MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

ucaafan · November 11, 2015, 04:09:23 PM

and one of my all time favorite songs - Karn Evil 9 - should be a good warmup song during layups. .

magicman · November 13, 2015, 09:52:53 PM

Only 1 game on tap involving a SUNYAC team tonight as New Paltz takes on local rival Vassar College. If I had been on top of this I would have predicted a 73-65 win for the Hawks as they were favored to win by 6 points. I thought they returned more talent than Vassar and expected them to win by 8 to 12 points.

They were up 68-58 with 5:29 left in the game but allowed the Brewers to close to within a single basket with 3:40 left to play at 68-65. R.J. Rosa hit a baseline jumper for the Hawks to boost the lead back to 5 points but Vassar got a big 3 pointer with 57 ticks left from Erickson Wasyl to make the score 70-68. The Brewers got the ball back with 40 seconds to play after the Hawks missed on their next possession and had a chance to tie or win the game with a triple. They went for the win and missed a 3 point attempt with 23 seconds left, but got the rebound and called timeout with 18 seconds to play. They went inside after the TO and the layup attempt was blocked by Rosa. Again Vassar tracked down the ball as Wasyl got the rebound and missed another layup attempt. The ball was swatted back toward the half court line and Vassar grabbed it and took a time out with 2.4 seconds left in the game. A technical foul was assessed against Vassar for either taking a TO when they had none left or for taking too long coming out of the TO. With no commentary it was hard to tell what happened. The Hawks missed the free throw and Vassar got to inbound the ball from the halfcourt sideline. The tried a long 3 pointer which was off the mark and New Paltz came away with the victory.

The Hawks were able to overcome an 11 point deficit in this game which shows the talent that this team has when it's clicking on all cylinders. That's the good news. They were down 53-42 with 16:15 left to play in the 2nd half. They proceeded to get their act together just in time and ran off a 17-2 run in a 5 minute stretch that made the score 59-55 in their favor. They built that advantage up to that 68-60 lead before allowing the Brewers to get back into the game with some poor shot selections and giving Vassar 2nd chance opportunities on the other end. They almost blew this game by not playing smart ball in crunch time. That's the bad news.

Overall a good outcome for the Hawks and SUNYAC as we get out of the gate with a victory for the Out of Conference portion of our schedule.

RJ Rosa led the Hawks with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Brandon Guest was next with 10 points. Andrew Seniuk and Alex Perlman both had 9 points. Keegan Donovan had 4 points and 6 assists.

Vassar got 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists from Jesse Brown to lead the Brewers. Paul Grinde had 14 points and 13 rebounds to complete a nice double-double. Spencer Enhorn also had double figures with 11 points.

7express · November 14, 2015, 02:50:21 AM

Congrats on post 7,900 Magic! (even if this one wasn't the 7,900th

)

magicman · November 14, 2015, 04:22:25 AM

Thanks 7, it just means I never shut up.

magicman · November 14, 2015, 02:03:33 PM

6 SUNYAC teams get their 2015-16 campaign under way today. Here's some predictions of what may happen.

Oneonta State Manhattanville 2:00 PM at Lancaster Rotary F&M Tip-Off Tournament

The Red Dragons open their season on the road at the Franklin & Marshall Tip Off Tournament as they take on the Manhattanville Valiants.
The oddsmakers have the Red Dragons listed as a 9 point favorite against the Valiants but I think the game will be closer than that. Oneonta returns quite a bit from last years' team but did lose leading scorer Zach Mager and point guard Frankie Kelly. Back to lead the Red Dragons though is Mikey McElroy with his 14 ppg average from last season. He'll get help from Lawrence Coleman who also averaged double figures last year with 10 ppg and Jackson Zuvic wgo has averaged better than 8 ppg in his 72 game career. Kareem Williams (7.0 ppg) and Jack Dignan (6.62 ppg) will provide some firepower as well. Newcomer Ian Schupp who transferred in from rival Oswego State will also add help in the backcourt.

Manhattanville also has a number of returning players and though they didn't have a stellar season last year only managing to record an 8-17 record, they did beat playoff team Brockport State 56-54 early last year. I believe the Valiants will prove to be a tough out in this tournament but I can see the Red Dragons squeaking out a 75-71 victory.

magicman · November 14, 2015, 02:15:29 PM

Geneseo State Medaille 2:00 PM

The Blue Knights open up against Medaille in their annual rivalry and the point spread favors the Knights by a 5 point margin. Both teams lost a lot of talent so this is a tough game to handicap. I think that Geneseo with their half court sets and disciplined offense may win a close one here by a 68-64 final score.

