MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Oswego State 75  Baldwin Wallace 71 in Overtime

Another great defensive performance by the Lakers as they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and keep the SUNYAC Conference alive in the Big Dance. Back to back tough, grind it out games, that produced a W in each case. How you could ask for more? (Well I could wish it was my Cardinals doing the damage but that's just a minor issue.) At least the Lakers pay attention to my predictions as they almost put up the 71-68 score I had them winning by in my earlier post.

Once again. like the double OT game against Oneonta last weekend, the Lakers' starters went from beginning to end in this one as well. I think Coach Leone really has a handful of Energizer Bunnies, dressed like humans, because these guys really do take their licks and just keep coming back. And they were still playing great defense in the extra session allowing only  5 points to the Yellow Jackets. I was really worried at the end of regulation when the scored was tied at 66 and Bald Wally had the ball with 32 seconds left. I could see them scoring with no time left for the Lakers to get their chance. Fortunately the long 3 pointer their star took was off the mark and the game went to OT. Again there was some heavy sweating going on, first when the Yellow Jackets went to the line with a chance to take the lead, with 59 seconds left, but only made 1 of 2 that left the game tied at 70. Needing to score on their next possession I was praying for a 3 so the Yellow Jackets couldn't win at the buzzer but as the shot clock wound down Liam Sanborn dribbled into the lane, put a spin move on his defender and banked a jumper off the glass for the last field goal of the game. That was 3 seconds after the Lakers' play by play announcer said "we need to play smart, use some screens, get somebody open and take an easy shot"....yeah right! I think he beat my Cardinals with a variation of that same shot back on January 18th with 4 seconds left in the game.  He hit that shot with exactly 30 seconds left to play, so now the Lakers had to prevent the 3 pointer, and not foul when the Yellow Jackets were taking a 3 pointer. I actually didn't mind when the Lakers' Tyler Pierre fouled a Yellow Jacket as he attempted a game tying layup with 15 seconds to go. That player was just 1x7 from the line at the time and the Yellow Jackets as a team missed a lot of free throws all night. They missed the first one and made the second one but unless they came up with a steal would have to foul. The biggest inbounds pass of the season was about to take place. General Joe Sullivan took the ball out, ran along the baseline and delivered the inbounds pass to Brandon Gartland who immediately passed it back to Sullivan. Sullivan passed it over to Sanborn but was fouled doing so and went to the line with 12 ticks left. He made both free throws to put Oswego up by 3 points. Baldwin Wallace rushed down court and quickly fired up a three, perhaps a little too quickly. It was off the mark and Sanborn got the rebound and was fouled with 4 seconds remaining. He made the first and that's all he needed to do. The Lakers had advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Lakers played great defense, especially in overtime, as the 2-3 zone was working well against the opponents. The Yellow Jackets shot slightly below their season averages from the field and from long distance. They only made 9 three pointers, which is telling because 6 of their 9 losses came when they made 9 or less triples. They normally shoot 76.6% from the line but on Saturday they were only 10x23 (43.5%) If they shot their average they would have won this game by 4 or more  points. Oswego handled them on the boards 46-31, and 14 of those rebounds were off the offensive glass, which led to 22 second chance points...twice as many as the Yellow Jackets had. Oswego outshot them from the field, 47.5% to 43.3% and from the line as the Lakers made 13x20 (65.0%) from the stripe. None were bigger than the pair Sullivan made with 12 seconds left. Oswego struggled from behind the arc tonight as they only went 4x16, but the inside game with Tyler Pierre, Sullivan and Sanborn was the primary focus of the offense. The Lakers scored 62 points on field goals and 42 of those points came in the paint. Oswego had 10 turnovers and Baldwin Wallace had 5 (You can't win em all).

Liam Sanborn had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Brandon Gartland had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and was 3x5 from downtown.

Tyler Pierre had another double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds, He added a block and 1 assist.

Joe Sullivan just missed a double-double. He had 12 points, 9 reb. and 2 assists.  He was 4x6 from the field and 4x6 from the stripe.

Allen Durutovic came off the bench to contribute 9 rebounds, 4 points and a steal in 23 minutes on the court.

Quinn Carey added 5 points and a key 3 pointer that broke a 41 all tie and put the Lakers back in front.


Kyle Nader was the top scorer for Baldwin Wallace. He had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Jay Battle had 17 points and 4 rebounds.

Michael Quiring had 13 points and  Luke Schaefer had 11.


