MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[ronk]

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.     

  Sounds like something former Scranton coach Bob Bessoir would have said; he coached 3 different NCAA tourney games @ F&M in the '80s, losing 2 of them. I don't think Scranton was ever in one of F&M's tipoff or Sponaugle tourneys, however.

[jdex]

Cortland finally finds a game midway into the second half and goes on to claim 85-61 win over Cobleskill in Cortaca tourney opener at Ithaca College. RDragons score game's first seven points but lead just 34-33 at intermission vs. 0-3 foes recently routed by RPI. Cobleskill seizes six point lead early in the second half. Corts' Z. Lydon scores twice inside and lands 3-pointer for 52-49 advantage as winners go on 36-7 tear. Trapping defense comes to Cortland aid along with landing some shots. B. Estarfaa with 15 pts (5x11fg, 4x8 3s, 3 assts) in 24'. Lydon with 14 pts(6x10, 1x2) in 17'.  Plenty of Cortland bodies seem to wear down the Cobbles. J. Morales 4 assts, 3 stls in 19'; JP Reagan 6 rebs in 19', TJ Hefele 9 pts in 21', J. Cooper 9 pts (4x4fg) 5 reb in 18'. Cortland 32x62fg (21x34 second half), 11x28 3s from 11 sources. Cobleskill led by B. Jackson 13 pts(4x15fg), C. Cooper 11 pts in 16'; F. D'esti 11 pts in 29'

Cortland (2-0) hosting Bridgewater at 4 Saturday afternoon in predetermined Cortaca pairings.

Young Bridges bow 86-73 to Ithaca in second game at IC. Bombers overcome 41-40 Bridgewater, MA halftime edge. IC on Saturday at 2 in Cortland faces Cobleskill

[magicman]

Friday nights results

Case Western Reserve 85       Fredonia State 74

Freds drop another one. Closer than the 15 points they were supposed to lose by, but still another loss. I had it fairly close with my 81-69 prediction.


Geneseo State 81   Alfred 78

I had the Knights winning 79-72. Again fairly close to the final outcome.


Mount St. Vincent  88  New Paltz State 86 in overtime

I went with the Hawks to win it 76-71. They were up 76-73 with 28 seconds left and then 78-75 with 14 ticks left. They allowed the Dolphins to tie it up when the Hawks missed 2 free throws with 6 seconds left, committed a foul on the other end, and the Dolphin player hit a big free throw to send it to OT. They fell behind 85-80 and could never catch up. Losing late game leads is beginning to become a pattern with this team. 



Cortland State 85    SUNY-Cobleskill  61

I said the Red Dragons would win by a bigger margin than the 11 point spread. I had it as an 82-62 final
and the guys from Cortland didn't let me down....this time. Only a couple points off of a perfect pick.

Oswego State   71   Mount St. Mary 46

Neither team with the offense I expected. Lakers did win handily though. I had it 79-69 Lakers.




SUNY-Poly   75     Potsdam 63

My alma mater keeps dragging me down. This was a game I thought they could have won. Once again they hit a stretch, where, after hanging fairly close to the opponents, they suddenly hit a dry spell, and a 2 possession game becomes  a runaway. This time it occurred with 11 minutes left in the game and the Bears down 47-42. They got outscored over the next 5 minutes by a 15-3 margin and now they're down 62-45 with 6 minutes left and not much chance of making a comeback. That's been a 3 year pattern at least. I had them winning this game 68-64. I'm through wearing my heart on my sleeve for this team. The next time I pick them to win will be when they play Fredonia in Potsdam.    


Buffalo State 100  Villa Maria (USCAA) 91

Buffalo State in a track meet with this non-D3 team. I had them winning by a bigger margin but with less points being scored on both ends with my 85-71 final score. The Bengals did go up by as much as 16 points midway through the 2nd half and pretty much coasted to the win without ever being threatened.

The SUNYAC has a won-loss record of 11-9 through games of November 20th.

