MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[thebear]

As roster indicates, word on the street is that Harris and Williams are off the Brockport team, but no public details as to why.  Whitmore will still keep the Eagles competitive even with 9 on the roster.

Hamilton is a deep/talented team, they are much improved with Welchons running the show. 

Hamilton is always a tough place for a road game.

Looks like it was a scrappy battle with 4 players T'd up in the game.

[jdex]

A bit more digging had Bport/Hams game over early in second half. Conts scored a bunch early then, and led by 25 late. Bellucci with 36 pts, 29 in 2nd half. Bport with 31 TOvers.
Hectic pace for sure. Hamilton (at least website) had final score 102-90 stead of 102-88.

In addition to Tuesday's SUNYAC starters, Oneonta hosting Caz tonight, and Oswego at Caz on Wed.  when New Paltz faces Vassar in Hudson Valley Tourney final

[jdex]

Oneonta rolls 82-59 over Cazenovia. Total control for Dragons, up 44-33 at midway mark and 70-44 with 9' left. J. Murphy 18 pts (5x7 fg, 8x10ft), 9 reb. for 2-2 OState. S. Coffey 12 pts (5x10fg, 2x6 3s), M. Reardon 10 pts, J. Winans 4 assts. go 30x73fg, 19x26ft

[jdex]

Cortland 73, Brockport 72 at Bport. All it was cracked up to be. D. Maggiacomo 3pter (F. Ranieri asst) at 0:13 wins it after hosts' D. Ruberton layup at 0:27 breaks 70-70 tie. Bport doesn't get final shot. Turnover at end.
Maggiacomo `3' to close out 1st half made it 41-41.
Bport scores game's 1st 8 pts -- widest lead of the game. CState up 23-19, Bport 35-30.

For CState, R. Headley (7x10fg) 18 pts in 28'; Ranieri (6x10fg) 15 pts, 4 assts), S. Taggart (6x8fg) 12 pts, 8 rebs; Maggiacomo (4x14fg) 10 pts in 27' off bench; S. Skrelja (4x9fg) 9 pts, 9 rebs.

Cortland 30x58fg (6x16 3s). Shoots 16x30 1st half. Bport 30x64fg (5x22 3s). Corts 7x12ft, Bport 7x8. Bport 37-29 reb margin,  with 15 TOvers to Cstate 15.

B. Bellucci (8x20fg) 20 pts, 10 rebs, 3 assts, 8 TOvers in 35'; J. Cheves (6x10fg, 3x10 3s) 15 pts in 34'. K. Amparo (6x10fg) 12 pts, 5 asts; J. Zenkel 6 assts

[bearseh]

Potsdam 86 - Plattsburg 74 in Bears SUNYAC opener. Ernst Ducena: 6 - 11 from the field with four 3's. Dave Besesi scores big (18) from the point. Devon Taft came alive from the field pmping in 17. Tim Reinhardt played big off the bench with 9 providing just enough inside threat, along with Brenden Siskavich

Chris Gibbs-Smith knocked down 23 for the Cards although 9 of those were after the game was out of reach.

Defense? Not tonight - Bears shot 50% from the field, Cards 46%, although Ducena did a solid job on Gibbs-Smith holding him to 14 (came in averaging 28) for the first 35 minutes.

Once again, Plattsburg had control issues. Players barked at the Z's, coach T'd up once. Cards appeare to have enough talent to win if clear heads prevail. Otherwise, another year of disappointment.

