MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[thebear]

Magic & Bengals.

1.  I do exist, but with a wife who can't drive and three weeks out from MAJOR major surgery, sometimes, ya gotta take one for the home team.  Trust me, Peru Tommy aka PA Bear is not the Bear.

2.  Magic, you almost got the Potsdam score right, but these were some very nasty Bears tonight, holding Devils to 54.

Bengals benefited from three terrible calls on Mark Lake Jr, last night, as he hung 20 tonight, and had Curtis Pierce support with 18.

'yac could be a real interesting league this year, wish Bears didn't have their first three games against the preseaon chalk.

Have to go cook dinner, over & out.

da BEARS!

[Bengalsrule]

Congrats to magicman and the Cards on a great win today. I witneesed a team today that looked hungrier than any team that ive seen buffalo  state play. This season yac competition should be some of the finest ever.

I also get it from reliable sources that magic helped a Bengal coach and player get to...and from the plattsburgh hospital today. If thats not north country hospitality at its finest then i dont know what is.

Also kudos to the Potsdam staff who took a bengal coach and player to the Potsdam hospital last night. In addition i must admit that whoever does the Potsdam music has the best collection going in the Yac. From Michael Jackson to Jayzee....that Potsdam announcer had it going on last night!!!!

[magicman]

Finals .....

Plattsburgh 93, Buffalo St. 85

Oswego 64, Ithaca 58

Brockport 83, Oneonta 70

Potsdam 78, Fredonia 54

Geneseo 84. New Paltz 63

jdex,
Thanks for keeping score while I attended the Cards-Bengals game.

Went 5-0 this afternoon giving me a 9-1 weekend log with my forecasts, missing only on the Brockport-New Paltz game yesterday. Geneseo and Plattsburgh the big winners this weekend both going 2-0. Blue Knights take over sole possession of 1st place with a 3-0 record.
Cardinals and Bengals are tied for 2nd, at 3-1, while Cortland and Oswego tied for 4th at 2-1. New Paltz in the final playoff spot at 2-2. It's gonna be a dogfight all season long.

[magicman]

Congrats to magicman and the Cards on a great win today. I witneesed a team today that looked hungrier than any team that ive seen buffalo  state play. This season yac competition should be some of the finest ever.

I also get it from reliable sources that magic helped a Bengal coach and player get to...and from the plattsburgh hospital today. If thats not north country hospitality at its finest then i dont know what is.

Also kudos to the Potsdam staff who took a bengal coach and player to the Potsdam hospital last night. In addition i must admit that whoever does the Potsdam music has the best collection going in the Yac. From Michael Jackson to Jayzee....that Potsdam announcer had it going on last night!!!!

Bengalsrule=one classy guy.   I also found your "note" stuck under my visor. Thank you... but you shouldn't have. The Buff State presents that you brought were more than enough. I'll wear them with pride.

[thebear]

The Potsdam PA guy be Big Tommy, our director of Admissions at SUNY Potsdam, who is very good at everything he does, and is also very solicitous of our players for his playlist which is why the music at the foremost music school in SUNY is nothing but amazing.

Proud of my Bears this afternoon, bouncing back from a tough loss to hang a real attention-getter on the scoreboard, however I must admit I would have been happier if magic had gone 8-2 instead of 9-1 on the weekend.

[bearnation]

Enjoyed the live feed of the Potsdam game today.  Hopefully this is the future since Potsdam is 5 and half hours away.  Looking forward to seeing them play Manahattanville after the new year.  Go Bears

[hawkball]

Not much to say tonight. Not sure who that team was that showed up today. Ouch - Geneseo did everything right - strong fundamentals the whole game. NP lacked energy the whole first half - 18 pts. is less than what Devine alone is averaging per game. Outscored 45-44 in the 2nd half - but again - too little, too late.

We'll get back to it Tuesday against Hamilton.

[Bengalsrule]

Hawk. 1-1 on the road aint bad. You've had at least 4 road games. At least  3 of those teams made the playoffs last year (can't remember if fredonia did ).