The NCAA record is 10-8 as Buffalo State's 1-1 record won't count since neither school they played was an  NCAA DIII member. 7 of those 8 losses are Potsdam-3, Fredonia-2 and New Paltz-2.

magicman's predictions are currently 16-4. New Paltz has burned me twice, both times again a Mount. I'm done picking them against a religious institution. Buff State's opener and Potsdam on Friday night are my other 2 losses.

[magicman]

Six games that count on the SUNYAC slate for Saturday. One exhibition game listed at the bottom.

Morrisville State  vs  Oswego State     1:00 PM @ held at Elmira College
The Lakers need to take this team seriously. The Mustangs would love nothing better than to trample all over the defending SUNYAC Champs. It would give them a 4th straight win this season, all against the top DIII East Region conferences. They own a win over the Liberty League and 2 wins over the Empire 8. Now they have back to back games against the YAC as they face Geneseo on Nov. 24th. The point spread has the Lakers listed as a 6 point favorite on this neutral court matchup. Oswego has owned the Mustangs, having won 9 straight games dating back to the 2006-07 season, but the Lakers haven't played them in the past 2 years. The Mustangs basketball fortunes has been on the rise since all those years of domination, when Oswego had the services of Chad Burridge and Hayden Ward. It was just 2 years ago when the Mustangs  galloped all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, after making the Sweey 16 the year before that. Are these Mustangs comparable to those team...I don't think so but they still are capable of springing an upset. Having said that I believe the Lakers should come home with the Tournament Championship here and will lasso the Mustangs by a 75-68 final score.     

   
Adrian  vs  Fredonia State  1:00 PM    Allegheny College Greg Richards  Tipoff Classic @ Meadville, Pa.
This is a battle of 2 teams that have been at or near the bottom of the standings in their conferences the past few seasons. The difference is that Adrian looks to have turned it around a bit as they have started off with 3 straight wins, while the Blue Devils still haven't gotten off the schnied. Oddsmakers have made Adrian a double digit 10 point favorite. Hard to argue with that. Adrian 69 Fredonia 60


   
Clarkson   at  Potsdam State        1:00 PM   North Country Invitational-Consolation Game
Either or both of these schools were hoping to be in the Championship game today. Neither one played well enough to get there. Clarkson was knocked off (I think for the first time ever) by SUNY-Canton in a game that really was never close after the first 10 minutes. Canton, up 11 at the half, led the entire 2nd period by a 15 to 21 point margin and cruised to 62-46 win. Potsdam fell behind by 17 against old NEAC foe SUNYIT (now SUNY-Poly) and never could get back into the game, falling 75-63. It used to be that Canton and SUNYIT were the relative lightweights on the schedule for these 2 schools. Now it looks like role reversal at least for this year. Now the irresistible force will meet the immovable object as both of these teams have yet to win a game. Entering the game with identical 0-3 records there will be joy in Potsdam tonight, as somebody gets to celebrate a victory, which from the looks of things won't happen that often this year for either club. The oddsmakers must have been smoking some wacky weed or they know something I don't, because they have made the Knights a 21 point favorite. I can't pick the Bears despite my inclinations to do so, so the Knights will march around the table with their swords held high as they win at least 1 game this season but it won't be by 21 points (I hope). Clarkson 69 Potsdam 65.  Of interest is that these crosstown rivals get to do it all over again in 10 days when Potsdam goes up the hill to Clarkson's Alumni Gym for a rematch. 
      
