MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[bearnation]

And the Bears finished at 2-22.  So so sad that our storied program would ever finish this low.  I can only hope and pray that one day we will once again reach the pinnacle.  As for the SUNYAC, just one bid will be the norm with only 19 at large bids unless there are two SUNYAC programs that can run the field on the rest of the conference.  As I have stated before the SUNYAC plays too many games against itself which hurts its chances come post season.  Then there is always the ECAC tournament for those teams in the east that do not make it to the dance.  Good Luck to Oswego in the Dance and Plattsburgh in the ECAC

[magicman]

And the Bears finished at 2-22.  So so sad that our storied program would ever finish this low.  I can only hope and pray that one day we will once again reach the pinnacle.  As for the SUNYAC, just one bid will be the norm with only 19 at large bids unless there are two SUNYAC programs that can run the field on the rest of the conference.  As I have stated before the SUNYAC plays too many games against itself which hurts its chances come post season.  Then there is always the ECAC tournament for those teams in the east that do not make it to the dance.  Good Luck to Oswego in the Dance and Plattsburgh in the ECAC

Don't think there was an ECAC last year for our region.  Also believe that Plattsburgh's season is over even if they do have an ECAC tournament in our region.

[AUPepBand]

And the Bears finished at 2-22.  So so sad that our storied program would ever finish this low.  I can only hope and pray that one day we will once again reach the pinnacle.  As for the SUNYAC, just one bid will be the norm with only 19 at large bids unless there are two SUNYAC programs that can run the field on the rest of the conference.  As I have stated before the SUNYAC plays too many games against itself which hurts its chances come post season.  Then there is always the ECAC tournament for those teams in the east that do not make it to the dance.  Good Luck to Oswego in the Dance and Plattsburgh in the ECAC

Don't think there was an ECAC last year for our region.  Also believe that Plattsburgh's season is over even if they do have an ECAC tournament in our region.

Pep looked into this because Alfred had declared for an ECAC Tournament both last year and this year. Last year, there was insufficient number of qualified teams for an Upstate ECAC Tournament. AU chose to participate but it meant the team traveling to compete in the Southwest ECAC Tournament with a Wednesday night game at Juniata in Huntingdon, PA, at AU's expense.

This year, once again, there was an insufficient number of Upstate teams declared. There were seven teams declared but then Hobart and Hartwick withdrew their declaration (before the Feb. 27 deadline) which left five, three of which did not have the minimum .500 record, leaving Alfred and SUNY Canton. AU was offered a spot in one of the other regions (Metro, New England and South) but the team decided that if it couldn't host a tournament (which it couldn't because AU is not in one of the aforementioned regions), the team would decline an invitation.

Mid-semester exams, with Spring Break beginning after classes Friday, March 6.....the boys made the right decision.

'Tis a shame that more Upstate teams don't declare. Any idea why, magicman? Would have loved to see Pep's Saxons take on SUNY Plattsburgh or Geneseo or Hobart in an Upstate tourney. Would have traveled to Hobart or Geneseo or maybe even Plattsburgh to see the Saxons continue, were they not hosting.

On Saxon Warriors!

[magicman]

I'm not sure why, Pep it may be budget related. In the last 10 years the Cardinals have went to the NCAA tournament 6 times, and twice they had a losing record so they wouldn't have qualified. The only other year, besides this year, that they could have participated in the ECAC's was 2010-11 when they had a 17-10 record. They didn't declare for the ECAC's that year either. I will find out more, though, and let you know when I do.

By the way your Saxons had a pretty good year to finish 2nd in the E8. They've come a long way in the last few years. Congrats.

[magicman]

The SUNYAC All Conference Teams were released today. Not a lot of surprises on this list. Congratulations to all.


1st Team
Name                          School             Position      Year     Height    Weight    Hometown
Christopher Cartwright  Buffalo State    G               Sr.       5‐‐8        165        Binghamton, NY
Gordon Lyons              Geneseo          F                Sr.       6‐‐5        210        Amherst, NY
Zach Mager                 Oneonta          G               Sr.       6‐‐2         175        New City, NY
Brian Sortino               Oswego           G               So.       6‐‐3         175        Fairport, NY
Reggie Williams           Plattsburgh      F               Sr.        6‐‐6         240        Yonkers, NY


Second Team

Roderick Epps             Buffalo State      G              Sr.        6‐‐4        175         Uniondale, NY
Lamard Herron            Cortland            G              Sr.        6‐‐1        170         Westbury, NY
Andy Drescher            Geneseo            G              Sr.         6‐‐4        205         Fayetteville, NY
R.J. Rosa                    New Paltz          G/F           Sr.          6‐‐3       160         North Branch, NY
Jordan Moody              Plattsburgh       G              Sr.          6‐‐2       185         Yorktown, NY



