase & J&W and you combine that 5+ hour road trip, I'm not entirely sold.
I think they'll win in the end however because AMC has better players, but I wouldn't be that surprised if it went the other way.

[lildave678]

Couple points/questions that hopefully those who were at the game/watched the game can answer for me. I was only able to catch glimpses on my phone, basically waiting for the action to shoot to the left side so I can see the score, then I'd have to turn it back off!

If you would have told me the game would finish in the 70's, I would have said there's a better chance of an L than a W. Good to see us win a low scoring (by our standards) game for a change.

I saw Quarry Greenway only had 8 points? Was he just off, did he defer more, or was whoever was on him (Eian, Darius?) doing a good job individually?

I know A2007 said we need to make foul shots going forward. 26-33 isn't terrible, and is MUCH improved from the 11-23 performance they put up against Purchase. Hopefully they continue to shoot at a clip closer to the JWU output.

One thing this game and the Purchase game showed me is something that has been talked about recently with this team and that's closing games out, having that killer instinct. These past two games just reminded me of the first round game against St. Joes LI in 2011-2012. We're up by 20 in the 2nd half and win that one in a nail biter. I can't recall directly if either of these past 2 games got up that high in score margin, but when you're up 8-14 points in the 2nd half we have to stomp on the throat and go for the kill. We've even seen it against the lower level GNAC teams where we're up 20-25 and like that its a 12 point game. Hopefully I'm overreacting a little but it's definitely a concern for me.

How was the crowd last night?

and 7, you definitely bring up some valid points about that ride to Maine. As a former soccer player for AMC, it SUCKS, especially the double headers with the girls which is what the basketball teams will be doing Saturday. What they do have going for them is the trip is early and they have the second game (girls at 12:30, boys at 2:30). On trips like that, nothing is worse than getting on the bus at 6-7AM, traveling for 4 hours, getting off the bus half asleep ready to play a game. They get some time to adjust and loosen up.