   
New Paltz State  vs Salem State        2:00 PM    Williams Invitational @ Williamstown, Mass.
This is another game where the oddsmakers seem to be way off line. They have the Hawks favored by 19 points. I'm not sure the Hawks can hold onto a 19 point lead if they get one. I'll take them to win this game but I think it will be much closer. New Paltz 74  Salem State 65   



Geneseo State   at Misericordia        4:00 PM   Laurel Line Tournament @ Misericordia (Dallas, Pa.)
Originally this game was listed as Geneseo vs TBA I went to the D3hoops scoreboard to see who won the game between Misericordia and Summit, fully expecting it to be Misericordia. And it was, as the Cougars defeated Summit, formerly known as Baptist Bible, by a comfortable 85-61 margin. Summit was 2-23 last year and is 0-4 this year so Misericordia certainly got the type of team they needed to ensure their participation in the championship game of their own tournament. So now I knew that the Knights were going to play the host school for all the marbles. Went to Misericordia's website to see what time the game was on and spotted an article about the tournament. However, as I read the results of Misericordia's win over Summit it stated that the Cougars were now going to take on Alfred, a winner over Geneseo, in the championship game. I thought WTH is going on here. I just read that Geneseo beat Alfred 81-78. Does the D3hoops scoreboard have the wrong info? Is the score supposed to be reversed? Went to the Misericordia schedule and it also says that the next game is against Alfred. Totally confused I pulled up Geneseo's website...big story on the Knights 3 point win over Alfred. I went to Alfred's website and they also had a story stating that "the Saxons fall victim to Geneseo's strong free throw shooting."  So now I know that the SID or the assistant posted the wrong info in 2 places. The D3hoops scoreboard is correct and Geneseo is playing in the championship game and not the consolation game as the Cougar's website states they are. I sent the SID an email informing him of the mixup and just a few minutes ago I see the schedule has been corrected but the article still has the wrong info in it. All I can do is try. Anyway this game should be a good one by my calculations but once again the point spread seems way off as Geneseo is a 22 point favorite. I'm taking the Knights but not by 22 points.  Geneseo wins a high scoring affair 85-77.

        
Bridgewater State   at   Cortland State        4:00 PM   Cortaca Classic
The Bridgewater State Bears lost to Ithaca yesterday and are hoping for better luck today against the Red Dragons. Pretty sure they won't find it. Oddsmakers have made Cortland a 7 point favorite i think they win by a few more. Red Dragons 80 Bad News...Bears 68.


Exhibition Game
Oneonta State   at  Albany State    7:00 PM
As if taking on Franklin & Marshall on their home court wasn't enough of a challenge, these Red Dragons really must be masochists. I hope they got paid well to travel over and visit the Great Danes. Not going to be much of a contest here as Albany scores early and often. The point spread is a whopping 36 points. This one could get ugly.  Final score  Albany 95, Oneonta 56. 

[Bengalsrule]

Six games that count on the SUNYAC slate for Saturday. One exhibition game listed at the bottom.

Morrisville State  vs  Oswego State     1:00 PM @ held at Elmira College
The Lakers need to take this team seriously. The Mustangs would love nothing better than to trample all over the defending SUNYAC Champs. It would give them a 4th straight win this season, all against the top DIII East Region conferences. They own a win over the Liberty League and 2 wins over the Empire 8. Now they have back to back games against the YAC as they face Geneseo on Nov. 24th. The point spread has the Lakers listed as a 6 point favorite on this neutral court matchup. Oswego has owned the Mustangs, having won 9 straight games dating back to the 2006-07 season, but the Lakers haven't played them in the past 2 years. The Mustangs basketball fortunes has been on the rise since all those years of domination, when Oswego had the services of Chad Burridge and Hayden Ward. It was just 2 years ago when the Mustangs  galloped all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, after making the Sweey 16 the year before that. Are these Mustangs comparable to those team...I don't think so but they still are capable of springing an upset. Having said that I believe the Lakers should come home with the Tournament Championship here and will lasso the Mustangs by a 75-68 final score.     

