MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[jdex]

Cortland crushes Utica ......97-85 or 97-84 ..........RDragons in 47-36 halftime command as defense takes a breather in this Saturday matinee. CSt quickly extends lead to 20 plus. UC within a dozen with two minutes plus left. Corts shoot at 36x67 clip from the field, 12x30 in threes. B. Manning 25 pts(8x11fg, 6x9 3s); J. Winter 10 assts, 16 pts, 3 stls; J. Smith 14 pts, 7 assts, 3 stls; K. McMahon 13 pts, 11 rebs; L. Herron 11 pts, 6 rebs. H. Hefele 10 pts. UC newcomer C. Maisch 22 pts(6x9 3s), 6 rebs; J. Ward 17 pts, 5 rebs; C. Jeffers 8 rebs

[jdex]

Cortland 97, Utica 84

Berkeley (from Hudson Valley AC) 95, Potsdam 85

NYU 84, Geneseo 74. Tourney host Violets hold 43-38 intermission edge and in charge thereafter, with Gens' nearest approach 63-58 at 7:59 to go. Knights J. Jones 17 pts(6x10fg); G. Lyons 15 pts(6x11fg), 7 rebs; R. Riefenhauser 13 pts(6x11fg), 8 rebs;  reserve A. Drescher 11 pts(3x3 3s). NYU 31x53fg, 8x17 3s. Gens 28x60fg, 5x13 3s. NYU vs. John Jay (70-68 over Gwynned-Mercy) in final

[jdex]

Oneonta takes consi contest over York, Pa. 92-77 at Scranton tourney. Dragons on Friday night held four point halftime lead against Scranton until succumbing. But OSt was 51-44 halftime leader vs. York and built a win. Shoots 34x53fg, 16x27 3s paced by J. Zuvic 22 pts(10x13fg) in 24'. Z. Mager with 21 pts(7x8fg, 5x5 3s); F. Kelley 12 of Dragons' 29. Scranton takes title by 81-69 over Baruch

Plattsburgh 77, York, NY 70 for crown after Sage defeats Norwich, Vt 72-48 in consi

[magicman]

Plattsburgh in  a tough game against York College (NY) but finally prevail 77-70 to win their own tournament . Balanced scoring throughout the lineup led by Cardinal Classic MVP Chris Manning with 11 pts, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 6 steals. Shamoy McIntosh had 11 pts, and Shavar Fields returned to the lineup and also had 10 pts. Yesterday's leading scorer for the Cards, Ezra Hodgson, had 9 points with 7 rebounds and was named to the all tourney team. Gary Tibbs made his season debut as well and within seconds of his entrance scored and grabbed some key boards. He finished with 6 pts, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block in 17 minutes.

Since both teams are called Cardinals only Plattsburgh will be referred to as the Cardinals to make this easier to follow. Plattsburgh grabbed the early lead but York fought back to tie it up. Cardinals opened up a 10 point lead halfway through the period and reached their largest advantage at 31-20 with 5 minutes left in the half. They went into the break up 41-32. Cardinals got scoring from 10 different players while most of York's points came from Tony Vails who had 18 in the first half. Shamir Wilkinson, and Jose Arroyo had 5 points each to to account for 28 of York's 32 points.

The York team came out of the break on fire.  With Vails and Wilkinson leading the way, they quickly closed the gap to 41-40 and after several ties and chances to grab the lead, they finally did so at 49-47 on a basket by Wilkinson. The teams traded leads briefly and the Cards finally went on top for good 52-51, on a Manning basket with 9:50 to play. It was still just a 2 pt. Card lead at 62-60 with 5:24 left when Manning hit 2 free throws, McIntosh nailed a 3 pointer,  and Hodgson hit another triple 24 seconds later and just like that it was 70-60. That was the winning move as York couldn't get any closer than 6 points the rest of the way. A Wilkinson basket cut it to 76-70 with 59 ticks left but strangely York didn't foul and used up way to much clock trying to play D so that when they got the ball back after a Plattsburgh missed field goal they had to rush up the florr and ended up turning the ball over. This time they did foul and Moody made 1 of 2 for the final points. Cards shot 49% from the field (25x51) 32% from the arc (8x25) and 59.4% from the line (19x32). They were beat off the boards by a sizable margin 48-31. They did win the turnover battle again though with 16 TO's to 23 for York.

York is a decent team with 2 very good players. Tony Vails is only 6 feet tall but plays much bigger and can beat you with the 3 pointer, an assortment of drives to the basket or a nice pull up jumper. He led all scorers with 27 points on 9x16 fg, 2x4 3's and 7x11 ft. He had 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists and played 39 minutes. Shamir Wilkinson is their Mr. Inside as this 6'6" center can also hurt you with his outside shooting or post up moves. He had 17 points and finished with a double-double as he led all players with 10 rebounds. These 2 players accounted for York's first 20 points (17 by Vails) as no one else on the team scored for the first 15:21 of the game. York shot 41% from the field (25x61) 30.8% from the arc (4x13) and 55.2% from the line (16x29). I think York will have a better season in the CUNYAC than they did last year.

