MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[deiscanton]

St. Joe's swept Emmanuel in the regular season, with the Monks prevailing over the Saints by a score of 73-65 in Standish, Maine on January 19, and the Monks also winning 82-75 at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston on February 17.

Based on these results, St. Joe's will come in to Saturday's title game as a slight favorite to capture the GNAC Men's Basketball Championship, but the title game should be a close one.

As for Lasell, their NCAA hopes are over as the Lasers will not be receiving a Pool C bid, but the Lasers should get an ECAC New England postseason bid to continue their season as Lasell did declare for the ECAC New England Men's Basketball Tournament.

[D-3Geinus]

albertus had a good oppurtunity of stealing that game against st joes. it was a four point game with four to play. albertus missed some key three pointers that might have made the difference. St joes played well down the stretch to hold on. Kinda seen lasell getting upset, becuase it seemed as if they were waiting for the gnac tourney to turn it up. they werent playing the best basketball headed in.

to answer someones question about emerson vs albertus. Albertus had just too much size on emerson, and matched up well against the lions. Shannon was frustrated as he cudnt do anything all game. Albertus came prepared, played excellent D, and shot the ball great. It really wasnt close again at the ten minute mark of the first half. Not bad for a second yr coach,mitch oliver(albertus), and a team picked second to last in the preseason poll. Albertus brought in the best freshman class, and besides cordova and leonzo there not losing anyone. Combine that with Oliver being a great recruiter, and albertus could be dangerous next year.

Look for st joes and emmanuel to go down to the wire. bith are playing great basketball as of right now. Cant wait to watch this one. How many teams get into the ECAC from the gnac?

[All-around]

Is there a place to see what teams applied to be in the ECAC's this year?

[deiscanton]

The list of declared teams for the ECAC New England DIII Men's Tournament can be found at:

http://www.ecac.org/championships/team/mbkb/2008-09/DIII_-_Men-s.pdf

The GNAC teams on the declared list are:  St. Joe's Maine, Lasell, Johnson and Wales, Rivier, and Albertus Magnus.

St. Joe's Maine just got the GNAC automatic Pool A bid to the NCAAs with a 74-72 overtime win over Emmanuel today, so the Monks will be automatically withdrawn from ECAC consideration.  Congrats to the Monks on winning the GNAC Men's Basketball Championship.

Emmanuel officially has ended its season with the loss today.

[goldenpipes]

Creek, I just can't accept these as the top 2 teams. SVC had a team of one-and-done players that fueled their run and J & W was powered by Rohan Russell who was convicted of rape about a month after the tournament -  http://www.d3hoops.com/notables?month=4&year=2004 

One of the great things about D-3 is that you get to watch players and teams grow. Down or not, I thought Norwich was very good and so was WNEC - that team also won in 1999-2000. In '01 they beat Emerson in OT in one of the greatest games in conference history (Aaron Young of Emerson hit a 25 footer at the buzzer to force OT) and don't forget that Emerson team went to the ECAC finals after beating Colby and Wesleyan and lost at Williams by 20 (as close as a dozen in the 2nd half) to the same group that would win the NCAA tourney the next year and lose at the buzzer in the title game the year after.

I still think Emerson would have won that '01 title game vs. WNEC had Dave Miller not gotten hurt in the 1st half - and for those who remember D-Mills that was before any of his knee injuries and he was lightning fast and a great on-the ball defender. That teams also starred Rob Murphy, Rich Glesmann, and freshman Rob Hennigan who went on to score 2,200 points.

Since the conference has only been around since 1995-96, only Emerson (1996-97, 97-98), WNEC (1999-01) and Norwich (2004-06) have repeated as champs so if we're talking about greatest teams in conference I think we have to start the conversation there.....I've been around since the beginning, so that's my two cents.

Thoughts anyone?

Top 4 GNAC Champs of this Century in order..

1. 2002-03 Southern Vermont Mountaineers (Chicago imports in Bennington...)
2. 2003-04 Johnson & Wales Wildcats (Russell, Tamargo, and the Glory Days at Wales)
3. 2001-02 Suffolk Rams (Luisi and the Flex run to a T)
4. 2000-01 WNEC Golden Bears (Physical, defensive-oriented, gritty)

[larry_u]

Can someone post your NCAA team's profiles in here:

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=6299.0

[creekhoops]

Actually, SVC had a good run for two seasons.  The year they won it and then went on to beat Lasell in round 1 of the NCAA tournament, and then the very next year when they pushed JWU to the wire, bowing out in the GNACS.  That JWU team, mind you, had been to the GNAC finals twice in three years before winning it in 04.  (Pipes, Russell's legal issues had nothing to do with the team's place in GNAC history, so there really is no need to factor that in).  If you read the story you linked to your post, the alleged incient took place while attending a different school.  Again, you can have your favorites just like anyone else - that's why it is thrown out there for discussion and debate.  But as impressive as those two teams were when they peaked, it would be tough to keep them out of the conversation.  To your credit, however, neither team can be listed as part of a strong program or tradition, as both have never come close to those performances in the last five years.  Emerson, however, has one of (if not the most) impressive programs in the conference's history, given the challenges they have faced.  Year in and year out, they will defend, defend, defend. 

[LaserFan15]

Lasell's Jose Guitian earned All-American Honorable Mention honors earlier this week. I think this is great for the school and for the conference. When was the last time a player from the GNAC was named to one of the All-American teams?

[Pat Coleman]

Just glancing through the all-time list:
http://www.d3hoops.com/tow/allamericans-all.htm

I would guess Rob Hennigan in 2004.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Just glancing through the all-time list:
http://www.d3hoops.com/tow/allamericans-all.htm

I would guess Rob Hennigan in 2004.

That dude could play.  Flat out.

[BornBalla]

Guitian was a player that should have played at higher level. Don't know his story but saw him play and he was tough. Shoots the ball well at 6-10. I googled him and found out that he was drafted in the professional league in Puerto Rico in their rookie draft. Congrats to him if he decides to play there. I have to imagine that he will also look to Europe, Asia, and South America who all have leagues. If all those Amherst players can play in Europe(There were 5 from the class of 08 in Europe), I would bet Guitian could as well.

[bmull]

Friends and fans:   Any news on who's coming to the GNAC schools next year - come on, I need some hoop scoop.   Thank you.

[pjunito]

I would love to know of any recruits who are coming also. The GNAC had some surprises this year in the playoffs and had a good showing in the ECAC. Does anyone have a earlier preview for next fall?

[bmull]

OK - that's two cries for incoming frosh info - somebody help us out here.
SIDs - come on. Thanks.

[broke_ya_ankles]

I don't have a lot for you but Albertus Magnus has received a commitment from who will quite possibly step in and become THE BEST player in the GNAC the day he plays his first game there.  Jefferson Lora, a 6'7" PF out of Lyman Hall HS decommitted from Central Connecticut State University (Division I Scholarship) and selected Albertus Magnus.  Lora, a top 20 player in CT (#19 as of the last rankings) is a stud, not too many GNAC teams have D1 caliber players on their rosters....

The only other commitment I have seen is Curtis Robinson, the #13 ranked senior in Vermont out of Proctor High School is headed to Rivier College...