MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State wins their Cardinal Classic Championship with a 92-73 win over RPI.

I picked my Cards to win by an 85-70 score. it was 84-70 when the benches were emptied with 4 minutes to go. Still only 88-73 with 1:36 left but the Cardinals got 2 easy baskets on late RPI turnovers. Complete wrap up to follow later on.

[magicman]

Saturday results:

Potsdam State 85 St Joseph's (Brooklyn) 68

The Bears finally get a win after going nearly a year without a victory. It's more than a little ironic that it came at the expense of a team nicknamed...the Bears. The St. Joe's Bears leave the North Country with an 0-2 record.  The Potsdam Bears last, and only win in the 2015-16 season, came on December 5th of last year against New Paltz. Potsdam could actually have a winning streak coming their way as they are off until December 12th when they travel west to take on Fredonia and Buffalo State. Fortunately for the Bears they get to play the Blue Devils before tangling with the Bengals. Two years ago when the Bears had 2 wins,, one of them came in Fredonia. So it's possible the Bears could win in Fredonia and have their first winning streak of any kind since they won their last game of the 2013-14 season and the first game f the 2014-15 season.

Against the Bears of St Joseph's Potsdam Potsdam's Nosa Onabor scored early and often as he opened the scoring with a 3 pointer on the Bears' first possession. ST' Joe's would forge ahead 8-5 but Onabor sank another 3 to tie the score and on Potsdam's next trip down the court buried another 3 ball to take a lead that Potsdam held throughout the contest. Onabor was just getting warmed up. The 6'4" sophomore guard made 6 more 3 pointers and ended up going 9 for 13 from downtown. He was the games leading scorer with a career high 32 points, and led his team in rebounding as well with 8 boards. His 13 first half points led the hometown Bears to a 14 point, 36-22 halftime advantage over the out of town Bears. Onabor opened the 2nd period with a jumper, a 3 pointer, and another 3 pointer on Potsdam's first 3 possessions and quickly the lead was 20 points. ST Joe's never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Onabor made 10 of 15 shots from the field and that first one to start the 2nd half was the only one that was a 3 ball.  Tyrone Adeyeye  was the only other player in the game with double figure as he had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Jayquan Thomas just missed double digits with 9 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of assists. Matt Piercey had 7 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, a block and a steal in 14 minutes off the bench.

Potsdam is now 1-2 for the season and will be off until that trip west, to face Fredonia and Buff State on Dec. 2nd and 3rd.

Happy to see Coach Bechtel get that first win in Potsdam. I expect him to get 5 or 6 more this season and gradually build the program back to respectability.

[magicman]

Saturday results.

Geneseo State 68 The College of New Jersey 79

The Knights didn't have one of their better shooting days against the Lions, especially in the first half and ended up trailing by 9 at the break, 36-27. Geneseo tried to mount a comeback and on several occasions managed to get within a single possession of the Lions, but each time the Jersey Boys had an answer. After falling behind by 10 points early in the 2nd period, the Knights' John Decker hit a trio of 3 pointers over the next 3 minutes to close the gap to 43-40. The Lions built the lead back to 10 at 50-40. After 5 more minutes another Decker long range jumper had whittled the lead back to 3 points and when Decker made one of two from the line the score stood at 56-54. But that was as close as the Knights would get as the Lions hit a 3 and after a Geneseo turnover, scored on an inside bucket, to restore the lead to a 3 possession game. The Lions made 10 of 12 from the line down the stretch to prevent any chance of a Geneseo comeback.

John Decker, once again had the hot hand for the Knights as he dropped in 27 points to capture scoring honors for the game. He also led Geneseo in rebounding with 6 boards. He added 3 assists, a steal and a block. No one else had double figures for the Knights. Justin Ringen tied Decker for the team high in rebounds with 6. Ringen, an all conference 1st team selection last season, has yet to find his scoring touch, as he continues to struggle from the field. He was only 1x9 from the field after going 2x11 in the Knights' season opener against Medaille. He's coming off an injury that kept him off the hardwood for a while, so it's just a matter of time before he starts firing on all cylinders. Charlie Zaepfel had 7 points, 4 assists, 3 boards and a steal in 20 minutes off the bench.         

[Bengalsrule]

NEWSFLASH
Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week  - Lovell Smith, Buffalo State
(Sr, G - Buffalo, N.Y.)
Smith averaged 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds as he registered three-straight double-doubles pacing the Bengals to a 3-0 start. He scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds in a win over Pitt-Bradford on Tuesday. He added 15 points and 11 boards in a win over Maine-Fort Kent on Friday, and then matched his career high with 35 points to accompany 12 rebounds in a win over Villa Maria on Saturday. Smith also had six blocked shot in the three games and was named MVP of the Buffalo State Coles Classic.


Congrats to Lovell. A damn good ball player, but even a better person!

