MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[Bengalsrule]

Congrats to our friend Bengalsrule and the Bengals making it in to the conference tournament. My rooting for them, however and understandably, stops here!

Thanks....and understood!

[pg04]

Congrats to our friend Bengalsrule and the Bengals making it in to the conference tournament. My rooting for them, however and understandably, stops here!

Thanks....and understood!

Should be another barnburner. Love the rivals to meet with so much on the line. Both teams have shown flashes of brilliance and I expect it to come down to the last minute.

[pg04]

As for Plattsburgh, Congrats on the #1 seed! This better be enough, regardless of the conference tourney, to get in to the tournament at least as a pool C.

[magicman]

Congrats to our friend Bengalsrule and the Bengals making it in to the conference tournament. My rooting for them, however and understandably, stops here!

What you aren't rooting for them on Tuesday? You'd think they were playing your alma mater or something.

I wanted to thank you for rooting me on over on the National Pick 'Em League Board. I was locked into 4th place after the 12th week but managed to gain ground each of the next 3 weeks to forge into a tie for first place and lay claim to being the Co-Champion of the League for the 2015-16 season. My final record for the 15 week contest was 94-56  which is fairly good considering those games are mostly between teams that are of equal strength. I was 2 games down to KnightSlappy entering the final week. He liked most of the same teams I did but we differed on 2 games in the final 10 game slate. He took Staten Island and I chose Lehman College. He took Penn State-Behrend and I chose Hilbert. Lehman and Hilbert both won and we tied for the title. I was 8-2 to win the week. The Plattsburgh State-Geneseo State game was the final game of the season in the Pick 'Em League  and my Cardinals won that nailbiter to really make my day.            

[pg04]

I had no doubts that you could do it  . Congrats- It's quite an accomplishment to have such a great record picking games, especially games all around the nation!

[magicman]

As for Plattsburgh, Congrats on the #1 seed! This better be enough, regardless of the conference tourney, to get in to the tournament at least as a pool C.

Yeah 21-4 after the regular season is plenty good enough. We will have a final record of 21-5 if we lose on Friday or 22-5 if we lose in the championship game. Either one means we are NCAA tournament bound. We will still be #1 in the Regional Rankings.

I'm not sure if another team from the YAC makes the tournament if Plattsburgh wins the automatic bid. With every other team already having 7 or 8 losses  (9 for Brockport) it would mean an 8 loss team (at the very least) would be trying to get a Pool C bid. We couldn't get one last year at 19-8, although we did get one 3 years ago at 19-8. Geneseo, Oswego, and Brockport all losing in the past  week (Port twice) really put a damper on Pool C bids from those 3. Cortland tied with Oswego with an 18-7 overall record (the best records in the YAC after Plattsburgh) doesn't have a great SOS either. We really needed a 2nd place team with a 20-5  or 19-6 record entering the conference tournament.  Two years ago we got 3 teams into the dance but they had, prior to the tournament, records of 24-3...Brockport-won the YAC title and the automatic bid;  22-5...Plattsburgh-runner-up to Brockport lost in the championship game and got a Pool C bid and 21-6...Geneseo 3rd place in the YAC, lost to Plattsburgh in the semifinals, got a Pool C bid.  We aren't even close to those lofty records this year, other than Plattsburgh.   

Our best chance of being a 2 bid league would be if someone other than the Cardinals wins the SUNYAC tournament. Then we will get 2 bids for sure. I'm kind of greedy though, and really want the Cardinals to win the Conference Championship.

The Empire 8 Conference is in the same situation. St. John Fisher at 20-5  is probably going to get a bid even if they lose in the E8 tournament. If they win it though the next best team in the E8 will be Nazareth or Hartwick with 9 losses and that's too many to get a Pool C bid, I believe.

The Liberty League is a 1 bid league which will go to the winner of the tournament. No other school has a chance.

Lancaster Bible will get the NEAC 's automatic bid. I don't think anyone can beat them in that conference unless they run into a team of refs who have their 3 stars sitting on the bench with fouls, early on. I don't think they get in, even with only 1 loss, should they get upset in their tournament. They have the worst SOS in the entire East Region. The NCAA won't reward that type of scheduling. (At least I don't think they will, unless God somehow intercedes for the Chargers ) They really are a pretty good team and it would have been interesting to have them play a number of schools from the YAC or E8 like Medaille does every year. I hope they don't end up in a first round match up with my Cardinals. I'm hoping, because they are in Pennsylvania, that if they are in the tournament, they get sent toward Wooster or F & M or Jersey. They will likely, coming from a small conference, be paired up with a school like John Carroll or Wooster from a much stronger conference. Somebody expecting to make a strong run could get surprised by the Chargers right off the bat.

