MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[Bengalsrule]

Magicman....pretty good " calls " on your Red Dragon schools . 
Considering this time of the year....your "work place" must look like mission control
Worried about your well being though....your friends/ admirers will understand if you make a wrong call and forget a write up.

If Magicman misses a prediction then I'm calling Saratoga Police dept.  I gotta assume that he's stuck in their racino on a hot streak and just lost track of time! 

Good to see All- time posting some predictions too!!😃

[Bengalsrule]

Don't want to get away from what the men are doing in the 'Yac but over on the women's side of the brackett you have a 2 person race for Player of the year that can only be described as biblical.

2 players, Brittany (Yac says "Britt" but that's NOT her name that her dad/mom gave her) Perry of Buffalo State and Devona Paul are locked in a statistical race that I have never seen before , on the Men's and/or Women's side.  How's this for a early 'Yac POY contest? In Scoring Perry is #4 (16.0) and Paul is #1 (22.8), Rebounding Perry #4 (10.1) and Paul #2 (10.2), Fg% Perry #6 (.430%) & Paul #3 (.518%), Ft% Perry #6 (.745%) & Paul #3 (.879), Assists Perry #2 (3.7), Assists/turnover ratio Perry # 6, Blocks Paul #6, Steals Perry #1 and Mins played Perry #3 & Paul #2.  That's 9 categories, OUT of 11,  where at least Perry or Paul is ranked and 5 where they both are ranked in the top 10.

Something tells me that the headliner on Jan 9th will still be Lovell Smith/Nico McLean/Jordan Glover & co. vs. Kyle Richardson/Ed Correa/Xavier Thomas & friends, however I know that, If I'm fortunate enough to make the ride up to the north country, I'm gonna try and get to Memorial Hall earlier for the "undercard" of Perry vs. Paul. Sounds like a "P & P" production?!    Heck with a match up like that who needs Rousey Vs. Holm?

P.s. I would have put this on the SUNYAC women's side however other than Dave announcing his last Hoopsville, there hasn't been a post on those boards since Feb of 2012 (DAMN SHAME!!)

[jdex]

Cortland loses Z. Lydon for the season to knee injury. Had missed the last three games. Reportedly red-shirts. Should make travel connections a bit easier for the Lydon family whose T. Lydon is certainly becoming known as Syracuse frosh.

Was earlier reported 6-6 J. Prendergast could be returning to RDragons for second semester action. Prendergast came along quickly last winter as a freshman. Has been nursing an injury

And on a sad note from those central New Yorkers of age who remember the rollicking days of the Nats. Dolph 'Dolly' Schayes has passed

[pg04]

P.s. I would have put this on the SUNYAC women's side however other than Dave announcing his last Hoopsville, there hasn't been a post on those boards since Feb of 2012 (DAMN SHAME!!)

Outside of Football and (some boards in) Men's Basketball, the rest are pretty dry. Unfortunately. I wanted the hockey board to have more action but no one has really posted there since I did in November.

[magicman]

Sorry to hear about Zach Lydon at Cortland missing this season with the knee injury. Hope he rehabs and comes back stronger than ever. Cortland still a force to be reckoned with in the YAC.

Was sad to read  about Dolph Schayes yesterday.  He was a legend and will be missed.

[magicman]

Only 1 game on the schedule tonight.

Cazenovia @ Oswego State  7:30 PM

The Wildcats haven't had much luck against the Lakers over the years. Over the past 9 years they have met 8 times and the Lakers have outscored Cazenovia in those 8 games by 258 points. That's an average of 32 ppg that the Wildcats manage to lose by.  I'm surprised that the oddsmakers have only made Oswego a 17 point favorite but then again the Lakers haven't exactly been dominating teams that they should.  Cazenovia hung with Morrisville and Oswego barely beat the Mustangs 61-59 so maybe Cazenovia will make this one interesting. My crystal ball says they won't and the Lakers win by 20. Final score 84-64.

[Bengalsrule]

Call me encouraged after seeing the latest Massey ratrings (if you don't what that is Magic will explain  ).

Of the 3 Eastern conferences (SUNYAC, Empire 8 and Liberty League), there are a combined 10 teams ranked in the top 105 teams. Of that 10...... 7 are from the SUNYAC, 1 from Liberty League and 2 from the Empire 8. If we, the SUNYAC continue to win our non-conference games in Dec. (and early Jan) then that should bode well when the committee is looking to award some "pool C" (at large bids).