Third Team

Clifton Lyerly               Brockport          G/F            So.         6‐‐3       180          Inwood, NY
Patrick Modzelewski      Brockport          G/F            Jr.          6‐‐6       215          Brooklyn, NY
James McKenna           Geneseo            F               Sr.         6‐‐6       215           Huntington, NY
Taylor Sowah               New Paltz          G/F            Sr.         6‐‐4       215           Bronx, NY
Shamoy McIntosh         Plattsburgh       G               Sr.         6‐‐2       180           Floral Park, NY

Player of the Year    Gordon Lyons        Geneseo
Rookie of the Year    Ian Helps             Fredonia
Coach of the Year     Jason Leone         Oswego

[bearnation]

Went to the ECAC Wikipedia page and they haven't had an ECAC upstate tournament since 2012.  Its very sad how the Division III world has changed over the years.  Only one SUNYAC team in the NCAA, no ECAC for teams that missed the cut and Potsdam State 2-22.  I believe its the beginning of the end.  So So sad. As the great Charlton Heston said "You blew it up! Ah, damn you. damn you all to ****!"

[magicman]

Went to the ECAC Wikipedia page and they haven't had an ECAC upstate tournament since 2012.  Its very sad how the Division III world has changed over the years.  Only one SUNYAC team in the NCAA, no ECAC for teams that missed the cut and Potsdam State 2-22.  I believe its the beginning of the end.  So So sad. As the great Charlton Heston said "You blew it up! Ah, damn you. damn you all to ****!"

And I thought he said...."people, people....soylent green is people."

[magicman]

Brian Sortino was named as the SUNYAC Player of the Week for the final week of the season. Sortino was also chosen as the MVP of the SUNYAC Tournament. Here is the write up from the SUNYAC website.

MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brian Sortino (SO)

Oswego, G (Fairport/Fairport)

Brian Sortino was selected as the SUNYAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after winning the SUNYAC title Saturday. Sortino scored 17 points in the SUNYAC final against Plattsburgh. He shot 5-for-8 from the field, was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 at the line. The night before in the semifinal game Sortino went 8-for-16 (50.0%) from the field for a team-high 24 points.



Below is the All Tournament Team from the SUNYAC Tournament.

All-Tournament Team
SUNY Geneseo – Gordon Lyons
Plattsburgh State – Mike Mitchell
Plattsburgh State – Jordan Moody
Oswego State – Kyle Covley
Oswego State – Walter Sampson
MVP – Oswego State – Brian Sortino

[magicman]

East Region Teams in the NCAA Tournament tonight.

Oswego State vs Calvin College  at Mount Union College   5:30 PM

Good luck to the Oswego Lakers in tonight's NCAA game. The oddsmakers have made the Lakers a 5 point underdog against Calvin College. Hope Oswego can pull off the upset.

Skidmore College vs Wesleyan University at Johns Hopkins University  5:30 PM

The Thoroughbreds are a slight 1 point favorite here and even though Wesleyan is the NESCAC champions they were only the 6th seed in their tournament. They got hot at the right time but Skidmore has the talent to play with these guys. Hope the Liberty League representatives can win one for the East Region.

#18 WPI at #20 St. John Fisher   7:30 PM

Glad the Cardinals got a home game here. This game matches up 2 teams that are both ranked in the D3hoops Top 25. The point spread favors the Cardinals by a slim 3 points. Fisher needs a big game from Keegan Ryan and Chaz Lott.

SUNY-Cobleskill at William Paterson   7:30 PM

The Fighting Tigers better sharpen their claws because they will have a tough time against the Pioneers from Willie Pat. The oddsmakers have made the Pioneers an 18 point home favorite. Maybe Cobleskill can take a page out of Morrisville's book and pull off the upset of another New Jersey Athletic Conference team like the Mustangs did last year when they knocked off Richard Stockton in the Sweet 16 and the year before that when they beat host Ramapo in the first round. Sure would like to see the NEAC conference take down an NJAC team for the 3rd year in a row. 

Of interest is that the last 2 times William Paterson made the NCAA tournament they were big favorites in the opening round. In 2009-10 a highly ranked 25-2 Willie Pat team, lost in the 1st round to Albertus Magnus when nobody had ever heard of Albertus Magnus. Two years later they were the NJAC champions of the 2011-12 season and again highly ranked. That William Paterson team was 24-3 and played at home against tiny Becker College (enrollment 1299 students) and Becker beat then by a 69-53 margin in the first round. So...hey you never know.         

[magicman]

Oswego has fought back from a 15 point 2nd half deficit to get within a single point of Calvin at 63-62 with 7 minutes left to play. Go Lakers.

