MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[Caz Bombers]

THat's a pretty good win for Naz, no?  Buff State's no slouch.

ehhhhh we'll see. Buff State had some solid years, and maybe they'll be on the way up soon, but they were 17-31 the past two seasons.

[Bengalsrule]

THat's a pretty good win for Naz, no?  Buff State's no slouch.

Slouch ?  I doubt anyone can say who's good or not in November. I will say that the Bengals played 5 freshman yesterday and 2 1st year sophomores. I know that coach Faj was concerned about chemistry and cut players this year who played ( and started ) last year. I believe that this years team has depth , genuine respect for each other and plenty talent.  I will say this.  It's the first time, that I can remember, the BENGALS played EVERYONE on thier roster in a meaningful game.  Can't say that I've seen that before unless it's a blowout  (and I'm sure we all can agree, this was not a blowout).

   Only time will tell how much of a quality win it was for Naz. I take my hat if to them. Every time we got within range , they would hit a big shot. Give coach Broderick credit.  That former Oswego coach has a scrappy crew

Go BENGALS

[All-Time]

Just happy the Magicman is Back and Better than ever!!!!

The Craziness is about to begin in the SUNYAC.

Buckle up your seat belts and hold on it's going to be a Bumpy Ride.

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[magicman]

Nov. 12  Three more teams open their season today with 4 games scheduled starting at 6:00 PM.

A foot of snow has hit the North Country and Murphy's Law has once again visited the magicman. My plow truck won't start and I couldn't get it going with a jump. Brand new heavy duty battery just months ago so I don't know what the problem is. Of course it worked fine and started right up several days ago, when I drove into town.  Waiting to see if I can get plowed out or not today. My driveway is only 1000 feet long so without a plow job it ain't getting cleared.

Potsdam State  @  St. Lawrence             6:00 PM

The Bears beat the Saints last year in Potsdam. The Larries will try to turn the tables this year on their home court in Canton. Both teams lost more than 50% of their scoring due to graduation. Tonight's game will see which team can find the winning combination of new faces with returning veterans. The line has the Saints listed as a 2 point favorite and I expect a close game. I'm hoping the Bears can claim their 2nd win over a college from Canton in a 5 day span. Potsdam wins this one 75-73.   

        
Brockport State  @  Morrisville State      6:00 PM

This is the opener for both teams and it features two of the top players in Division III. Justin Summers from Brockport and Kevin Dennis  from MoVille were both selected to the D3hoops.com preseason All-American Third Team.

Morrisville won the regular season and tournament Championship of the NEAC conference last year and went to the NCAA Tournament. They should challenge for the top spot in their conference once again. Dennis isn't the only bright spot for the Mustangs as they return 6 of their top 10 rotation players. Tyrin Miller and Justin Mitchell are a pair of 6'2" Senior guards that both averaged double figures for Morrisville and will force opposing defenses to guard the 3 point line. Together they made over 100 triples last year. Derek Beames, a 6'7" Senior forward who had 15 starts last year will help out Dennis on the boards. He averages 7'5 ppg and 4.4 rpg.   

Brockport returns a number of veterans from last years team that made it to the championship game of the SUNYAC Tournament where they dropped a close decision to Oswego State 55-50. In addition to Summers they return last years' Rookie of the Year in the YAC, Danny Ashley, who averaged 8.1 ppg and 3.5 assists per game.  Graduate student Tyler Collins a 5'10" guard returns for a final season after getting a medical redshirt last year and Jahidi Wallace, a 6'2" Sophomore guard is also back. The pair averaged 12 and 10 ppg. respectively. Sharpshooter Antonio Alvarez, a 6'3" Junior guard, is back and looking to build on his sophomore season, where he got 15 starts after the new year, and had double figures in 10 of those games. Monte Stroman, a 6'4" Senior guard is another veteran who plays double digit minutes, and fills up the stat sheet. Six newcomers are listed on the roster, 1 freshman and 5 junior transfer players. I imagine with 16 players, which includes 11 guards, there will be a deep rotation that will feature a lot of substitution, as the Golden Eagles will come at you non stop. I expect them to be a major force in the conference and one of the favorites to win the top prize.