For the 'Yac that means that 70% of their teams are in the top 25% of the nation (420 teams ranked, thats why my cut off was 105). I'm no expert but the 1 good thing about December is that no Yac teams play each other. Any OOC  win is good for us this time of year and great wins (i.e Plattsburgh beating #17 Trinity on 1/4, Brockport beating #11 John Carroll on 12/29 and Oneonta beating #24 St John Fisher Sunday... just to name a few)  plus  the rest of the 'Yac holding serve vs. their OOC teams, could only enhance our, the SUNYAC's, standing. Add the fact that the SUNYAC, which 3 weeks ago was the 27th ranked conference in the nation, is now ranked in the top 10 (#10) of conferences (out of 47 conferences), and it appears that the 'Yac is "nearly " back!!

SUNYAC teams (with rankings in parenthesis) Plattsburgh (28), Oswego (39), Geneseo (41), Brockport (50), Cortland (70), Oneonta (89) and BUFFALO STATE (101)
Empire 8 teams St John Fisher (80) and Ithaca (103)
Liberty League Skidmore (20)

Add another "potential" 'yac  win for Oswego, which is leading 71-48 with 2 mins left!

[magicman]

Final score from Oswego.

Oswego 75  Cazenovia 50

No surprises here as the Lakers take care of business, but it took them a while to put the Wildcats away. The Lakers were up by 12 points at the half 38-26, but Cazenovia quickly cut that lead to 8 points and still kept the lead to single digits with 7 minutes gone by in the 2nd period. The Lakers finally turned up the heat when a pair of Keith Tyson layups, sandwiched a Mykelle Krecko jumper, to put the lead at 14 and rising with 10 minutes left to play. Walter Sampson scored on a drive and followed that with a 3 pointer to offset a triple from Cazenovia. Then Oswego's Matt Crockett buried another triple and Brian Sortino sunk a pair of freebies. The lead was 21 and this game was over. With 8 minutes remaining the Lakers put on the automatic pilot and cruised to the win.

Sortino led the Lakers with 15 points and 3 rebounds. Kyle Covely was close behind with 14 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Walter Sampson had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. 6'10" Mykelle Krecko with 12 minutes off the bench had his biggest night yet in an Oswego uniform. He entered the game as relief for Mark Candelario who was hit with his 4th foul and 13:50 left to play.  Krecko scored 9 points , grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 blocks all during the crucial time span when Oswego put this game away. Krecko has seen very little court time this year, which has surprised me, but he looked good tonight and may be the start of something good for the big man. Candelario led the Lakers with 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and a steal.

Ryan Gavin was the leading scorer in the game with 18 points and topped the Wildcat with 8 rebounds. Avery Wilmore added 10 points and 6 assists.

Oswego outshot the Wildcats from the field and from long range. They also won the battle of the boards 40-35 and only had 8 turnovers to 14 for the Wildcats. Cazenovia did have a better night from the line than the Lakers did, percentage wise, but Oswego got to the line more often and made 12 free throws to 11 for Cazenovia.

I said the Lakers would win this game by 20 points and while they didn't hit the 84 points I predicted they would get, they could have... but chose to let off on the gas in the latter stages of the game. They did cover my point spread though, winning by a quarter of a century.

Oswego improves to 8-1 (1-1 SUNYAC) and will now be off for the next 3 and a half weeks until they travel to Oneonta for a game with the Red Dragons at 7:30 PM on Jnauary 5th.           

[pg04]

Does this mean a Christmas break for Magicman???

[Bengalsrule]

Does this mean a Christmas break for Magicman???

I could be wrong but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that " the Magicman takes no time off as long as Sunyac/Plattsburgh hoops are going on!"  I could be wrong but I doubt it!!!

[magicman]

Does this mean a Christmas break for Magicman???

I could be wrong but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that " the Magicman takes no time off as long as Sunyac/Plattsburgh hoops are going on!"  I could be wrong but I doubt it!!!

There are no games on  December 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th. There will be, however, stats to catch up on and future games to reconnoiter. Then this prestidigitator has to continue his preparation for the challenges presented by the D3 National Pick 'Em League, the LEC Pick 'Em League, the National One and Done Saturday Night League, The Futures NCAA Fantasy League, the upcoming NCAA Tournament Fantasy League Draft and the Sweet Sixteen League Draft, all leagues that he is a member of.

The break will come on March 20th.      

[magicman]

Three games on the schedule for today, December 12th

Alfred  @  Buffalo State    2:00 PM

The Saxons invade the Sports Arena and bring with them an inconsistent 4-2 record. They gave Geneseo a down to the wire battle losing to the Knights 81-78 on a neutral court back on Nov.20th. Yet they dropped a double digit decision to YAC cellar dweller Fredonia on December 1st by an 82-69 margin. Their 4 wins have come against lesser competition with 3 of those schools combining for a 5-19 won-loss record. The Bengals also have a 4-2 record but those 4 wins have been against decidedly stiffer opponents. Three of those 4 wins, Nazareth, Hobart, and Oswego State, were teams with undefeated records, prior to their game against the Bengals.