[jdex]

New Paltz 76, Oneonta 75
Buffalo St. 90, Fredonia 76
Utica Tech 75, Geneseo 72, OT

[jdex]

Buffalo State easily over guest Fredonia 90-76 with scintillating 35x59 (10x15 3) floor accuracy. G. Jones a terror with 31 pts. (10x13fg, 6x7 3s), 5 reb. in 28'. J. Williams 14 pts. (6x13fg), 3 assts, 2 blks in 24'; D. Mozelle 13 pts (6x7fg) in 18'. BS controls first half in 51-37 style, dropping 21x32fg (6x7 3s). Freds unshabby 13x26fg by half, finish 23x57. T. Anderson 17 pts, 6 rebs for victims; M. Kelly 16 pts (4x8fg, 7x8ft), D. Watkins (5x9fg) 15 pts, 7 rebs; T. Alassdari 12 pts. BS with 22 assists

Utica Tech goes OT to win 75-72 at Geneseo. Tech up 41-35 at half and never trails the rest of the way, though tied at least twice in 2nd half. Was 64-64 on Geneseo S. McDonnell trey 3:32 from end of reg. Adams hoop gives UT edge before G. Spears bucket at 2:13 makes it 66-66 through reg. Tied at 68 when Adams layup puts Tech ahead for good.
Five Techs in double figures: C. Bien-Aime 14 pts (4x6 3s), C. Brown 13 pts (10 reb), and reserves C. Plante 12 pts (3x5 3s), C. Reaves 10 pts (3 stls), J.P. Adams 10 pts. M. Abrawad 10 of UT's 14 assts and adds 7 rebs. A. Gilkes 10 rebs. UT 29x63fg, 9x14 3s.
McDonnell 26 pts. in defeat, shooting 9x24fg -- 8x21 3s! Has 5 assts. Spears (5x12fg) 12 pts, T. Kitson 8 rebs, B. Bennett 7 rebs, S. Sciera 10 rebs. Knights 28x74fg, 12x34 3s. Last Geneseo lead 32-30 with 4:19 left in half.

[gatoradio]

Potsdam v. Plattsburg @ Welsh Gymnasium.  Bears home opener.  Arrived late due to prior obligations, and so I didn't get to see the first 8 minutes of the game.  Nothing impressive seemed to haved happened in that stretch according to my fellow fans - both teams seemingly playing unispired.  The Bears looked a little sluggish on the offensive end of things - not going all-out for rebounds, players not moving around away from the ball.  Plattsburgh likewise had difficulties getting settled into their offense, which was radically centered around Chris Gibbs-Smith - definitely a talented INDIVIDUAL, but not really  a team player.  After several time outs, he didn't even put a hand in when the team circled round for a quick chant to wrap up and regroup.  He did good in isolation, and taking it to the hole, driving into the lane, but didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the guys on the court, preferring to take the shot instead of dishing it off to an ungaurded player.  The Bears were able to effectively rotate defensive coverage amongst several players to keep out of foul trouble for the most part.  A couple of streaks for both teams to finish out the first half, Plattsburghs starting line having a distinct advantage in experience when Dobbs rotated in the second line leading to a 10-0 run for the Cards.
The Bears are demonstrating thus far to be a second half team.  There was additional spring in their step as they warmed into the second stanza.  Several players, notably freshman Brandon Siskavich is developing skills in posting up and working the interior of the offensive court, something which the Bears are still sporadic in their use of.  So far, it's been a disadvantage, especially since less fouls are drawn from jump shots and they haven't been able to exploit their excellent free throw percentage as much as they could be.
Midway through the second period the Bears were able to string together several consecutive scores, bringing the lead to around 10.  After this, the biggest factor in the game became foul shooting.  I'll have to leave the actual percentages to the statisticians on this one, but I'd figure that the Bears shoot about 80% from the charity stripe while the Cards faired not much better than 30%.  In a game with many whistles, it could have been a lot closer, but Plattsburgh couldn't buy a made foul shot to save their life, and some of the attempts were just plain ugly.  I hope that the Cards sincerely spend some time working on this aspect of the game in the upcoming weeks if they want to be able to compete in close games down the stretch.
The Bears main liabilities still lie in two areas, experience, and height.  Dobbs is working feverishly to bring the newer players along, and only time will demonstrate whether it will be in time to generate waves come the second hald of the season, and whatever games may lay beyond that for the Bears.  In terms of addressing the height shortage, rebounds are being tipped outward instead of upword, and this gives the Bears the edge back, as they are able to scrap away the loose ball with their quickness.
I still would like to see the Bears use this lack of size more to their advantage, making speed an integral part of their offense, moving without the ball, and passing through zone defenses instead of going around the horn to exploit 2 on 1 situations in the paint.  The complement needed to make that happen will be the maturing of at least 2 players to play the high/low post, and setting up plays to take advantage of the quick look in.  Who Dobbs chooses to do that will be up to him, but it's a facet that needs to become a part of the offense if the Bears want to stay with the top teams in the SUNYAC, as much as decent 3-point percentages have been on their side thus far.