The Lakers will now move on to face the Marietta College Pioneers, located in Marietta, Ohio who came out of the same conference that Baldwin Wallace belongs to, the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta was the #3 seed in that conference and they were upset by the     #6 seed, John Carroll, in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament.   They advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating the  Maryville (Tenn.) Scots 101-77 in the first round and on Saturday beat Acadia University 88-76.

During the regular season Marietta beat Baldwin Wallace twice. At home 87-68 and on the road 71-65.

Marietta will come into the matchup with Oswego sporting a 22-6 record. They have a loss to non-conference opponent Elmhurst out of the CCIW conference by a score of 76-72 on a neutral court. Their other 5 losses have all been to conference opponents. Twice to Capital along with losses to Mount Union, Wilmington and John Carroll.

It will be another tough game for the Lakers and it wouldn't surprise me to see Marietta as the host of the next round. The four teams who will play in that sectional will be Marietta, Augustana (Ill), Wheaton College (Ill) and Oswego. With 2 colleges in Illinois 1 in Ohio and 1 in NY,  calculations using the NCAA mileage chart show that no matter who hosts the Sectional round two teams will be over 500 miles. Supposedly that means two plane trips no matter who the host is. That is unless the NCAA cuts off a couple of miles because Wheaton to Marietta is 503 miles (or 502 if you're going from Marietta to Wheaton )  Marietta and Oswego ae both well over the mileage to Augustana (603 for Marietta and 824 for Oswego) so that would seem to eliminate Augustana. Wheaton and Augustana are both well over the 500 mile limit to get to Oswego. (701 for Wheaton and 826 for Augustana) so that would seem to eliminate Oswego. Marietta and Oswego are both over 500 miles to Wheaton (502 for Marietta and 702 for Oswego) Now if you put Marietta on a bus because they find a 499 mile route instead of 502 miles then Wheaton will be the host and Oswego gets to fly. Or they can turn that round and put Wheaton (503)  and Oswego (483) on buses to Marietta and fly in Augustana (604).  I'm thinking they go with Marietta. That's the worst situation for Oswego. It means a long bus ride...almost the longest one possible and a game against the host team. I'm going to root for Wheaton or Augustana to be selected but I'm betting that won't happen. If they selected it on merit it would probably be Augustana.

Oswego is listed as a 10 point underdog if Marietta is the host. THey are a 6 point dog if they play on a neutral court.   

[magicman]

The host for the Sectional has been decided and it is Augustana. I got my wish. The Lakers can be a big time team as they get to fly to Augustana (at least I think they do).  Much better than a 7 hour bus ride and you get to play your opponent on a neutral court.

Here's a link to Augustana's website:

https://athletics.augustana.edu/news/2019/3/3/mens-basketball-carver-to-host-ncaa-division-iii-sectional.aspx




Here's a link to the last time (I think) a SUNYAC school played on Augustana's court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWol056MVcc

[AllStar]

[With Age Comes Wisdom?]

The Magicman knows his stuff.  Hope the Lakers can pull off some upsets and keep the only team from the east alive!!

[With Age Comes Wisdom?]

Also forgot to mention congratulations to Magicman's Cards on another excellent season!!

[magicman]

The Magicman knows his stuff.  Hope the Lakers can pull off some upsets and keep the only team from the east alive!!

Technically speaking, Hamilton is right in the heart of New York State, so we (meaning me) consider them in the East when it suits our fancy. And at this moment it suits our fancy. Anyway they were in the East Region when they were in the Liberty League. They changed leagues but they didn't move the college. 

Hamilton is a team that's in Northern New York, coached by a man who used to coach Clarkson and Oswego State, both in Northern New York. He  also played basketball in high school in Northern New York and also played in college at DII Lemoyne, in Northern New York. Can't get more East Region than that.  

And I know that you know all of this stuff.

[With Age Comes Wisdom?]

You know how I feel for certain about the CONTS and in particular the only Father/Son duo to score 2000 points in their high school career that I know of...  We (meaning you and me) can make Hamilton an honorary "beast from the east" and who is going to be the wiser?

[magicman]

You know how I feel for certain about the CONTS and in particular the only Father/Son duo to score 2000 points in their high school career that I know of...  We (meaning you and me) can make Hamilton an honorary "beast from the east" and who is going to be the wiser?

Exactly!

[magicman]

Friday March 8th NCAA Sweet Sixteen

Oswego State  vs  Marietta   at  Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois Game Time  6:30.

