MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[thebear]

Welcome Back dex.  Dragons certainly have beefed up the front line, I do want to see film of any contest between 6-8 285 Max Brown and Bengals 6-8 285 Seth Runge, Hopefully the floor won't buckle under the pressure.

[Bengalsrule]

I do want to see film of any contest between 6-8 285 Max Brown and Bengals 6-8 285 Seth Runge, Hopefully the floor won't buckle under the pressure.

Bear..you won't have to wait too long for that 1! Cortland at Buff State 12/9 @ 8p.m..

  One word of caution for the Cortlands Brown. Word is that Seth hired a personal trainer this summer and is a LOT quicker and stronger than he was last season. Doubt the Dragon youngester can keep up with him but when he does, look for Seth to let the young fella know a thing or 2. Pretty much like Dragons Chris Milke  and Paul Oliver did to Seth 2 years ago (2009-2010) when Seth was a BENGAL freshman and faced those veteran RED Dragon mountainmen! It was a lesson he will never forget. I'm sure he is looking forward to returning the courtesy to the young Brown.

Film at 11!!!!!!

[jdex]

Really don't have a clue on Cortland's Brown .....other than his size. Is a frosh. Out of Fairport. Anyone from that area help out on his western NY history .....?

[magicman]

Haven't seen any predictions yet for the Yac so I'll get the ball rolling.

1.   Oswego State   With their 6 top scorers returning from last year it's hard to look any further than the Lakers as the top team in the conference. Led by preseason All American and reigning SUNYAC Player of the Year 6'7" sr. F Chad Burridge (18.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) Oswego will be looking to make a deep run in this year's NCAA tournament. Burridge has plenty of help as 3rd team All Conference, 6'6" jr F Hayden Ward (10.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg), 6'4" sr G Conor Monaghan (10.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg 27 3's), 6'1" jr F Chris Gilkes (10.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg), 6'4" sr G Ryan Sheridan (7.4 ppg, 22 3's, 38 steals) and 5'10" sr G Sean Michele (5.8 ppg, 4.1 apg, 32 3's, 46 steals) will prevent opposing defenses from keying too much on Burridge. These 6 players combined to shoot over 45% from the field last year and almost 74% from the foul line. Key reserves will be 5'11" sr G Brian Gebhardt and 6'7" jr F Brendan Nollet. Former coach Adam Stockwell must have had a tough decision to leave this group of talented guys to head off to Hamilton this year. That could be the only roadblock in the Laker's path to the SUNYAC championship as new coach Jason Leone takes over the program. But based on Coach Leone's past success I don't think the Lakers will miss a beat. Coach Leone left behind a pretty good group of players at Keystone, a team that beat Oswego last year 76-72. Too bad there's not a rematch this year.

2.   Buffalo State  If any team will give the Lakers a run for their money it should be the Bengals who made it to the sweet 16 in last year's NCAA tournament. Buffalo State returns 1st team All Conference Guard 6' jr Jake Simmons (19.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 92 3's, 77 steals) and 2nd team AC F  6'5" (he grew an inch) jr Justin Mitchell (14.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 49 blocks). Also back is 5'10" starting point guard  sr Norman Simmons (5.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 102 assists, 46 steals). Key reserves last year that will be looking to move into a starter's role are 6'1" so G Nico McLean (5'1 ppg 37 steals), 6'4" sr F Ahmed Nagaya (4.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and 5'6" jr G Anthony Hamer (1.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg,). Big body  6'8" jr C Seth Runge will need to help out as well as the Bengals don't appear to have much experience if bigs Mitchell and Nagaya need a break or get in foul trouble. 6'7" Frosh F Anyar Majak might also be a solid contributor in that area.  The loss of 1st team AC Chris Cartwright, who didn't return to school this year, will hurt as Cartwright averaged 16.2 ppg last year and along with Jake Simmons gave the Bengals a dual threat from behind the arc. He had 70 3 pointers last year and without him in the lineup Jake is the only long distance threat. The rest of the Bengal lineup only had a total of 9 3's. I liked Buff State's chances of winning the Yac a whole lot more with Cartwright in the backcourt with Jake and Norman Simmons.