   
Adrian  vs  Fredonia State  1:00 PM    Allegheny College Greg Richards  Tipoff Classic @ Meadville, Pa.
This is a battle of 2 teams that have been at or near the bottom of the standings in their conferences the past few seasons. The difference is that Adrian looks to have turned it around a bit as they have started off with 3 straight wins, while the Blue Devils still haven't gotten off the schnied. Oddsmakers have made Adrian a double digit 10 point favorite. Hard to argue with that. Adrian 69 Fredonia 60


   
Clarkson   at  Potsdam State        1:00 PM   North Country Invitational-Consolation Game
Either or both of these schools were hoping to be in the Championship game today. Neither one played well enough to get there. Clarkson was knocked off (I think for the first time ever) by SUNY-Canton in a game that really was never close after the first 10 minutes. Canton, up 11 at the half, led the entire 2nd period by a 15 to 21 point margin and cruised to 62-46 win. Potsdam fell behind by 17 against old NEAC foe SUNYIT (now SUNY-Poly) and never could get back into the game, falling 75-63. It used to be that Canton and SUNYIT were the relative lightweights on the schedule for these 2 schools. Now it looks like role reversal at least for this year. Now the irresistible force will meet the immovable object as both of these teams have yet to win a game. Entering the game with identical 0-3 records there will be joy in Potsdam tonight, as somebody gets to celebrate a victory, which from the looks of things won't happen that often this year for either club. The oddsmakers must have been smoking some wacky weed or they know something I don't, because they have made the Knights a 21 point favorite. I can't pick the Bears despite my inclinations to do so, so the Knights will march around the table with their swords held high as they win at least 1 game this season but it won't be by 21 points (I hope). Clarkson 69 Potsdam 65.  Of interest is that these crosstown rivals get to do it all over again in 10 days when Potsdam goes up the hill to Clarkson's Alumni Gym for a rematch. 
      
   
New Paltz State  vs Salem State        2:00 PM    Williams Invitational @ Williamstown, Mass.
This is another game where the oddsmakers seem to be way off line. They have the Hawks favored by 19 points. I'm not sure the Hawks can hold onto a 19 point lead if they get one. I'll take them to win this game but I think it will be much closer. New Paltz 74  Salem State 65   



Geneseo State   at Misericordia        4:00 PM   Laurel Line Tournament @ Misericordia (Dallas, Pa.)
Originally this game was listed as Geneseo vs TBA I went to the D3hoops scoreboard to see who won the game between Misericordia and Summit, fully expecting it to be Misericordia. And it was, as the Cougars defeated Summit, formerly known as Baptist Bible, by a comfortable 85-61 margin. Summit was 2-23 last year and is 0-4 this year so Misericordia certainly got the type of team they needed to ensure their participation in the championship game of their own tournament. So now I knew that the Knights were going to play the host school for all the marbles. Went to Misericordia's website to see what time the game was on and spotted an article about the tournament. However, as I read the results of Misericordia's win over Summit it stated that the Cougars were now going to take on Alfred, a winner over Geneseo, in the championship game. I thought WTH is going on here. I just read that Geneseo beat Alfred 81-78. Does the D3hoops scoreboard have the wrong info? Is the score supposed to be reversed? Went to the Misericordia schedule and it also says that the next game is against Alfred. Totally confused I pulled up Geneseo's website...big story on the Knights 3 point win over Alfred. I went to Alfred's website and they also had a story stating that "the Saxons fall victim to Geneseo's strong free throw shooting."  So now I know that the SID or the assistant posted the wrong info in 2 places. The D3hoops scoreboard is correct and Geneseo is playing in the championship game and not the consolation game as the Cougar's website states they are. I sent the SID an email informing him of the mixup and just a few minutes ago I see the schedule has been corrected but the article still has the wrong info in it. All I can do is try. Anyway this game should be a good one by my calculations but once again the point spread seems way off as Geneseo is a 22 point favorite. I'm taking the Knights but not by 22 points.  Geneseo wins a high scoring affair 85-77.

        
Bridgewater State   at   Cortland State        4:00 PM   Cortaca Classic
The Bridgewater State Bears lost to Ithaca yesterday and are hoping for better luck today against the Red Dragons. Pretty sure they won't find it. Oddsmakers have made Cortland a 7 point favorite i think they win by a few more. Red Dragons 80 Bad News...Bears 68.