Point Park Buffalo State 2:00 PM

I don't know much about the Point Park team. The bengals played them about 6 years ago and beat them 97-89. The Bengals were loaded that year and I'm not sure that this years' team is as good. Still I'm picking the Bengals to win by 4 points 84-80. That's the point spread that they are favored by according to the oddsmakers.

magicman · November 14, 2015, 04:54:31 PM

Oswego State St. Lawrence 4:00 PM

The Lakers open up at St. Lawrence and if they don't bring their "A" game they could have a long trip back to Oswego. The Saints return a lot of talent from a team that just missed out on the Liberty league playoffs last season and they will be looking to avenge a close 62-58 loss to Oswego from last year. In 2011-12 when the Lakers ran the table in the SUNYAC, they opened the season at St Lawrence and a Saints team that was 14-11 that year beat Oswego 66-62 to send them home with an opening game loss. The Saints would love to do so again. Knowing the history of these two teams the oddsmakers have made the Lakers a slim 4 point favorite heading into today's matchup. I think the addition of Mykelle Krecko, may give Oswego a hidden weapon that the oddsmakers were unaware of. I think the Lakers, with all their firepower, will take this game by a 75-67 final score.

Potsdam State Drew 6:00 PM Rose City Tip-Off Classic at Drew University

The Bears take on the tournament host Drew Rangers and it's never good when your first game of a 4 team tournament is against the host. That usually means that you are the weakest of the assembled teams and will hopefully be fodder for the home team to easily advance to the championship game of their own tournament. And when you look at the Bears' record for the past two seasons you certainly aren't intimidated by a team that has went 7-42.
The Rangers may be in for a surprise however as the Bears look like they may have brought in some decent recruits that could help out right away. Drew isn't exactly a big time program from a power conference and their 12-14 record in a conference that is ranked well below the SUNYAC could leave them wishing they had discovered a bigger cupcake than the one they thought they were bringing in. Both teams bring back some talent from last year and it's just a question of who can get key contributions from the guys that are moving into starting roles and the new faces on board. The point spread has been set at 9 points for the home Rangers and while I can't ;pick the bears to win this game outright, I can see it being a close battle right to the end. I won't rule out an upset either but I see Drew with the benefit of some home cooking pulling out a 71-67 win. Hope I'm wrong on this one and that score gets reversed.

Cortland State Utica 7:00 PM

The other Red Dragons hit the road to take on the Utica Pioneers a team they also opened up with last season. Those Dragons handled Utica rather easily winning by a 73-54 final. The oddsmaker have tabbed Cortland as a 6 point favorite in this contest. I believe the Red Dragons have gotten stronger than the team that put together a 17-8 season a year ago. Likewise I'm not sure Utica will be as good as the 10-15 team that graced the hardwood a season ago. They lost 2 of their 3 top scorers and one of those was their point guard. I think that Cortland will dominate this game much like they did last year and expect them to pull out a double digit victory. I'll predict a 79-64 Cortland win here.

magicman · November 14, 2015, 05:20:30 PM

Some results of the early games.

Oneonta fought back from a deficit against Manhattanville to post a 77-69 opening season win. I had this game as a 75--71 Oneonta pick and with 18 seconds to go the score was 75-69 and the Valiants had the ball, they missed a 3 pointer got the rebound and missed the putback that would have made it 75-71. An Oneonta player grabbed the rebound and was fouled with a couple of ticks left and made 2 free throws for the final score. I was almost perfect with my opening season pick. Glad that the Red Dragons were able to pull out a win here. Manhattanville had them on the ropes for a while but Oneonta was able to regain the lead and hold on down the stretch.

Geneseo was involved in another tight battle and the outcome was decided by exactly the 4 point margin I predicted. However, I was off the mark on the total, as the 89-85 final score was much higher than the 68-64 prediction I had. I didn't know these teams were going to put on a track meet. Still happy to see my spread hold up and that the YAC went to 3-0 on the season.

Not happy that the Bengals of Buffalo State were the first YAC team to lose, as they dropped a nail biter to Point Park, 91-89. Bengals built a double digit lead in the first half and went into the break up 46-35. They gave it all back in the 2nd period though and 1 basket extra as they were outscored 56-43 to make that 2 point difference at the end in favor of the visitors. Must have been an exciting game to watch but a bit disappointing for my Bengal buddy. It was also the first loss of the year for the magicman as I had the Bengals winning a close one by an 84-80 final

magicman · November 14, 2015, 05:25:45 PM

An update on the Oswego-SLU game. The Lakers are in a battle but currently lead the Saints by a 59-55 margin with 3:40 to play in the game.

magicman · November 14, 2015, 06:22:21 PM

What in hell is wrong with the Lakers?

Doesn't anybody on that team read my predictions. I said they were going to win by a 75-67 final score and they go and win by a 73-67 final score. I'm going to have to speak with Mr. Sortino when he visits Plattsburgh. He missed 2 free throws in the final 26 seconds that would have given me a perfect score. Damn!!

Nice win though, to go on the road, get the kinks out and win in the house of a decent team like the Larries.

