MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Final score 

Oneonta State 78  Brockport State 68

It's official...the magicman has definitely underrated the Oneonta Red Dragons. But I'm still shaking my head over their last 2 losses.

All-Time may be right and a SUNYAC Final Four preview took place today with this game and the Plattsburgh-Buff State game. Somehow I think Cortland may still have something to say about that, though. This conference is still 7 teams deep and I wouldn't want to guess which team will be on the outside looking in come 6:00 PM on February 20th.

[magicman]

Fredonia State 79 Potsdam State 69

The teams went back and forth and was still a single possession game with 1:06 to play. Blue Devils go 8x8 from the line inside the final minute to close out the Bears.

[pg04]

Another disappointing result for the Golden Eagles against one of the higher tier teams at home. The team will have to put the week out of their memory and now go on the road!

[magicman]

Geneseo State 71 New Paltz 67

Blue Knights almost lost a 3rd conference game in a row. Hawks came back from an 11 point halftime deficit to tie the game at 52 with 10 minutes to go. Still tied at 64 with only 1:19 to play the Knights got a pair of free throws and then after the Hawks came up empty, Geneseo got a big 3 pointer from John Decker with just 23 seconds left to go to put them up by 5 points. New Paltz missed another 3 pointer, fouled Decker again who made the pair and then the Hawks hit a triple at the buzzer to account for the final score.

Much closer than the Knights wanted it to be I'm sure. Geneseo gets their first conference win and the Hawks still looking for that breakthrough. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

THE PLATTSBURGH STATE CARDINALS ARE IN 1ST PLACE ALL BY THEMSELVES WITH A 4-0 RECORD                   

Wait... what? You lost me. Who is where?

[magicman]

THE PLATTSBURGH STATE CARDINALS ARE IN 1ST PLACE ALL BY THEMSELVES WITH A 4-0 RECORD                   

Wait... what? You lost me. Who is where?

Dave,
You now have to put Plattsburgh State on your "Radar". Pretty sure Massey will have them as the top ranked SUNYAC team when his rankings get updated after the weekend. I'm not happy with the 2 losses the Cardinals have but at least they were against decent teams Skidmore and Middlebury. Skidmore is sinking a bit because they have lost Medunjanin and he was such an integral part of their offense. Cards were flat in that game at Skidmore. The game at Middlebury was a variety of factors, most importantly missing our 2nd leading scorer (at the time) and top 3 point shooter and several other key players were out as well. Plus it was finals week and the players had their heads wrapped up in their studies.

I thought this team would be too young this year, to compete for the SUNYAC title. They lost a lot of talent to graduation which included 4 starters and their  top 5 rotation players in minutes per game. The coaching staff worked hard and brought in one of the best recruiting classes they have ever had. I hoped that by the time the SUNYAC tournament rolled around that the team might be good enough to win 3 games and snatch that automatic bid. Now I have hope that even if they lose the conference championship they may be good enough to get a Pool C bid. It's still early and there's a lot of basketball to be played yet but the recent 5 game winning streak that the team has strung together has witnessed the growth of many of those young players. The recent Florida trip saw the emergence of Jonathon Patron with back to back 20+ point nights, and another 29 points tonight against Buffalo State. A number of our newcomers were huge in a win earlier this week over previously ranked and last year's NESCAC regular season Champs, Trinity. Six of our new players (5 freshman and 1 sophomore) scored 41 combined points in that game to erase an 8 point deficit and win by an 81-73 final. And now they have gotten off to a nice start in the conference with wins against 2 of the top SUNYAC teams. Hopefully they can keep the momentum train rolling. We shall see, but I'm feeling good about my Cardinals right now.   

PS: The big red message was a couple of these  for Bengalsrule who has been getting quite lively with his crayons on these pages recently. He pulled a surprise visit on me today in Plattsburgh after telling me he wouldn't be here. After today's result between the Bengals and the Cardinals, I have bragging rights until they probably pay us back when we go to the Queen City for the rematch. Today's game was a classic and the crowd in Memorial Hall was treated to an outstanding effort by both teams. It's days like today that make my passion for DIII hoops what it is.

