MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[AUPepBand]

The new D3hoops Top 25 Poll is out and Brockport State is ranked #14 as they check in with 279 points. The Golden Eagles had a 3-0 week and a win at Geneseo which helped move them up the ladder. They were #19 last week with 189 points. The #14 spot is their highest position this season.

Geneseo with a 2-1 week got a few more points than they had last week as they go from 21 points to 29 points but actually dropped from #31 to #33.

Plattsburgh despite a 2-0 week only got 1 more vote than they did last week and fell from the #36 spot with 8 points to the #42 spot with 9 points. With an 18-4 record the Cardinals do not have a bad loss on their resume.

No other teams in the East Region received any points.   

I believe when the Regional Rankings come out this Wednesday, that Plattsburgh will be ranked ahead of Geneseo. Plattsburgh went 1-1 against Brockport handing the Golden Eagles their only loss on their home court. Geneseo lost twice to Brockport. Plattsburgh also has a better SOS, better win percentage, and better record vs regionally ranked opponents. Plattsburgh and Geneseo split their series, each winning at home. 

The Massey Ratings as of 2-17 had Brockport ranked at #5...Plattsburgh ranked at #11 and Geneseo ranked at #21. Plattsburgh has a stronger SOS than either of the other 2 teams.

Here's a link to the complete Top 25 Poll:

http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2013-14/week11   

Pep is curious what the love affair is among pollsters with Mary Washington (18-5), which is currently reeling with three straight losses, yet the Eagles still get 99 points in the balloting. Pep wouldn't have noticed but  Pep Jr. attended a coaches clinic with Salisbury Coach Josh Merkel and therefore was interested in the Salisbury team (a .500 squad) and watched some of the webcast of Salisbury's 81-71 win at Mary Washington. The Eagles have since lost to Christopher Newport (16-7, 8-6) and Wesley (20-2, 12-2) by 13 and 16, respectively. Just curious.

Likewise, Pep wonders about Wittenberg, currently TIED for third place in the NCAC yet the Tigers (17-6) are the 22nd best team in the nation? Of course, NCAC foes Wooster (20-3, 14-2) and Ohio Wesleyan (18-5, 12-4) are ranked ahead of them at 8th and 18th, respectively. And DePauw is also getting votes for a 36th place. That's got to be one heck of a conference. Bet they've got a few national championships among them.

Wait...Pep is seeing a pattern. If a school has a "W" in its name, it increases the likelihood of it receiving votes from pollsters, who subconsciously associate the "W" with a "Winning" program. Let's see how this theory works...of the Top 25, how many of the ranked teams have a "W" in their name?

1    UW-Stevens Point (24)    22-1    624    1
2    UW-Whitewater (1)    21-3    575    3
3    Washington U.    20-2    567    4
4    Illinois Wesleyan    20-3    526    5
5    St. Norbert    20-1    508    6
6    Cabrini    20-1    496    2
7    Amherst    21-3    492    7
8    Wooster    20-3    444    9
9    Williams    21-3    443    8
10    Wesley    20-2    391    10
11    St. Thomas    20-3    379    11
12    WPI    20-3    333    12
13    Whitworth    19-4    297    16
14    Brockport State    20-2    279    19
15    Albertus Magnus    21-2    273    17
16    SUNY-Purchase    21-1    267    18
17    Texas-Dallas    21-2    228    20
18    Ohio Wesleyan    18-5    122    14
19    Mary Washington    18-5    99    13
20    Randolph-Macon    18-5    95    21
21    Staten Island    22-2    73    --
22    Wittenberg    17-6    62    15
23    Centre    18-4    50    22
24    Rose-Hulman    19-4    48    --
25    Scranton    20-3    46    --

Twelve of the 25....batting nearly .500

[Pat Coleman]

With so many teams picking up losses in the poll last week, it cushions the fall for everyone.

