MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[jdex]

Cortland romps over Potsdam 63-42, unloading the bench for the first time. Builds on 32-25 halftime margin quickly in final stanza. Corts 52 percent from the field despite 7x24 3s. Bears paltry 13x48fg, 10x22ft. RDragons J. Winter 13 pts(5x10fg, 3x6 3s), 6 assts; J. Smith 12 pts(5x10fg, 2x7 3s); M. Brown 7 pts, 6 reb. Bear C. Pierce 10 pts(3x12fg), 6 rebs. Corts 5-1, Pdam 2-4

Brockport in a 42-37 halftime hole vs. UR, but take 61-59 lead with 10:16 to play on G. Williams 3-pter. By 4:57 UR ahead 72-66, stretch to nine at 4:04 and 11 at 3:38. Eagles no closer. G. Williams 22 pts(7x14fg, 6x13 3s), 5 rebs in 29'; D. Jackson 16 pts; J. Ivy 11 pts; K. Green 11 pts, 2 rebs, 4pf in 19'. Bport 1-5, UR 6-2. Jacket J. DiBartolomeo 28 pts(5x9 3s). UR 13x26 3s

[magicman]

Buffalo St. with an 11 point lead 65-54 with 9:14 to go.

[magicman]

Oswego State pulls away in the final 2 minutes and downs Plattsburgh 70-61. Details to follow.

[jdex]

Fredonia has it easy in win over Oneonta. Runs to 41-28 lead at the hal. D. Kashmer 14 pts(5x8fg); J. Bryant 14 pts, 5 rebs; L. Smith 13 pts, 5 rebs. Devils 26x49fg and 34-24 reb separation. OSt D. Lee 18 pts, 5 assts, 5 rebs; K. Donahue 13 pts; C. Boyden 12 pts. Dragons 22x53fg

[magicman]

Final score of Oswego-Plattsburgh game not indicative of how close this game was. Plattsburgh had the lead 59-57 after a 3 pointer by Josh Bruno with 4:55 to play but young Cardinals come up empty on their next 4 possessions as they miss three straight shots and then turn it over. Oswego goes up by 4 at 63-59 and the dagger came after Cardinals with good defensive pressure force the Lakers into a bad pass late in the shot clock. Ball headed out of bounds is saved by Lakers on a blind throwback that goes right into the hands of Chad Burridge who takes several huge steps and jams the ball down and is fouled on a questionable blocking foul that could have went either way. Plattsburgh bench is T'd up and Lakers hit 2 of 3 foul shots to boost the lead to 67-59 with 35 seconds left. Foul shots on both sides make the final 70-61.

Burridge was huge in the final 5 minutes as the Cards couldn't find a way to contain him. He led all scorers with 22 points (7x11 fg, 1x1 3's, 7x13 ft) and finished with a double-double as he grabbed 13 rebounds. Hayden Ward was close behind with 17 pts (6x15 fg, 1x4 3's, 4x6 ft) and 8 boards. Sean Michele also had double figures with 14 pts (4x6 fg, 4x5 3's, 2x2 ft) and 5 assists. Lakers were beat off the boards by the Cards 42-34 but only had 7 turnovers to 12 for Plattsburgh. Oswego shot 23x51 from the field (45%), 7x16 from the arc (44%) and 17x27 from the line (63%)  Oswego improves to 5-1 overall for the season, 2-0 in the conference. They return to action on Tuesday Dec 6th at Brockport with an 8 PM start.

Plattsburgh also had 3 players with double figures led by senior Josh Bruno with 13 pts (5x10 fg, 3x5 3's, 0x2 ft). John Perez continued his stellar play with a double-double of 12 pts (5x10 fg, 2x6 ft) and 11 rebounds. Frosh Shamoy McIntosh added 10 pts (3x9 fg, 3x6 3's, 1x2 ft) and 4 boards. Cardinals, still learning how to close out games, will feel like they let one get away here. Only scoring 2 points ( that came on 2 free throws with 27 seconds left) in the final 5 minutes of play will certainly make you a loser every time out. In fairness to the Cards there were 3 blocking fouls called in those five minutes that were questionable and could have gone either way. Unfortunately they all went against Plattsburgh and after the 3rd call with the game out of reach the coaching staff expressed their displeasure.  Cardinals fall to 2-4 overall, 0-2 in the YAC. Plattsburgh's next game is home against New Paltz with the new starting time of 6 PM.

[magicman]

Buffalo St pulls away from New Paltz and wins 89-83. Details to follow.