Nice Hoopsville show Thursday night, by the way.        

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First off... Massey isn't going to be something that will entice me to vote for a team. I have so many problems with his system that I use it as a guide to make sure I am not missing anyone, but not to rank them.

Second... I have at least half of the SUNYAC on my radar... don't worry. But that doesn't mean they should be ranked LOL.

And thanks for the comments about the show.

[magicman]

First off... Massey isn't going to be something that will entice me to vote for a team. I have so many problems with his system that I use it as a guide to make sure I am not missing anyone, but not to rank them.

I have a lot of problems with his system as well and I use it for the same reasons you do, as a guide since I have voted for years in the Posters' Poll. I enjoy looking at it though, as well as his conference rankings and projected wins and losses, among other things.

I was just pointing out that Plattsburgh is now (or will be, shortly) the top ranked SUNYAC school in his rankings and will probably be in the high 30's or low 40's. I also have seen at least 3 or 4 other SUNYAC schools with a ranking or points in the D3hoops poll and Plattsburgh hasn't received a point all year. (And I'm not saying they deserved to prior to this week.) But if any YAC school deserves a mention at this point, it should be Plattsburgh.

Second... I have at least half of the SUNYAC on my radar... don't worry. But that doesn't mean they should be ranked LOL.

I agree half of the SUNYAC shouldn't be ranked. Just Plattsburgh, Buffalo State, and Oneonta. That's only 3 of 10 and less than a third.

And thanks for the comments about the show.

You're welcome...it was worth the price of admission. 

[Bengalsrule]

Wow.  Not much else to say about that game last night ( and the 7 hour drive home afterwards ).  My Bengals dug themselves a huge hole, but as always, fought back and had a chance to win. 19 of 33 from the free throw hurts. Especially when I realize that 1 more free throw made during regulation and we win!  But last night it just wasn't in the"cards" for us!

Congrats to the Magicman ( and Mrs Magicman, whom the wife and I had an opportunity to meet), coach Curle and the Cardinals!  We had them down but not out. Ed Correa is still dangerous as ever and Kyle Richardson gets my vote for player of the week.  The round mound of rebound, Jon Patron, put in some heavy duty work! If I had to, I would have paid to watch a game like that last night. Gladly!!

Gotta love the Sunyac. Everyday it gets better and better. If this ain't a 3-bid conference then there's no snow coming to buffalo this week!!

Go BENGALS.  Proud of dem boys!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

And thanks for the comments about the show.

You're welcome...it was worth the price of admission.

Well being as it is free... you aren't exactly setting the bar very high there. LOL

[scooterman]

I watched Bport-Oneonta game on video and people have sold the Dragons short. They are a solid squad that does not beat themselves. They got down early but kept chipping away with good fundamental team play. Yes, they were knocking down 3 pointers but many were open 3's off poorly defended screens. The last 3 minutes of the games they did the little things to finish, and my beloved Eagles couldn't. Still love the Eagles and hopefully will become the team I think they are!!! Congrats to the Dragons.

[Bengalsrule]

