MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Buffalo State 81 Geneseo State 73   Final score.

[magicman]

Brockport defeats Fredonia by a final score of 90-61.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here are the first rankings for the men this season: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/02/men-regional-rankings-first

[magicman]

First Regional Rankings were released. No real surprises here. The top 4 YAC teams grabbed half the spots.


Teams' records vs. Division III opponents are listed first, followed by overall record.

East Region       
1   Oswego State              17-3   17-3
2   Plattsburgh State      17-4   17-4
3   Rochester                      16-4   16-4
4   Nazareth                      16-4   16-5
5   St. Lawrence              14-6   14-6
6   Brockport                      12-8   12-8
7   Cortland                      15-4   15-5
8   Hobart                      13-8   13-8

[magicman]

Feb. 8         Four big games on tap for tonight with 7 of these teams fighting for a playoff spot or to get a better seed    

Buffalo State  @  New Paltz State                7:30 PM

The Bengals have 5 wins but only have 3 games left to play. They need to win at least 2 of those remaining games but most likely all 3 to have a shot at the playoffs. The Hawks occupy the 6th and final playoff spot and lead Oneonta by 2 games because of the tiebreaker. They have 6 wins with 5 games left to play and 4 of those games are in the Hawk Center. The Hawks obviously hold the upper hand but things can go south in a hurry, especially in the YAC. A Bengal win here and New Paltz losses in their final 3 games against teams that are in front of them(Cortland, Potsdam, Plattsburgh) could boost Buff States chances and might give them the tiebreaker against the Hawks. And of course Oneonta may have something to say about all of this.

The oddsmakers have an odd spread on this game, considering the Hawks won in Buffalo. I would have thought that New Paltz, being the home team, would be a slight favorite but they have made the Bengals a road favorite by 3 points. Maybe they feel like I do and that the playoff race needs to get tightened up.....or maybe they just looked into my crystal ball, because I have the Bengals winning this one by a 77-74 final score.     


   
Fredonia State  @  Oneonta State             7:30 PM

Not much to say about this one. Oneonta is on life support and cannot afford to falter here. They have the same schedule left as the Hawks and they have a lot of ground to make up and not much time to do it. Personally I don't think they can, but I sure hope they do. Fredonia wil try and gain experience and play for an upset to get something positive for the team. They lost the first game against Oneonta back in January by 43 points. They are listed as 18 point underdogs in this one. I think Oneonta wins this one 89-67. 



Oswego State  @   Potsdam State                    7:30     Co-Featured Game of the Day

The Bears gave the Lakers a scare the last time they met in Oswego losing by a 72-70 score. The game was a 7 point Laker lead  with 30 seconds to play so it wasn't as close as it looked. Potsdam got a bucket, the Lakers missed a few from the line and the Bears got a 3 pointer with a couple of ticks left to close the gap. But the Bears proved they could play with the best the YAC had to offer with this game. Then there were two last second losses to defending champ, Plattsburgh (1 in overtime) and wins over Cortland and Brockport. So a win over the Lakers is not out of the question. Oswego can't overlook the Bears or be thinking about that big game tomorrow against the Cardinals or they'll come out of Jerry Welsh Gym without a W. I, of course, am hoping that's exactly what happens. The Lakers 8 game winning streak is history but they don't want to start a different streak. Their other 2 losses were back to back...can history repeat itself?  Here's hoping!!  The oddsmakers have made the Lakers a solid 6 point favorite in this one, though and I would have to agree. So I'm rooting for my Alma Mater to help out my Cardinals but think the final score will be something like Oswego 75 Potsdam 71 



Cortland State  @  #23 Plattsburgh State     7:30 PM   Co-Featured Game of the Day

Red Dragons vs the Redbirds: Round 2. The Cardinals would like a do over for the game in Cortland back on January 19th when Cortland scored to go up 65-63 with 20 seconds left and Plattsburgh couldn't get the equalizer or game winner like they did a year ago down there. Now the Cardinals have a chance at some payback and be in great shape to secure a first round bye. Cortland coming off a big win at Oswego and looking for more. They still want that regular season title or at least a first round bye. This game will tell the story in all likelihood. Plattsburgh leads this series 7-4 in the last 11 games and are favored in tonight's game by a 5 point margin. I like the Cardinals here. They are undefeated at home this year with a 9-0 record and have won 25 in a row at Memorial Hall since an opening season loss last year to Keene State. I think they keep that streak alive. This one will have more offense than that game last month in Cortland.  Plattsburgh 88 Cortland 79.     