Rochester and NYU are in the running to go dancing. Rochester will most likely be playing for the automatic bid from the UAA on  Saturday, February 27th. They have a game tomorrow against Carnegie Mellon the last place team in the conference. Then they will meet Emory on the 27th and both schools will probably be 11-2 at that time with the winner getting the NCAA bid.

NYU, currently in 3rd place with an 8-4 conference record and 19-4 overall, can't win the conference and since their is no conference tournament in the UAA (regular season winner gets the automatic bid) NYU's only hope, and Rochester's only hope if they lose to Emory on the 27th, will be a Pool C bid. It wouldn't surprise me to see the NCAA give both of these schools a Pool C bid from the East Region. Private schools always seem to get favored over the state schools. I personally think that the UAA conference isn't very strong this year but I'm not the one awarding the bids. NYU played an out of conference schedule that is laughable, it's so weak. 11-0 outside the conference but only 2 teams with a winning record both from weak conferences. Every school in the SUNYAC with the exception of Cortland has a stronger SOS than NYU. Rochester will get a Pool C bid before NYU will. NYU with a better overall record but a .507 SOS. Rochester's SOS is currently .575. Big difference.

I think it shows just how strong our conference is when the 7th place team, Oneonta and the 5th place team, Brockport, gave the Empire 8 regular season champs, St John Fisher, 2 of their 5 losses. Not to mention Buffalo State our 6th place finisher, beating the top seeds of the NJAC conference, New Jersey City, who is the #1 ranked team in the Atlantic Region, and Lehman College, the top ranked team in the CUNYAC conference who should be ranked, next time the rankings come out, as they just beat Staten Island. Oswego beat the top team in the UAA, Rochester, and Plattsburgh beat the top team in the NESCAC, Trinity, without the help of their best player, Kyle Richardson, who missed the game with a dislocated finger. Too bad we beat each other up so badly this year. I said back in November that we had 7 quality teams fighting for 6 playoff spots and that someone would get left out. That team, who we now know to be Oneonta, went into the home turf of Franklin and Marshall and nearly beat the Diplomats losing to them in overtime on some questionable officiating. Oneonta could probably make the playoffs in a hell of a lot of other conferences that are supposed to be stronger than the YAC. Notice I said supposed to be.

So that's pretty much the rundown on the East Region. The tournaments should be interesting, especially in the SUNYAC with 6 teams all capable of winning 2 or 3 games in a row.
             

[amh63]

Magicman.....congrats!  Maybe the congrats should be to the team for getting the top seed . Was worried a little about your health.  Saw a bit of one close win and then read about the other close win.
Lots of conferences are very competative this year and conference tournaments will see some upsets....whatever " upsets" mean these days.  Still hoping our teams will get to the post season and maybe meet in the Final 4!  May need some of your Magic1 dust .

[All-Time]

BengalsRule,
Congratulations to Buffalo State on making the playoffs.
They were the better team yesterday and seemed to want too more.
They also had Bradley Doyley on their minds.
Hopefully they make it to Plattsburgh next weekend.
Good Luck, Im rooting for you. And of course the Plattsburgh Cardinals

[Bengalsrule]

BengalsRule,
Congratulations to Buffalo State on making the playoffs.
They were the better team yesterday and seemed to want too more.
They also had Bradley Doyley on their minds.
Hopefully they make it to Plattsburgh next weekend.
Good Luck, Im rooting for you. And of course the Plattsburgh Cardinals

Much thanks All-Time. I must admit, the Sunyac family has never been stronger. After game Oneonta coach Medici wished Bengal coaches the best of luck and encouraged Bengals coaches to " go get em" in the playoffs!! Friday night, before tip-off, New Paltz coach Rejniak walked down to Bengals bench, and offered Bengal coaches condolences and mentioned how tough a year it's been for all of Sunyac. After game ( which was attended by over 2,000 people and every media outlet in WNY), along with Bradleys family (who were recognized at halftime), Rejniak encouraged each Bengal coach and player to win Saturday to get to the playoffs!  Class act by both coaches this weekend under difficult circumstances for everyone, and especially a visiting team!

I'm honored to be part of the SUNYAC fellowship like the 1 we have here fellas.  Honored and proud to know all of you!

#playforbradley!!!!

[Bengalsrule]

Congrats to our friend Bengalsrule and the Bengals making it in to the conference tournament. My rooting for them, however and understandably, stops here!

pg will you be Brockport game ??

[pg04]

Congrats to our friend Bengalsrule and the Bengals making it in to the conference tournament. My rooting for them, however and understandably, stops here!

pg will you be Brockport game ??