     Call me encouraged, after getting back to Buffalo (and the wife sleeping 5 of the 7 hours on the road  ), and  reviewing yesterdays game. 2nd half could have been really ugly, being down 17 pts at the 15:12 mark and down 15 pts at the 13:22 mark of the 2nd period, I'm convinced that other teams would have folded up shop at the point and just accepted the a-s whuppin!!  But my BENGALS fought back and took the lead, when in the past they may have just folded the tent. Heck, when the wife and I arrived in Plattsburgh, we first stopped at a Mcdonalds ( I was starving after 2 and a half hour ride from Albany NY), before we went to Memorial Hall.   At Mcd's., there was a guy sitting next to us who had just finished reading the days edition of the Plattsburgh PRESS REPUBLICAN news paper . I asked him could I see it. Sports section, page 1, Front page center, is a picture of Xavier Thomas going to basket against Fredonia the night before,  with a big BOLD head line "ITS A ROUT" (damn I wish we got that kind of coverage in Buffalo)). Getting thrashed at Memorial Hall is nothing new to many. Heck last year, and the year before, Buff State lost by 15 points in their annual visit to Plattsburgh.  That's what the Cards do at home...and usually on the road. They beat the hell out of you. That's why they have gone to "THE DANCE", 2 of the past 3 years. Their first 4 wins at home this year were by an average of 16.5 pts a game!!

    Fortunately we got 44 points from the bench with Kevin Marmolejos getting 22 and another 18 from Redell Freeman or this game could have gotten ugly! . That performance was duly noted by the Plattsburgh Coach when he was quoted in the Plattsburgh Press-Republican when he said... "That little guard (Freeman) killed us, (Marmolejos) was hitting threes and (Lovell Smith) was playing well. It was a three-man band. Those three guys were killing us, but that's what happens when you let down defensively. Good players are going to get their confidence."-Tom Curle.  Lovell Smith is the only starter from yesterdays game that was  mentioned. And understandably so. I gotta think that that's gonna motivate the rest of our starters and our team moving forward. I gotta believe that starters Nico McLean, Mike Henry, Jordan Glover and Jordan Chateau, and the rest of the team, believe that the "band" is bigger than 3! Fortunately in SUNYAC you get another (13) game(s) to get it right. 20 turnovers, out-rebounded 45-43, 57% from the charity stripe (19-33) and we still had a chance to win. Saturday, Plattsburgh was the better team.

   Brockport is next up and If I know my Bengals like I think that I know them...they will be ready. They've had a loooong bus ride (7-8 hours) to let this game soak in. Now they have 5 days before Brockport comes to town, for a 2nd bite at the Bengals apple. I wouldn't trade these guys in for all the tea in Starbucks. God knows that this 1 hurt, but I know that they are moving forward and next up are the Golden Eagles, which is the only game that matters at 1300 Elmwood ave. In the Sunyac you don't have much time to sulk because the next team up can do what the last team did....or worse. To quote Pg04  "Its a Jungle out there"  - SUNYAC Style!

Go BENGALS

[Bengalsrule]

Massey update (since magicman seems to be asleep at the wheel).

Oneonta moves up 49 spots to #30
Plattsburgh up 23 to #36
Cortland up 28 to #61
Buffalo State up 42 to # 62
Oswego dropped 17 to 69!

5 teams in the top 17% of D3 schools!!  I know that Massey is what it is, but with just Massey and d3 hoops rankings (plus wisdom from Dave, Darryl and others), it at least gives me something to look at late Sunday night when the NFL games are over.

[magicman]

Saturday January 9th

Plattsburgh State 98  Buffalo State 91 in OT


The fans at Memorial Hall in Plattsburgh got quite a treat today, when these two teams hooked up in another classic battle, like so many previous editions, in this ongoing series. The electricity was in the air even before the opening tip off as both teams knew what the implications of this game, may have down the road. I was in a quandary while trying to make my prediction and my crystal ball was not helping one bit. It was whispering Cardinals but emitting a glow that was definitely orangish in color. I went with the Cardinals to win 85-82 and as the clock wound down in regulation and the score stood at 84-81 with 20 seconds to play it looked like my projected score was almost perfect with one minor exception....the 84 was lit up on the visitors side of the scoreboard.

The game started out with the Bengals breaking on top off a pair of early layups by Nico McLean and Mike Henry. The Cards went 0 for 2 with their first 2 possessions but Magic Griggg righted the ship and Plattsburgh was off and running. The game was tied at 4 apiece and again at 6 but then the Cardinals put together a stretch of 8 unanswered points, starting with a layup by point guard Zack Coleman, an Ed Correa 3 pointer, and 3 points from Kyle Richardson on a layup and later a free throw .

