MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[deiscanton]

Halftime from Providence, RI--

#2 seed Johnson & Wales 45,  #7 seed Suffolk 30

Halftime from Standish, ME---

#1 seed St. Joe's Maine 45,  #8 seed Mt. Ida 33

Game reset from Andrews Hall, Northfield, VT

#4 seed Norwich 14, #5 seed Emerson 9  8:10 left in first half.

No live stats from Albertus Magnus, unfortunately....  

Halftime from Northfield, VT--

#4 seed Norwich 26,  #5 seed Emerson 24

Second half Game resets--

#1 seed St. Joe's Maine  69,  #8 seed Mt. Ida 52  7:47 left in regulation

#4 seed Norwich 41, #5 seed Emerson 28  12:07 left in regulation

#1 seed St. Joe's Maine 80, #8 seed Mt. Ida 66  2:47 left in regulation

#4 seed Norwich 47, #5 seed Emerson 35  6:23 left in regulation.

#4 seed Norwich 52, #5 seed Emerson 38  2:48 left in regulation.

#4 seed Norwich 60, #5 seed Emerson 44  0:44 left in regulation.

[deiscanton]

Final scores from the GNAC Quarterfinal games-- Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011

#2 seed Johnson & Wales 96,  #7 seed Suffolk 63

#1 seed St. Joe's Maine 82,  #8 seed Mt. Ida 71

#4 seed Norwich 62,  #5 seed Emerson 44

#3 seed Albertus Magnus 100, #6 seed Rivier 82

GNAC Semifinals--  Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011

#4 seed Norwich  @ #1 seed St. Joe's Maine

#3 seed Albertus Magnus @ #2 seed Johnson & Wales

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Final Regional Rankings are out before Selection Sunday: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/category/ncaa-stuff/regional-rankings/

[deiscanton]

 Final scores from the GNAC Semifinal games-- Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011

#2 seed Johnson & Wales 128 , #3 seed Albertus Magnus 107

 #1 seed St. Joe's Maine 72 , #4 seed Norwich 56

 GNAC Championship game -- Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011

#2 seed Johnson & Wales @ #1 seed St. Joe's Maine

[deiscanton]

  Johnson & Wales's Men's Basketball Posts a 128-107 Win over Albertus Magnus in GNAC Semifinals

  http://providence.jwuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/201102244dfcjr

Box score:   http://providence.jwuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/files/jwuamcgs.htm

  128 Points scored by Johnson & Wales is a new GNAC single game team record.

  JWU shot 43 of 57 from field for a 75.4% FG pct on the evening-- New GNAC Tournament single game record.

JWU junior Lamonte Thomas had a double-double of 40 points and 20 assists-- the 20 assists for the game is a new single game GNAC individual record.

Lamonte Thomas got his 40 pts last night on 11-15 from the field shooting, 0-2 from 3 pt land, 18-20 from the charity stripe.

Lamonte Thomas comes into the GNAC title game averaging 30.1 PPG,-- 31.4 PPG in GNAC play-- the 30.1 PPG leads DIII in scoring.

[deiscanton]

On January 30, 2011, the Providence Journal, the city newspaper of Providence, RI, did a feature article on JWU's Lamonte Thomas, who leads DIII in average PPG:

  Bill Reynolds:  Basketball World is Finally Getting to Know J&W's Thomas:

http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/reynolds_lamonte_thomas_01-30-11_Q6M7T72_v4.c0616f.html

[deiscanton]

On the GNAC title game:

I have to go with Johnson & Wales as a road favorite to beat St. Joe's Maine tomorrow and clinch the NCAA bid out of GNAC due to that performance last night.

The GNAC made the right decision in choosing Lamonte Thomas as GNAC Player of the Year.  I would have loved to see Brandeis play Johnson & Wales next week in the ECAC New England Tournament, but JWU certainly has higher aspirations in mind, and I think that the Wildcats will get the victory in Maine tomorrow.  St. Joe's was fortunate to escape in December with a double OT victory-- the Monks won't be so fortunate tomorrow, IMO.

If JWU wins tomorrow, we could have another storybook first round NCAA game like what Albertus Magnus did last season-- Lamonte Thomas definitely is a player who, despite his stats, is one that has been playing under the radar in DIII all this season due to the fact that there are so many conference games in the GNAC.  Hopefully, DIII will get to know a little more about this player next week in the NCAA Tournament.

[7express]

Did I heard the boxscore right yesterday that said JWU shot 75% from the field??  I'd have to agree, I pegged the JWU/Albertus winner to end up winning the tournament, think either one of them would beat the Monks on the road.

[deiscanton]

Preview of the GNAC Title Game-- (St. Joe's Maine game notes)

Monks and Wildcats Set to Clash in 2011 GNAC Championship

http://www.gomonks.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/201102257q6mvn

Note:  As the St. Joe's Maine press release shows, JWU's Lamonte Thomas's 30.3 PPG going into the GNAC title game not only leads NCAA DIII men's hoop, it leads in all 3 divisions of NCAA men's basketball.