Last year the Golden Eagles handled the Mustangs in Brockport by a 96-77 final score as Justin Summers had hs way with the 'Stangs. Brockport's ace scored 35 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but he had help from Devante Hagins who tossed in 21 points and snagged 8 rebounds. Hagins in not on Port's roster this year, which has to be a bit disconcerting for Brockport's Coach Dunne. Dennis had 13 pts and 10 boards to help his team but Justin Mitchell led the Mustangs with 20 points.

The oddsmakers have made the Golden Eagles a slim 2 point favorite in this contest and I'm not sure why that margin is so small. I don't expect the Mustangs to lose by 19 like last year but still think that Brockport will prevail by a few more than 2. I'm picking Port to win 85-76.

           
   
D'Youville  @  Fredonia State           7:00 PM

The Blue Devils are looking to get off on the right foot and they open with just the team to do that with. Last year D'Youville opened up a 9 point halftime lead and held off the Blue Devils to come away with a 85-77 win. The Spartans lost a lot of players off that team, unfortunately it looks like Fredonia lost even more.

The Blue Devils had 10 guys in their rotation last year that averaged double digit minutes. With a 2-23 record it could be safe to say that Coach Seymore had trouble finding the right combination on the floor. He may be back in that same predicament this year as 7 of the top 8 guys in that rotation are not on this years' roster. Lots of new faces with 3 transfers, 4 freshman and several players returning from 2 years ago that saw limited action when they were on the team. DeQuan Smith, a 6' Senior guard, will lead the team as he averaged 10.4 ppg last year. Tyler Roberts is another 6 foot Senior guard, who had a significant number of starts last season and averaged 4.5 ppg. George Colden, a 6'3" Senior guard, is the only other returning player who had more than 1 start last year, as he got the nod on 7 occasions. All told the Blue Devils lost over 60% of their scoring. They need to find it in a hurry.

D'Youville is in the same boat as the Blue Devils as they lost a number of players, so it's anyone's guess who will come out on top in this game. The point spread has the Spartans winning this one by a 2 point margin. I went with Fredonia last year and they burned me so this year I've considered going with D'Youville....but I won't.... I'm rooting for the Blue Devils so I might as well pick the Blue Devils...but they aren't getting too many chances. Fredonia starts the year off with a bang....Bue Devils 73  Spartans 69           
   
Rochester  @  Geneseo State              7:00 PM

Geneseo would love to win this game. And it's not just because it's their season opener and they'd like to start the season off with a W. They would love to break the long losing streak they have against the Yellowjackets.  Over the past 13 years they are 0-7 and are coming off 3 losses in the past 3 years to the Uof R.

This could be the year the Knights have a shot, as Rochester lost a significant portion of their rotation to graduation. They are coming off a 21-6 season where they made it to the Big Dance, winning a game and losing one before calling it a night. They return just 1 starter from that team and lose their top 3 scorers. A 10 man rotation from last year has only 4 returning players so they will be trying to discover where the scoring will come from. A big freshman class of 9 recruits will give them a decent starting point.

The Knights are coming off a year where they were near the bottom of the standings in the SUNYAC as it became a rebuilding year when two of their top players left the program. They have brought back 7 of their top 9 players from last year and added 6 freshman along with 2 sophomores to the team. Even though they struggled down the stretch during a number of games they were still capable of beating anyone. They managed 2 big upsets in the final few weeks of the season with wins over Brockport and Cortland, the 3rd and 4th place teams in the YAC, as proof that the team was continuing to improve. 6'2" Senior guard Terrance Nichols will lead the Knights with his 15.2 ppg average and 4.1 rpg.  5'10" Senior guard Terence Rogers dishes out 4.5 assists per game, averages 6.1 ppg. and 3.9 rpg. Michael Gannon is also back and the 6'6" Sophomore forward should move forward off a freshman year that saw him average 8.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

The oddsmakers have made Rochester a double digit 11 point favorite in this game. I'd love to take the Knights and really hope they can end this losing streak they've been on against the Yellowjackets. However this is the UAA  conference and they recruit so many talented players that it's hard to compete with them, especially when you're coming off a down season. I believe the Knights are capable of winning this game, however, and think they can keep it closer than the 11 point spread.