Thebear....tell Tommy that the Bengal faithful really enjoyed his beats....and his colorful announcing. Can't think of announcer in Yac that does what he does for the home crowd.

Magicman.....the coach and player, Maurice Miles, asked me to be sure to thank you for all your help today and yesterday (taking a coach to Target). You don't see that kind of hospitality from an avid supporter of ones opponent. Coach was truely touched. I assured him that you would get the message!!!!!

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 93 Buffalo State 85

Good game today between the Bengals and the Cards at Memorial Hall. Buff State's Rod Epps wasted no time putting the Bengals on the scoreboard as he scored on their first possession. It would prove to be the only time that the Bengals had the lead. A deuce by Ezra Hodgson and a triple by Jordan Moody followed by another Epps layup made it 5-4 and that was as close as Buff State would find themselves for the rest of the game. The Cards reeled off 9 unanswered points forcing a Bengal time out. Cards got a turnover and Moody scored again before the Bengals finally got a bucket from Ryan Carney to stop the bleeding. Down 20-6 with 14:46 left, Buffalo State finally gets it going and outscores the Cards 16-6 over the next 5 minutes  to make it 26-22. Plattsburgh's bench players Gary Tibbs and Kalik Parker quickly score 10 points to build the lead back to 13 at 36-23. The Bengals fight back once again and get it to 38-34 fueled by 7 points from Anyar Majak. This smooth, big sophomore has shown considerable improvement from last year as he is a force to be reckoned with around the basket. Many of his points came off offensive rebounds and putbacks. Seeking to slow Majak down, Coach Curle puts his biggest body, Reggie Williams into the game, but after Card's Chris Manning makes 1 of 2 free throws the big man goes offensive with 6 straight Cardinal points to boost the lead back to 11 at 45-34 with 2 minutes left. Teams trade points through the end of the half and the Cards go into the locker room up 50-39.

Usually Buff State comes out of the break with a rush to reverse any deficit but today it was the Cardinals who opened the 2nd half with another 13-5 spurt to make it 65-44 with 4 minutes gone by. The closest the Bengals would get after that was 7 points on several occasions. The Cardinals answered every attempt that the Bengals made to claw their way back into this contest. Both benches would prove pivotal in the game as the Cardinals recieved a whopping 46 points from their reserves. Bengals, who lost starter, Maurice Miles, to injury on Friday night at Potsdam, would seem likely to start Anyar Majak, who had 3 starts earlier in the season, but instead went with 1st time starter Ryan Carney. Bringing Majak in off the bench seemed to work as he had a game high 27 points to give the Bengal reserves a total of 38 points. Majak has now scored double digits in 4 straight games, all of them off the bench. In 3 starts earlier he only reached double figs in 1 game. Plattsburgh spent considerable effort covering Jake Simmons who was such a nemesis to them last year. They held Simmons to just 7 points in the game and he really didn't have many open looks.

Cardinals had 4 players in double figs led by Jordan Moody's careeer high 21 points (7x11 fg, 3x6 3's, 4x6 ft, in 30'). Ezra Hodgson had 13 points (6x13 fg, 1x5 3's, in  29') while Shamoy McIntosh and Kalik Parker added 10 each. McIntosh (3x9 fg, 1x4 3's, 3x3 ft) also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block in 19 minutes. Parker was 3x6 fg, 2x3 3's, and 2x2 ft, in 20 minutes. He also was the Cardinals co-leader with 8 rebounds (along with John Perez) and added 2 blocked shots. Floor leader Chris Manning didn't attempt a single shot other than his 1 of 2 from the line but had a game high 11 assists with some nifty passes, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 steals in 27 minutes. Mike Mitchell who ran the point when Manning wasn't on the floor totaled 8 points (1x2 fg, 6x8 ft, in 13') and added 4 assists. Gary Tibbs didn't get a lot of court time but was highly efficient getting 7 points (2x3 fg, 3x4 ft in 10') and 7 rebounds with 2 assists. Reggie Williams got 6 points, 2 boards and a block in 6 minutes.