Go BENGALS

[magicman]

NEWSFLASH
Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week  - Lovell Smith, Buffalo State
(Sr, G - Buffalo, N.Y.)
Smith averaged 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds as he registered three-straight double-doubles pacing the Bengals to a 3-0 start. He scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds in a win over Pitt-Bradford on Tuesday. He added 15 points and 11 boards in a win over Maine-Fort Kent on Friday, and then matched his career high with 35 points to accompany 12 rebounds in a win over Villa Maria on Saturday. Smith also had six blocked shot in the three games and was named MVP of the Buffalo State Coles Classic.


Congrats to Lovell. A damn good ball player, but even a better person!

Go BENGALS

Congratulations to Lovell on getting the first weekly award of the 2016-17 season. He had an outstanding 3 games. I'm partial to another player who I thought might win the award this week but I'm not trying to rain on Lovell's parade. A number of players could have been chosen and there can only be one. In reality, if the past selections have any bearing on the case, then Clifton Lyerly should have won the award.

I knew going in that Jon Patron was one of several players up for consideration for the SUNYAC's weekly MVP. I thought that he might sneak out the win because Jon had an outstanding week and did so after rehabbing a knee injury all summer and right up until 10 days ago. He missed the first 3 weeks of practice, didn't participate in the intrasquad scrimmage or the scrimmages against St Michael's and Castleton State.

Jon didn't start in the Cardinal's first game of the year against Clarkson but was inserted into the game as the first player off the bench 5 minutes after the opening tip. He scored 15 points and had 6 rebounds in the first half. He finished with 26 points and 7 boards in 22 minutes.

His 2nd game of the week against Elms College he started and had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of floor time because the Cardinals had such a large lead that Coach Curle had his 2nd and 3rd stringers in the game quite early. Had Jon played his normal 26 to 30 minutes his point total and rebounds would have been considerably higher.

His 3rd game on Sunday was another start against RPI and maybe the YAC didn't consider this game when they looked at Jon's stats. Not sure when they close out the week as it may run Sunday through Saturday or Monday through Sunday. I'll hope that Fran Elia reads this and comments to help me out on that one. Anyway Jon had another double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Jon's total stats for the week were accomplished in just an average of 22.3 minutes per game. All 3 games were won by the Cardinals by double digits and Jon's playing time was reduced considerably because of this. Coach Curle will use caution by limiting Jon's minutes when the game is under control. Jon scored almost as many points and had nearly as many boards as Lovell did and played a total of just 67 minutes to 104 minutes for Lovell. Clearly the efficiency of Jon was far and away the best of anyone this past week.

It's also worth mentioning that the Cardinals went 3-0 against 3 NCAA Division III teams so all those games will count come NCAA Tournament Selection week. The Bengals played 2 of their 3 games against non-Division III opponents. So while they have a won-lost record of 3-0, they are only 1-0 in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, because the games against Maine-Fort Kent and Villa Maria won't count.

Jon's Stats for his 3 games.
   
67 points...an average of 22.3 ppg
29 rebounds...an average of 9.6 rpg
25x45 field goals ....55.5%
6x14 3 pointers......42.8%
11x19 free throws...57.8%
67 total minutes...22.3 minutes per game  Jon was selected to the Cardinal Classic All Tournament Team.

Eli Bryant was another Plattsburgh State player that should have been in the conversation for POTW. 
Eli scored 12, 27 and 20 points in his 3 games for a total of 59 points.
He had a total of 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.

59 points....an average of 19.6 ppg
22x44 field goals....50%
7x18 3 pointers.....38.8%
8x11 free throws....72.7%
80 total minutes....26.6 minutes per game. Eli was selected as the MVP of the Cardinal Classic

Mike Henry Buffalo State had a solid week as well. Mike scored 15, 21 and 12 points in his 3 games, along with a total of 31 rebounds. Mike made the All Tournament Team of the Coles Classic.

48 points....an average of16.0 ppg
31 rebounds...an average of 10.3 rpg
20x33 field goals....60.6%
1x4 3 pointers.......25%
7x9 free throws....77.8%
81 total minutes.....27 mpg


Clifton Lyerly and Brockport had a 2-0 week as they won the Case Western Reserve Tournament with a 90-78 win over the host team. A senior guard, Lyerly, had a big 2 game series for the Golden Eagles and in the process scored his 1000th point in a Brockport uniform. Frankly, I'm surprised Clifton didn't win the POTW award because usually when a player scores his 1000th point they win the award that week...especially if they have a good week and Clifton had a great week. He scored 30 points against Hampden-Sydney with 6 rebounds and 6 steals. He followed that up with a 24 point effort against Case Western Reserve and had 7 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block.

Clifton's stats for his 2 games.