Nah, I live all the way in Georgia, unfortunately! So I never get to see any of Brockport's teams. I'll actually be in Pittsburgh later this week for something, so I might not even be able to watch online. Grrr!

[magicman]

Saturday's Game

Plattsburgh State 76  Geneseo State 72

Once again Plattsburgh comes out on top in a game decided in the final seconds. I knew this one was going to be close and I had the Cards winning by a 88-83 final. Both teams playing like they were tired which I'm sure they were, especially Plattsburgh with the short week and long bus ride. The guys can sleep on the way home but they may be so wound up after accomplishing a rare 2-0 western road trip that sleep may be the furthest thing on their mind.

Plattsburgh went 9-0 in the conference on the road and I don't think that's been done since Chad Burridge and the Oswego State Lakers ran the table back in the 2011-12 season. The only other time in recent memory was the Plattsburgh State "Sweet 16" team of 2007-08, led by All American Anthony Williams and All Region Travis Gorham, that also ran the table and finished 16-0 in the YAC. Quite an accomplishment in this tough league especially with the long bus rides. 

Plattsburgh took the early lead behind 7 quick points from Kyle Richardson and the Cardinals maintained a 2 or 3 possession lead throughout most of the first half. Jon Patron, the 2nd leading scorer for Plattsburgh, entered the game and immediately brought his instant offense, which pushed the Cardinal lead to 9 points at 25-16 and again moments later at 28-19. The Knights responded with a 9-2 spurt to get within 2 points and narrowed it to a single point on a long distance shot by Kevin Crockett, making it 32-31. The teams traded trips to the line, each making a pair of free throws, then Richardson, who opened the scoring for Plattsburgh to start the game, ended the half with an offensive rebound and a layup to put the Cards up by a 36-33 score at the half. Richardson led all scorers with 16 first half points.

The Knights wasted little time squaring things up as Kevin Crockett got a hoop and harm 10 seconds into the period and his free throw gave the Knights their first tied score of the game. Jon Patron would have none of that, however, and scored 7 straight points for Plattsburgh, followed by a steal and a dunk by Richardson which put the Cards back in front by a 9 point margin once again at 45-36 only 3 minutes into the half. Over the next 12 minutes Plattsburgh continued to lead by a comfortable margin which saw their lead grow to a game high 11 points on 2 separate occasions, the last coming off a layup by Xavier Thomas which put Plattsburgh up 60-49 with 9:34 left to play.

The Cardinals were still up by 9 points after Jon Patron got a 3 point play the hard way. He followed that up with another trip to the line, making 2 free throws on the next Cardinal possession. There was 4:52 left on the clock and the Knights made their move. John Decker hit a 3 pointer, then he went to the line and made a pair of free throws. The Cards turned it over and Kevin Crockett hit another 3 ball. When Plattsburgh misfired at the other end, Geneseo came down, scored on a Decker drive and the Knights had the lead for the first time all day at 68-67 with 2:32 remaining. The teams again traded trips to the line, with Richardson swishing 2 for Plattsburgh and Decker doing the same for the Knights. Both teams missed from the field and then Ed Correa hit another big basket for Plattsburgh, as he's done his entire career. He drained a long distance bomb that put the Cards up 72-70 with 1:09 to play.

Geneseo tied the game up on 2 free throws from CJ Burke but Correa got fouled on the Cards next possession with 25 seconds left. Correa made the first but missed the 2nd and Jon Patron with perhaps his biggest rebound of the season got fouled as he hauled in the missed free throw. He made both shots and the Cards led 75-72. Knowing that the Knights needed a 3 pointer, Plattsburgh defended the perimeter and the Knights struggled to get a good look, leading to another Geneseo time out with 6 seconds to go. Their final attempt by Kevin Crockett was a decent look, but Xavier Thomas was flying at him with a hand in his face and the shot was off the mark. Kyle Richardson got the rebound, was fouled, and he made 1 of 2 for the final score.

Jon Patron had a big 2nd half for Plattsburgh and led the team with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. He was 7x14 from the field and 8x13 from the line.

Kyle Richardson was close behind with 21 points and 9 rebounds, 4 on the offensive end, once again just missing out on another double-double. He added 3 steals 2 blocks and 1 assist.

Senior Ed Correa had 11 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Xavier Thomas added 9 points and 5 rebounds.

Kevin Crockett was the leading scorer in the game as he led the Knights with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Kevin had a big night from behind the arc as hit 6x13 from downtown.

John Decker was the only other player in double figures with 11 points and 4 rebounds. CJ Burke had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Jack Manke had 7 rebounds and 5 points.

