MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Final score Buffalo State 83  Alfred 75

That was fairly close to my 88-76 prediction.

[magicman]

amh63

I did not go to the Middlebury game  as planned. None of my traveling companions could make it today and i didn't want to make the trip by myself. Staying home and watching it on my big screen TV hook up off my computer feed.

Rust never sleeps... as in things made of metal continue to rust, day or night, because rust never sleeps just keeps on rusting things away. And like rust...the magicman never sleeps.    Also "Rust Never Sleeps" was the title of a Neil Young album back in the day. Here's a link to that classic record from 1979.
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Sleeps-Young-Crazy-Horse/dp/B000002KDG

What do you mean by my school having a late start? 

[All-Time]

Magicman
Right now you are lucky you didn't make the trip.
Plattsburgh is getting spanked right now in the 1st half.
They better wake up for the 2nd half or this will be a blowout.
Lets go CARDINALS.

[All-Time]

Magicman,
Where is Ed Correa? Is he hurt?
Obviously not the same team without him.

[Bengalsrule]

2 words to describe today's game... UGLY WIN!!!!  Give Alfred some credit for that , however some of the BENGALS performance was tough to watch. After only having 4 turnovers at halftime the BENGALS proceeded to turn the ball over 6 times in the first 5 mins of the 2nd half, leading to 18 turnovers for the game. And after being out rebounded by 7 Alfred by 7 at half...it didn't get much better in the 2nd half. And to add insult to injury, after the  BENGALS are up by 11 with a little over 5 mins left in the game, Buff State gives up 3 3 pointers to Alfred and a 66-55 score was now 73 all at the 1:14 mark. Fortunately for BSC, Alfred (Julian Reinhart) committed a foul (after their last 3 pt make) and then got also got called  for a technical foul (on Reinhart for slamming the ball after he got called for a foul) in which Jordan Glover and Freshman Ryniek Holloway both knocked down 2 each. In fact 8 of the last 10 BENGAL points came by way of the free throw line!

Something tells me that some of our boys were already on vacation before this game started. And it showed. Off until after Xmas when BSC faces New jersey City (7-2, 5-0 in NJAC....on a 7 game win streak  ) in the Lehman College Coaches vs Cancer tourney!

[Bengalsrule]

Yac goes 1-2 today with Plattsburgh and Potsdam loses!  Hopefully Oneonta can pull off the W tomorrow vs St John Fisher! to give the 'Yac a 50% weekend!! If Potsdam can take care of Canton too then we are looking at a 60% weekend!! The Cards without Correa is just different team. Hopefully he will be back before their southern journey to South Beach, where they will face Stevenson next Saturday!!

[magicman]

Final score Middlebury 71 Plattsburgh State 49

Probably the worst game I've ever seen a Plattsburgh State team play. Certainly glad I didn't drive back and forth to watch this one. At least I saved myself 4 hours of driving time  and 35 bucks in gas.  Plus my Middlebury friends would have been giving me the business for about 30 of the 40 minutes during the game.

Plattsburgh was short handed today as one player was injured and 2 others missed the game because of sickness this week. But that's no excuse for the sloppy play and lack of concentration that I witnessed in this game. Passes were telegraphed, and the Middlebury players took full advantage. Passes were forced, resulting in more turnovers. Fast breaks appeared plentiful.

When the Cardinals broke out to a 8-2 lead the Panthers coach quickly took a time out and brought out a zone defense. Plattsburgh reacted like they had never seen one. The Panthers went on a 19-3 run and just like that it was a double digit 21-11 lead. I kept waiting for the Cardinals to respond with a run of their own. Soon I was waiting for the Cardinals to score a basket. After a 3 pointer by Eli Bryant cut the lead to 7 at 23-16 with just under 4 minutes left in the half I had hopes of the game tightening up. Instead the opposite happened and the Panthers went on another 13-1 spurt to end the half and the score stood at 36-19.