54 points...an average of 27 ppg
13 rebounds...an average of 6.5 rpg
20x39 field goals.....51.2%
2x5 3 pointers .......40%
12x15 free throws....80%
57 total minutes......28.5 mpg

Cortland had 2 players with big games in a 1-1 week as they lost to SUNY-Purchase 94-85 and defeated St Joseph's (L.I.) 93-84.

Justin Cooper had a total of 46 points, 22 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals in 71 total minutes. Cooper was 20x20 from the line over the weekend, going 8x8 against Purchase and 12x12 against St. Joe's.

James Morales had a total of 48 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He was 6x11 from downtown and 10x11 from the line in weekend action.

Oneonta had 2 players lead them in a 1-1 week as they beat Cobleskill 94-73 and lost to Keene State 104-90.

Lawrence Coleman scored 45 points (19 and 26) and 15 rebounds (7 and 8) with 6 assists and 2 steals in 45 total minutes of court time. He shot 15x27 from the field (55.5%) and was  14x15 (93.3%) from the line.

Mikey McElroy scored 44 points in the two games (24 and 18). He averaged 7 rebounds and 3 assists as well.

Geneseo got a big effort to open the season from John Decker who led them to a 2-1 week .

John Decker, an All Conference performer for the Knights from last season wasted little time in taking up where he left off. he opened the season with 20 points in a win over Medialle andfollowed that with a 27 point effort in a setback to TCNJ. On Sunday he had 29 points in a win over New Rochelle. He also had 7 assists and 5 steals for the week.

76 points....an average of 25.3 ppg
16 rebounds...an average of 5.3 rpg
22x49 field goals....44.8%
14x31 3 pointers....45.1%
18x22 free throws...81.8%
93 total minutes....31 mpg

Oswego had a 2-1 week and All Conference and preseason All American Brian Sortino led the way. They opened with a loss to Nazareth College and then defeated Canton and SUNY-Maritime.

Brian Sortino scored 63 points with 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals in the Lakers opening week.

Potsdam opened up with a 1-2 week but there is some joy in Mudville as the Bears got their first win in nearly a year. It was the first win for new Coach Jim Bechtel and hopefully just one of many more to come. They played a decent St. Lawrence team close right up to the final buzzer falling 88-84. They lost to a good Gordon team after leading them by 10 at the break. They got in the win column against St Joe's (Brooklyn) and were led by their young 6'4" sophomore guard, Nosa Onabor.

Nosa Onabor He had a 3 game total of 68 points (27, 9, and 32)with 20 total rebounds and 7 assists.

So there you have it YAC fans, the top 12 performers in the conference for the opening week of the season.
Many of these names will be in contention for the POTW, week after week but there are at least 15 other guys that I can think of right now that didn't make my list of today.

Geneseo's Justin Ringen,  Buff State's Nico McLean, and Plattsburgh State's Eric Mack, a high flying newcomer, guaranteed to make the crowd rise up out of their seats. Oneonta's Frankie Kelly is back for his final year, and Brockport's Hamed Shamseldin can flat out score. Last year's SUNYAC Tournament MVP,  Carrel Joseph can light it up anytime he steps onto the court. Fredonia's Ian Helps and Kareem Brown can also bring it. Potsdam's Josh Blagrove and Plattsburgh's secret weapon, Brandon Johnson can explode for big nights as well. Johnson already had a big game for the Cardinals with a 21 point, 5 rebound, 5 assist, 2 steals game against Elms College last Friday. Oswego's Mykelle Krecko and Keith Tyson can put up double doubles in the blink of an eye. They each have one already this season and the 6'10" Krecko can swat 10 shots aside as well. He almost had a triple double earlier, when he only had 7 blocks to come up a bit short. New Paltz is struggling right now but the Hawks Nick Paquette can shoot lights out and carry his team for stretches. Buff State's Jordan Glover is another sharpshooter that can make you pay if you don't get after him on the 3 point line.  Another Jordan, for the Bengals, Jordan Chateau can prove dangerous inside. "The Big House" is capable of a double-double every time he steps on the court.

I'm sure other names will emerge as the season progresses. I know just from watching my Plattsburgh State Cardinals there are at least 3 guys in our sophomore class, that can and will have breakout games this season. And there's a freshman on the team that hasn't even suited up yet, who may be the best 3 point shooter on the team. We're keeping him under wraps and saving him for Buffalo State on December 2nd. Other programs will also have their hidden gems, whether they are freshman or JC transfers, or just transfers from another 4 year school.

The YAC is loaded this year so hang on to your hats because it's going to be a wild ride. And it will be fun!!      