The Knights leading scorer, Justin Ringen, was hit with 2 quick fouls in the first half and after sitting out for 6 minutes went back in at the 9:13 mark of the 1st half. A minute later he got his 3rd foul and was a fixture on the bench for the rest of the half. He got his 4th foul a little over a minute into the 2nd half and was limited to only 5 minutes in the final period. All together he only saw 11 minutes of floor time and understandably, led to his least productive game of the season. His total of 6 points and 2 rebounds were season lows. I never like it when that happens to a Plattsburgh player, so I can feel the frustration that the Geneseo faithful must have experienced. His lack of PT was definitely a factor in the game.

Plattsburgh ends the regular season with a 21-4 record and wins the regular season championship for the 2nd year in a row, this time with 14-2 record, in the tough SUNYAC conference. They will host the semifinals and finals next weekend and will meet the winner of the Geneseo-Oswego game that will take place on Tuesday night at the #4 seed, Oswego, at 7:00 PM.

The Knights end the regular season with a 17-8 overall record and a final 11-7 SUNYAC log. They ended up as the #5 seed for the conference tournament.               

[spwood]

Much thanks All-Time. I must admit, the Sunyac family has never been stronger. After game Oneonta coach Medici wished Bengal coaches the best of luck and encouraged Bengals coaches to " go get em" in the playoffs!! Friday night, before tip-off, New Paltz coach Rejniak walked down to Bengals bench, and offered Bengal coaches condolences and mentioned how tough a year it's been for all of Sunyac. After game ( which was attended by over 2,000 people and every media outlet in WNY), along with Bradleys family (who were recognized at halftime), Rejniak encouraged each Bengal coach and player to win Saturday to get to the playoffs!  Class act by both coaches this weekend under difficult circumstances for everyone, and especially a visiting team!

I'm honored to be part of the SUNYAC fellowship like the 1 we have here fellas.  Honored and proud to know all of you!

#playforbradley!!!!

In the SUNYAC family vein, before last night's Plattsburgh/Geneseo hockey game, Plattsburgh presented a check to Geneseo for $1500 as a donation to the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department in honor of Matthew Hutchinson murdered earlier this year.  It's been a rough year across the SUNY family, but as with any stong family, the adversity has only made us stronger.

[Bengalsrule]

Much thanks All-Time. I must admit, the Sunyac family has never been stronger. After game Oneonta coach Medici wished Bengal coaches the best of luck and encouraged Bengals coaches to " go get em" in the playoffs!! Friday night, before tip-off, New Paltz coach Rejniak walked down to Bengals bench, and offered Bengal coaches condolences and mentioned how tough a year it's been for all of Sunyac. After game ( which was attended by over 2,000 people and every media outlet in WNY), along with Bradleys family (who were recognized at halftime), Rejniak encouraged each Bengal coach and player to win Saturday to get to the playoffs!  Class act by both coaches this weekend under difficult circumstances for everyone, and especially a visiting team!

I'm honored to be part of the SUNYAC fellowship like the 1 we have here fellas.  Honored and proud to know all of you!

#playforbradley!!!!

In the SUNYAC family vein, before last night's Plattsburgh/Geneseo hockey game, Plattsburgh presented a check to Geneseo for $1500 as a donation to the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department in honor of Matthew Hutchinson murdered earlier this year.  It's been a rough year across the SUNY family, but as with any stong family, the adversity has only made us stronger.

Plus k spwood!!!!

[magicman]

Much thanks All-Time. I must admit, the Sunyac family has never been stronger. After game Oneonta coach Medici wished Bengal coaches the best of luck and encouraged Bengals coaches to " go get em" in the playoffs!! Friday night, before tip-off, New Paltz coach Rejniak walked down to Bengals bench, and offered Bengal coaches condolences and mentioned how tough a year it's been for all of Sunyac. After game ( which was attended by over 2,000 people and every media outlet in WNY), along with Bradleys family (who were recognized at halftime), Rejniak encouraged each Bengal coach and player to win Saturday to get to the playoffs!  Class act by both coaches this weekend under difficult circumstances for everyone, and especially a visiting team!

I'm honored to be part of the SUNYAC fellowship like the 1 we have here fellas.  Honored and proud to know all of you!

#playforbradley!!!!

In the SUNYAC family vein, before last night's Plattsburgh/Geneseo hockey game, Plattsburgh presented a check to Geneseo for $1500 as a donation to the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department in honor of Matthew Hutchinson murdered earlier this year.  It's been a rough year across the SUNY family, but as with any stong family, the adversity has only made us stronger.

That was a nice gesture by the Plattsburgh Hockey Team. I'm sure the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department,  a place where Matthew spent a lot of his free time, welcomed the donation and will put it to good use, in his memory.