[magicman]

Three games on tap today in the SUNYAC


#14 Brockport State  at  Oswego State      8:00 PM

The Golden Eagles are coming off another undefeated week and a national ranking that is their highest of the season. The Lakers are coming off a lost weekend in the North Country. An overtime loss to Plattsburgh on Saturday, when they gave up a 4 point lead in regulation, with 37 seconds left, coupled with their last second buzzer beating loss at Potsdam the night before, could cost them the opportunity to host a home playoff game. And if the breaks don't go their way they could miss the playoffs altogether. Tonight's game against Brockport and a road game against Cortland on Saturday, to end the regular season, could spell trouble. They need at least 1 win or a Buffalo State or Cortland loss to be guaranteed a playoff berth. Brockport can sew up the regular season crown with a win tonight or losses by both Plattsburgh and Geneseo. The oddsmakers have made the visiting Golden Eagles a solid 10 point favorite to walk off Max Ziel court with the W. I think it might be a bit closer than a double digit win but it will still be a Brockport victory. Golden Eagles 78 Oswego 71 


Geneseo State  at  Cortland State    8:00 PM

Geneseo could have their hands full tonight in this matchup with the Red Dragons. Cortland only lost the first meeting in Geneseo by a 55-52 score, as the Knights top scorer and reigning SUNYAC POTW Gordon Lyons, had a rare outing where he didn't manage his usual double-double. Geneseo has sewed up the 2nd or 3rd seed, but the Red Dragons are fighting for their playoff lives. They are currently 1 game ahead of Buff state for the 6th and final berth in the conference tournament. The point spread has Geneseo favored by 7 points. I think Lyons will have a much better game this time around and that the Knights will win this one as well by a 75-66 final score.


#42 Plattsburgh State  at  Potsdam State   8:00 PM

The North Country rivals will go at it once again and the Bears will be looking to pull off another upset to help ease the struggles of this season. Plattsburgh is currently tied with Geneseo for 2nd place but the Cardinals hold the tiebreaker for the 2nd seed and will want to hang onto a 1st round bye. The oddsmakers have made the Cardinals a big 20 point favorite, despite the fact that Potsdam hung with the Cardinals for a large part of their earlier matchup. That 73-58 game a month ago was much closer than the final score indicated. The Bears were only down 63-56 with 3:17 to play before the Cardinals pulled away in the final few minutes. The Cardinals did not have one of their better games that night however and I expect them to show the Bears just how good they are tonight. This one will be another Plattsburgh win by an 84-68 margin.

[thebear]

Potsdam leads 33-29 at the half despite playing without senior wide body Rob Duquette.

Bears on a 21-6 run in the last 8:43 after falling behind by eleven.

Refs letting them play, Cards had 2 PF and 0-1 FT; Bears 4 PF and 1-3 FT.

Zac Adams has 8 at the half, playing all 20 minutes.

Walk-on Conor Engle [from soccer team] steps up with 6 pts & 5 rebs in 12 minutes of play.

McIntosh & Perez each have 6 to lead the redbirds.

[magicman]

Final scores:

Plattsburgh 76  Potsdam 61                   I had the Cardinals winning by an 84-68 score. They would have but the Plattsburgh coaching
                                                           staff emptied the bench with 5 minutes left to play.


Oswego 95 Brockport 83                       Only the 2nd conference loss of the year for Port. I had them winning  78-71. It didn't help the
                                                          Golden Eagles when go to guy John Ivy went down with 8 minutes left. Hope John's OK.


Cortland 65  Geneseo 53                      I had the Knights winning 75-66. Didn't think that Cortland could hold down Gordon Lyons
                                                          again. The Red Dragons held Lyons to single digits (9 points) for the 1st time all season.
                                                          Cortland, with their playoff hopes on the line, got a huge win when they needed it most.     

[Bengalsrule]

"Backs to the wall".....that says it all!!

[magicman]

The Regional Rankings for Week 2 have been released and there were a few changes in the East Region.

Here's the new rankings: Same 6 teams as last week but every position has changed except #1.