[magicman]

Oswego just took their first lead of the game 64-63.

[magicman]

Oswego State loses to Calvin by a 78-69 final score. Lakers played a good game but in the final 6 minutes couldn't buy a basket. Up 64-63 with 6:25 to go Oswego missed their next 6 shots from the field. A pair of free throws from Brian Sortino were their only points as Calvin built the lead to 73-66 with 1:57 to play. Kyle Covely finally hit a 3 pointer from the corner to make it 73-69 with 1:21 to go. That would be the final points the Lakers would get. Calvin missed on their next possession and the Lakers got the rebound only to turn it over. They had to foul and Jordan Brink made them pay as he hit 5 of 6 down the stretch while the Lakers could get nothing on their end.

Sortino and Covely shared scoring honors as both had 21 points for Oswego. Rashawn Powell had 11 points and a game high 12 rebounds.

Jordan brink led Calvin with 18 points. Connor Vanderbrug had 17, Jordan Daily had 13, Austin Parks had 12 and Tyler Dykstra had 10. Daily had a team high 11 rebounds.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State gets a little revenge on Oswego State as the Cardinals defeat the Lakers 2-1 tonight in Plattsburgh and win the SUNYAC Hockey Championship and the automatic NCAA bid that goes with it. The Lakers should get an at large bid, though, into the NCAA tournament so the SUNYAC will have a pair of teams in that dance.

The Cardinals owe a big debt of gratitude to the Potsdam State Bears, who upset Oswego in the last regular season game, which gave the top seed to Plattsburgh and the right to host the Finals. Had tonight's game been in Oswego there might have been a different outcome. Thanks Bears.

Hope 1 of the SUNYAC entries can bring home a National Championship.     

[magicman]

In other news Coach Tom Curle's Plattsburgh State Cardinals just missed out on an entry into the D3 NCAA Basketball Tournament. That wasn't the way he wanted the basketball season to end.

However the fact that the Men's basketball team wasn't playing this weekend gave him the opportunity to travel to Brunswick, Maine to watch his daughter take part in the Women's NCAA Tournament. She is a  sophomore starter for the Bowdoin Polar Bears and last year he was unable to see his daughter play in the NCAA tournament as his Men's team was in the NCAA's and made it to the Sweet 16.

So it was off to Maine this weekend and last night Bowdoin defeated Babson 70-57. The coach's daughter, Marle, had 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. A pretty good night by most standards.

Tonight they played Ithaca College and the Bombers were ahead by a 66-60 score with 2:40 left in the game. Bowdoin forward, Shannon Brady was fouled, went to the line, made her 1st free throw but missed the second. Marle Curle, grabbed the rebound and she was fouled. At one point this year Marle made 51 consecutive free throws and was ranked #1 in the nation in all divisions, men or women. She calmly made both free throws to cut the lead to 66-63. Ithaca came down, missed a shot that was rebounded by Brady, and when it was passed to Marle she pulled up just outside the 3 point line and buried one to tie the game. Bowdoin called a time out and when Ithaca inbounded the ball after the TO, Marle stole it, came down the court and drained another 3 pointer to make it 69-66. She had scored 8 straight points to bring the Polar Bears from the brink of elimination to the lead. Brady scored a free throw to make it a 2 possession game with 15 seconds left and Bowdoin won the game 70-66 to advance to the Sweet 16. Marle ended up with scoring honors with a career high 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists.

The smile on Coach Curle's face after the game was bigger than that fabled Cheshire Cat.

His team made it to the Sweet 16 last year. His daughter's team has made it that far at least this year.

Incidentally Marle has made 75 of 83 attempts from the free throw line this year and when the NCAA updates their statistics she will be #3 in the nation with a percentage of 90.3%.       

[amh63]

Magicman...thought I could catch you better here.  Saw the surprise? of M. Curle's efforts on the WBB CAC board.  Was going to mention her great performance in her recent games...one against Amherstin particular.  Thought you would be all over it so did not post you.  Surprised the LJs  by her outside shooting.....not seen often in her previous games at Bowdoin...as well as her assertiveness on offense.
In any case....Bowdoin and Amherst are in the same bracket...Monclair State is the site.  Been thinking about making the drive up to see the Amherst game on Friday.  Wife not thrilled with the idea....4 plus hrs and then a return drive.  Bad weather on Sat.  Expect Coach Curle's will make the Trip?
Oh yes...saw the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey brackets are out.   Plattsburg is in the same bracket as Amherst. The Jeffs get a bye and if they win the next game....a matchup with your Cardinals may happen.  Amherst has not done well against teams called Cardinals lately.