The Bears go on to play Clarkson U on Thursday in a non-conference match at home.  The Golden Knights are a team that the Bears recently knocked off in a 4-team tournament a couple of weeks back.

[gatoradio]

Potsdam v. Plattsburg @ Welsh Gymnasium.  Bears home opener.  Arrived late due to prior obligations, and so I didn't get to see the first 8 minutes of the game.  Nothing impressive seemed to haved happened in that stretch according to my fellow fans - both teams seemingly playing unispired.  The Bears looked a little sluggish on the offensive end of things - not going all-out for rebounds, players not moving around away from the ball.  Plattsburgh likewise had difficulties getting settled into their offense, which was radically centered around Chris Gibbs-Smith - definitely a talented INDIVIDUAL, but not really what I'd surmise to be a team player.  After one time out, he didn't even put a hand in when the team circled round for a quick chant to wrap up and regroup.  He's definitely the go-to player for the Cards and can get the job done, but he's likewise got a temper that can both help and harm the Cards.  He did good in isolation, and taking it to the hole, driving into the lane, but didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the guys on the court, preferring to take the shot instead of dishing it off to another player.  The Bears were able to effectively rotate defensive coverage amongst several players to keep out of foul trouble for the most part.  A couple of streaks for both teams to finish out the first half, Plattsburgh's starting line having a distinct advantage in experience when Dobbs rotated in the second line leading to a 10-0 run for the Cards.

The Bears are demonstrating thus far to be a second half team.  There was additional spring in their step as they warmed into the second stanza.  Several players, notably freshman Brandon Siskavich is developing skills in posting up and working the interior of the offensive court, something which the Bears are still sporadic in their use of.  So far, it's been a disadvantage, especially since they draw less fouls from jump shots and therefore haven't been able to exploit their excellent free throw percentage as much as they could be.

Midway through the second period the Bears were able to string together several consecutive scores, bringing the lead to around 10.  After this, the biggest factor in the game became foul shooting.  I'll have to leave the actual percentages to the statisticians on this one, but I'd figure that the Bears shot about 80% from the charity stripe tonight while the Cards faired not much better than 30%.  In a game with many whistles, it could have been a lot closer, but Plattsburgh couldn't buy a foul shot to save their life, and some of the attempts were just plain ugly.  I sincerely hope that the Cards look at the game footage and then spend some time working on this aspect of the game in the upcoming weeks if they want to be able to legitimately compete in close games down the stretch.

The Bears main liabilities still lie in two areas: experience and height.  Dobbs is working feverishly to bring the newer players along, working them to full extension at practices.  Only time will demonstrate whether their development will be in time to generate waves come the second half of the season, and whatever games may lie beyond that for the Bears this years.  In terms of addressing the height shortage, rebounds are being tipped outward instead of upward, and this gives the Bears their edge back, as they are able to scrap away the loose ball with their quickness.

I still would like to see the Bears utilize their lack of size more to their advantage, making speed an integral part of their offense, moving without the ball, and passing through zone defenses instead of going around the horn to exploit 2 on 1 situations in the paint.  The complement needed to make that happen will be the maturing of at least 2 players to play the high/low post, and setting up plays to take advantage of the quick look in.  Who Dobbs chooses to do that will be up to him, but it's a facet that needs to become a part of the offense if the Bears want to stay with the top teams in the SUNYAC, as much as decent 3-point percentages have been on their side thus far.

The Bears will go on to play cross-town "rival" Clarkson U on Thursday in a non-conference match at home.  The Golden Knights are a team that the Bears recently knocked off in a 4-team tournament a couple of weeks back.