[deiscanton]

Final of GNAC title game--

Johnson & Wales 76, St. Joe's Maine 66

  Johnson & Wales wins GNAC Tournament-- clinches automatic bid to NCAA DIII Tournament

Lamonte Thomas of Johnson & Wales:  33 pts on 12-15 shooting from the field, 0-0 from 3 pt land, 9-11 from the charity stripe.

Lamonte Thomas also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the GNAC title game.

[pjunito]

Great stuff! Awesome articles and updates. Lamonte is a player and has a strong supporting unit. They didn't miss a shot against Albertus. How do they fair in the NCAAs?

[deiscanton]

On last night's edition of Hoopsville (a/k/a March 3, 2011 edition), Dave 'd-mac' McHugh talked with Hoopsville Atlantic Region Reporter Jody King, who along with Frank Rossi will be doing internet coverage  of this weekend's Ramapo pod.

The segment starts at the 1 hour 39 min mark, and the game between Ramapo and Johnson & Wales was previewed starting at around the 1 hour 41 min mark thereabouts.   The March 3, 2011 edition of Hoopsville can be found at:

 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13069967


Just for reference--Information courtesy of March 3, 2011 edition of Hoopsville--

GNAC men are 3-10 in NCAA Basketball tournament play over the past 10 years.

1.)  S. Vermont went 1-1 in the NCAA tournament in the 2002-2003 season-- defeating Lasell in the first round of the March, 2003 NCAA DIII basketball tournament, and losing at Amherst in the second round.   Lasell was a Pool B selection to that tournament, as I believe that the North Atlantic Conference, of which Lasell was a member at that time, was not yet eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAAs.  S. Vermont was a member of GNAC at the time-- this was when Ryan Marks was the coach at S. Vermont, and current Hoopsville Atlantic Region Reporter Jody King was a S. Vermont assistant coach.

2.)  Norwich won a first round game in the March, 2006 NCAA DIII tournament before bowing in the second round.  Norwich's first round game was a Thursday first round game vs Elms that was played at Andrews Hall on the Norwich campus.    The Cadets beat Elms before travelling to St. John Fisher for the Saturday second round game, where they lost and bowed out of the tournament.

3.)  In last year's tournament, Albertus Magnus shocked #7 William Paterson in the first round on Byron Reaves's "buzzer-beater" shot that made it to ESPN's SportsCenter a few days later.  The Falcons lost their second round game to DeSales.

4.)  Johnson & Wales last made it to the NCAA tournament in March, 2004-- losing to Salem St. in the first round.

I found the conversation between Dave 'd-mac' McHugh and Jody King previewing the JWU/Ramapo game on Hoopsville worthy of a listen.

Just for my take on this,  I have Ramapo winning tonight-- but that is why "storybook" games happen-- these are the type of games that you least expect to happen.  It is possible that Lamonte Thomas can carry JWU to a first round win-- but if that happens, that is it-- I do not expect the Wildcats to make it to the Sweet 16.
 

[leelowlang]

Lamonte Thomas, 6'2", Jr. has just been sensational...are you kidding me with these numbers?

Tonight:  NCAA 1st Round - J&W 114, Ramapo 106 (OT) - 43 pts, 9 asts, 7 rebs, 5 stls, 15-30 FG, 5-9 3FG
2/26: GNAC Final - J&W 76, St. Joe's 66 - 33 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asts, 2 to's, 12-15 FG, 9-11 FT
2/24: GNAC Semi - J&W 128, Albertus 107 - 40 pts, 20 asts, 5 to's, 6 rebs, 11-15 FG, 18-20 FT
2/22: GNAC Qtr - J&W 96, Suffolk 63 - 33 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts, 3 stls, 10-19 FG, 4-6 3FG, 9-12 FT
2/19: GNAC Finale - J&W 91, Emmanuel 81 - 37 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts, 11-19 FG, 14-15 FT

Last 5 Games:
5-0, a NCAA win, a GNAC 'Chip, 4 playoff games, and an opponent Senior Day
37.2 ppg, 8.2 apg, 7.8 rpg, 59-98(60%)FG, 58-70(83%)FT, 14 FTA/g, 10-20(50%)3FG, 2.2/1 A/TO, 39.4 mpg

Otherwordly...just ridiculous.

[deiscanton]

Here is Johnson & Wales's recap of the game vs. Ramapo:

 Men's Basketball Knocks Off Ramapo, 114-106, in First Round of NCAA Tournament

 http://providence.jwuathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/20110304e1p4x7

The victory last night was the first NCAA tournament win for Johnson & Wales in any sport according to the press release.

JWU was down 9 with 4:04 left in regulation before rallying to force overtime.

From the press release, here are some post-game comments from JWU head coach Jamie Benton:

"When we were down by nine, I told them the game wasn't over and we had to go back to being ourselves.  Lamonte (Thomas) hit those two big threes, Calvin (Jones) had the jumper from the corner and we were back in business.  They (JWU) picked it up when they had to, and I'm very happy our seniors got to experience an NCAA victory."

[Pat Coleman]

A little more on Lamonte Thomas' great night:

http://www.d3hoops.com/playoffs/men/2011/lamonte-thomas-night