 

[Bengalsrule]

NEWSFLASH
Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week  - Lovell Smith, Buffalo State
(Sr, G - Buffalo, N.Y.)
Smith averaged 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds as he registered three-straight double-doubles pacing the Bengals to a 3-0 start. He scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds in a win over Pitt-Bradford on Tuesday. He added 15 points and 11 boards in a win over Maine-Fort Kent on Friday, and then matched his career high with 35 points to accompany 12 rebounds in a win over Villa Maria on Saturday. Smith also had six blocked shot in the three games and was named MVP of the Buffalo State Coles Classic.


Congrats to Lovell. A damn good ball player, but even a better person!

Go BENGALS

Congratulations to Lovell on getting the first weekly award of the 2016-17 season. He had an outstanding 3 games. I'm partial to another player who I thought might win the award this week but I'm not trying to rain on Lovell's parade. A number of players could have been chosen and there can only be one. In reality, if the past selections have any bearing on the case, then Clifton Lyerly should have won the award.

I knew going in that Jon Patron was one of several players up for consideration for the SUNYAC's weekly MVP. I thought that he might sneak out the win because Jon had an outstanding week and did so after rehabbing a knee injury all summer and right up until 10 days ago. He missed the first 3 weeks of practice, didn't participate in the intrasquad scrimmage or the scrimmages against St Michael's and Castleton State.

Jon didn't start in the Cardinal's first game of the year against Clarkson but was inserted into the game as the first player off the bench 5 minutes after the opening tip. He scored 15 points and had 6 rebounds in the first half. He finished with 26 points and 7 boards in 22 minutes.

His 2nd game of the week against Elms College he started and had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of floor time because the Cardinals had such a large lead that Coach Curle had his 2nd and 3rd stringers in the game quite early. Had Jon played his normal 26 to 30 minutes his point total and rebounds would have been considerably higher.

His 3rd game on Sunday was another start against RPI and maybe the YAC didn't consider this game when they looked at Jon's stats. Not sure when they close out the week as it may run Sunday through Saturday or Monday through Sunday. I'll hope that Fran Elia reads this and comments to help me out on that one. Anyway Jon had another double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Jon's total stats for the week were accomplished in just an average of 22.3 minutes per game. All 3 games were won by the Cardinals by double digits and Jon's playing time was reduced considerably because of this. Coach Curle will use caution by limiting Jon's minutes when the game is under control. Jon scored almost as many points and had nearly as many boards as Lovell did and played a total of just 67 minutes to 104 minutes for Lovell. Clearly the efficiency of Jon was far and away the best of anyone this past week.

It's also worth mentioning that the Cardinals went 3-0 against 3 NCAA Division III teams so all those games will count come NCAA Tournament Selection week. The Bengals played 2 of their 3 games against non-Division III opponents. So while they have a won-lost record of 3-0, they are only 1-0 in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, because the games against Maine-Fort Kent and Villa Maria won't count.

Jon's Stats for his 3 games.
   
67 points...an average of 22.3 ppg
29 rebounds...an average of 9.6 rpg
25x45 field goals ....55.5%
6x14 3 pointers......42.8%
11x19 free throws...57.8%
67 total minutes...22.3 minutes per game  Jon was selected to the Cardinal Classic All Tournament Team.

Eli Bryant was another Plattsburgh State player that should have been in the conversation for POTW. 
Eli scored 12, 27 and 20 points in his 3 games for a total of 59 points.
He had a total of 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.

59 points....an average of 19.6 ppg
22x44 field goals....50%
7x18 3 pointers.....38.8%
8x11 free throws....72.7%
80 total minutes....26.6 minutes per game. Eli was selected as the MVP of the Cardinal Classic

Mike Henry Buffalo State had a solid week as well. Mike scored 15, 21 and 12 points in his 3 games, along with a total of 31 rebounds. Mike made the All Tournament Team of the Coles Classic.

48 points....an average of16.0 ppg
31 rebounds...an average of 10.3 rpg
20x33 field goals....60.6%
1x4 3 pointers.......25%
7x9 free throws....77.8%
81 total minutes.....27 mpg


Clifton Lyerly and Brockport had a 2-0 week as they won the Case Western Reserve Tournament with a 90-78 win over the host team. A senior guard, Lyerly, had a big 2 game series for the Golden Eagles and in the process scored his 1000th point in a Brockport uniform. Frankly, I'm surprised Clifton didn't win the POTW award because usually when a player scores his 1000th point they win the award that week...especially if they have a good week and Clifton had a great week. He scored 30 points against Hampden-Sydney with 6 rebounds and 6 steals. He followed that up with a 24 point effort against Case Western Reserve and had 7 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block.

Clifton's stats for his 2 games.

54 points...an average of 27 ppg
13 rebounds...an average of 6.5 rpg
20x39 field goals.....51.2%
2x5 3 pointers .......40%
12x15 free throws....80%
57 total minutes......28.5 mpg

Cortland had 2 players with big games in a 1-1 week as they lost to SUNY-Purchase 94-85 and defeated St Joseph's (L.I.) 93-84.

