MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[Bengalsrule]

Tough loss yesterday vs Point Park to begin the 2015-16 season. Had a 10 point lead at half however losing leading scorer Lovell Smith in the 1st min of the 2nd half (19 pts in 1st half 6 boards), definitly did not help the BENGALS cause. Up and dwon game which saw both sides down double digits in the 2nd half. Neither team quit but PP was 2 pts better where it counted, and thats the final score. 36% shooting from the field just won't get it done either.

Villa Maria is the next guest at the S.A. (Sports Arena) this Friday (opening day of annual Coles Tourney). Hopefully Lovell gets healthy and also Jordan Glover (also got hurt 2nd half).  I'm convinced that The Best is Yet to Come!!

Go BENGALS!

[magicman]

Possible Upset Alert.

Oneonta tied 65-65 with Franklin & Marshall. The Red Dragons have the ball and take a time out with 2 seconds left. They inbound it and throw up a long 3 point attempt that is off the mark and we're headed to overtime.
Oneonta led 65-63 but the Diplomats scored with 14 seconds left to tie it up. Sure hope the YAC team can pull off an OT win. Will be a tough tough loss if they don't.

[magicman]

F & M jumps out to a 69-65 lead but the Red Dragons get a pair of free throws and then a huge 3 pointer to retake the lead at 70-69 with 1:41 left.

Several questionable foul calls against the Red Dragons in this OT period, the most recent one gives the lead back to F&M 71-70.  Oneonta gets to the line and makes 1 of 2 to tie it at 71.

The Diplomats come down and score with a jumper to regain the lead. Oneonta takes a 3 that probably was not a good attempt and is way off the mark.

F & M comes down and hits another basket, this time from downtown and they go up 76-71 and they call a foul on the play. (Questionable call) The 4 point play gives them a 77-71 lead with just seconds to play.

Oneonta misses a pair of 3 point attempts and then fouls a Diplomat player who hits a pair of free throws for the final 79-71 score.

As I said earlier, this was a tough loss, but as I also said earlier, one that was expected. I predicted an 83-68 final score but the guys from Oneonta played better than that today for the most part. To take the Diplomats to overtime on their home floor is 99.9% better than their other visiting opponents have ever done. No shame in losing to a Top 20 team in overtime in their house. Once again some home cooking helped out the Diplomats. 27 free throws for F & M...16 for Oneonta.

Lawrence Coleman led the Red Dragons with 24 points and was named to the All Tournament Team. Jack Dignan had 15 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Mikey McElroy had 9 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.

Oneonta (1-1) is off for over 2 weeks and returns to action on December 1st at crosstown rival Hartwick (1-0). The Red Dragons haven't won against the Hawks since December 8th,  2009, a span in which they've lost 5 straight games. It's time to end that streak this year!!   

[dcahill44]

Oswego State had a convincing win against a St Lawrence team that will contend for LL title, Sortino and Sampson combine for 44 of the 73. Potsdam loses in a tough tournament facing Drew and Mount Union. New Paltz had a good win against Vassar on friday. Geneseo beat Medaille by 4 in a high scoring game. Transfer John Decker had 34 for Geneseo. Cortland beat a scrappy and physical Utica team. Oneonta beat Manhattanville and lost to Franklin and Marshall. The Oswego win will look really good at the end of the season especially at St Lawrence because I believe they will win a lot of games.

[magicman]

Three games on tap for YAC teams tonight.

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

The Hawks will look to make it 2 in a row to open the season and also trying to even up the series against Mount St. Mary as they currently trail the Knights 4-3 over their past 7 meetings. The Hawks did win last year after 3 straight losses so they have that going for them. The point spread favors the Hawks by a 5 point margin and I think they will be right around that number. Final score New Paltz 73   Mount St Mary 67 
   
Lycoming   at  Fredonia State      7:00 PM

Until the Blue Devils  show me they can win a few games I'm going to have to pick against them. Coming off a 2-20 season doesn't give me a lot of confidence. Oddsmakers have them listed as a 10 point underdog to Lycoming who just missed an NCAA bid last year when they lost in their conference tournament after winning the regular season with a 13-3 log. They ended up with an 18-8 overall record which is 16 games more than the Blue Devils won. They also have a game under their belt and nearly hit the century mark  winning 97-75 against a non-DIII team. I hope I'm wrong but I see the score here as an 80-71 Fredonia loss.
   