[magicman]

The Bengals certainly got their money's worth this weekend as both games were probably closer than they anticipated. New Paltz like Oneonta the day before refused to fold against the high powered offense that the Bengals bring to the gym. After jumping out to a 14-7 lead the Hawks found themselves trailing 20-14 as the Bengals went on a 13-0 run. They fought back to tie it at 28 with 6:38 left in the half and after falling behind by 6 again they managed to forge a 38-38 tie at the break. Three times in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd period they trailed by 9 points and each time they would close the gap but with 9:15 to play the Bengals opened up their largest lead at 65-54. Several more times Buffalo would find themselves with that advantage, and each time the Hawks would respond closing to a one possession game at 74-71 with 6:20 to go. Buffalo St went up by 11 one last time at 86-75 with 2:19 on the clock. The Hawks got it to 86-81 with 38 seconds left but the Bengals hit their foul shots to make the final 89-83.

Justin Mitchell and Jake Simmons were the big guns for the Bengals. Mitchell finished with 23 pts (10x24 fg, 0x1 3's, 3x4 ft) and 7 rebounds. Simmons had 21 pts (7x15 fg, 2x6 3's, 5x7 ft) and 5 steals. Ahmed Nagaya also had a big night as he added a double-double of 15 pts (6X13 fg, 3x6 ft) and 14 rebounds (7 off.& 7 def.). Norman Simmons had a solid game with 9 pts (3x6 fg, 0x1 3's, 3x4 ft), 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a blocked shot. Bengals shot 32x80 from the field (40%), but only 2x12 from 3 point land (16.7%). They were 23x35 from the line (65.7%) They had 49 rebounds to 45 for the Hawks and committed 14 TO's to 21 for New Paltz.

Bengals are off until next Friday Dec. 9th when they will host Cortland State at 8 PM. They remain undefeated at 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the YAC.

Hawks were led by Nick Taldi who ended up as the game's high scorer with 25 points (7x16 fg, 5x9 3's, 6x7 ft). Harris Wichard hit the nets for 21 (6x16 fg, 2x6 3's, 7x9 ft) with 6 boards and 5 assists. Matt Devine tossed in 15 (4x13 fg, 0x3 3's, 7x9 ft) and managed a double-double with 11 rebounds. Alan Siergiej added 9 pts and 6 boards. New Paltz shot 25x66 fg (37.9%), 8x25 3's (32%) and 25x31 ft (80.6%). The refs didn't keep their whistles in their pockets as the two teams were called for 51 fouls in the game.

New Paltz travels north to take on the Cardinals next Tuesday Dec. 6th at 6 PM. Ultimately this upcoming game will have a big impact on where these 2 teams will finish in the standings as they both figure to be in the 5th through 8th spots as I see it. New Paltz has a leg up on the Cards as they are 1-1 in conference play, 3-3 overall.   

[jdex]

Geneseo led Fisher with five minutes to go in the first half, fell behind 30-24 at intermission and faded quickly over the second frame. Knights 20x60fg, 11x16ft where SFJ went 24x39 and 25x47 from the field. Gens R. Riefenhauser 11 pts(5x9fg) in 22'; J. McKenna 10 pts(3x11fg) in 23'. Fisher with J. Gettings 20 pts, J. Norsen 16 pts and 41-33 reb difference

[bearnation]

After another tough weekend for my Bears, I would like to state that the Bears will not be plus 500 team again this year (my prediction 10-15 and miss the SUNYAC tournament).  This will make it 6 straight years of losing basketball teams.  Since Dobbs became coach he has not recruited a winning team, the players on the winning teams were already there.  Its time for a change in leadership or is Potsdam to be no longer relevant.  I guess that this is the case when one delivers losing results.  I wonder how much it would cost to have Tim Welsh coach for a year or two. 

[Bengalsrule]

That big noise you just heard was Bengalsrule exhaling deeply.

  Damn magicman. You heard that all the way in Plattsburgh ? . That Oneonta/New Paltz trip was tough on the young BENGALS. Clearly one of the biggest problems vs. the Red Dragons was the play of guard/capt. Norman Simmons. His stats line for the night was 0 points, 1 assist and 5 turnovers. Not a surefire prescription for getting your first Yac roadwin. Fortunatly "Ant" Hamer came off the bench and helped stabilize a shaky backcourt.

