MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[with age came?]

Heard they did not register - "not in the budget". But it was not from an absolute source but a pretty reliable one.

[magicman]

Heard they did not register - "not in the budget". But it was not from an absolute source but a pretty reliable one.

Well if that's true then Clarkson's Administration sucks. I wonder if the hockey team would ever hear such an excuse. I mean they ship those guys all over the place. And yeah they're D1 in hockey but still why not let the basketball team get the benefits of post-season play if they qualify. Dip into the millions of $$$ they hoard in those endowment funds for a couple of bus rides down the turnpike. If the SUNYAC schools can afford to send their teams with the State of NY cutting their budgets I would think an elite school like Clarkson can spare a dime or two. 

[with age came?]

Could not agree more magic.  Hope I am wrong and the "source" is wrong also but I would not count on it. Heard the decision rested with the AD.  Hey up there "hockey is king".

[magicman]

Could not agree more magic.  Hope I am wrong and the "source" is wrong also but I would not count on it. Heard the decision rested with the AD.  Hey up there "hockey is king".

I know the Clarkson AD from my College days and he is a hockey man through and through. Local guy from Potsdam, who is a Clarkson grad and was even a member of the big hockey fraternity at the time.

[scooterman]

Congrats to Magic and the Cards--I am on the mend and hopefully no longlasting side effects--Hey I would always be for my beloved Eagles--Good luck to the two remaining teams and represent the SUNYACS well--whoever goes!!!!I hope the Eagles do extend their season with the ECAC's--They deserve it even if they had some letdowns in the second half of season--Good Luck to Coach Curle and the Burg

[thebear]

Actually for a lot of schools, the ECAC's aren't an option.  They get in the way of Spring break.  Season length enters in as well, esp for schools that play Sunday games. 

I know SLU hasn't participated in hoops in a while, and last year the ECAC Upstate women were cut to 4 teams because of lack of participation.  Not sure either of the UAA teams (U of R or NYU) ever declares for ECAC's.

Budgets are getting tighter - Even at the Privates.  With investment values and yields down, they are in a squeeze as well, and they only have tuition, endowment and research grants as funding sources. (Not that state dollars are abundant these days). 

I've known Clarkson's AD for a long time.  He's very fair and has done a great job in making them competitive in other sports as well as Hockey.  They particularly need to be commended for the work they've done in women's sports despite their enrollment disadvantage in sheer numeric terms.

Back in the Day, ECAC's were a bigger deal esp when Hamilton wasn't participating in the NCAA tournament, in this day & age with a 60+ team NCAA field, they are definitely the NIT of D-III, and a tough budgetary decision for many AD's especially with the timing of the academic calendar in a prime Spring Break Week.

[magicman]

As usual the bear comes in with the definitive answer. 

[magicman]

I just received word from Plattsburgh St. that the SUNYAC Championship game between Oneonta St and Plattsburgh St will be a live webcast by PSTV this afternoon at 4:00 PM. Here's the link:

http://primelink1.net/

[magicman]

There is joy in Mudville as Plattsburgh St. comes back from a 33-20 first half deficit to beat Oneonta State 67-60 in the Championship game  of the SUNYAC Tournament. Details to follow.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh's win gave them the automatic conference Pool A bid and left Oneonta in line to recieve a Pool C bid. The Red Dragons probably would have been the first East Region  team on the table for the selection committee to consider but the St John Fisher-Nazareth game just ended with #1 seed and #1 in the East, Fisher losing a thriller to the Golden Flyers 65-64. St John Fisher is a lock for a Pool C bid and Oneonta will probably get one as well but it will depend on the number of other upsets that might take place. The good news is the top seeds in 15 other conferences either won their championship today or advanced  to the finals that will be played tomorrow. Top seeds that have lost so far (that I know of) are St. Thomas, MIT, John Carroll, and of course St. John Fisher. Hang in there Red Dragons, you could still be Dancing.

[magicman]