Clarkson   at   Plattsburgh State      7:00 PM

The Golden Knights return to Memorial Hall for the first time in 5 years. Clarkson got a new head coach last year, Jeff Gorski, and he promptly scheduled the Cardinals in a renewal of the home and home series that the two schools used to have when Adam Stockwell was the coach. When Kevin Gilbride replaced Stockwell for the 2009-10 season, Gilbride made the decision that as soon as the prior arranged scheduling ran out, he was dropping the Cardinals and several other solid programs in favor of weaker teams that would translate into more wins. It made no sense to drop a program that was located 90 miles away, always had a decent team and helped your non-conference strength of schedule. But that's the decision that Gilbride made and it never paid any dividends for him by doing so. The new coach has toughened up their schedule and last year they were within a few points of winning the Liberty League conference tournament, falling to Skidmore in the title game, 68-64.

The Cardinals suffered huge losses due to graduation and 2015-16 looked to be a rebuilding year for Coach Tom Curle. Curle, and assistant Cameron Conover, however, have done another great job finding recruits that fit the Plattsburgh tradition. After watching his young charges at a number of practices and team scrimmages I'm convinced that this may be one of his best recruiting classes ever. With so many holes in the starting lineup and rotation to fill the season will be a work in progress, but by crunch time in February I think this team will be right near the top of the conference.

The oddsmakers have made the Cardinals a 5 point favorite over the Golden Knights, who opened their season over the weekend by dropping a close game at Morrisville State, 64-61. Clarkson also suffered some big losses through graduation including 3 starters and will be looking for their underclassmen to find some chemistry for this year's campaign.

I think Plattsburgh comes out of the gate with a solid performance tonight after they shake off the opening night jitters . Cardinals will take this one by a 76-68 margin.   

[magicman]

Final Scores for tonight's games:

Mount St Mary 70   New Paltz  63

Lycoming 69     Fredonia 49

Plattsburgh State  83  Clarkson College  67

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 83 Clarkson 67

A convincing win for the Cardinals tonight as they opened up their 2015-16 campaign. Solid performances by their triumvirate  of 3 seniors, and a host of new recruits, allowed Plattsburgh to fight off some early jitters and start to pull away from the Golden Knights in the latter stages of the first half. Led by the mad bomber, Ed Correa, who drained 3 triples in the first half and sophomore  point guard Zack Coleman who made several solid drives to the hoop the Cardinals finally gained the lead for keeps on Correa's 2nd 3 pointer of the half with 8:21 left to play. Five freshman came off the bench to score the first points of their college careers in the first half led by 6'2" forward Jon Patron and 6'3" forward Ian Howard. Chris Middleton a 6'5" guard/forward with 4 points, Brandon Johnson, a 5'10" guard with 2 points and Isaiah Johnson, a 6'3"' forward with 2 points all garnered their first collegiate points as well. Newcomer and transfer student, junior Eli Bryant, a 5'11" guard had 3 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in his first 10 minutes of action as a Cardinal. Of special note is Howard's  first entrance into the game which came with 3:04 left in the half and the Cardinals up 35-30. He promptly scored 4 seconds later, then grabbed a defensive rebound, came down and grabbed an offensive rebound and scored again a few seconds later. He got another offensive rebound a minute later and was fouled on the putback attempt. He went to the line and made both free throws, giving him 6 points and 3 rebounds in 1:43 of court time and extending our lead to double digits at 41-30. When the Golden Knights hit a pair of buckets, the last one with 35 ticks left on the clock, to narrow the deficit to 7 points, the mad bomber struck again as the Cardinals ran down the clock for the final shot. Zack Coleman dribbled down to about 6 seconds and then made his move to drive to the hoop, only this time he kicked it back out to a waiting Correa, who calmly drained his final 3 pointer of the period to boost the Cardinal lead back to a 10 point 44-34 advantage. 23 of those 44 points, 14 of the team's 19 rebounds, and 6 of the 8 recorded steals were accomplished by players putting on a Cardinal uniform for the first time.