Exhibition Game
Oneonta State   at  Albany State    7:00 PM
As if taking on Franklin & Marshall on their home court wasn't enough of a challenge, these Red Dragons really must be masochists. I hope they got paid well to travel over and visit the Great Danes. Not going to be much of a contest here as Albany scores early and often. The point spread is a whopping 36 points. This one could get ugly.  Final score  Albany 95, Oneonta 56.

Actually there are 8 games involving SUNYAC teams today. Buffalo State faces Nazareth in the championship game of their Coles tourney today at 6!

[jdex]

Cortland belts Bridgewater, MA 100-67 in home opener, leads by as many as 38 and by 85-48 at seven minute mark on Z. Lyon's 3-pointer. RDragons by 45-30 at intermission as 6-6 soph C. Joseph tosses in 17 pts (6x9fg, 3x4 3s, 6reb) in 19 minutes. Bridges within 11 before Corts take flight. JP Reagan leads the way. Team winds up 15x33 from three-land. Joseph finishes with 23 pts(9x12fg, 3x4 3s, 9 rebs) in 30'. Reagan with 17 pts (7x7, 3x3, 4rebs) in 16'. J. Cooper 10 pts along with Lydon (4x8fg, 2x4 3s, 5 rebs, 2 stls, 2 assts) in 20'. G. Carter 4 assts, 8 pts(3x4fg, 2x2 3s); B. Estarfaa 9 pts(3x6 3s) in 19'. D. Schweitzer 3-pter in final seconds sends Dragons to the century. Schweitzer the 13th Cortlander scoring in the game. Cortland 3-0 and next travels to Ithaca on Dec. 1.


Ithaca over Cobleskill 93-68 in opening game at Cortland as part of predetermined Cortaca tourney

[magicman]

Nazareth  at   Buffalo State   6:00 PM

My Buffalo State friend brought this game to my attention since it wasn't listed on the SUNYSAC composite schedule or the D3hoops scoreboard. This should be an interesting game. The oddsmakers have listed the Bengals as a solid 8 point favorite but I'm not so sure they can handle the Golden Flyers and high scoring forward Chris Ford. I'll pick this one with my heart and take the Bengals by a 88-84 final score. My head tells me to pick Nazareth so it will be interesting to see which one is correct.

[Bengalsrule]

Nazareth  at   Buffalo State   6:00 PM

My Buffalo State friend brought this game to my attention since it wasn't listed on the SUNYSAC composite schedule or the D3hoops scoreboard. This should be an interesting game. The oddsmakers have listed the Bengals as a solid 8 point favorite but I'm not so sure they can handle the Golden Flyers and high scoring forward Chris Ford. I'll pick this one with my heart and take the Bengals by a 88-84 final score. My head tells me to pick Nazareth so it will be interesting to see which one is correct.

Good thing that you went with your heart.  Good call 74-71.  Out grocery shopping with the wife right now. Details to follow later !

[Bengalsrule]

 1st Cole's tourney title for the Bengals in 3 years (tourney canceled last year and John Carroll won it in 13). What made the tourney even more satisfying was it was done with out leading scorer Lovell Smith, who sat out due to injury! Tourney MVP Nico McLean picked up the slack with a 24 pt average for the weekend. Add tourney allstar Mike Henry's double double (double) of 19 pts and 14 rebounds vs. Villa Maria and 20/10 tonight and you have the makings of a potentially good weekend. Add Jordan Glover's 33 pts for the weekend and clutch free throw shooting in game 1 and you definitly got something good going. Mix in the clutch performances from Sophomore Redell Freeman and Freshman Dominic Grayer (coming off the bench) along with some steady play from Junior Kevin Marmolejos (who added clutch free throws, 4/4 tonight in the last min)  and the future looks bright for the Bengals.