Things got no better in the 2nd half. Needing to come out of the break with a renewed effort to get back into this game, the Cardinals instead couldn't buy a basket and went over 6 minutes without a field goal while the Panthers ran off another 16-1 outburst.  The score was 52-18 and if it was a fight, the ref would have stopped it.

Plattsburgh committed 20 turnovers to only 12 for the Panthers, and Middlebury got 22 fast break points to 8 for the Cardinals. The Panthers shot 41.3%, 31x75, while the Cards shot 27.3%, 18x66. Plattsburgh had 52 rebounds to 51 for Middlebury.   

Middlebury has 13 players on their roster and all of them broke into the scoring column. It was the Matts night out as Matt St. Amour led all scorers with 19 points and Matt Daley was next with 12 markers. Daley led the Panthers with 8 rebounds.

Eli Bryant was the leading pointgetter forthe Cardinals with 18 points and Kyle Richardson was the top rebounder in the game with 12 boards. Xavier Thomas had 8 rebounds and 9 points.

The local paper said that the Cardinals were going for their fourth straight win over the Panthers today...boy are they wrong. The last time we won Two in a row was 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, and we didn't even win last year so I'm not sure where that reporter pulled his 4 in a row, line from.

The local Burlington/Plattsburgh TV news came on a while ago and showed the highlights of the game. They show a Plattsburgh player making a 3 pointer and states that so and so nails a 3 pointer to keep the Cardinals within shouting distance. The 3 pointer made the score 60-31 I guess his idea of shouting distance is a 29 point deficit. The local media need to visit this website if they want the real facts.

I said a couple of weeks ago after the Skidmore loss, that this year would be a work in progress for the Cardinals. Today that became painfully obvious once again. Congrats to Middlebury, I guess we bring out the best in them.

Plattsburgh drops to 4-2 and is now off until next weekend, when the team travels to Miami Florida to take on Stevenson University at 2:00 PM, on Saturday the 19th. The next day they will play UMass-Dartmouth at 3:00 PM.

Middlebury evens their record at 5-5 and will take a break until after the New Year, when they travel to Endicott for a Saturday, January 2nd matchup at 2:00 PM.

[magicman]

St. Lawrence 81 Potsdam State 69

This one went much like it was expected to. The oddsmakers  favored the Saints by 12 points and that was exactly the margin they won by. I had the score as an 80-65 SLU victory. Pretty close on both ends. Potsdam was lucky to keep it that close but the Bears' Joe Estramonte was on fire from long distance. He went 10x16 from the field and 9 of those made field goals were bombs. I wonder if he had his foot on the line for that 10th shot that went in. It was a jumper and was the very first shot he took, that gave the Bears a 2-2 tie 

Teams played a close first half for the most part with Estramonte going 5 for 5 from behind the arc to keep the Bears close. He had 17 of Potsdam's 29 first half points. Up by 1, at 26-25, with 7 minutes left, the Saints went on a 9-0 run to jump in front by double digits. They managed to keep that margin for the rest of the period and went into the locker room up 39-29 at the break.

Estramonte opened the 2nd half much like he left off the first, with another long bomb 24 seconds into the period. The Bears' hopes to cut into the Saints lead, however, took a hit when another 10-4 run put the Saints up by 13. Back came Estramonte with another triple to stop the bleeding, but the Saints got a jumper and a couple of long balls of their own from Riley Naclerio and Kyle Edwards to build the lead to the largest of the game at 57-39 with 14:19 left to play.

Potsdam refused to fold, and behind a pair of jumpers by Vincent Smythe along with a pair of free throws by Josh Blagrove, the Bears made it a 2 possession game at 65-60 with 5:36 remaining. The Saints' Kieran Miller  and Ben Crawford would have none of that however as they both sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Blagrove layup. The lead was back to 11 and not even Estramonte's 9th 3 pointer with 1:23 left had much of an impact on the final result. The Saints were perfect from the line in the final minute to close out the Bears.