Plattsburgh State is off until next Sunday when they host #4 Middlebury at Memorial Hall.       

[jdex]

Oswego 83, Morrisville 59 in OSt tourney final.

Consi: M. Evers 100, D'Youville 69

[Bengalsrule]

   Cortland, Oswego and Plattsburgh begin the season undefeated and with 2-0 records to boot! Cortland seemed to have the toughest win of the 3 but 2 wins are 2 wins (I'll take it). I have no doubt that magicman had his favorite seat behind the cards bench, (during their Cardinal Classic tourney wins)....about 8/9 rows up from Curle.

   Initially I thought that New Paltz's victory, over last years NCAA participant St. Josephs L.I., was an eye opener. Until I rememebered magimans sage advice about looking at some of these great teams from last season and see who they lost from their roster (specifically starters)! After "close" examination of their roster from last year I noticed that their, St Joe's, top 6 scorers were all seniors (good observation magicman)! Similar stats for York (PA) another NCAA paticipant that Oneonta beat! No matter how you slice it those were good wins for both (New Paltz and Oneonta).

   Hopefully Posdam will get on their winning ways on, or after, Dec 8th. (couldn't pass that 1 up bear ) Taking Ithaca down to the end was no small task! Pierce's 36 pts (both games) and Duquette's 24 (both) give all SUNYAC teams reason for concern. It appears transfer Mark Lake (33 points combined) is a nice addition to the Bears line-up!

   Fredonia is usually a slow starter (2 of their last 3 seasons began 0-3). Hopefully they will get a handle on their team around Jan 20th!

   Can't get any results from Geneseo's website other than the score, a loss at NYU! But they are returning 1 heck of a squad!

[jdex]

Geneseo tops Gwynedd-Mercy 99-77 in NYU tourney consi on Sunday

[magicman]

   Cortland, Oswego and Plattsburgh begin the season undefeated and with 2-0 records to boot! Cortland seemed to have the toughest win of the 3 but 2 wins are 2 wins (I'll take it). I have no doubt that magicman had his favorite seat behind the cards bench, (during their Cardinal Classic tourney wins)....about 8/9 rows up from Curle.

   Initially I thought that New Paltz's victory, over last years NCAA participant St. Josephs L.I., was an eye opener. Until I rememebered magimans sage advice about looking at some of these great teams from last season and see who they lost from their roster (specifically starters)! After "close" examination of their roster from last year I noticed that their, St Joe's, top 6 scorers were all seniors (good observation magicman)! Similar stats for York (PA) another NCAA paticipant that Oneonta beat! No matter how you slice it those were good wins for both (New Paltz and Oneonta).

   Hopefully Posdam will get on their winning ways on, or after, Dec 8th. (couldn't pass that 1 up bear ) Taking Ithaca down to the end was no small task! Pierce's 36 pts (both games) and Duquette's 24 (both) give all SUNYAC teams reason for concern. It appears transfer Mark Lake (33 points combined) is a nice addition to the Bears line-up!

   Fredonia is usually a slow starter (2 of their last 3 seasons began 0-3). Hopefully they will get a handle on their team around Jan 20th!

   Can't get any results from Geneseo's website other than the score, a loss at NYU! But they are returning 1 heck of a squad!

Who are you referring to, Geneseo or NYU?  I think you're talking about Geneseo but both teams returned a lot of talent. NYU has 4 of their 5 starters back from last year's NCAA team that went 21-6 and will once again be very competitive in the UAA conference. The Blue Devils, 84-74 loss at NYU isn't too bad and will make them tougher in the long run.

I did occupy my usual spot behind the Cards bench  this weekend and got to see four decent games. None of them were blowouts and all 4 teams had some outstanding performers. Happy that the Cardinals won their classic. I expected them to do so and they didn't disappoint. Lots of things to still work on with this young team. Not happy that they were beaten in the rebounding department in both games. We were missing our best rebounder for both contests, so hopefully when John Perez returns, that negative will disappear. Middlebury is up next for Plattsburgh and they're a big team with good guards. Crashing the boards will be especially important against the Panthers. They also opened up with 2 wins over the weekend and were missing one of their big men who is out for 2 months with a broken forearm. They have such a wealth of big men that I don't think they will miss him all that much.  I expect practice will be intense for the young Cardinals this week.

[Bengalsrule]

When is Perez due back? 12/9..12/10??

And yes, I was talking about Geneseo.

[magicman]

When is Perez due back? 12/9..12/10??

And yes, I was talking about Geneseo.

You wish!!    He'll be back in plenty of time for your Bengals.

[Bengalsrule]

4 games on tap tommorrow as the 'Yac tries to improve on their 9-7 non-conference record.

  New Paltz faces off against Mt. St. Marys college. Last year, Mt. St. Mary's went 23-7 and they have a win over L.L. member St. Lawrence this season. All SUNYAC Matt devine is off to a hot start averaging over 21 pts per contest. He has the help of Shereef Taylor, who sat out last year, who has also chipped in 16 per in their 1st 2 games!