Cards shot a blistering 59.4% from the field in the first half going 19x32. They ended up 32x66 (48.5%), 8x20 from long distance (40%) and 21x29 from the line (72.4%). Rebounds and turnovers were fairly close as the Cards had 43 boards to 41 for the Bengals. Each team committed 19 turnovers. Plattsburgh ended up with 12 blocked shots led by 3 each by Moody and Perez. the Bengals had 6 blocks led by Majak's 3.

Buffalo State got the game high 27 points from Majak (11x17fg, 5x7 ft in 30') with a game high 9 rebounds as well. Rod Epps was close behind with 26 markers (11x18 fg, 4x8 3's, in 32'). Brad Doyley with 9 points, Jake Simmons with 7 pts and Ant Hamer with 7 pts and 7 assists. Ryan Carney had 5 points and tied Majak with 9  rebounds.

Bengals shot 33x74 from the field (44.6%), but only 6x22 from 3 point land (27.3%) and 13x19 from the stripe (68.4%)
Both of these teams are playoff bound, barring a rash of injuries, it's just a question of where they will be seeded. I'm sure the trip to Buffalo and playing in the big house there, will be as tough on the Cards, as the trip to the North Country was for the Bengals this weekend.

Bengals will be a force to reckon with for the next few years with Epps and Majak who will only get better. Both of these guys have All Conference in their future if not this year (and the way Epps is scoring, presently leading the conference, he'll be a first teamer) Majak had a breakout game today that can only build his confidence and perhaps get him more looks from the field. He was averaging 60% from the field going into today's game and shot 64% today. He's only had 46 fg attempts this year and has made 28 of them. Bengals only lose 3 players off this years' team and they could get some key players back next year that aren't on the team right now. With the Cardinals returning their entire roster next year, these two teams will be involved in some memorable battles I'm sure. And I'm looking forward to them.

Plattsburgh is now 7-2 on the season and moves into a 2nd place tie with the Bengals at 3-1 in conference play. Cardinals are now off for the holiday break until they travel to Lancaster, Pennslyvania to match up with the Diplomats from Franklin & Marshall in their Sponagle New Year Tournament on January 2nd. The Diplomats are currently ranked #8 in D3hoops Top 25 poll and are undefeated at 7-0. Depending on the results of the games on that day, the Cardinals will face either Salisbury University, currently 8-1, from the Capital Athletic Conference or Eastern Connecticut, with a record of 6-2 and fresh off a victory over #14 Rhode Island College this afternoon. Eastern Connecticut is in the Little East Conference. Two tough games coming back from a 24 day layoff. Two wins there, plus a strong conference finish could give the Cardinals a good look at an at large bid come NCAA tourney time as F & M is a regional game for Plattsburgh.

Buffalo State drops to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the YAC. They will next play a non D3 team from the USCAA, Central Pennslyvania or as their website says, Central Penn College. Not much info on their website. They were 8-2 at the end of November but haven't posted a thing about the 3 games they've played this month. So they could be 11-2 or 8-5 or anything in between. Lots of high scoring games but not sure of their level of play. I'll go out on a limb right now and pick Buff State to win this game.

Bengals will be tested on Dec. 21 and 22nd when they travel to Florida to play in the Adidas Holiday Slam Tournament. They will first take on the above mentioned Eastern Connecticut State Warriors that Plattsburgh may face in January. Coach Curle will want a game tape from that matchup I'm sure. (Are you listening Bengalsrule) On Dec 22nd they will square off against a pretty good Coe College team, that just yesterday, beat favored Carthage College from the CCIW conference 70-63. The CCIW is one of the nation's top ranked conferences, year in and year out. Coe is currently 4-2 having lost to last years NCAA semi-finalist IWU (also from the CCIW) 52-51 earlier.     

[magicman]

Magicman.....the coach and player, Maurice Miles, asked me to be sure to thank you for all your help today and yesterday (taking a coach to Target). You don't see that kind of hospitality from an avid supporter of ones opponent. Coach was truely touched. I assured him that you would get the message!!!!!