   Bengal big men had their hands full with Naz's "Mitch' (not Chris) Ford who had a monster game (34 pts). Early foul trouble for Chateau and Moise meant that players like Luke Jenkins, Akeem Williams and James Nix had to step up this weekend. And step up they did! Undoubtly this Bengals team is the deepest that many Bengal fans can ever remember (13 out of 15 players dressed played this weekend). With 'Yac "powerhouses" Cortland and Oswego coming to town in less than 2 weeks, and perinial LL titleist Hobart coming to town in 3 days, that depth will be sorely needed more than ever!

  The future looks bright! 

Go BENGALS!!

[magicman]

Saturday's results

Oswego State 61 Morrisville State 59
I said this game was one the Lakers needed to take seriously. It looks like they almost didn't. The Mustangs were up by a 23-21 margin at the half but the Lakers came out and grabbed the lead on a hoop and harm 30 seconds into the period. They would never trail again but they could never quite put the Mustangs away either.
They ever so slowly increased their advantage to 4, 6, and finally 9 points to 55-46 with 5:45 remaining.  At that point the Mustangs put together a 10-3 run  to close he gap to 58-56 with 1:15 left on the clock. Now it was anybody's game and Oswego got a Brian Sortino layup that was countered by a 3 pointer by Morrisville's Tyler Bliss. The lead was a single point so the Mustangs fouled with 18 seconds left and the Lakers, needing both free throws to cover a 3 pointer, only made 1 of 2. THe Mustangs were still alive with plenty of time to get off a good shot to win it or send it to overtime. The Lakers got lucky and the Mustangs didn't resulting in the 61-59 final score. I'm sure there were more than a few sighs of relief when that final buzzer sounded.

I had the Lakers winning a close game but this was too close for comfort. My score of a 75-68 Oswego win wasn't that far off but both teams struggled on the offensive end today, especially in the first half. Brian Sortino led the Lakers with 29 points. Alex Rawa and Walter Sampson both tossed in 11 points. Lakers not getting much bench production in the 2 games that were close. Might be a problem when the conference action starts up. 

[magicman]

Saturday Action

Adrian 83  Fredonia State 57

I thought Fredonia was going to lose this game but expected it to be a bit closer. The Blue Devils were down by double digits 5 minutes after tip off and fell behind by as much as 16 points at 37-21 with 4:35 left in the half.
They did close the half on a 10-3 run to narrow the margin to 40-31 to stay within shouting distance.  Adrian opened the 2nd half with a 19-8 burst and the lead was 20 points after 6 minutes of play. The Bulldogs lead was as much as 26 points and the outcome was never in doubt. Ian Helps led the Blue Devils with 16 points and 6 boards.
Fredonia 0-3 is back in action at Penn State-Behrend on 11-24 at 7 PM.

[magicman]

Saturday action

Clarkson 66  Potsdam State 60.

I was close to the final score of this game with my 69-65 prediction. Having seen the Golden Knights play last week against Plattsburgh I thought they might get the W here despite being the visiting team .

Back and forth 1st half until Clarkson, trailing 19-18 with 7 minutes to go in the period, outscored the Bears by a 14-5 margin to go into the break up 32-24. Clarkson kept enlarging the lead through the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half until they were up 43-30 with 13:21 left on the clock. Potsdam fought back and made it a 2 possession game  at 44-39 with 8 minutes to go, but the Knights always had an answer each time the Bears got close. The Bears made one final push to get to 57-51 with 91 seconds on the clock but Clarkson made 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch to close the door on Potsdam's chances.

Joe Estramonte came off the bench to lead the Bears with 16 points. Dante Langley had 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Josh Blagrove had 10 points with 7 boards.

Potsdam 0-4, is off until December 1st when they have a Deja Vu moment with Clarkson, as these two teams get to do it all over again, in Clarkson's house this time. I'm afraid the early results don't give me much optimism that the Bears will improve on the past 2 seasons. I believe the wins this year, can once again be counted on one hand...and not sure you will need all the fingers on that hand. Maybe some of the new recruits will show considerable growth by the time mid January and February roll around, and the Bears can grab a few wins in conference play.   