          

[magicman]

Feb. 9         All ten teams in action this afternoon with some big games on tap   

Brockport State  @  Geneseo State               4:00 PM

The Golden Eagles get to play their travel partners in back to back games, today at the Knights and Tuesday back in Brockport. They would love to see a few teams above them lose on Friday and Saturday. They finish the season against Oswego and Cortland in the friendly confines of Tuttle North and they would love to have their destiny in their hands for that weekend. They can't overlook Geneseo though as they want to close out this season with a few wins to build a foundation for next season. Oddsmakers have Port listed as a 10 point favorite. I think they win by more than that. Brockport 81 Geneseo 68.   
   
Cortland State  @  Potsdam State               4:00 PM

The Bears won a big one last month at Cortland and they did it by leading the Red Dragons for the final 28 minutes of the game. That was a big step for a team that had been down for such a long time. That seemed to trigger something in the team that has led them to challenge for a home playoff game. Cortland lost last night to Plattsburgh and won't want to lose again tonight or to the Bears for a 2nd time. The oddsmakers have made the Red Dragons a road favorite by 4 points in this one. I tend to agree. Cortland 80 Potsdam 75.   

Buffalo State  @  Oneonta State               4:00 PM

The Bengals dug a hole they couldn't climb out of last night against the Hawks. It eliminated them from the conference tournament. Oneonta is still alive but on life support. They finish with 3 tough games against the league leaders and are still 2 games behind New Paltz because of the tiebreaker. The point spread favors Oneonta by 3 points. I think they win by a few more. Oneonta 83 Buff State 76.      


Fredonia State  @  New Paltz State               4:00 PM

The Hawks can get their 8th conference win if they get the W in this game. That might be enough to put them in the playoffs. Fredonia still trying to play the spoiler role. Hawks are favored by 14 points. I think they win 77-60.

Oswego State  @  Plattsburgh State        4:00 PM         Featured Game of the Day

The Lakers can put a stranglehold on the top seed with a win today over the Cardinals. It will give them a 3 game lead with 3 to play and since they would own the tiebreaker over Plattsburgh, they will clinch the regular season crown with a victory. The Cardinals hope they can prevent that from happening. Both teams coming off wins last night that put daylight between them and the rest of the league. Plattsburgh still hoping for the top seed, but needs to secure a first round bye, with Cortland and Brockport still in the mix for that as well. The oddsmakers see this game as a tight one, making the Cardinals a slim 1 point favorite. I expect another battle as well.  Plattsburgh wins this one to avenge their earlier loss in Oswego. Final score Plattsburgh 78 Oswego 74.       

[AllStar]

Good weekend for your guys, magicman!

[magicman]

Yes it was AllStar but it may still be too little, too late, to catch the Lakers. I think they win the tiebreaker(which may come down to best road record) should we end up with identical records. Pretty sure the road to the conference title will go though Laker Hall on the shores of Lake Ontario....I may have to take a road trip.    

[thebear]

Still games to play. 

Oswego Home vs. Oneonta - road vs. Brockport & Geneseo

Plattsburgh - road vs. Oneonta & NP both in playoff hunt

Cortland - Home vs. NP [in the hunt] away at Brockport & Oneonta

Brockport - Geneseo, Oswego, Cortland all at Home

New Paltz - at Cortland, Home vs. Potsdam & Plattsburgh

Potsdam - at New Paltz and Oneonta

Oneonta at Oswego, Home vs. Plattsburgh and Potsdam.

[Bengalsrule]

Tough weekend for my BENGALS.  Not the finish that we had hoped for but the future looks bright.  Hoping that they go out Saturday vs Fredonia on a positive note and can build upon this for next season when everyone returns.  Gonna cheer on our girls team since they still have a chance of getting in.