The 2nd half was more of the same as the Cardinals opened up with the first 6 points of the period and quickly had a 16 point lead. They were never threatened as the lead fluctuated between 14 and 21 for the rest of the game. X man, Xavier Thomas, senior guard/forward, held scoreless with no rebounds in only 3 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and a steal in the 2nd period. Likewise our 3rd senior, 6'4" guard/forward Kyle Richardson, also with foul trouble in the first half broke loose in the next period and ended up with 10 points and a team leading 7 boards. The sharpshooting Correa ended up with a team high 15 points and was 4x8 from behind the arc, the same 50% figure that he was averaging from long range last year. If anything, his range has increased and if you don't believe it, just ask him. He also added 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Coleman, moving into a starting role as the point guard in his sophomore season was more aggressive in going to the basket, with good results. He ended up with 12 points, 2 rebounds 2 assists and 2 steals. Freshman Jon Patron will be a force to reckon with this season, as he ended up with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes of floor time. Magic Grigg a 6'7' sophomore came off the bench and had 4 points and 3 boards in 7 minutes. 13 players broke into the scoring column as Coach Curle went to his bench early and often.   

Clarkson was led by Derek Hart who had a game high 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. Felix Abongo with early foul trouble had 13 points and 5 rebounds. Guard Jeremy Liss had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Clarkson falls to 0-2 and will take on SUNY-Canton in the North Country Invitational at Potsdam State on Friday night.

Plattsburgh 1-0, is off until Monday November 23rd when they travel down to Saratoga to face off against Skidmore  at 7:00 PM.

[magicman]

Only 1 game tonight in the SUNYAC as Brockport State travels up to Canton to take on the Larries of St. Lawrence.

SLU has already played a game against Oswego and held their own against the Lakers falling by a 73-67 final. Last year, a rebuilding year for the Saints, they lost to the Golden Eagles by a 66-63 final score in Brockport. I would have thought the oddsmakers would have installed the Saints as a slight home favorite but maybe they feel the way I do...that Brockport was missing a key player in last year's opener against SLU and this year they appear to be at full strength. They do have the addition of 4 transfers that should bring some additional talent and add depth  to the rotation. So Brockport is favored by 2 points despite their visitor status.  I'm also taking the Golden Eagles to come through with another close win here by a 73-70 final score. And I wouldn't be surprised if this game goes to overtime in which case the totals might be a bit higher.   

[magicman]

Brockport leading SLU 42-31 at the break.

Hamed Shamseldin leads all scorers with 16 points. Clifton Lyerly has 12 points and Matthew Smith has 8 points. The Golden Eagles have pretty much controlled play in this half from the opening whistle as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Saints got it as close as 8-5  but Port just cruised out to a 10 point lead at 20-10 and at points in the half were up by 16, first at 37-21 and then a bit later at 42-26. The Saints hit a 3 pointer and another basket to close out the half and narrow the gap to 11.  Dom DeRegis leads SLU with 10 points, while 3 others have 5 apiece. 

[magicman]

Brockport overpowers St. Lawrence 81-57  as they open their season with a win on the road. The Golden Eagles will need to do a lot of winning on the road if they hope to have a decent campaign this year especially in the non-conference portion of their schedule. They will (barring a home contest in the Wendy's tournament) play all 7 of their non-conference games on the road. They won't see their home fans until January 5th, but if they play like they did today, it should be quite a homecoming. St. Lawrence now falls to 0-2 in the SUNYAC  and will meet Plattsburgh on 12-1 before they finish their annual tour of SUNYAC schools against Potsdam State on 12-12. Last year they went 1-3 in their 4 YAC games so they will have to beat the Cardinals in Plattsburgh if they want to improve on that 2014-15 record.

The Golden Eagles looked better against SLU than Oswego did last week. I'm thinking that no one should be giving the Lakers a free pass to the conference title because Brockport will certainly have a lot to say about that.