[magicman]

Saturday results

Salem State 85  New Paltz 84

The Hawks were favored to win this game by 19 points. I knew that wasn't going to happen. I almost picked Salem State to win this game but I let that big point spread color my crystal ball. I figured the oddsmakers must know something I didn't. Turns out I was wrong, (and in my best Sergeant Schulze accent)... they knew nothing. I picked New Paltz to win 74-65 but should have went with my first instinct which is to never pick a team that's on a losing streak.

The Hawks got outscored in the first half by a 49-36 margin and in a reversal of past form they came on strong in the 2nd half and outscored the Vikings by a 48-36 margin. Unfortunately that single point differential was a missed free throw with 5 seconds to play that would have sent the game into overtime. The Hawks had 1 more chance as they got the offensive rebound off the missed free throw, but missed a 3 point attempt at the buzzer. Brandon Guest and RJ Rosa both scored 24 points to lead the Hawks. Guest also led them in rebounding with 8 boards. Andrew Seniuk had 13 points and 7 rebounds.

New Paltz, 1-3 will return to action on Tuesday night at 7 PM when they host the Middlebury Panthers.


Geneseo State 88  Misericordia 63 

Geneseo wins the Misericordia  Laurel Line Tournament

I figured the Knights would put some points n the board as I had this pegged as an 85-77 Geneseo win. Wasn't far off with the Geneseo part, but the Cougars were never in this game from the start. They opened up with a 3 pointer to grab the early lead and it was about the only time the home crowd cheered. Geneseo had a double figure lead at 16-5 after 5 minutes of play and it only got worse for the Cougars from there. With 7 minutes left in the period the lead was 21 and the Knights cruised to a 46-24 halftime cushion. The lead was between 20 and 28 points the entire 2nd half as Coach Minton emptied his bench.

Newcomer, junior Justin Ringen a 6'5" guard/forward, led the Knights with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Charlie Zaepfel had 8 points and a tournament record 12 assists, as both players were named to the All Tournament Team and Ringen was chosen as the Tourney MVP.  Kevin Crockett had 11 points and 4  assists. Freshman Jack Manke had his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes of court time. The box score from Misericordia has Jack listed as Jank Manke. I thought Geneseo had imported someone from Eastern Europe with that name. 

Geneseo, 3-0, will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Morrisville State at 7 PM. The Mustangs dropped a heartbreaker to Oswego on Saturday and would like to add a SUNYAC school to their trophy list. This game against the Knights is their last chance to do so. 

[magicman]

More Saturday results

Cortland State 100 Bridgewater State 67

The Red Dragons put a few more points on the board than I thought they would,(actually quite a few more) but I thought they would win this game by double figures.

jdex already gave the rundown of the game. Nice to see that another YAC team remains undefeated to help pick up the slack of the 3 teams at the bottom.

Ithaca-Cortland battle on Dec. 1st should be a good one.



Buffalo State 74  Nazareth 71

As my Buffalo buddy said... good thing you went with your heart. I had this one with a few more points being scored with my 88-84 prediction, but then I didn't know that the Bengals leading scorer would be watching this one from the bench with an injury. His 19 ppg would have got me those extra points. Still I had the MOV within a point. The Bengal stats  have already been posted by Bengalsrule so I'll just say it's nice that the Bengals got a decent win to help out the YAC SOS.

Buffalo State will have another big game and nice opportunity to add even more to our SOS if they can conjure up some "magic" and take down Hobart on Tuesday at 7:00 PM. The Statesmen and the Liberty League  are flying high right now after Hobart took out Scranton on Saturday by a 79-73 score at Scranton.  Scranton owns a double digit win over Ithaca, who defeated Liberty League Champion Skidmore last week at Skidmore's house. And speaking of Skidmore, the Thoroughbreds defeated #20 Wooster by a 72-63 final score in Wooster on Saturday. All these factors will increase the Liberty Leagues SOS so if we can do somedamamge against them this ear that will help the SUNYAC's  SOS.