Justin Cooper had a total of 46 points, 22 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals in 71 total minutes. Cooper was 20x20 from the line over the weekend, going 8x8 against Purchase and 12x12 against St. Joe's.

James Morales had a total of 48 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He was 6x11 from downtown and 10x11 from the line in weekend action.

Oneonta had 2 players lead them in a 1-1 week as they beat Cobleskill 94-73 and lost to Keene State 104-90.

Lawrence Coleman scored 45 points (19 and 26) and 15 rebounds (7 and 8) with 6 assists and 2 steals in 45 total minutes of court time. He shot 15x27 from the field (55.5%) and was  14x15 (93.3%) from the line.

Mikey McElroy scored 44 points in the two games (24 and 18). He averaged 7 rebounds and 3 assists as well.

Geneseo got a big effort to open the season from John Decker who led them to a 2-1 week .

John Decker, an All Conference performer for the Knights from last season wasted little time in taking up where he left off. he opened the season with 20 points in a win over Medialle andfollowed that with a 27 point effort in a setback to TCNJ. On Sunday he had 29 points in a win over New Rochelle. He also had 7 assists and 5 steals for the week.

76 points....an average of 25.3 ppg
16 rebounds...an average of 5.3 rpg
22x49 field goals....44.8%
14x31 3 pointers....45.1%
18x22 free throws...81.8%
93 total minutes....31 mpg

Oswego had a 2-1 week and All Conference and preseason All American Brian Sortino led the way. They opened with a loss to Nazareth College and then defeated Canton and SUNY-Maritime.

Brian Sortino scored 63 points with 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals in the Lakers opening week.

Potsdam opened up with a 1-2 week but there is some joy in Mudville as the Bears got their first win in nearly a year. It was the first win for new Coach Jim Bechtel and hopefully just one of many more to come. They played a decent St. Lawrence team close right up to the final buzzer falling 88-84. They lost to a good Gordon team after leading them by 10 at the break. They got in the win column against St Joe's (Brooklyn) and were led by their young 6'4" sophomore guard, Nosa Onabor.

Nosa Onabor He had a 3 game total of 68 points (27, 9, and 32)with 20 total rebounds and 7 assists.

So there you have it YAC fans, the top 12 performers in the conference for the opening week of the season.
Many of these names will be in contention for the POTW, week after week but there are at least 15 other guys that I can think of right now that didn't make my list of today.

Geneseo's Justin Ringen,  Buff State's Nico McLean, and Plattsburgh State's Eric Mack, a high flying newcomer, guaranteed to make the crowd rise up out of their seats. Oneonta's Frankie Kelly is back for his final year, and Brockport's Hamed Shamseldin can flat out score. Last year's SUNYAC Tournament MVP,  Carrel Joseph can light it up anytime he steps onto the court. Fredonia's Ian Helps and Kareem Brown can also bring it. Potsdam's Josh Blagrove and Plattsburgh's secret weapon, Brandon Johnson can explode for big nights as well. Johnson already had a big game for the Cardinals with a 21 point, 5 rebound, 5 assist, 2 steals game against Elms College last Friday. Oswego's Mykelle Krecko and Keith Tyson can put up double doubles in the blink of an eye. They each have one already this season and the 6'10" Krecko can swat 10 shots aside as well. He almost had a triple double earlier, when he only had 7 blocks to come up a bit short. New Paltz is struggling right now but the Hawks Nick Paquette can shoot lights out and carry his team for stretches. Buff State's Jordan Glover is another sharpshooter that can make you pay if you don't get after him on the 3 point line.  Another Jordan, for the Bengals, Jordan Chateau can prove dangerous inside. "The Big House" is capable of a double-double every time he steps on the court.

I'm sure other names will emerge as the season progresses. I know just from watching my Plattsburgh State Cardinals there are at least 3 guys in our sophomore class, that can and will have breakout games this season. And there's a freshman on the team that hasn't even suited up yet, who may be the best 3 point shooter on the team. We're keeping him under wraps and saving him for Buffalo State on December 2nd. Other programs will also have their hidden gems, whether they are freshman or JC transfers, or just transfers from another 4 year school.

The YAC is loaded this year so hang on to your hats because it's going to be a wild ride. And it will be fun!!      

  damn magicman, if this aint "rain"ing on Lovells SUNYAC Player of the Week award, then I definitely don't want to be around when you do rain on an award that was voted on by the SUNYAC.  14 words congratulating Lovell and probably over 400 words as to why he should not have gotten the award let alone why Buff State really isn't 3-0 in the eyes of some! Thank God SUNYAC  took into consideration that Lovell had 3 great games against 3 college teams. Had the 2 other victories been against D1 Albany and U. B. ( and we all can think of teams in the Yac who have played D1 teams, which were never poo pooed in anyway, shape or form)  and Lovell performed the same , then I'm am sure he still would have gotten the award although"technically" the BENGALS D3 record would be only 1 -0.