Brockport was led tonight by the hot hand of returning All Conference selection Clifton Lyerly. LYerly pumped in 26 points, scoring in a variety of way with jumpers, drives, free throws and 3 pointers. He was 10-17 from the field, 2x2 from behind the arc and 4x4 from the line. Close behind was Hamed Shamseldin who tossed in 20 points, with 16 of them coming in the first half. He may not have started but he played more minutes, 25,  than all the starters except  Lyerly, who was on the floor for 30 minutes. Matt Smith also hit double figures with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. David Clark only had 3 points but he captured rebounding honors for the game with 9 boards. Ismael Pierre was right behind him with 8 rebounds. Brockport outshot the Saints, outrebounded them 39-30 and committed only 14 turnovers to 21 for SLU. Port scored 25 points off turnovers to a measley 2 points that SLU got off TO's. All in all a pretty convincing win over a team that was picked to finish 2nd in the Liberty League.

The Larries were led by 13 points from Dom DeRegis, who was the only SLU player to score in double figures. Freshman Ben Crawford was next  with 9 points and 5 rebounds.

St. Lawrence, now 0-2, will resume play this weekend when they travel to Buffalo to take on Medaille College at 5 PM on Friday evening in the Mavericks tournament. They will face off against Baldwin-Wallace or Middlebury on Saturday afternoon.

Brockport 1-0, is off until November 24th when they will travel south to Long Island to take on the Farmingdale Rams at 5:00 PM.

One overlooked factor in today's game against SLU is that Brockport was missing their leading scorer from last season, All Conference  senior guard/forward, Patrick Modzelewski. How good will the Golden Eagles be when they factor him back into the rotation?   

[amh63]

Magicman......just got around to read your post wrt to the F&M game with your conf. NY team.  Just want to mention a little " home cooking" lost by Amherst a number of years ago in Lancaster, Pa.  Have been up to Lancaster several times for NCAA sectionals games.  The last one was in '12.  MIT, Amherst, Staten Island and F& M were playing.  Looking forward to the heavy favorites MIT and Amherst playing for the chance to go to the Final 4.  Amherst lost to the host school where the fouls called and number on Amherst were " home cooking",IMO.  The head coach of F& M is a legendary coach and I felt the regional/ local refs knew it.  My complaint was when Aaron Toomey went up multi times and took an outside shot and appeared to get fouled...no fouls called.  Anyway, Amherst went to the Final 4 the next two years, Amherst won the title in '13 and was beaten by Williams in '14.  Aaron was National POY in both years...different organizations.  He set records for foul shots and leading his team to wins with his 3's.  Bad and good memories.
Also got pinged for complaining about the stripped people.  Gee, is it not an American national pastime??.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

amh63 - I was at that sectional... I am not going to say the refs were terrific, but I cam assure you they were not "home cooking." They came from a different part of the Mid-Atlantic, Atlantic, Virginia region than F&M resides in. I know the guys, and Glenn didn't want them there either. The NCAA does a pretty good job to make sure refs aren't necessarily too familiar with those teams and those guys I don't think called that many F&M games if any that season (more on that in a minute). In fact, one of the guys is a Big East (former) football official as well and does D1 basketball.

I will go on to say, that part of the NCAA tournament survival is adjust to refs from different parts of the country. That is the job of the coaches and players. If they can't adjust and are too stubborn, they are going to pay the consequences. But it wasn't like F&M was getting a lot of calls that weekend, either.

Now, since that particular year, the ref assignments in this greater region has changed MIGHTLY. They are brought in from hours away now and mix and match all of the time. There used to be multiple assigners that refs would tag onto and would work with the same crew, same gyms, same teams all of the time. I go to at least three or four gyms routinely during the season (for work and for D3hoops) and would never see the refs crossing over to the other gyms (three of the gyms were in difference conferences: Landmark, Centennial, and MAC Commonwealth). Now, there is mixing and matching, crews are coming together who haven't worked together, and I am seeing guys I have never seen before... even in the third year of this. They also have FAR more D1 refs now in the mix than in the past. All of this has combined for better officiating by far because no one knows the other's traits and don't tend to get caught up in a couple of bad calls by themselves or others. They also talk far more because they don't know each other or work with each other as often.

It as made for some very good refereeing in the last few years in this region.