The oddsmakers had made the Bengals a 6 point favorite coming into this game. I will be surprised if the Saxons can keep it that close. I'm taking the Bengals to win this track meet by a 88-76 final score. 



Potsdam State  @  St. Lawrence        4:00 PM

The Bears, with a 1-6 record, travel to Canton to tackle the other Liberty League rival in the immediate vicinity. Potsdam got in the win column last weekend against New Paltz, ending a 20 game losing streak, and now look to win back to back games for the first time since February 8th 2013. The Bears have dropped the last 2 games in this series and are only 2-7 in the past 9 years.

The Saints are on a 2 game winning streak and enter this game with a 3-4 record. They have won back to back games over Empire 8 teams, Elmira and Ithaca, with both wins coming on the road. So while they would be 2-0 in the E8 conference they are currently 0-3 in the SUNYAC having lost to Oswego, Brockport and Plattsburgh State. This marks their last chance to get a win against a YAC team in what looks to be their final non-conference game of the year. They also would like to even that non-con slate to a 4-4 mark.

The oddsmakers have made the Saints a solid 12 point favorite here and I have no reason to think that's off the mark. Clarkson has already defeated the Bears twice this year, most recently by 21 points in the Golden Knight's house. I have seen both Clarkson and St Lawrence play this year and I think the Saints are a better team than the Knights. If St. Lawrence can beat Ithaca by 10 at Ithaca then they can beat the Bears by 15 at home in Burkman Gym. SLU 80 Potsdam 65   


Plattsburgh State     @  Middlebury        4:00 PM

This is the featured game of the day as the Cardinals travel to the Green Mountain State to renew their rivalry with the Middlebury Panthers. Middlebury and Plattsburgh both lost a fair amount of talent to graduation, but  the Cardinals were hit much harder, losing 4 starters from last years game against the Panthers. They also lost 2 other players in the rotation including their top bench player. And more importantly the Panthers won that matchup last year in Plattsburgh by 10 points. Both teams brought in some decent recruits however, with Middlebury getting quality minutes from their 3 freshman newcomers and the Cardinals getting major contibutions from 5 different new faces on the team.

The teams have had 3 common opponents in Skidmore, St. Lawrence and New Paltz. The Panthers  are 1-2 having the lone win against New Paltz, while the Cards are 2-1 with wins against St. Lawrence and New Paltz. Both teams lost to Skidmore in Saratoga with the Panthers playing a better game against the Thoroughbreds than the Cardinals did. The Panthers also have the benefit of 9 games under their belt going 4-5 while the Cardinals have only played 5 contests to date and sport a 4-1 record.

Surprisingly the oddsmakers have made Plattsburgh a 4 point road favorite in this game and I'm not sure why. If the guy who made that point spread knew what I know, he would probably make the Panthers a 7 point favorite. Plattsburgh State will be shorthanded today and that could pose problems in more ways than one.

The Panthers have owned the Cardinals in this series over the past 7 years going 6-1 with the last Cardinal victory coming in Pepin Gym on January 7th, 2014. Previous to that you had to go all the way back to February 5th, 2008 to find another Plattsburgh win. The Cardinals did run off a stretch of 5 of 6 from 2003 through that 2008 win. Since the turn of the century the Panthers have 7 wins to 6 for the Cards. I think this is the year we catch the Panthers and tie this series up, so despite all the reasons why the Cardinals should lose this game I'm taking them to win a hard fought contest by a 71-67 final score.   
     

[amh63]

Magicman .....will you be in Pepin?  May look you up... On the big screen that is....when I get the opportunity.  If so, wear a funny hat or something obnoxious, like a Purple sweatshirt!  The home crowd would love that .
Still trying to figure out "RUST"..... By the way, Amherst will play a school with the name Rust!  Truly, during their trip South over the Holidays...other game will be with Rhodes.
By the way, why does your school have a late start?

[Bengalsrule]

Does this mean a Christmas break for Magicman???

I could be wrong but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that " the Magicman takes no time off as long as Sunyac/Plattsburgh hoops are going on!"  I could be wrong but I doubt it!!!

There are no games on  December 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th. There will be, however, stats to catch up on and future games to reconnoiter. Then this prestidigitator has to continue his preparation for the challenges presented by the D3 National Pick 'Em League, the LEC Pick 'Em League, the National One and Done Saturday Night League, The Futures NCAA Fantasy League, the upcoming NCAA Tournament Fantasy League Draft and the Sweet Sixteen League Draft, all leagues that he is a member of.

The break will come on March 20th.      

Nuff said!   

[All-Time]

Love Buffalo State, Plattsburgh and St. Lawrence today.