  Tough start buddy. In the future, if ever you do decide to rain on Lovell, who in my humble opinion, is one of the most mannerable players that I have ever met , then give me a heads up so I can pass on the boards for about a week or so! I know we all love our guys and especially around all SUNYAC time, we want to prop our boys up. But 1st award of the year gets this??  Tough start.  At least I know now that every week we will get a top 10 synopsis of the best 'Yac players each week. I cant wait till...... November 29th (next game vs Alfred)!

Thank GOD you didn't "rain" on Lovell's parade! 

Go Lovell!
Go BENGALS!

[Bengalsrule]

Sunyac at 16-11 ( minus what ever games that magicman says don't count).  7 non-conference games tonight. The 'Yac could use at least 6 wins to boast our conference rankings. GOD knows when we start pummeling each other on Dec 2nd, then we only hurt each other. Right now we can benefit from beating up on teams from other conferences!  It helps come tourney time!  Im convinced that "yac got 3 bids last year because of our good non conference record!

Massey had SUNYAC rated 14th last week, now they have us at 16th (15-12 record)! 7 games tonight plus 3 more this week/weekend! I'll leave predictions to others...just win baby (in my Al Davis voice)!! Looks like New Paltz has the biggest challenge tonight as they face #18 ranked (massey)/#24 ranked (D3 Hoops) Middlebury! Oneonta is next vs #56th ranked (massey ) St John Fisher!  I would be surprised if any of the other 5 games were not wins for the 'Yac!

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State wins their Cardinal Classic Championship with a 92-73 win over RPI.

The Cardinals were coming off a school record 126 point outburst against Elms College on Friday night. RPI had also defeated Elms on Saturday night but had to come from 17 points down to do so. You have to give the Engineers a lot of credit because it looked like Elms was going to run them out of the gym. They hung in there, took the Blazers best shots and then started unleashing some best shots of their own. They cut the lead to 6 at the half and then used their outside shooting to score 47 2nd half points and win a 77-71 ball game.

I expected RPI to play a more deliberate style in their offensive sets and try to limit the Plattsburgh possessions but the Engineers threw caution to the wind and an up tempo game that favored the Cardinals was what played out. Plattsburgh drew first blood on big man, Isaiah Hill's, sweet 3 pointer but the Engineers answered with a 3 pointer by their own big man Brian Hatcher. The teams traded baskets and the Cardinals broke on top 16-10 after getting a pair of buckets from Jon Patron, one inside and one from long range, and 6 points from Eli Bryant. But defense wasn't the name of the game and after RPI went on a 12-4 run to grab the lead at 22-20. Plattsburgh called a time out and the coaching staff was very vocal in their displeasure of what had just transpired on the court. The coach asked the team if they had any pride because they sure weren't looking like they did on the defensive end. From that point the Engineers got 4 quick points from Hatcher and two big bombs from Kevin Davis to give them their largest lead of the night t 32-24 with 10 minutes left in the half. The Cardinals finally found their defensive mode and led by 2nd unit players Brandon Johnson, Ian Howard, Eric Mack and Adam Jacquish they went on a 14-1 tear and regained the lead at 38-33. The Cards got an electrifying dunk by Eric Mack off an offensive rebound that was timed perfectly and brought the crowd to its feet with 1:36 left in the period. Chris Middleton made a nice move to get loose inside and lay one in to give Plattsburgh a 49-41 lead at the break.

The Cardinals opened up the 2nd stanza with an 11-4 run and with 3:27 elasped in he period they had a 60-45 double digit lead. It was a comfort zone they were able to enjoy for the rest of the game. RPI made a few brief surges but couldn't bridge the gap between the teams. They cut it to single digits at 62-53 but another 15-5 burst, fueled by 8 points from Eli Bryant, put the game out of reach as the Cardinals led by as much as 
20 points with 5:59 to go on a Jon Patron tip in.

Jon Patron led the Cardinals with another double-double of 21 points (8x16 fg, 2x7 3's, 3x4 ft) and 12 rebounds.

Eli Bryant had 20 points (8x14 fg, 1x3 3's, 3x4 ft) with 3 assists and 3 rebounds.

Chris Middleton had a nearly perfect night shooting the rock as he reset his career high with 14 points, (6x7 fg, 2x2 ft). He added 4 rebounds,  2 assists and a steal.

Zack Coleman and Brandon Johnson both had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Eric Mack covered the stat sheet with 6 rebounds, 5 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

Freshman Adam Jacquish getting some quality minutes during a tightly contested first half grabbed 7 rebounds had 2 points, 1 assist and a steal in 11 minutes of court time.