The Bengals responded not with points from a bevy of Bengals, but by inserting former SUNYAC Player of the Week, Kevin Marmolejos into the game. Kevin is the player who broke the single game Buffalo State record for 3 pointers, with 10 triples against Hobart back in November. He wasted little time in displaying his wares against Plattsburgh. Less than a minute after entering the game he hit a jumper for a deuce and after a Plattsburgh turnover, 15 seconds later, he buried the first of his game high, 6 three pointers. Less than a minute after that he drained another one.

Plattsburgh answered with rising star, freshman Jonathan Patron, who entered the game at the 14 minute mark and promptly reeled off 7 straight points for the Cardinals to put them back in front by a 21-16 score.

Plattsburgh's leading scorer, Kyle Richardson, who leads the SUNYAC with 12.4 rebounds per game, which is also the 5th best average per game, in the nation, then put on a clinic as he scored 14 of the next 15 Cardinal points from all over the floor, culminating in a three pointer to put Plattsburgh up by double digits at 36-25 with 4:17 left in the half. When Patron hit a jumper followed by a three pointer with 2:38 on the clock, the Cardinals had their largest lead of the period at 44-28. The Bengals cut into that lead but were still down by double digits at 46-35 at the break. It was somewhat of a perfect storm for the Cardinals as they shot over 60% from the field and from long distance.

The 2nd half saw the Cardinals open with a 10-4 run when Correa buried another 3 pointer to make the score 56-39 and establish the largest lead of the game. It was at that point in the game that I reminded the Plattsburgh faithful, seated near me, that I've watched the Bengals fight back from deficits all year long and that their pressing, trapping defense is capable of wiping out a lead like ours in short order.

Buffalo State was still down by 17 points at 60-43 with 15:12 on the clock. Five minutes later a Mike Henry layup, had reduced that lead to 66-61 and a short time later his 2nd of 3 consecutive inside baskets, turned that once, comfortable, 17 point lead, into a single possession advantage.

The Bengals have a 5' 9" sophomore guard by the name of Redell Freeman, who I'm just going to call "The Flash" from now on, because he is the fastest man alive, or at the very least the fastest guy in the SUNYAC. He also has a gift for getting the ball in the basket while driving the lane among the trees that reside there. He always comes in off the bench and yesterday he scored 18 points in 19 minutes. He had 8 points in the run that cut the Bengals deficit down to 3 points. When Kevin Marmolejos hit another one of his three pointers, to give Buffalo State their first lead since the early stages of the opening period, Freeman followed that with 4 straight free throws, to put the Bengals up 77-74 with 4:47 to go.

With the game officially in barnburner status,  the teams traded punches and when Freeman stole the ball and  Lovell Smith took it in for a layup and one, to increase the Bengal lead to 84-78 with 1:58 remaining, I was resigning myself to the fact, that the Cards had blown a 17 point lead at home, and gave one away. I mentioned to those around me that I was praying for overtime, but knew we were going to need some deep threes to get there. Enter Mr. Correa...who promptly proceeded to drain one of his specialties on the Cardinals next possession. The Bengals came down and went inside to Henry who missed the layup, got the rebound and was fouled. He went to the line and I waved my magic wand...twice..and the Bengals failed to increase their lead. The Cardinals missed a 3 point attempt, but the Bengals turned it over. Plattsburgh missed another 3 point attempt, got the offensive rebound but they turned it over and now there was 47 seconds to go. With 26 ticks remaining the Bengals turned it over once more, and Correa scored again, on a mid range jumper, and the lead was down to a single point, but only 12 seconds remained. Looking to quickly foul on the inbounds pass, the Cardinals got surprised when Freeman (I think it was) threw a touchdown pass downcourt to Lovell Smith, who hammered it home for the easy dunk. Eschewing a time out, (great move by Coach Curle) the Cardinals inbounded the ball quickly and got it over to Kyle Richardson who drained the tying 3 pointer with 5 seconds left. The Bengals hustled the ball upcourt under pressure and a final long shot from the left side was off the mark and we were headed to bonus basketball...the magicwand was working and I got my wish.