St Lawrence was led by Ben Crawford with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Naclerio had a double-double of 14 points and a game high of 10 rebounds. Willie Zachery added 13 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds off the bench. Kyle Kobis had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Potsdam's Joe Estramonte may have been the smallest player on the court but he put up the biggest number as he captured scoring honors with his 29 points by hitting 9x12 from long range. The 5'8" guard also had 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Vincent Smythe had 12 points and a team high 7 rebounds. Josh Blagrove and Nate Wyatte both had 10 points, with Wyatte getting 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Blagrove added 4 rebounds.

The Saints finally get a win in the YAC after 3 losses and improve their record to 4-4. They are off until January 8th at 8 PM when they will  host Vassar College in the opening game of their Liberty League conference play.

Potsdam is now 1-7 (1-1 SUNYAC) and is right back in action today when they play host to the undefeated Kangaroos of SUNY-Canton at 3:00 PM. 

       

[amh63]

Magicman.....as you so well put, watching online on a big screen is much better than live when your team is getting blown out.  I watched some of the game and sadly your team on the floor could not hit the side of a barn...but seemed to pay hard otherwise.  Did look for a group of red dressed fans with someone that had an glow surrounding him....no not Claus .
Interesting your team is going way down South to play a Little East team and Stevenson.  Was at Stevenson in Owing Mills campus...has several campuses...early in the season to check out some teams.
Anyway, my question to Plattsburgh late start.....based on the low number of games played to date.  Nescac teams start late relative to say the Little East.  Out of conference games in the NE has the opponent with 2-3 more games.  Yes, Middlebury seems to be the exception.  They are different in other ways like their academic schedule.

[magicman]

Two SUNYAC teams in action today.

#24 St. John Fisher  at  Oneonta State   2:00 PM

Big game in Oneonta today that has the Red Dragons facing the 2nd Top 25 team they will play this young season. Last month Oneonta hooked up with the current 16th ranked team, Franklin & Marshall and nearly pulled off the upset on the Diplomats home court. The Red Dragons had the lead and F&M scored with seconds left to send it to overtime. The Diplomats got lucky in the extra period and Oneonta dropped a close one. Now they get the Cardinals of St John Fisher and I hope they can fare better against these birds than they did against some other Redbirds that were recently in town.

Fisher was ranked at #10 a few short weeks ago but a pair of losses to RIT and Brockport in the recent Wendy's College Classic saw their stock tumble substantially. A loss here will drop them right out of the Top 25 so I expect them to be firing on all cylinders.

Both teams have rebounded nicely from their recent woes as the Cardinals handled fellow E8 conference member, Nazareth, by an 83-66 score to wrap up their long association with the Wendy's Classic. And the Red Dragons regained some momentum after a loss to the SUNYAC Cardinals by taking down the Williams College Ephs for the 2nd year in a row by a comfortable margin of 75-62. Both teams come in with identical  records of 4-2 and both will be playing their final game until after Christmas.

The oddsmakers have made the Cardinals a slim 2 point road favorite so this game is basically a pick 'em. I'm not sure if Oneonta has anyone that can handle Fisher's big man, Keegan Ryan. That could well be the story of this game when it's all said and done. It's hard for me to pick the Red Dragons here, as I've watched Ryan play since his high school days, which is only a par 5 from where I live. Still I'm a SUNYAC first, prognosticator, so I'll go with my heart for the 2nd time in 2 days. (And hope that it works out better than yesterday's pick did ) I'll take Oneonta to beat the ranked Cardinals by a 74-71 final score       
   
SUNY-Canton  at  Potsdam State     3:00 PM

There was a time when this game signaled a sure win on the schedules of the SUNYAC conference schools. The Kangaroos were usually the team with the 1-6 or 0-5 record and the YAC school was the one that might have the undefeated record going into this game. But this is Bizarro World and the Roos enter Jerry Welch Gym with an unbeaten 7-0 record that includes 2 (count 'em... 2) wins over the Clarkson Golden Knights who have 2  (count 'em...2) wins over the Potsdam State Bears. See where I'm going with this? Canton also has wins against E8 member Utica College and NEAC member SUNYIT. They are transitioning into Division III and as yet are not a member of a conference, so they are playing an independent schedule.