Tell Coach Ansari that North Country hospitality would have it no other way. I know you would do the same if the situation was reversed. I felt bad for Maurice. To be told Friday night that it was just a bruise and he's thinking... OK I won't miss much time... only to be told the next day by a different doctor that it's a fracture and now he's out for a much longer period, was a bummer. While we were in my van and you weren't there, he remarked that he had just cracked the starting lineup a few games ago and now this. I tried to put a positive spin on it by telling him, it could be worse at least it's not his senior year and he's got several good years left. Please keep me informed about his progress. If he doesn't heal up quickly you might consider a medical redshirt. That happened to Josh Bruno here, a few years ago about 7 games or so into the season. That's why he played for us last year as a grad student.

By the way, that Tuba sale I was working on when you called me from the hospital to come and get you, was finalized later in the day. $9000.00 Tuba, but of course, I gave him a nice discount.

Our visit this year even though it was 2 days instead of one  went by too quickly. Here's hoping the Cardinals somehow manage to get the top seed in the tournament and you'll have to come back. I was disappointed that because of our trips to and from the hospital I didn't get to visit with Jake Simmons very much. I had planned to sit with him a while during the women's game, but by the time I got there only 46 seconds were left in the game. (I just realized I don't even know who won that game. Have to check soon as I post this.) So the remote possibility does exist that you might come North once more this year.

When you come up to Lake Placid this summer for your seminar see if you can arrange an extra day and we'll get in a round of golf or something. Just a thought. Good luck against Coe and Eastern Connecticut.

[magicman]

Hawk. 1-1 on the road aint bad. You've had at least 4 2 road games. At least  3 of those teams made the playoffs last year (can't remember if fredonia did ).

And just so you don't forget who I am...since when is playing Brockport and Geneseo and going 1-1 in Hawk Center considered road games?

I know, I know, you were :

A. Tired from a long day

B. Still on the bus going back home to Buffalo

C. Having a "senior moment"

D. Distracted by the horseplay of the Bengals team in the middle of your post

E.  All of the above

That 1-1 on the road stuff you were telling Hawkball.... applies to the Bengals not New Paltz!!    

[magicman]

Magic & Bengals.

1.  I do exist, but with a wife who can't drive and three weeks out from MAJOR major surgery, sometimes, ya gotta take one for the home team.  Trust me, Peru Tommy aka PA Bear is not the Bear.

2.  Magic, you almost got the Potsdam score right, but these were some very nasty Bears tonight, holding Devils to 54.

Bear,

MAJOR major surgery, again? This happened about the same time last year. Is it the wheels again or something different? Get well soon, please.

[thebear]

In January 12 I had a medical problem in my leg which kept me off my feet/moving slow for a month.

This was a close one, but a full recovery is expected, just will take a bit of time.

I'm beat as well, doing all the cooking,cleaning, driving, shopping, laundry, helping her students finish the semester, been an interesting last four weeks.

Glad to see that the North Country only gave up one win this weekend, wish it had been zero.

Geneseo looks like a real wild card, already have some L's, but a couple of quality wins as well.

[Bengalsrule]

Hawk. 1-1 on the road aint bad. You've had at least 4 2 road games. At least  3 of those teams made the playoffs last year (can't remember if fredonia did ).

And just so you don't forget who I am...since when is playing Brockport and Geneseo and going 1-1 in Hawk Center considered road games?

I know, I know, you were :

A. Tired from a long day

B. Still on the bus going back home to Buffalo

C. Having a "senior moment"

D. Distracted by the horseplay of the Bengals team in the middle of your post

E.  All of the above

That 1-1 on the road stuff you were telling Hawkball.... applies to the Bengals not New Paltz!!    

All of the above (except for  "D" and "B" )

[Bengalsrule]

SUNYAC vs Liberty League -  6 wins and 2 losses with 2 games left. Oswego vs. RIT and Brockport vs. St. Lawrence. SUNYAC shows clear domination over L.L.

SUNYAC vs Empire 8 (aka "evil empire 8" ) - 6 wins for each conference. 1 game left... Cortland vs. Nazareth on Dec 15th. Go Red Dragons!!! ( On Dec 15th )