3.   Brockport State   The Golden Eagles also return a ton a talent and one just has to look at last year's SUNYAC semifinal to realize that their chances of claiming the top prize is entirely possible as they defeated the Lakers 74-70 in Max Zeil Gym. Brockport returns 4 starters from last year's team led by 1st team AC 6'5" sr F Kyheem Green (15.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 63 blocks, 53 steals) and 2nd team AC 6' sr Guard Gerald Williams (17.3 PPG, 65 3's, 44 steals). Starting point guard 5'8" jr Derek Klein (6.2 ppg, 4.2 apg, 30 3's, 48 steals) and SUNYAC Rookie of the year, 6'1" so guard Jon Ivy (10.3 ppg), who started 18 games last year as a freshman, give Brockport plenty of experience in the backcourt.  Finger Lakes JC tranfer, 6'5" junior Donnell Jackson, comes in with some impressive credentials and could earn a starting job over  6'7"  senior C Kazeem Are (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Key reserves will be 6'2" sr G Stephen Sisson, and 6'4" so F Dorian Hayden. Jordan Major, a 6'1" jr. guard, who saw very little playing time last year, could also be a solid contributor. He was 4 of 5 with 2 3's last week in 15 minutes of court time in an exhibition game. Freshman that could make an impact are 5'9" G Lance Legister and 6'1" G Jon Veloz. With 9 guards 6"2" or smaller on the 16 man roster I think we'll see more of Coach Dunne's orchestrated havoc on the court. Expect to see a solid 10 man rotation averaging double digits in minutes played.

4.   Cortland State   Another team that returns most of last year's starters. The Red Dragons will be a legitimate threat against every team in the conference. Led by 2nd team AC  5'11" G  jr. Jesse Winter (15.7 ppg, 4.2 apg, 58 3's) and his backcourt mate 6'1" jr. G Jeremy Smith (14.8 ppg, 53 3's) this pair will fire them up from all over the place. I watched them light up Plattsburgh last spring hitting 11x15 from behind the arc. Their inside game is led by probable rookie of the year runnerup, 6'6" so. F/C Kevin McMahon (10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 52% fg). Other bigs are 6'4" so. G/F John Connolly (8.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 35 steals), an 18 game starter, who was 4x6 from 3 point land the night Winter and Smith hit 11 of 15, 6'9" jr C Dan Sternkopf (2.9 ppg. 3.9 rpg, 42 blocks) who started in 17 games  and 6'4" so. F/C Maurice Kearney (1.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg), a starter in 25 games. Key player off the bench will be 6'3" jr Harrison Hefele (8.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 41 3's) New faces that are unknown quantities but may contribute are 6'4" jr. F Legree Kirkland, 6'3" sr G Brian Manning, 6'8" fr. C Max Brown, and 6'7" fr. F/C Matt McGowan. Lots of size on this year's Red Dragons which is something they were lacking last year in terms of minutes played by their bigs. They consistently lost the battle of the boards and it looks like Coach Spanbauer is hoping to change that this season.

5.   New Paltz   Confusing information coming out of New Paltz makes it hard to slot this team in the pecking order. Roster published several weeks ago listed 6'6" jr C Jayquan Anderson who was the Hawk's leading scorer (15.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.7 rpg) during the 2009-10 season coming back after missing last year. However a season preview posted on the Hawk's team page on Nov. 11th makes no mention of him being on the team. Anderson was an AC performer as a sophomore and would have been a big contributor to this year's team. New Paltz returns a veteran group of players led by last year's leading scorer, senior guard 6'0" Harris Wichard (SUNYAC All Conference 3rd team-14.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Also returning are 6'4" junior forward Matt Devine (13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) along with last years' starters 7'0" senior center Daniel Olsen (8.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and 5'10" senior guard Jermaine Wallace (3.7 ppg). Top reserves 6' 0" junior guard Nick Taldi (8.7 ppg) and 6'4" sophomore forward Taylor Sowah (3.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) will provide depth off the bench. Returning after a 2 year layoff is 5'7" jr G Shalik Jenkins (6.7 ppg in 08-09). All conference soccer player and probably the oldest player in the YAC, 29 year old Jamal Lis-Simmons will join the team this year as well.  The bad news for the Hawks is their other All Conference performer (3rd team) Shareef Taylor is not listed on the 2011-12 roster. Taylor would have been a senior this year and the 6'2" guard who was a 3 year starter for New Paltz had career averages of 14.9 ppg (951 pts in 64 games) and 5.8 rpg. He also led the team in assists last year as well. New Paltz roster also shows three freshmen with some size from 6'3" to 6'7". With Anderson and Taylor in the mix this team could have challenged the leaders. Without them I think they're  probably in the right spot or perhaps they fall a little furthur down the ladder. Perhaps new coach Mike Rejniak can perform some magic and help the Hawks get to the next level.   