Both teams had several chances to grab the lead in the extra session. Plattsburgh controlled the tip but missed their first field goal attempt, and the Bengals did likewise. The Cardinals missed their 2nd shot and Buffalo State followed suit. Plattsburgh had their 3rd shot blocked but collared the loose ball only to turn it over. The Bengals were fouled and went to the line necessitating the magicman to wave his magic wand 2 more times forcing the Bengals to come up empty. Buffalo State grabbed the rebound of the 2nd missed free throw however, but a turnover gave the ball to the Cardinals and this time Richardson would score after 2:10  of the extra period had gone by. The Bengals made another trip to the line, cashing in on 1 of 2 and then Ed Correa came down and hit a huge three pointer to make it a 91-87, two possession lead. Mike Henry scored for the Bengals and Correa came right back with the dagger to the heart as he buried his 5th three pointer of the day. A pair of Nico McLean free throws cut the lead to 94-91 with 1:18 to play but that was as close as the Bengals got as Jon Patron scored inside. When Buffalo State missed on their next attempt, Patron was fouled and made 1 of 2. The Bengals missed again and Zack Coleman went to the line to put the final point on the board. When the Bengals missed with 23 seconds left they called off the dogs and Plattsburgh dribbled the clock out to claim the hard fought win.                   

The Cardinals placed 4 players in double figures led by their powerful inside duo of Jon Patron with 29 points (10x11 fg, 1x2 3's, 8x10 ft) and Kyle Richardson with 28 points (11x20 fg's, 2x4 3's, 4x8 ft).Patron led all scorers in the game  and Richardson's 13 rebounds, good for his 7th double-double in 10 games, tied the game high for rebounds. Kyle, coming off another double-double against Fredonia on Friday night, has put up big numbers this week, in Plattsburgh's pair of weekend wins and is the leading candidate for Player of the Week honors once again.  Kyle also had 3 assists and 2 steals in the game while Jon had 8 rebounds and 2 assists in his 29 minutes of court time off the bench.

What's amazing is Kyle Richardson almost didn't make the games this weekend after a nasty fall in practice early in the week that left him with a dislocated little finger. With a heavily bandaged left hand,he missed the Tuesday win over Trinity College, but told me on that night, there was no way he would miss the weekend games. True to his word he not only didn't miss them, he carried the team once again.

Eddie Correa didn't have the most points in this game but nobody had bigger baskets at more opportune times than he did. (well maybe Kyle..his were pretty well timed also) Eddie had 19 points (6x14 fg, 5x13 3's, 2x4 ft) 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. At one point late in regulation, when a Buff State player was at the line, Eddie and Kevin Marmolejos were at the other end of the court under the Plattsburgh basket talking to each other. It seemed like friendly banter as they both had smiles on their faces, but I wondered if they were engaged in a bit of friendly trash talking about their respective 3 point shooting. Kevin won the battle with 6 triples to 5 for Eddie, but Eddie definitely won the war, with his long range bombs coming when they did, near the end of regulation and the pair he had in overtime.

Point guard Zack Coleman added 10 points (2x6 fg, 0x1 3's, 6x9 ft), 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

The X-Man, Xavier Thomas, showed why he is the leading shot blocker in the SUNYAC coming out of nowhere  with an amazing block on a 3 point attempt of Kevin Marmolejos with 5 minutes left in the game. I've called Xavier the  X-man ever since his first year with the Cardinals, not just because his name starts with an X, but mainly because his ability to jump out of the gym is freakish and resembles a super power, like all members of Professor Charles Xavier's band of mutants, the X-Men, of Marvel Comic Book fame. I'm willing to bet there is probably not another conference in the country where a 6'2" guard is the leading shot blocker. On Saturday afternoon the Cardinals' X-Man had 5 blocks. He also scored 7 points, had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

The Cardinals had an excellent night shooting the rock as they topped the Bengals in all 3 areas. Plattsburgh was 33x59 from the field (55.9%), 9x22 from behind the arc (40.9%), and 23x37 from the stripe (62.2%).