East - NCAA data sheet
1 Brockport State 19-2 20-2
2 Plattsburgh State 18-4 18-4
3 Geneseo State 17-4 18-4
4 Hobart 18-6 18-6
5 Stevens 14-7 16-7
6 New York University 15-7 15-7


Here's last week's rankings.

East - NCAA data sheet
1 Brockport State 16-2 17-2
2 Geneseo State 15-3 16-3
3 Plattsburgh State 16-4 16-4
4 NYU 15-5 15-5
5 Hobart 17-5 17-5
6 Stevens 14-7 15-7

Here's the link to all of the regions:

http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/category/ncaa-stuff/regional-rankings/

[amh63]

Magicman....quiet response to the regional rankings   These are more important than the last one...as you know.  Your Cardinals are in a good position going forward.   Maybe there will be a repeat visit of our teams again. I'm hoping for LeFrak.  Still critical games for both our teams ...as I point the obvious ...a novice to the master on such matters.

[NYHOOPS8]

Sad to hear about John Ivy if its true he may be lost for the season. That would be a critical blow to Brockport's AQ chance but may help the SUNYAC get 3 teams in if a team like Geneseo can win the tourney.

[magicman]

Magicman....quiet response to the regional rankings   These are more important than the last one...as you know.  Your Cardinals are in a good position going forward.   Maybe there will be a repeat visit of our teams again. I'm hoping for LeFrak.  Still critical games for both our teams ...as I point the obvious ...a novice to the master on such matters.

amh63,

I wouldn't mind a repeat matchup of our teams again, however I'd like that game to take place in our house this time.   And I'd also like it to be a little further along than the 2nd round. During the 2007-08 season Plattsburgh hosted a sectional that included Amherst. I'd like to see something like that again, with a different result however.  

[amh63]

I remember the games up North.  Was it the 2007-08 season?  If so, then you saw the team with the All-American Amherst guard...Andrew Olsen from San Diego...and the two tall players that are now assistant coaches at Amherst.  I can take that case...since Amherst played in the Title game in Salem...hoping for a repeat.  Lost to a fine WashU team that went on to repeat in '09.

[magicman]

I remember the games up North.  Was it the 2007-08 season?  If so, then you saw the team with the All-American Amherst guard...Andrew Olsen from San Diego...and the two tall players that are now assistant coaches at Amherst.  I can take that case...since Amherst played in the Title game in Salem...hoping for a repeat.  Lost to a fine WashU team that went on to repeat in '09.

That was the year! Andrew Olsen, Kevin Hopkins, Fletcher Walters, Brian Baskauskas, and Brandon Jones to name a few. A very good team but as you mentioned ran into a outstanding Washington U team that won back to back titles.

[amh63]

Magicman....if you have not already seen it.....the video series "Road to Salem" Part 6 is discussed and linked on the NESCAC board.  Old Guy is a feature person!  Focuses on the Middlebury game you posted on recently.  Even has footage of the 3OT game up in VT, if you missed that ending last season.

[magicman]

Tuesday Final Score  Plattsburgh State 76  Potsdam State 61 

I wrote up this game 2 days ago and lost the post when I mistakenly hit the backspace key. I'll try again.


Both teams were a little tentative out of the gate and the score was only 8-8 after the first five minutes had gone by. The Cardinals came alive however and over the next 6 minutes used a 15 to 4 burst to go in front by double digits at 23-12 with 8:43 left in the half. The Plattsburgh shooters went cold however and hit only 3 of 16 shots in the rest of the period. The Bears decided to heat up the home court as they made 9 of their final 13 shots in the half and walked off the court with a 33-29 lead when Colin Peterson hit a buzzer beating 3 pointer to end the half.