Plattsburgh shot 37x65 from the field (56.9%), 4x16 from 3 point land (25%) and 14x25 (56.9%) from the line.  The Cards outrebounded RPI 46-27 and ended up with 13 turnovers to 16 for the Engineers. Plattsburgh outshot RPI in all 3 categories.


RPI was led by Brian Hatcher who tossed in a game high 25 points. He added 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Tom Horvat and Jon Luster both had 12 points, assists, and a steal. Horvat added 4 rebounds and Luster had 8. Kevin Davis scored 11 points and 2 boards.

The Engineers shot 26x62 (41.9%) from the field, 9x27 (33.3%) from beyond the arc and 12x25 (48.0%) from the stripe

Plattsburgh 3-0 (2-0 Liberty League) is off until Tuesday November 29th when they travel to St. Lawrence to take on their 3rd Liberty League team of the month.

   

[All-Time]

7 games tonight

The only SUNYAC team without a win tonight will be New Paltz.

Oneonta a double digit win over St John Fisher. They have the BIG 3 in Coleman McElroy and Kelly. Fisher will not be able to hang with the Red Dragons. This is going to be a Special year for this group.

Big Wins for,
Brockport
Oswego
Cortland
Geneseo
And D'Youville could give Fredonia a run for the money

Enjoy the Games

[magicman]

Bengalsrule,

I wasn't trying to belittle Lovell Smith's accomplishments this past week. He had 3 very good games and it was no surprise to me that he won the POTW award. In fact on Sunday night I looked at all the stats for the week and figured his 3 doubles-doubles and the 35 point night made him the frontrunner and likely winner. I probably did promote my guy a bit too heavily but I was trying to put his accomplishments in persepective, that's all. I'm sorry if it came across as my guy should have won and your guy shouldn't have. I've never been a big fan of the Player of the Week Award. I think many times the wrong person wins it for the wrong reasons and many times the most deserving person doesn't get the award and certainly this week there were a lot of POTW worthy accomplishments.

Personally I think there should be a Team of the Week instead of a POTW so that more of the student athletes get some recognition. Much better to honor 60 players (5 players times 15 weeks) than 1 player a week for 15 weeks and with the repeat awards maybe only 7 or 8 players get any recognition. I believe that there were several players last year that won the award multiple times and that seems to happen every year. So a large number of players who work hard all year long get no recognition during the course of the season. 

I also remember the lack of consistency in awarding the POTW is past years. Several years ago a player had a great 3 game week but the award went to another player who scored his 1000th point that week,played 2 games and really had a rather lackadaisical week. But he got the award because it was viewed as a career achievement rather than a weekly best. That was why I made the remark about Brockport's Clifton Lyerly. He had a great 2 game series and scored his 1000th point and yet he didn't win the award. And I have no problem with that, but it's not consistent with the way they did things in the past. I've also seen a player have a great week but lose out to another player with good stats against lesser competition. I remember that happened to a Brockport player a few years ago. I saw a player with huge numbers lose the award because his team went 2-1 for the week when another player with lesser stats played on a team against lesser competition and went 3-0.

I told you several years ago that the YAC should go to a Team of the Week like other conferences have done.
My listing a number of players in my post wasn't to state that Lovell should have been passed over and here's all the reasons why. I'm glad that if my guy didn't get it that Lovell did. I just wanted to give a bunch of other players, that had a great week, a little recognition. It's not the first time I've done this, as I've done it on numerous occasions and it won't be the last time I do it. And I don't do it every week but do it as I have time.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
         

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Massey had SUNYAC rated 14th last week, now they have us at 16th (15-12 record)! 7 games tonight plus 3 more this week/weekend! I'll leave predictions to others...just win baby (in my Al Davis voice)!! Looks like New Paltz has the biggest challenge tonight as they face #18 ranked (massey)/#24 ranked (D3 Hoops) Middlebury! Oneonta is next vs #56th ranked (massey ) St John Fisher!  I would be surprised if any of the other 5 games were not wins for the 'Yac!

I wouldn't put much stock in Massey rankings this early in the season ... maybe in late January and February, but never this early.

[All-Time]

Definitely agree, there should be a Team of the Week.
There is so much talent in the SUNYAC, each week there are so many great accomplishments from these players.
There are easily 4 to 5 players that can win the award each week.
Great first week of basketball, it's going to be a fantastic year for the SUNYAC.
It's one of the most talented conferences in the country.

[Bengalsrule]

Ladies and gentlemen. Presenting today.......The first ever USUNYAC  (Unofficial State University of New York Athletic Conference) Team Of the Week!  aka USUNYAC TOW 
Lovell Smith - Buffalo State
68 pts ....an average of 22.7 ppg
35 rebounds ..... an average of 11.7 rpg

Jon Patron - Plattsburgh
67 points...an average of 22.3 ppg
29 rebounds...an average of 9.6 rpg

Justin Cooper - Cortland
46 points - an average of 23.0  ppg
22 rebounds - an average of 11.0 rpg

Mike Henry  - Buffalo State
48 points....an average of 16.0 ppg
31 rebounds...an average of 10.3 rpg

Clifton Lyerly - Brockport
54 points...an average of 27 ppg
13 rebounds...an average of 6.5 rpg

Any nominations should be submitted by Sunday night 10 p.m. est!