Buffalo State was 33x77 from the field (42.9%), 6x20 from long distance (30%), all made by Kevin Marmolejos, and 19x33 from the line (57.6%).

The Cardinals held a slim edge off the glass, grabbing 45 rebounds to 42 for the Bengals. A surprising statistic was the large margin in turnovers and the winner of that battle. Buffalo State had 20 turnovers, but the Cardinals handed the ball over to their opponents on 30 occasions in this game resulting in 40 points scored by the Bengals off those turnovers. That usually results in a victory.

The Bengals had 5 guys in double figures led by Nico McLean's 3rd double-double of the season with 18 points (6x15 fg, 0x2 3's, 6x11 ft)  and 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds matched the Cardinals' Kyle Richardson for game honors. It was also his highest total of the season and the most of his college career. He also had 3 steals and a pair of assists.     

Buffalo State got 2 huge efforts from their bench as Kevin Marmolejos had 22 points on the strength of his 6X12 effort from downtown. He was 8x18 overall with 2 steals 1 rebound and 1 assist. Redell Freeman also gave the Bengals some valuable minutes as he totaled 18 points (5x10 fg, 8x10 ft), 3 rebounds, 3 assists. and 3 steals in 19 minutes of court time. The points, and steals were career highs as a Bengal and his 3 assists equaled his previous high water mark.

Mike Henry had another big game as he dropped in 17 points (7x14 fg, 0x1 3's, 3x8 ft), grabbed 7 boards, had 3 assists and 3 steals. The MVP of the recent Coach's vs Cancer Tournament held at Lehman College, that was won by the Bengals, this guy, only a sophomore, could wind up as a future SUNYAC Player of the Year.

Lovell Smith added 10 points (4x9 fg, 2x4 ft) 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Jordan Glover only scored 2 points but led the team with 5 assists, and also had 3 steals with 2 rebounds.

It won't surprise me when if there is a different outcome the next time these 2 teams meet in the Queen City just 18 days from now on January 29th.       
                           

Plattsburgh State extends their winning streak to 5 games and improves to 9-2 overall (4-0 in the YAC). Their undefeated conference record will be put to a big test next weekend, when they go back on the road to face Oswego on Friday night at 7:30 PM. Then they take on the only remaining undefeated team in the conference, the Cortland Red Dragons, on Saturday at 4 PM. Cortland does have a game tomorrow night at 6:00 PM when they host Geneseo, so it's possible they may have a blemish on that conference record, by the time their meeting with Plattsburgh take place.

Buffalo State has their winning streak stopped at 6 games as history repeats itself here in the North Country. Their longest winning streak of last season, also 6 games, came to an end in Memorial Hall last January. The Bengals are now 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference. They will host the other 2 western New York teams next weekend, meeting Brockport on Friday at 7:30, only 10 days after their meeting of this past Tuesday. Geneseo invades the Sports Arena on Saturday afternoon at 4 PM.       

[magicman]

And thanks for the comments about the show.

You're welcome...it was worth the price of admission.

Well being as it is free... you aren't exactly setting the bar very high there. LOL

Well Dave, that depends on what you consider free. It's usually around a 2 hour show and my time is worth at least $25.00 an hour. (That's what I charge at my business for repairs)  So I figure it costs me $50 bucks to watch Hoopsville and it's worth the price of admission. Looking at it from that angle ...well, that raises the bar considerably now doesn't it?