Brian had 25 points and 4 assists so he more than made up for his 2 missed ft's at the end. Walter Sampson with 19 points to back him up. No sign of the rebounding wizard, Mykelle Krecko. Injured? Alex Rawa was the rebounding wizard today with 11 boards, 6 points, and 3 assists.

jdex · November 14, 2015, 09:08:29 PM

Cortland EXTREMELY fortunate to get past scrappy Utica 87-85 after trailing by 11 midway into the second half. T.J. Hefele's trey and free throws in the late going proved clutch. Corts 35x44 from the free throw line to Pioneers' 10x21.
UC jumps out to double figure lead early in the game before fr A. McGuire longrange threes propel guests into 40-37 halftime advantage. Uticans catch fire early in the second half behind R. Tutein and grab 70-59 lead. Tutein nearly has everyone of his final 25 pts at that juncture. Finishes 9x16fg, 5x10 3s, 6reb. Meanwhile, CSt chips away, mostly on the back of B. Estarfaa (23pts, 14x19fts). His three at 1:12 brings Cortland within 82-80. Hefele (10pts, 19') three at 0:25 gets the reversal. Adds two FTs as does J. Cooper (11pts). UC tosses in a three at the wire.
Freshmen-laden Utica shoots 50 percent from the floor. J. Simmons winds up with 16pts. Dragons 40 percent from the field. Z. Lydon has 10 pts in Cortland debut.
Plenty of Cortland talent to be sorted out. Certainly show some defensive shortcomings

bearnation · November 14, 2015, 09:46:12 PM

Will the Bears Men's Basketball Team ever be Relevant again? Well at least the Men's hockey team is 6-0 heading into a show down with the Plattsburgh Cardinals

magicman · November 15, 2015, 01:16:50 AM

Cortland didn't look like the team I expected to see. Was busy working so I caught sections of the game but was surprised to see them down midway through the 1st period by 11 points. They finally gained a lead with 4 minutes to go and I though OK they got the jitters out and now they'll roll in the 2nd half. Up by 7 at 48-41 I expected them to break this game wide open. Next time I got a chance to check out the score they were down by 10 at 67-57 with 12 minutes to play. A 26-9 Pioneer outburst had the Red Dragons on the ropes and about to stumble. Fortunately the Red Dragons can shoot free throws and made 18 of 22 from the time they were down by those 10 points. Looked grim for the Dragons but they found a way to win. If I was a betting man (and I am) and if I could have wagered on the 6 games of the SUNYAC I would have picked the Lakers and Cortland to win. I was almost perfect with my Oswego pick but was way off on my prediction of a 15 point 79-64 Cortland victory. Down by 8 late in the game I had resigned myself to the fact that another game a YAC team should win was going by the boards. Just happy the guys pulled out a win.

magicman · November 15, 2015, 03:37:54 AM

Potsdam State falls to Drew by a score of 98-73. The Bears just couldn't put together 2 decent halves of basketball, a problem that has plagued them for quite some time. After falling behind by 12 points at 37-25 with 6:42 left in the 1st half, Potsdam managed to claw their way back with a 10-2 run to close it down to 39-35 with 3:49 left in the half. That was as close as the Bears would get the rest of the night. Drew outscored Potsdam 8-3 to end the period and held a 47-38 lead at the break.

The Bears stayed within shouting distance for the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half but could never get closer than 6 points. They were only down 58-52 with 13:23 left to play but an 18-1 outburst over the next 5 minutes buried the Bears and this game was over.

Last years point guard Joe Estramonte came off the bench and led the Bears with 18 points. Nosa Onabor had 12 points and Josh Blagrove added 10. Dante Langley had 8 points and led the Bears with 8 rebounds.

Potsdam's workload won't get any easier on Sunday at 2:00 PM as they face off against the 10th ranked Mount Union Purple Raiders who were pounded on Saturday 100-78 by William Paterson. They won't be in a very good mood after that drubbing and the Bears will be on the receiving end of some pent up Purple frustration. Could be another long afternoon for Potsdam.

I called this game to be a Drew win but I expected it to be much closer than the final score. I'm sitting 6-1 after the first 7 YAC contests and the conference has a 5-2 won-loss record.

magicman · November 15, 2015, 05:12:22 AM

Only 2 games on tap for today.

Potsdam State vs Mount Union 2:00 PM Consolation Game at Drew University Rose City Tip Off Classic

The oddsmakers don't give the Bears much chance to come away with a win here and that's without knowing how amped up the Purple Raiders will be come Sunday afternoon. There's a reason that the D3hoops voters had Mount Union high in the preseason poll. The Bears are about to find out what that is. The spread on this game is a hefty 29 points and the Bears will be hard pressed to keep it under that. They lost to Drew by 25 and Mount Union would probably beat Drew by 20. This one could be over by halftime as Mount Union wins 95 65. I wish it wasn't so but if the Bears beat the Purple Raiders here in hoops, it would rival what Buffalo State did in football a few years ago when they took down those other Purple Power guys, UW-Whitewater.

Oneonta State at Franklin & Marshall 4:00 PM Rotary Tip Off Tournament hosted by Franklin & Maeshall

A favorite coach of mine told me a few years ago that nobody goes into Franklin & Marshall and walks out of there with a W. Not gonna happen. So accept that fact and move on. Oneonta will give the Diplomats a better game than Elizabethtown did on Saturday when they got rolled by an 80-49 final score but the Diplomats will still win this game by double digits. The point spread is listed at 10 points and I'll be surprised if the Red Dragons can keep it that close. I'm hoping for a big upset here of course...something along the lines of what Oneonta did to Williams last year to open the season...but reality says the Diplomats win their home tournament by an 83-68 final score.