  Eyewitness accounts also talked about a situation at Oneonta where the official score keeper TWICE attempted to take points off the board for Buffalo State. The 2nd attempt came at the 13 min mark of the 2nd half when the score mysteriously went from tied at 54 -54 to Oneonta 54 - Buff State 53 during a deadball WITHOUT the scorekeeper even conferring with the ref until the BENGAL staff noticed the change. I am also told that the officials (after they fixed the score and returned it back to 54 up) suggested to Coach Ansari that he put one of his coaches at the table to "assist" the Oneonta scorekeeper in case she had any more memory lapse(s). Buff State does not take a score keeper with them on road trips, (but that may soon change ). A BENGAL  coach gladly volunteered to sit at the scorers table and help the Oneonta senior till games end.

    As bad as "knockdown" Norm was against Oneonta, he was that good the next night against New Paltz. 0 turnovers, 5 assists, 9 points and 1 block. Thats the kind of game that the BENGAL faithful have come to expect from their captain. I truly believe that Norm will be a Yac 1st teamer when all is said and done. Ahmed Nagaya may soon have folks saying "Glenroy who" ( in reference to former Bengal center Glenroy Carr). Ahmed's back to back "double/double(s)" over the weekend  - 12 rebs/10 pts vs Oneonta and 14 rebs/15 pts vs New Paltz was just what the Dr. ordered for a case of the "roadtrip blues".

   Jake Simmons was....Jake Simmons. His 3 game total for this past week (including Tuesday night vs. NAIA D-2 Houghton College).... 25 pts per game on 25/49 shooting (51%), 12/13 from the free throw line, 10 steals and 9 boards. I gotta believe that he makes the D3hoops team of the week (and yes I'm biased).

With Cortland and Oswego coming to the ARENA, this weekend many BENGAL faithful can only hope that when the smoke clears there will be only 1 undefeated team still standing in SUNYAC. I'm betting on the Orange/Black. I wouldn't miss these 2 games for the world. I wonder if JDEX or Ethelred the Ready will come and visit the wonderful city of Buffalo this weekend? It's beautiful this time of year!

[magicman]

I wonder if JDEX or Ethelred the Ready will come and visit the wonderful city of Buffalo this weekend? It's beautiful this time of year!

I'm sure that both teams will bring it when they visit Buffalo this weekend. But no matter how good those games are/will be, I don't think jdex will hop a plane and fly up from Florida. However he and I both hope that the video, audio, and live stats links that are listed under "details" on the schedule page, aren't just a figment of someone's imagination. Please tell me that they are correct and that I'll be able to watch both games this weekend.   And tell the SID to correct that write up on the front page of the Buffalo State website. Jake didn't score 25 points against New Paltz, he only had 21.

You've got to quit drinking the orange kool-aid. Or at least drink it through a straw instead of chugging it right down.  No way Norman Simmons makes first team YAC. May get 3rd team if he's lucky and Buffalo St. wins the YAC championship. Why? Because Simmons and Mitchell will be all conference  and possibly Nagaya as well. That only leaves 3rd team at best for Norman. Too many good teams and players this year for one team to hog all the glory. Norman's a solid player but he won't have the gaudy stats that a 1st teamer needs.   

And finally since we're speaking of hoops, Bengalsrule Senior must have had you jumping through them, as I'm still waiting for that "I'll  call you right back" phone call.          

[magicman]

New Top 25 poll out early Tuesday morning. Middlebury  takes over the top spot followed by Amherst. No surprises there after Augie lost last week. Just may be a NESCAC team on top for a while.

Buffalo State went 3-0 for the week, improved to 5-0 overall, and inched up several spots to #14 while gaining 15 points in the process. They are now the top ranked East region team in the poll. Bengals finally got tested last week after 3 blowout victories against lesser competition. Problem is they were tested by 2 teams not expected to challenge for the conference crown. Still they came through in the clutch, on the road, in the YAC.  Not always easy to do. Competition moves up another notch this week but the Bengals are home and will be in their comfort zone.

Oswego State despite a 2-0 week received less votes than last week (42 down to 29) but moved up a spot from 32nd to 31st. The Lakers have reeled off 5 in a row after they got their feet wet in a season opening upset at the hands of SLU. Coach Jason Leone and the players seem to have settled in as the Lakers looked more like the 27-3 squad from last year in their past 3 games. 

Rochester, 6-2 after their 2nd loss to Nazareth in 11 days, was the biggest loser of the week, shedding 181 pts and falling from 12th down to 24th. One of my favorite coaches told me several days after the first loss to Naz on Nov 22nd that the Yellowjackets just don't seem to match up well with the Golden Flyers. Sure enough a week later they proved him right.