[All-Time]

Love It   

[magicman]

Nov. 22  7 games on tap for tonight   

Brockport State  at  St. Joseph's (L.I.)        5:00 PM

The Golden Eagles will win this game and I can guarantee that! Picking the right Golden Eagles shouldn't prove to be a problem either. The Brockport variety should prevail here over their downstate cousins and it shouldn't be close. Brockportort favored by 18. I think they win by more than that.
Brockport's Golden Eagles 92  St Joseph's Golden Eagles 69.

Clarkson  at  Oswego State        5:30 PM

Clarkson has already lost to 1 SUNYAC team and tonight takes on Oswego. This Sunday, November 27th it's possible that they might play Oswego State again. They are both participating in the Hamilton Invitational this weekend. Oswego plays Cobly and Hamilton plays Clarkson on Saturday. If they both win or both lose then they will face each other on Sunday. This is an interesting tournament simply because Adam Stockwell, Hamiltons head coach, was in charge of the Clarkson program from 2004-09. He then moved to Oswego State for 2 years and then took over at Hamilton for the 2011-12 season. So he's coached 3 of the 4 school in the tournament and he plays against the other school,Colby in the NESCAC Conference. Clarkson also has a game against crosstown rival Potsdam State in early December. It's possible Clarkson could be 0-4 in the SUNYAC this year. The Golden Knights could pull off an upset here but it's highly unlikely. The oddsmakers have Clarkson listed as a 10 point underdog. I think they lose by at least that much. Lakers win 78- 64.

      
New Paltz State at  Middlebury        5:30 PM

The Panthers will feast on the Hawks tonight. I wish it wasn't true but I can see Middlebury running away with this one. The oddsmakers feel the same as they have the Panthers listed as a 22 point favorite. Middlebury wins by a 91-62 final score.


Cortland State  at  CCNY        6:00 PM

Cortland travels to the Big Apple and takes on the Beavers in the first matchup with CCNY and a SUNYAC school since the Beavers beat Buffalo State 63-62 back on December 30th 2009. The YAC should gain a measure of revenge here this evening, as Cortland is favored by 11 points. I think the Red Dragons win by more. Cortland 86 CCNY 68.

   
Oneonta State  at  St. John Fisher        7:00 PM

Keegan Ryan, Fisher's center, is a one man wrecking crew for the Cardinals. He has several starters back with him from last years team that went 21-6 but didn't get an at large bid to the NCAA tournament after they were upset by Hartwick in the Empire 8 playoffs. Last year the Red Dragons beat the Cardinals in Oneonta, but are 5 point underdogs this year according to the experts that make the point spread. I'll root for the underdogs. Coach Conover owes Fisher a beating because the last time he faced them he was an assistant coach on Plattsburgh State's bench in the 2nd round of action in the NCAA tournament on March 3, 2007. Fisher beat Plattsburgh State 95-87 that night to advance to the Sweet 16.  Oneonta wins a close one 81-77.

      
D'Youville  at  Fredonia State        7:00 PM   V LS

The D'Youville Spartans already own a win over the SUNYAC this season when they took a close one over New Paltz last Saturday. Now they look to go 2-0 in our conference. The last time these 2 teams hooked up the final score was 75-74 and the Blue Devils won the nail biter. That was Novenber 26th 2013. The current players on both teams were all still in high school.The point spread favors the Blue Devils by an 8 point margin but I think it may be a bit closer than that. Fredonia 76 D'Youville 70.

 
Geneseo State  at  Morrisville State        7:00 PM   V LS

Morrisville shouldn't be taken lightly here as the Mustangs are 2-1 coming into this game and their 1 loss was to Nazareth College in an 84-80 shootout that came right down to the end. There were 23 lead changes in that game and 13 of them came in the 2nd half. Nazareth just to remind everyone, opened the season by defeating Oswego State 63-57. Geneseo is coming off a win in  the consolation game of the Penn State-Harrisburg Tip Off Tournament against first year program New Rochelle. The oddsmakers have made the Knights a 7 point favorite and while I'm picking the YAC team to win this game it won't surprise me if the Mustangs pull off a mild upset here. Geneseo needs to take care of business, share the ball and crash the boards. Morrisville beat Utica College by outrebounding them by a 48 to 32 margin. If they do that to the Knights then Geneseo will lose this game.  Justin Ringen will find his touch tonight and John Decker will continue his torrid pace. Geneseo 87 Moville 82.