I'll go with Rochester 79 Geneseo 73, but sure hope I'm wrong and it's the other way around.

         

Plowing the Driveway Update
   
On a bright note I did get plowed out by a a guy who will only charge me about $100 bucks. The price you pay for having a long driveway. Now the next problem is getting my truck fixed.  Need someone that does house calls. I had a guy that would always do that and has been my go to guy for at least a dozen or more years. He was operated on for a brain tumor last Wednesday and it doesn't look good. I'm praying he will respond to the chemo. They sent him to Roswell Park Cancer Center in Buffalo.

[magicman]

Brockport leads Morrisville 39-31 at the half.

Justin Summers and Jahidi Wallace with 8 points each to pace the Golden Eagles.

Kevin Dennis with 9 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs.

[stlawus]

Potsdam shooting 60% against SLU after the half.  SLU injuries killing them inside.

[magicman]

Potsdam State leads SLU 63-49 at the half.

Teams playing with a 20 second clock I think with the points they're putting up. Unexpected

Jayquan Thomas and Brandon Segar Jr. with 16 points each to lead the Bears. Tyrese Baptiste already with a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

Luke Hicks leads the Saints with 20 points. Brandon Arnold with 9.

[magicman]

Potsdam State defeats St Lawrence 84-74

[magicman]

Brockport falls to Morrisville State 73-70.

[magicman]

Rochester led Geneseo 36-24 at the half and now the Yellowjackets are in front 43-29 with 15 minutes to play.

D'Youville in front of Fredonia 42-37 at the half.

[stlawus]

I was impressed with Potsdam tonight.  They shot a nice percentage in the first half and their 3 point shooting was the difference.  They're a physical team that plays nice defense, especially in the back court.  I think the game might had been different if Hicks didn't get injured and we had our 6'10" center anchoring the zone as Potsdam got a lot of points in the paint in the first half, but a win is a win.

[thebear]

Potsdam senior Jayquan Thomas had 21 points to lead all scorers.

Bears got double doubles tonight from newcomers 6-6 junior Brandon Segar Jr. [17 pts 10 rebs] and 6-6 Freshman Tyrese Baptiste [10 pts 14 rebounds]  Bears largest lead was 22 before the Saints mounted a bit of a comeback. 

As noted the Saints started the game with two key players on crutches and their top returnee, Luke Hicks [20 pts] was injured and on the bench for the last 6:54.

A tale of two halves, Bears scored 63 in the first and 21 in the second.  63 is one point short of the Potsdam School record for a half.

Nice win for the Bears at SLU.

[stlawus]

Only one player in crutches, the 2nd option off the bench for center/forward but 2 other main contributors out with Huntley and Hoffman (starting center) not playing.   I wasn't able to find out what their injuries were but they didn't appear to be seriously injured.   They were walking around fine.  I doubt it's an eligibility issue, probably just a practice tweak.    Hoffman's length would have made a difference I think but Potsdam took advantage of the zone and made a lot of shots, about half of them contested.    Potsdam's guards were also very active on defense and got a lot of layups off of forced turnovers. 

[thebear]

I've been around Potsdam basketball since 1970 and can count on two fingers the times the Bears have scored 63 in a half against anyone, including during the 60 game win streak.  That was one of the better halves of basketball offense Potsdam has played in recent memory.

[stlawus]

After the first 10 minutes I though both teams were going to score 100.   Everything went right for Potsdam.   They'll likely not face a zone for an entire game again this season but they made shots and scored in the paint.  I was impressed.  Potsdam went up 12 halfway through the first half and then SLU went on a 13-0 run to take the lead but Potsdam forced some turnovers and never lost the lead after that.   It's nice to see that program back on track again.