6.   Plattsburgh State   The bad news: The Cardinals graduated 5 starters. The good news: They got a good group of recruits for the 2nd year in a row. Ketema Brooks, a 5'10" sr. point guard (3.3 ppg, 3.7 apg) and grad student Josh Bruno, a 6'3" shooting guard (4.3 ppg) head the list of returnees. Sophomores Shavar Fields, a 6'6" forward (4.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg), Reggie Williams, a 6'6" forward (1.7 ppg,1.6 rpg) and John Perez a 6'3" G/F (1.7 ppg,1.7 rpg) will need to turn their game up a notch, but all possess the talent to do so. Senior guard 6'1" Junghoon Roh and 6'5"so G/F Anthony Baker will also see increased playing time. New faces this year that could provide an immediate impact are 6'2" fr G Shamoy McIntosh, 5'8" fr point guard Mike Mitchell, 6'5" fr F Ezra Hodgson and 6'4" fr F Gary Tibbs. This year's group will need to come together quickly if they want to challenge the top teams. They could resemble the 8-16 team of 2008-09 which saw another young Cardinal team that was in almost every game but came up short in crunch time. They could also repeat the magic of the 20005-06 team that came into the conference tournament as the 6th seed and put it all together to win the championship. Coach Tom Curle has got the personnel, hopefully that will tranlate into wins. They'll be tested early as they open up with 5 of their first 6 games on the road against the likes of Rochester, Oswego, Cortland, and either Ursinus or Keystone. Home opener isn't until Nov. 29th against a veteran St. Lawrence team.

7.   Potsdam State   Is this the year the Bears get back to respectability? It's been 6 years since Potsdam has won a YAC tournament game and 5 years since they had a winning record. With 12 returning lettermen and 4 players back who started the final 4 games of last year this could be the start of something good. They are still a young team though and this year's edition of the YAC is brutal so I'll be surprised if they finish much higher than where I've got them placed. The Bears will be led once again by 3rd team AC 6' 3" jr G/F Curtis Pierce (13.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 44 steals). Three sophomores, 6'5" G/F Tony Efese (8 starts 9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg),  6'6" F Rob Duquette (25 starts 8.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and 6'3" G Greg Torchon (10 starts 3.0 ppg) will look to improve after starting a number of games last year. Other key players looking to crack the starting lineup are 6'5" sr F Brad Drysdale (7.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg), 5'11" sr G Skip Schwartz (4.6 ppg, 29 3's), 6' jr G Josh Lambert (2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and 5'10" sr G Wesley Francisco. New faces that could help out right away are juco  tranfer 6'6" jr Corey Ellis and local product 6'5" fr Zac Adams from Potsdam High School. Coach Sherry Dobbs has lots of reason for optimism. "We're at a point now where our returning players are sophomores and juniors along with three seniors who have a lot of game experience," stated Coach Dobbs. "We need to move up in the conference standings and compete for a conference championship." I think the young Bearcubs like my Cards are about a year away.

8.   Geneseo State   It will be a dogfight for the final playoff spot in the YAC and I think the Blue Knights will get it as they return their top 8 point producers from last year. Mike Hoy a 6' 2' sr G (12.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 54 assists, 32 3's) will once again be counted on as their go to guy. He'll get help from 6'4" so F Jordan Jones (11.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg), 6'3" jr F Ryan Riefenhauser (9.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 56 assists) and 6'6" sr F Abe Miller (8.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 30 blocks). Five others averaged double digit minutes last and will look for an increase in playing time. Connor Fedge, a 6' 1' so G (6.0 ppg) 52% fg, 38 assists), John Drazen a 6'8" sr F (5.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg), 6'5" so F Matt Curry (5.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg), 6'2" sr G Ethan Estabrooks 4.8 ppg, 28 3's) and 6'1" so G Thomas Decker (3.9 ppg, 36 assists , 17 3's) will give the Blue Knights plenty of depth. Four Freshman recruits provide added height as they are listed at 6'3", 6'5", 6'6" and 6'6". Injuries hurt Geneseo last year and they had some tough losses to the better teams in the region. I think they will win some of those matchups this year.

9.   Fredonia State   The Blue Devils will look to rebound from a dismal 2010-11 season when they posted a 6-18 record (3-15 SUNYAC). Unfortunately they won't bounce much higher than last year in the conference. Their 3 top scoring players from last year, all underclassmen, are not on this year's roster. That leaves 6'4" sr F Damien Goodwin II (6.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg) as their top scoring returnee. What they will gain however is 5th year player Julius Bryant who sat out last year with an injury. Bryant a 6'5" F was the 2nd leading scorer in 2009-10 when he averaged 10.1 ppg and 4.8 rpg. Also returning after a year off is 6'2" jr G/F Amir Billups (6.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 36 3's in 09-10) who figures to be one of the first players off the bench. Kevin Mitchell a 6'4" sr F (5.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg) is expected to start in the frontcourt and 6'0" sr Leonard Smith, (5.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 assists pg) who was limited to only 10 games last year, will be the starting point guard. Several transfers will battle it out for the final starting frontcourt position. 6'5" jr Markus Williams or 6'6" jr Devin Case. Other help off the bench will come from 6'1" sr G Jon Herrera, 6'2" sr G Dalton Kashmer, and 5'8" sr G Dior Jackson. Frosh G 6'3" Mark Merritt and soph G 6'1" Adam Dawson may get significant minutes as well.