[amh63]

Dave.....let us say, I agree to disagree wrt to the refs...where ever they are from.  They were bad.  If my memory serves me correctly...Willy Workman, the star forward from Amherst...who still is playing overseas....was taken out of the game relative early with fouls.  The flow of the game was not good with fouls called...yes on both sides..that had players wondering.  Not good.  I have seen many college games, many in D1 NCAA sectionals and top venues...over decades and in many sections of the country..west coast, the South and the midwest.  Been  to Chapel Hill games, At games in Charleston, at IU and Michigan.  Been in Cameron too as well as UMD.  I am aware when refs are out of their depth or into themselves.  Less so in D1 and top conferences.  I'm sure that the ACC coaches of the past and today have some say on getting refs that they respect.  It is a gig that many refs want to have.....as the ACC pays well and treats them well.  Enough on the matter.
Apology to this board posters for this off topic post.

[magicman]

Funny and true story.

Some years ago a coach, who has since retired, brought his team to Franklin & Marshall for a game in one of their tournaments. As the game progressed the coach wasn't happy with the quality and one sidedness of the calls in F & M's favor. During a stretch in the 2nd half as the one referee on his side of the court ran back and forth, the coach started yelling out numbers. 27 he yelled, next trip down the court he yells, 89. Each time the ref got within hearing distance the coach would yell out another number...148 he yelled, 357 he yelled, finally after a few more numbers were shouted out which were in the high 500's  the ref, during a stoppage in play for some free throws, was hovering near the coach. "Hey" the ref says to the coach,  "all these numbers you keep yelling out, what's that all about?"  The coach looks him squarely in the eye an says, "I figure those must be the number of wins that you've officiated here in this house" referring to the 700+ wins that F & M coach Glenn Robinson had accumulated at the time. The ref obviously didn't look happy at the coach's response, so the coach looked at him again, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "hey, you're the one that asked!!  Nothing the ref could do but smile and walk away.       

[magicman]

7 SUNYAC schools in action on Friday, Nov. 20th.   

Case Western Reserve  vs   Fredonia State     4th Annual Greg Richards Memorial Classic @ Meadville, Pa. (Allegheny College)
I can't pick the Blue Devils until they prove to me they can win 2 in a row. Or at least 1 in a row over a decent program. They won't beat a school from the UAA conference. Oddsmakers have them listed as a 15 point underdog. They will lose by double digits but maybe not 15 points. Case Western 81 Fredonia 69. 
   
Geneseo State  vs    Alfred      6:00  Laurel Line Tournament @ Misericordia (Dallas, Pa.)
The Knights should take care of business here against Alfred. They are favored by a  5 point margin on a neutral court. I'll take Geneseo by a 79-72 final.

   
Mount St. Vincent   vs   New Paltz State      6:00 PM LS   @ Williamstown, MA
The Hawks with a game against another Mount St. school. They lost the last one...can't lose this one can they? Hawks favored by 5 points. I think they lose by 5 points. Mt. St. Vincent has only played 1 game, a 93-67 loss to DI St Francis (Brooklyn) I think they beat the Hawks by a 76-71 final. Hope I'm wrong though.

   
Cortland State vs.  SUNY-Cobleskill      6:00 PM LS V     Cortaca Classic @ Ithaca, N.Y.
Cortland should win this game by double figures as the point spread as them favored by 11 points. I think they will win by a bigger margin much bigger. Red Dragons romp 82-62
 
   
Mount St. Mary at Oswego State      6:00 PM
Mount St Mary looking to go 2-0 in the SUNYAC having won on Tuesday night against New Paltz. I think they will find the going tougher in this outing. Oddsmakers have made the Lakers a 15 point favorite. I'll take the Lakers but only by 10...79-69.
   
   

SUNY Poly (formerly SUNYIT) at    Potsdam State      8:00 PM  North Country Invitational at Potsdam State.
The Bears may have found one they can win here but are only favored by a single point at home so it could go either way. I'm optimistic they will get it done and think the final score will be 68-64.

   
Villa Maria      Buffalo State      8:00 PM
Couldn't find a spread on this game as the oddsmakers have taken it off the board. Must mean the Bengals are gonna romp. I'll take them to win by an 85-71 final score.