Exhibition Game
University of Albany  92  Oneonta State 49

My prediction in this one was a 95-56 blowout by the Great Danes. I wasn't too far off the mark as the final margin was 43 points instead of my 39 points. The size of the Division I team enabled them to score over 50 points in the paint. The Red Dragons were led by Jack Dignan, Lawrence Coleman and Mikey McElroy with 11, 10, and 9 points respectively. They got beat up but the guys still probably had fun playing in a DI atmosphere.

The team is 1-1 on the season and will be back in action that matters on Tuesday when they travel to crosstown rival Hartwick for an 8 PM start.

SUNYAC record vs Non-Conference opponents 15-12

SUNYAC record vs NCAA DIII Teams    14-11  (10 losses are from our bottom 3 schools)

magicman's predictions  23-5      3 of my 5 losses are from New Paltz losses. 

[magicman]

Off to take in the only game on the SUNYAC slate today which is:

Plattsburgh State @ Skidmore 7:00 PM

The Cardinals travel down to Saratoga for the 2nd year in a row in order to get the Thoroughbreds to come North to visit our house for 1 game next year. The deals we have to make to get people to come up here.

Skidmore is coming off a big win over Wooster College, the 20th ranked team in the country. They beat the Scots in Wooster by a 72-63 score and I'm sure are feeling pretty good about themselves right about now. They will also be looking for some payback against the Cardinals, as we beat them last year in overtime on their court.

They returned a lot of talent from that team and are once again picked to win the Liberty League They are led by pre-season All American Aldin Medunjanin, a 6'4" senior guard and 6'5" senior forward Erik Sanders. Both players are averaging over 15 ppg. Sanders has 10.5 rebounds per game along with 3.0 assist per game. Medunjanin grabs 5 rebounds per game and averages 4 assists per outing. Royce Paris a 6 ft junior guard is also averaging double figures with 12 ppg.

The Thoroughbreds will be a handful for the Cardinals to contain but Plattsburgh will counter with some pretty athletic players of their own. Plattsburgh has only played 1 game this season but in that game their main weapons were the players expected to be their go to guys all season long. Eddie Correa who scored 15 points is their main outside scoring threat, as he averages 50% from behind the arc. Last year he had 57 three pointers and is holding that form as he opened the season draining 4 of 8 from long distance against Clarkson.  Kyle Richardson could lead the team in rebounding this season as he was 2nd on the team last year with 5.7 rpg coming off the bench. In his first start in a Cardinal uniform he scored 10 points and led the team with 7 boards, in only 20 minutes of court time. Xavier Thomas adds his high flying repertoire to the mix and should score more than the 9 points and 5 rebounds he had in that Clarkson game, as he was limited to only 3 minutes in the first half with foul trouble. Sophomore point guard Zack Coleman, with 12 points in his first ever start for the Cardinals, could be a difference maker this year if teams overlook his ability to drive to the basket and focus on Plattsburgh's other offensive weapons.
Add one of the best recruiting classes the Cardinals have ever had, and this team will have a rotation that can go 12 deep with no fall off in talent. It may take a while for all that talent to come together but I think it's going to be a fun ride.

The oddsmakers have surprisingly  made Skidmore just a slim 2 point home favorite. With the heavy losses Plattsburgh suffered to graduation and the number of returning rotation players that the Thoroughbreds returned I would have thought that the point spread would have been greater. At any rate, regardless of the odds, I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve and taking the Cardinals. I think we are at a disadvantage because Skidmore has 3 games under their belt and more time to work out the kinks (like that season opening loss to Ithaca), as evidenced by their win at Wooster.

It should be another hard fought game between two solid programs and I think it will be more of an offensive display than the 60-57 overtime Cardinal win last year. So more points this year in less minutes, and I hope that translates into a 74-70 Cardinal victory.  GO CARDS

This is my 8000th post what a coincidence...that should bring my Cardinals some luck...shouldn't it?