  Brockport opens their season by paying a visit to Baruch College (1-1) out of the CUNYAC! Looking for Derek Klein and Jon Ivy to lead the way for the Golden Eagles.

  Fredonia should get on track when they face D'Youville at home. 1 player on Fredonia's squad that has caught the attention of 'Yac watchers is J.C. Transfer Tyrone Clark. He is averaging a team leading 12 pts per game while hitting on 11 - 13 from the field (85%). Methinks that he can only get better!

and last but not least......(drumroll please )

  The Buffalo State BENGALS. They travel to Hobart (pre-season #36 ranked team in D3). Last time the BENGALS visited Hobart (Jan 5th 2010) the game went Double OT. Hobart squeaked 1 out (99-97) with Hobart freshman Stephon Thompson scoring 29 pts and BENGAL freshman Jake Simmons scoring 21 pts. Look for (now) seniors Thompson and Simmons to go at it 1 more time in this I-90 battle. Here's hoping that the supporting cast of the BENGALS can give Jake enough help to make this contest interesting!

[magicman]

The SUNYAC Player of the Week has been announced and not really a surprise as Jeremy Smith from Cortland State captures the season's first award. Here's the write up from the YAC page:

Jeremy Smith has been picked as the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Smith averaged 19 points and 4.5 assists per game and shot 54 percent from three-point range in a 2-0 week for the Red Dragons. He scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half in Cortland's season-opening 63-60 win at Elmira. He added 14 points and matched his career high with seven assists in a 97-84 win at Utica.

[Bengalsrule]

The SUNYAC Player of the Week has been announced and not really a surprise as Jeremy Smith from Cortland State captures the season's first award. Here's the write up from the YAC page:

Jeremy Smith has been picked as the SUNYAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Smith averaged 19 points and 4.5 assists per game and shot 54 percent from three-point range in a 2-0 week for the Red Dragons. He scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half in Cortland's season-opening 63-60 win at Elmira. He added 14 points and matched his career high with seven assists in a 97-84 win at Utica.

Looks like Smith pretty much saved the day vs. Elmira. Congrats to 1 heck of a shooter! Well deserved

[magicman]

Buffalo State at Hobart     7:00 PM

I'd feel a lot better about this game if the Bengals had opened up last weekend with a couple of games like the Statesmen did. Spread has Hobart favored by 6.5 but I want to root for the Bengals so I'm picking them to squeak one out 78-76. I think Jake Simmons and Rod Epps will have a big night.

Mount St. Mary at New Paltz State 7:00 PM

The Mount split their first 2 games beating St. Lawrence by double digits and hanging with Rochester (only down by 6 late in the game). New Paltz also opened with a split losing by double digits to Nazareth and then beating St Joe's (L.I.) 96-76. The spread has the Knights favored by 5.  St Joe's and the Mount are both in the same league (Skyline Conference) which St Joe's won last year and went to the NCAA tournament. However this year's St Joe's team is nothing like the team that went 21-5 last season. They lost their top 7 players and are in a complete rebuilding mode. Mount St Mary returns quite a bit of last years squad that went 23-7. The teams are fairly evenly matched but I think the Hawks might come out on the short end of this one,  75-72. 

Brockport State at Baruch  7:30 PM

Another game that should be close. Both teams lost a lot to graduation. Baruch is favored by 2 pts. I'll pick Brockport but again it's a case of Baruch already having 2 games to work out some problems, while the Golden Eagles have yet to play a game. Port 71-68.

D'Youville at Fredonia State   8:00 PM

Somebody will break into the win column tonight. Both teams suffered a pair of opening weekend losses. Freds averaging about 60 ppg D'Youville scoring about 70 ppg. The Spartans giving up over 100 ppg, Fredonia yielding about 80 per game. Blue Devils are favored by 5 and that's who I have to go with. It's going to be a long season for the Blue Devils, they need to take their wins when they can and tonight will probably be their best opportunity.  67-63 will be the final.

[magicman]

Buffalo State trailing Hobart 43-35 at the half. Roderick Epps leads the Bengals with 13 points and Jake Simmons. has 8. Simmons scored all his points in a 2 minute stretch that gave Buffalo State a 21-17 lead after they trailed early 7-0. Trailing 11-10 the Bengals hit 3 consecutive 3 pointers, 1 by Epps and 2 by Simmons followed by a jumper by Simmons to grab their biggest lead of the period. Hobart came right back thanks to 4 straight Bengal turnovers and went in front 30-22. The Statesmen stretched their lead to 11 at 43-32 just before the half and the Bengals narrowed it to 8 when Chris Castren hit a 3 pointer with 30 seconds left.

Hobart has 10 points from Cole Smothers and 8 points from Connor Rehbaum. Hobart also guilty of too many turnovers. Statemen have 14, Bengals have 12. Video is available but only if you want to buy it. Hobart must want to soak their alumni. Who else is going to pay.