Another great game today at Plattsburgh's Memorial Hall matching the 2 teams that over the long haul have proven to be the best the SUNYAC had this year. Plattsburgh came out firing and once again Chris Ruiz as he has done for what seems like forever opened the scoring 20 secs into the game. 2 free throws by Steve Thomas are followed by a Ruiz 3 pointer and one as he is fouled on the shot. Another S. Thomas bucket, another triple by Ruiz, and an easy layup by Ferris Thomas off a Carl Munnerlyn feed gives the Cardinals a 15-5 lead just 4:33 into the game. The Red Dragons take a time out to regroup and boy did they regroup. Over the next 9 minutes and 51 seconds Oneonta outscored Plattsburgh 28-5 to take a 33-20 lead with 5:36 left in the half. The Red Dragons run was fueled by Troy Talbot who scored 12 of his 14 1st half points during that time span highlighted by 2 driving layups that both resulted in old fashioned 3 pt plays. Plattsburgh finally came out of their funk with a Ferris Thomas putback and back to back drives to the hoop by Ketema Brooks that managed to cut the lead to 7 at the half down 37-30.
Plattsburgh opened the 2nd half much like they did the 1st period as Steve Thomas hit a jumper 15 seconds into play, then a 2nd jumper and one, followed by a Ruiz jumper, then a Ruiz bank shot and one to narrow the gap to 41-40 after 4:48 had gone by. Over the next 6 minutes the teams traded buckets as the Red Dragon lead fluctuated between 1 to 3 pts. Down 49-46 Errol Daniyan gets the ball down low then makes a fine spin move to score his first basket of the game. On Oneonta's ensuing possession Ruiz steals the ball and goes the length of the court to lay it in and give the Cardinals their first lead 50-49, since the 13 minute mark of the 1st half. It turned out to be a lead the Cards would never relinquish.  After an Oneonta misfire Steve Thomas hits a driving layup then after Brian Beckford scores for the Red Dragons, Thomas sandwiches 2 free throws and 2 more drives for a basket around a bucket by Oneonta's Shane Gillette, to extend the Cardinals' lead to 59-53 with 3:26 left to play. Oneonta could get no closer than 5 as the Cardinals hit their foul shots down the stretch to make the final of 67-60.
Oneonta had problems with Thomas and Ruiz  the entire game and the pair finished with 28 and 23 points respectively. Thomas rebounded nicely from his off night against Brockport on Friday as he was 8x15 from the field and 12x17 from the line. Tonight he completed the double-double he just missed last night as he hauled down a game high 10 rebounds. He played the entire 40 minutes and was chosen the Most Valuable Player of the SUNYAC Tournament. Ruiz, who was named to the All Tournament Team, could just as easily have been the most valuable player as he had 43 pts for the 2 games this weekend, the highest point total of anyone. He just missed his 3rd straight double-double in playoff competition only grabbing 8 boards tonight. He shot 8x20 from the field, 2x7 3's, and 5x6 from the stripe. Birthday Boy Errol Daniyan only scored 5 points tonight but did tie Thomas for the rebounding honors with 10 boards. Farris Thomas chipped in with 9 rebounds and 7 pts and defensively limited Oneonta's Beckford to only 10 pts (just 3 field goals). Last night Beckford went off against Cortland for 25 pts and 15 rebounds. Carl Munnerlyn led the Cards with 5 assists. Plattsburgh shot 22x54 (40.7%) from the field, only 2x12 from 3 point land and 21x33 63.6%) from the line. They enjoyed a 46-35 rebounding edge and had 12 turnovers to the Red Dragons' 10. The win was Plattsburgh's 10th straight victory.

Oneonta Was led by Troy Talbot with 18 pts (7x18 fg, 4x4 ft) 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Three players each had 10 points, Beckford, Shane Gillette, and Brian Hooks. Red Dragons shot 24x62 (38.7%) from the field and also had a poor night from beyond the arc hitting on only 2 of 11 attempts. They were 10x19 from the foul line.

This marked Plattsburgh's 4th SUNYAC title in the past 5 years as the Cardinals now wait to hear what their chances are of possibly hosting a 1st round NCAA game and who their opponent might be.

Congratulations to the Cardinals and Coach Curle on a great run to the Championship        

[magicman]

Here are the teams that it looks like the East Region will send to the NCAA Tournament.


Plattsburgh State---SUNYAC  Automatic Bid
Nazareth---Empire 8  Automatic Bid
St. Lawrence---Liberty League  Automatic Bid
Medaille--- Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference  Automatic Bid
SUNYIT/Wells winner--- North Eastern Athletic Conference  Automatic Bid
St John Fisher---Pool C At Large Bid
Oneonta State---Pool C At Largr Bid

Ithaca will come up just short of getting a bid as they would be the next East Region team on the table for consideration.

Last year we had 6 teams make the tournament. This year we will have 7 teams get in. The difference is the SUNYAC only got 1 bid last year while this year they get 2.

[magicman]

D3Hoops has come up with a projected bracket for the NCAA Tournament. These are only projections and probably will differ from the actual NCAA committee's bracket but I sure hope that the pod Pat Coleman has for Plattsburgh St. happens. Pat has Plattsburgh hosting 1st and 2nd round games with the Cardinals taking on Nazareth and those other Cardinals, St John Fisher taking on Colby. Nothing could be finer!!!

[bomber3]

SUNYIT @ Plattsburgh
Naz vs Medaille @ Plattsburgh

Brooklyn @ St John Fisher
Brandeis vs St. Lawrence @ St John Fisher

Oneonta @ Franklin and Marshall

[jdex]

Even better for Pburghers!!!!

Congrats to Magic ........Cards certainly deserved it. Best team prevails in YAC. Pardon the delay on our part. Still a bit down after our Corts came so far, then faded --- as in the end of games. Needed that take charge guy and he evidently never showed. Still, came a ways from last season. New guys contributed mightily. Now to find an inside game with loss of Oliver and Nagle (and whatever became of sr M. Lewis?). Overlooked in our last report in loss to Oneonta was top scorer J. Smith, a frosh along with J. Winter. And we'll also pull for those other RDragons. Great campaign along with Cards. Gotta be tough for ailing M. Grimes to sit. A vital cog ......