10  Oneonta State   Always tough to put a team at the bottom of the standings but these Red Dragons lost a ton from a team that went 9-17 (8-10 SUNYAC) last year. The top six scorers are gone and with them went 160 minutes a game and 59 of the 66.7 ppg the team averaged. There are seven returning players led by 6'7" jr F Dan McLaren (2.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 12.4 min.pg) and 6'7" jr C Cameron Boyden (2.1 ppg,2.2 rpg, 12.3 min.pg). 6'2" so. G Kevin Donahue (1.8 ppg, 10.2 min.pg) and 6'2" so. G Dan Lee are the only other players that garnered much playing time last season. Not much is known about the seven new faces on the roster but 2 are freshman, 2 are sophomores, 1 is a junior and 2 are seniors. I hope the Oneonta men's soccer team can pull off the upset this Saturday over St. Lawrence and stay alive in the NCAA tournament, because I don't think the Red Dragon faithful will have much to cheer about on the hardwood this winter, although I hear the Oneonta Ladies are loaded.                     

Opening tip off tonight for a bunch of us. Good luck to all the SUNYAC teams. We need to have a big non-conference winning percentage this year to help us get 2 teams into the dance once again.


       

[jdex]

Tuesday tips ....

Oswego at St. Lawrence
D'Youville at Buff St.
Elmira at Cortland
Potsdam at Utica College
Geneseo at Medaille
Fredonia at PS Behrend, Pa
Plattsburgh at Norwich, Vt

In Friday debuts ....

New Paltz vs. Centenary, NJ at Scranton tourney
Brockport vs. Montclair at Farmingdale tourney
Kean at Oneonta

[magicman]

Lets see if I still have some magic in my selections.

Oswego at St. Lawrence            Lakers open win a win on the road  82-70
D'Youville at Buff St.                 Bengals win easily 90-61
Elmira at Cortland                     Red Dragons by double digits 78-63             
Potsdam at Utica College           Bears break 4 game losing streak against the Pioneers as they win a close one on the road 68-65
Geneseo at Medaille                  Blue Knights 73-65
Fredonia at PS Behrend, Pa        Blue Devils spoil a perfect night as they lose 68-58
Plattsburgh at Norwich, Vt          Cards open with a barnburner and top the Cadets 75-73

[magicman]

I'm in D3 heaven. Tonight I can watch the Plattsburgh State/Norwich game on live video. Got the women's game on right now Cards up by 5 with 5 min left

Also have the Buff State/D'Youville game on live video.  Buff State women up 51-21

Plus I' ve got the Potsdam State/Utica College game on live video  Lady Bears down 38-36 with 12 min to go

Have to settle for live stats on the Oswego St/St. Lawrence game which is tipping off in a few minutes.

Cortland /Elmira game is live stats as well

[magicman]

Oswego State's 1st possession 20 seconds into the game, jumper by who else-- Chad Burridge--it's good and the Laker's take the lead.

[magicman]

Oswego State on the short end of a 38-27 halftime score against the Larries.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State up 42-26 over Norwich at the break.

Oswego down by as much as 12 early in the 2nd half has come back to make it a 2 point game as they trail SLU 52-50 with 6:20 left to play.

Potsdam up 24-19 over UC with 9:20 left in the 1st half.

Cortland and Elmira tied at 26 with 1:48 left in the 1st half.

Bengals up 45-23 over D'Youville with 6:38 left in the half

[magicman]

Potsdam with a 41-34 lead at the half over UC.

Oswego down 64-61 with 31 seconds left to play

[magicman]

Lakers falter in Canton as SLU upsets Oswego 66-62.

[jdex]

Oswego battles back, leads 55-54 with 5:05 left on H. Ward hoop. SL reversal at 4:29 and hangs on. C. Burridge bucket gets Lakers within 62-61 at 1:38. Larries' R. Temgoua clutch ft's at 0:51 and a bit later, and gets late steal. Finishes with 23 pts. Burridge 19 pts(7x14fg, 7 reb); H. Ward 13 pts; S. Michele 8 assts.

Cortland barely up at half. Elmira with eight 3s, RDragons shutout beyond arc. Winter scoreless half, M. Brown 5 pts -- a factor yes. J. Smith 7 pts

[magicman]

Buffalo State scores 69 in the 1st half against D'Youville. 69-46 at the break.

Plattsburgh now up by 24, 60-36 with 8:45 to play.

[jdex]

Geneseo falls 76-56 to Medaille, which nails 10 treys to Knights' 0x5 there. Gens 21x53fg. J. Jones 17 pts(7x15fg); J. McKenna 8 rebs, 8 pts, 4 assts in spare role

Cortland pulling away from Elmira keyed by B. Manning