Love these guys. This just wasn't their year. Still see multiple bids going to the dance especially of Plattsburgh nor Oswego win it outright!

Go Yac

Go BENGALS

[magicman]

D3hoops has posted their latest Top 25 poll for Week #10 and Plattsburgh State has moved up 2 places in the rankings to #21. Their point total increased from 46 to 144. Plattsburgh is now 19-4 with 2 regular season games left. They are currently on a 7 game winning streak and a 27 home game winning streak going back to November 28th, 2018. 


Rochester moved back into the polls this week at #22 with 89 points. Last week they were in the Others Receiving Votes category at #28 with 21 points. They are currently 18-4.


Oswego State is still getting points but dropped from #28 in the ORV category to #36 with only 6 points. They had 26 points last week. They have had 2 straight weeks with a 1-1 record since they were #26 two weeks ago and on the verge of moving into the Top 25.

No other team from the East Region is receiving votes.

[magicman]

The SUNYAC Player of the Week for the week ending February 10th has been awarded to Geneseo junior guard, Terrance Nichols. He had a big game Tuesday in a loss at Buffalo State but then came back in the Knights' only weekend game to hit the game tying basket and winning free throw against Brockport State.       Congratulations to Terrance.

Here's the write up from the SUNYAC website with a slight correction.

"Feb 11, 2019
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Junior guard Terrance Nichols (New York Mills, N.Y.) earns the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week honor after his two performances this past weekend.

The Geneseo Knights fell to Buffalo State on Friday Tuesday 81-73, however Nichols was still able to put up 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists. On Saturday, Nichols' clutch performance for Geneseo was able to propel the team over Brockport 77-76 in a thrilling last second victory. Terrance Nichols had 25 points including the game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds to go and the game-winning free throw with one second left on the game clock. He went 9-19 from three over the weekend while shooting 53.3 percent overall.

Nichols and the Knights travel to Brockport this Tuesday (2/12). Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m."

[magicman]

Feb. 12  Three games tonight before the final weekend of action. Note the different starting times because of weather.   

Oneonta State  @  Oswego State        5:00 PM

The Lakers are coming off a loss to Plattsburgh but still hold onto #1 seed and unless they lose two of their last three games will keep
the top spot. Oneonta's playoff chances are on life support and they could use an upset of the Lakers to give them a fighting chance. They have both New Paltz and Potsdam squarely in their sights and hope to overtake one of those teams for the final playoff spot. The Red Dragons have won 4 of their last 5 conference games and seem to be finding their best form but it may be too late. The oddsmakers have made Oswego an 8 point home favorite in this one. The Lakers are 8-3 against Oneonta over the last 5 years but the last time the Red Dragons won in Laker Hall was over 9 years ago on January 12th, 2010. I'd love to see it happen tonight but think the Lakers win this one 75-69.   

New Paltz State  @  Cortland State        6:00 PM

The Hawks could clinch a playoff spot tonight if they win and Oneonta loses. If they lose it may come down to their game against Potsdam on Friday night, since they both have 8 wins and will be underdogs against tough teams in their remaining game. Cortland  wants to clinch a home playoff game at this point and a win tonight will do that. They are listed as 9 point favorites in this game but I think they win it by a few more. Cortland 88 New Paltz 72. 


Geneseo State  @  Brockport State        7:30 PM

Geneseo will feel the pain. That's what upsetting a team you have to play again in 3 days will do. However the Knights have had their success at Brockport, winning there several times in the last 4 years. And that come from behind win the other night may give them confidence that they can have a deja vu moment. The oddsmakers don't think so and have the Golden Eagles favored by 12 points. They are looking to clinch a playoff spot and a home playoff game tonight. A win could put them in the playoffs and coupled with a New Paltz loss would give them a home playoff game. I think Brockport gets it done, winning by a final score of 82-72, and getting  that home playoff game.   

[Caz Bombers]

Oneonta-Oswego postponed until tomorrow

New Paltz-Cortland and Geneseo-Brockport still on for tonight

[magicman]

Oneonta-Oswego postponed until tomorrow

New Paltz-Cortland and Geneseo-Brockport still on for tonight

I had a feeling that Oswego game was going to be a casualty of the weather.