The Cardinals, as they have done so many times this season, came out of the break with renewed energy and quickly caught the Bears on back to back layups by Shavar Fields and Eddie Correa. The teams would exchange baskets for the next 4 minutes until Plattsburgh, down 38-37, got a 3 pointer from Ezra Hodgson, to go in front 40-38. It was the start of a 30-8 explosion that ended with another Hodgson 3 pointer and left the Cardinals comfortably in front by a 67-46 margin. Hodgson had 16 of those 30 points with 4 bombs from long distance, a layup and a jumper. He made his first 3 pointer with 13 minutes to go and made his last 3 pointer with 5 minutes to go.

At that point Plattsburgh's Coach Curle started to work his bench players into the game and that gave 6'4" freshman forward Owen Mitchell, a graduate of Potsdam Central School, a chance to play in front of the home town crowd. Mitchell is the son of current Potsdam State Assistant Athletic Director and former coach of the Bears, Bill Mitchell.  Owen also played high school ball along side current Bears' forward Zac Adams and was matched up against his former teammate when he entered the game. It didn't take Owen long to get on the scoreboard as he took a pass from Edddie Correa and hit a nice mid range jumper over Adams to boost the Cardinals lead back to 16 points. The rest of the Cardinals' reserves would finish the game as all 13 players broke into the scoring column.

Plattsburgh was led by Ezra Hodgson who scored 18 points in only 20 minutes on the court. Ezra became the ninth different Cardinal player to lead the team in scoring this season. That is an amazing statistic and I'm pretty sure one that no other team in college basketball can lay claim to. Most teams will have 3 or 4 different players lead the team in scoring, over the course of a season and the Cardinals have more than doubled that number. Ezra was injured on Saturday against Oswego and the coaching staff wasn't even sure if he would be available to play on Tuesday. He was cleared to play that day however and made the most of his opportunity. He came off the bench to hit 7 of 10 shots including 4x5 from beyond the arc and grabbed 4 rebounds as well.

Shavar Fields had 11 points with 8 rebounds and Eddie Correa also tossed in 11 points with 3 boards. John Perez had a game high 12 rebounds and filled up the stat sheet with 7 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. Likewise point guard Chris Manning inked a lot of columns as he had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 points,  2 steals and 1 uncredited  block.

The Cardinals shot 28x64 from the field (43.8%), 8x22 (36.4%) from beyond the arc and 12x15 (80%) from the line. They had a clear advantage off the glass with 47 boards to 32 for the Bears and had 12 turnovers to 11 for Potsdam.

The  Bears were led by Zac Adams with 13 points and 4 rebounds. Tom Graf had 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Brandon Williams came off the bench to score 12 points in 18 minutes. Point guard Joe Estramonte had 6 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal, and a block.

The Bears had to play shorthanded as they were without big man Rob Duquette who was out with an injury. Potsdam shot 22x56 from the field (39.3%), 5x16 from long distance (31.2%) and 12x24 (50%) from the line.

Plattsburgh improved to 19-4 overall and 13-3 in the conference. The Cardinals are now in sole possession of 2nd place and sit 1 game behind Brockport with 2 games left to play. The Golden Eagles hold the tiebreaker over the Cardinals by virtue of a season sweep of Geneseo, so the only way that Brockport would lose the top seed is if they lost both of their remaining games and Plattsburgh were to win both of their games this weekend. I don 't think Brockport will lose their 2 remaining games. The Cardinals would have to lose their 2 games and Geneseo would have to win both of theirs in order for Plattsburgh to lose the 2nd seed to the Knights. The Cardinals hold the tiebreaker over Geneseo by virtue of a win over Brockport. Plattsburgh is currently ranked 13th in the country by the Massey Ratings and #42 by the D3hoops poll. They will host Fredonia on Friday and Buffalo State on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.

Potsdam fell to 4-19 overall and 2-14 in the YAC.  They will take on Buffalo State on Friday night and end up with a rematch against Fredonia on Saturday to escape sole possession of last place in the standings. I hope Rob Duquette will get medical clearance to play in this weekend's games so he can end his collegiate career with a flourish.                 