[ILOVEBALL]

tonight it was two good teams playing a great game potsdam vs plattsburgh potsdam came out on top and played the better game. it helps when the refs dont allow you to play defense on potsdam you couldnt tough the kids. and everyone always has something negative to say about chris gibbs and plattsburgh state chris shoots alot but hes suppose to everyone has a night like that and the season has just started there is much time for improvment potsdam played good and they one good job theres 22 games left

[jdex]

New Paltz' 76-75 home win over Oneonta an OT affair. Settled with 0:02 left on B. Kaible's rebound and bucket. OState 35-34 halftime leader and needed S. Coffey's trey at 0:20 to reach extra frame at 67-67. NP up 65-60 at 1:24. Sr. g K. Crichlowff 17 pts (12 by half), 11 reb. M. Irwin 13 pts, J. Hawser 15 pts 9 assts, J. Richard 10 rebs. Coffey's 21 pts (11 1st half)pace OState whose J. Murphy nets 14 (10 1st half), K. Reed 15,  fr R. Morin 12 and 9 rebs, and M. Reardon 11 pts

Oswego (2-0) at Caz tonight. Potsdam home date and rematch vs. Clarkson on Thurs

[bports]

Bport puts up a game effort agaist cortland but falls 1 point short. Bport only had 8 players available for this game and still had a really good chance to win this game. It is pretty obvious that if the have to play with 8 players they will finish in the middle of the pack in sunyacs. When they get rother back and if or when they get harris and williams back they will be  the heavy favorites to win sunyacs. Bport has to play platts and oswego on the road coming up on back to back days and that could lead to a 0-3 start in sunyacs for the port. Teams better take there best shot at them early because they will be tough to beat later in the season. It was pretty obvious last night that bport was running on empty at the end of that game with only 8 players. They were up 5-6 pts on many occasions but just couldnt  extend the lead beyond that. After watching that game last night  i would say bport wins that game by at least 15 points with there full squad. Props to cortland for playing a good game and any W at bport is a good W.

[KING]

I didn't see the game, but from what I've heard it was a good one at the port.  Bports, good call about the depleted 8 man roster of port last night, and I do agree that Rother esp. will make a huge difference.  However, I remember port teams of the past playing hard all game without getting tired, and if u look at the box score... Cortland only played 8 players as well.  Good win for my boys at Cstate regardless.  Bport still my favorite hands down to represent the SUNYAC in the tourney, IF they stay out of trouble and on the court.

[jdex]

Oswego goes to 3-0 in 95-66 Wednesday cruise at Cazenovia where A. Mims (7x10fg), M. Burridge (7x14fg) and N. Perioli (8x10fg) each nets 18 pts. Burridge with 7 rebs, Perioli 6 assts. K. Reuter 14 pts. Ten Lakers see at least 22' court time. Twas 46-30 at the break when Oswego connected 19x32 from the field and finished 36x62 including 8x16 3s.

New Paltz at home Wednesday slips to Vassar 79-74 in final of Mid-Hudson Tourney.  Hawks ahead 22-15 midway through first half. Vassar up 35-33 at half. With 12' left NP holds 50-49 edge on S. Lewis `3' and extends to 59-51 at 9' on B. Kaible trey. Vassar back in 72-69 control before NP J. Sugrue's only hoop, a `3' -- knots it at 72 at 0:42. Vassar quick to retake lead and hits closing ft's. J. Hauser 18 pts (2x4 3s, 10x12fts) pace NP. M. Irwin (4x6fg) 12 pts, 4 assts; K. Crichlow 11 pts; Kaible 9 pts (3x4 3s); Lewis 13 pts. Hawks 24x52fg; Vassar 42-33 reb margin

[unbearable]

Potsdam 79, Clarkson 61

Bears pull away in second half.  Sounded like the game was closer than final score would indicate.  I will be interested to see how Clarkson fares in the LL.  I think with their size they may surprise some people.

Bears now 4-0.


I knew I should have picked Potsdam in the d3hoops survivor pool.