Hobart, on the strength of their Wendy's Classic Championship, where they beat St John Fisher, Brockport, (on the almost miraculous length of the court in bounds play with 2 seconds left ) and Nazareth in that order, moved from a single point last week to 34 points this week and is sitting just outside the Top 25 in the 29th spot. Probably where some of Oswego's points went. Statesmen are now 6-0.

Hartwick 7-0, still got a mention but lost points going from 12 down to 4, and landed in 47th place. The fact that their last 3 games have been against teams with a combined 3-14 record probably doesn't impress the voters much. 

Meanwhile undefeated Hamilton at 8-0 brought up the rear of the ORV category and got their first mention of the year with 2 points. The Continentals suffer the same problems as Hartwick. Gaudy record so far but no real signature wins. Really don't think they'll be getting votes for very long, especially after they face the NESCAC big 3, in a 10 day span in mid-January. I see them at best a 16-9 team. 

Some huge games this week both in and out of conference play that will have a big impact on the pecking order for next week's poll

Perhaps the biggest game of the week is The Buffalo St.-Oswego St. matchup. But before the Lakers can think about facing the Bengals they have to meet the team who handed them their last loss in the conference, Brockport State. The Lakers are on the road for 3 YAC games this week, starting with a Tuesday night trip to Brockport for an 8 PM tip off. The Golden Eagles have been a bit of a disappointment so far this season but the basketball gods just haven't given them a break. I'll bet they are the best 1-5 team in all of D3. Oswego then gets a breather as they travel to Fredonia for a Friday night 8 PM game. Just don't tell the Blue Devils that. Starting out 6-1 has probably got these guys thinking they can play with anyone and if the Lakers are looking ahead to that Saturday afternoon game with Buffalo St. they might find a Blue Devil pitchfork where don't want to. The Bengals meanwhile have the luxury of being the only SUNYAC team that doesn't have a Tuesday night game. They do have a tough game against Cortland State on Friday night at 8:00  PM and like Oswego they don't want to be caught looking ahead because the Red Dragon shooters can bury you in a hurry as Potdam and Plattsburgh found out last weekend. The Lakers would like nothing better than to come out of Buffalo with the SUNYAC lead over their main threat and a possible re-entry into the Top 25 poll at the Bengals expense. Oswego has a game with Cazenovia on December 16th. They are then off until January 3rd when they travel to Texas for a little R&R and take on Division 1 Texas-Pan American. Buff St. really won't have any extended break as they are in the D.C. area for a holiday tournament. That will work to their benefit if they continue to be undefeated as the voters will see results for them while teams right above them may be idle. 
   
Hobart's next game will be host to Rochester on Saturday Dec 10th at 4 PM but before the Yellowjackets can focus on that contest, Hamilton will invade the Palestra and put their undefeated record on the line Wednesday night at 7:30 PM.  The Rochester game is Hobart's last one before the Christmas break. The Yellowjackets will also be off until after the New Year. Hobart would like to crack the Top 25 and a win over Rochester would probably do it for them. U of R  fighting to stay in the poll as 1 more loss this early in the year will certainly drop them into the ORV category or lower. Hamilton will hope to come away with a noteworthy victory.

               

[thebear]

Part of the Naz's matchup advantage over Rochester is ex-Potsdam Bear Greg Lothridge.  Lothridge is 6-11 with LONG arms.  He had 8 blocks in the two games vs. Rochester.  He has to be protected in a zone, as he's not someone who can chase a wing, but he can be a shot alterer in the middle.

[magicman]

Everybody in the YAC hitting the hardwood tonight except for Buffalo State.

New Paltz at Plattsburgh  6 PM

Oneonta at Potsdam 6 PM

Fredonia at  Division I  Youngstown St  7:45 PM

Oswego  at Brockport   8 PM

Cortland at Geneseo  8 Pm

[Bengalsrule]

Everybody in the YAC hitting the hardwood tonight except for Buffalo State.

New Paltz at Plattsburgh  6 PM

Oneonta at Potsdam 6 PM

Fredonia at  Division I  Youngstown St  7:45 PM

Oswego  at Brockport   8 PM

Cortland at Geneseo  8 Pm

Since magicman and Coach Curle are probably going over the gameplan for tonites game ..I thought that I'd take a stab at predictions.

Cards over N. Paltz by 7
Oneonta beats Potsdam in Ot by 3
Cortland crushes Geneseo by 17
Brockport upsets Oswego by 5

No line on the Fredonia/Youngstown State game when I last checked the Mirage Sportsbook !