[magicman]

Four games scheduled for tonight in the SUNYAC


New Paltz State  at   Brockport State      8:00 PM

The Hawks are playing for pride and would love nothing better that to come to Brockport and upset the league leaders. Brockport must figure out who will make up the points that John Ivy's loss will cause. The point spread still favors the Golden Eagles by a whopping 25 point margin. It wouldn't surprise me to see freshman Clifton Lyerly in the starting lineup tonight in place of Ivy. He certainly has the makings of a future Brockport star. Senior guard Bobby Bell is another option for Coach Dunne as he gives the team another 3 point shooter on the floor at the same time the other 2 long range bombers, Brandon Caruthers and Matt Lee are playing. The loss of John Ivy is a tremendous blow to Brockport but the Golden Eagles have the personnel to get through this weekend unscathed, especially with the games taking place in Brockport. I think that the Golden Eagles will get the W here but it won't be a 25 point margin. I see them winning this one by a 77-66 final score.     
   


Oneonta State  at   Geneseo State      8:00 PM

Oneonta would like to hang onto the 4th seed and get a home playoff game. That may be the only way they can make it to the semifinals next weekend. Their chances of getting the 4th seed aren't good in my opinion. Cortland or Oswego will get a 10th win since those 2 teams are both 9-8 and will end the season playing each other on Saturday. Both of those teams currently hold the tiebreaker over Oneonta soooo...the only way that Oneonta gets the 4th seed is... they have to win both games this weekend if Oswego beats Cortland. If Cortland beats Oswego they have to win one of their final 2 games and they would have the 4th seed. So the Red Dragons of the Oneonta variety will be hoping that the other Red Dragons win that game against Oswego. It will make their chances to host quite a bit better. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Oneonta needs a win to keep their hopes alive in case Oswego is the team they are up against for the 4th seed. The point spread says that Geneseo is a 12 point favorite in this game and has an 88% chance of winning it. Since the Knights lost their last game, and they haven't had a 2 game losing streak all year, I'm betting they won't have a letdown again tonight. Geneseo handled the Red Dragons the last time they met in Oneonta by an 83-69 score. Gordon Lyons and Connor Fedge combined for 48 points that night and I think they could have a bigger game tonight on their home floor. I'll take the Knights by an 85-75 score.

           
   
Buffalo State  at   Potsdam State      8:00 PM

The Bengals are on life support and they have to win both games this weekend in order to have any chance at lengthening their season. The good news is they take on arguably the worst team in the conference tonight. The bad news is they have to face, again arguably, the best team in the conference on the road tomorrow. The Bears won't roll over and play dead for the Bengals so the Buffalo team better bring their A game and not look ahead to the matchup tomorrow that they believe will be the key to postseason play. If they do take the Bears lightly they may find their season ends a day earlier than expected. As I mentioned before Potsdam will treat these 2 final games as their playoffs. 2 wins would  probably relegate Fredonia or New Paltz into the cellar and the Bears would love to lose that distinction. The oddsmakers have listed the Bengals as a 9 point favorite. This is a tough game to predict without knowing the availability of big man Rob Duquette for the Bears. The Bengals have more to play for and they can't get a weekend sweep unless they win the first game up. I'll take Buffalo State to win this one by a 76-70 final score.


       
   
Fredonia State  at   Plattsburgh State      8:00 PM

The Blue Devils come into the 'Burgh looking to end their season on a positive note. And they may do just that but if they do it will be tomorrow when that positive note takes place. Today they will run into a team that beat them by 35 points on their home court. I can't see them turning that kind of game around. They may keep it closer but it still should be a Plattsburgh victory unless the Cardinals are really looking ahead to the matchup they have on Saturday against Buffalo State. Coach Curle won't let that happen though, and if he thought his starters weren't putting in the effort, he'd slap the next 5 into the game to show them how it's done. The oddsmakers have listed the Cardinals as a huge 25 point favorite with a 98% chance of winning this game. I agree with them completely, but I expect the reserves to get a healthy amount of playing time even if the Fredonia coaching staff continues to play their starters when the game gets out of hand. I see this one ending up as a 87-63 final score.