The Bears struggles continue and with a 1-7 record they will have a hard time finding many opportunities to put a W on the board. This game today may be the best chance they have to find another win. The oddsmakers don't give them much chance to get a win here, however, as they have made the Roos a double digit 13 point favorite.

Bears lost yesterday to a Canton team in Canton....at St. Lawrence by an 81-69 score. Today they lose to a  Canton team in Potsdam...as the Kangaroos take this one by an 81-69 score.                                                                  


P.S.  Hope I'm wrong though.

[magicman]

Anyway, my question to Plattsburgh late start.....based on the low number of games played to date.  Nescac teams start late relative to say the Little East.  Out of conference games in the NE has the opponent with 2-3 more games.  Yes, Middlebury seems to be the exception.  They are different in other ways like their academic schedule.

amh63,
Regarding Plattsburgh's schedule. Always tough trying to get teams to come to Plattsburgh. Travel is a problem because of the distance, and many schools don't want to play us in our house. I could name many D3 schools that will play us but only if we go to their house. We tell them...OK we'll go to your house this year, you come to our house next year. Then we get the hemming...the hawing and finally the negative response. We have one school coming here for the first time next year but we had to go to their house last year and this year, to get that reciprocal visit. Almost every year we have to play more games on the road than we get at home. This year we have 12 home games and 13 away games. We were fortunate to get Trinity (Conn) to come here this year (we go there next year I believe) and Clarkson's new coach renewed our annual game and paid us a visit. It's even harder if you have a winning program, to get schools to come to your place if they think there's a good chance they will  get slapped with a loss.

Because of these facts Plattsburgh almost always has only 7 or 8 games before the New Year. The other factor you need to consider is that the SUNYAC conference plays a double round robin schedule. With 10 teams that means we have 18 conference games. That only leaves 7 non-conference games that we can have. Since at least 16 of those conference games come after the New Year, the most games we could have between the start of the season and the end of December is 9 games and it's usually less than that. Hope that answers your question.

Now a question for you...Do you now understand...rust never sleeps?       

[All-Time]

The Red Dragons of Oneonta win this one at home. I think they are too deep and Ian Schupp had this coming out party against Hartick.  He looks much more comfortable now and will be a big contributor off the bench the rest of the season.
Look for Lawrence Coleman and Mike McElroy to have big games today. Jack Dignan has done a very good job at the point and he brings the toughness on defense that they need to win this one.
Jackson Zuvic has played much more consistent this season and Seth Thompsen does all the little things that don't necessarily show up in the box score.
Oneonta 82-68 over Fisher.

Suny-Canton over Potsdam.

[amh63]

Magicman...Yes I Do, now with the reference to the song.  My problem is with rust, that is always changing is "inorganic" and I associate sleep with organic things..things with a soul. .   Guess I need to Change with the Times...for they are a changing!

[Bengalsrule]

The Red Dragons of Oneonta win this one at home. I think they are too deep and Ian Schupp had this coming out party against Hartick.  He looks much more comfortable now and will be a big contributor off the bench the rest of the season.
Look for Lawrence Coleman and Mike McElroy to have big games today. Jack Dignan has done a very good job at the point and he brings the toughness on defense that they need to win this one.
Jackson Zuvic has played much more consistent this season and Seth Thompsen does all the little things that don't necessarily show up in the box score.
Oneonta 82-68 over Fisher.

Suny-Canton over Potsdam.

Hmmm adding the point spread and totals to your prediction(s)?  I like it...   Looks like the magic 1 has an apprentice in the works!!

[Bengalsrule]

Red Dragons up early on S.J.F. 14-6 with 14:51 left!