The Lakers will have to play one of their best games of the season, tonight, if they want to take another step forward in the NCAA Tournament. The Marietta Pioneers are favored to win this game by 7 points. I'm sure hoping the experts are wrong. Marietta has a deeper bench than Oswego, as they have 12 guys getting double digit minutes. They like to bring in several of their best players off the bench, trying to match them up with the other teams 2nd unit. That strategy won't work well against Oswego, since the Lakers will only use a 6 man rotation, unless injury or foul trouble dictate otherwise. Oswego's defensive effort will be the key to this game. The Lakers held the first two opponents they faced in the tournament, below their season average which falls in line with what Oswego has done all season. 12 times they've held opponents to 60 points or less and 21 times they have kept the opposing total below 70.     

Marietta is averaging 84.8 ppg and allowing 72.4 ppg. so the Lakers will need to reverse those numbers as best they can. Because the Pioneers have such a large rotation no one averages more than 11.7 ppg or 5.6 rpg, but they have a bunch of players that can put up 20 points on any given night. They have had 7 different players be the high scorer in games this season and 9 different players be the leading rebounder.

Marietta is from the OAC which is where the Lakers' opponent, Baldwin Wallace, was from, last Saturday. Hopefully Oswego learned a thing or two about that conference and can take it into this game. I'm obviously looking through a pair of green tinted glasses but feel that Oswego has a game here, that they can win. They need to be hitting a decent percentage of their shots from long range to get that win and Tyler Pierre, along Joe Sullivan, need to stay out of foul trouble. Marietta has a host of quick guards, so I'm hoping that Liam Sanborn is quicker than any of them.  I'll take Oswego to win this one in grind it out fashion....67-64. 

[magicman]

Marietta leads Oswego State 37-35 at the half.

Lakers got 14 points from Liam Sanborn who has made some nice shots off drives to the hoop. He is quicker than their guys. Got my wish on that one.

Quinn Carey with 9 points on 3x6 from long distance. Got my wish on that one also. I'll take 50% from 3 point land. keep it up!

Lakers only had 5 fouls called on them in the first half all on different players so nobody is in foul trouble. 3rd wish granted.

The Pioneers got 11 points from Jason Ellis and 5 points from 3 other guys with 8 players already in the scoring column.

Marietta given a basket on a shot that hit the shot clock before dropping through and the refs never called it. Also Tyler Pierre robbed of a basket by a phantom travel call. Lakers would have the lead but for that.


Need to have one more wish granted. Need the W...Go Lakers!

[magicman]

Oswego loses to Marietta 78-61.


The Lakers were down 48-42 with 15:14 to play in the game when the Pioneers hit a three pointer, a jumper and another three pointer to open up a 14 point lead. Shortly after that Oswego lost their point guard who fouled out with over 10 minutes left to play. It was too much to recover from and they fell behind by 22 points. They fought back to get within 15 but ran out of time.

The Lakers were led by Quinn Carey with 18 points and 5 rebounds.

Liam Sanborn had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Brandan Gartland had 12 points and 3 rebounds.

Tyler Pierre had another double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Joe Sullivan had 5 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal.

A great season for Oswego who made the Sweet Sixteen for the 2nd time in 4 years. Would have been nice to make that next level but finishing with a 24-6 record is a pretty good season and one that most schools would love to have.

Congratulations to the Lakers and Coach Leone on another outstanding year.      

[AllStar]

Good season for the SUNYAC, magicman!  Fun tossing things in here and there on this board.

[magicman]

The D3hoops All Region Teams were announced today.

I'm trying to figure out how Plattsburgh State's Jon Patron, the two time SUNYAC Player of the Year and the D3hoops East Region Player of the Year last year, was not named as the D3hoops East Region Player of the Year this season. Instead that award went to Skidmore's Edvinas Rupkus, who is a very good player, but wasn't even the best player on his own team. That distinction belongs to Noah Meren who led Skidmore in points, with 577 (21.4 ppg), and rebounds with 178 (6.6 rpg).

Rupkus had 473 points (17.5 ppg) and 164 rebounds (6.1 rpg). Meren had 82 assists, 44 steals and 27 blocks. Rupkus had 55 assists, 26 steals and 5 blocks. Meren also played more minutes than Rupkus and had a better shooting percentage from the field.

Patron had 620 points (23.0 ppg), 285 rebounds (10.6 rpg), 61 assists, 26 steals and 11 blocks. Jon had 16 double-doubles and just missed 5 more when he had 8 or 9 rebounds instead of 10. Rupkus had 4 double-doubles and 4 more that were close.

Plattsburgh defeated Skidmore when they met  this year and beat the 2nd place Liberty League team as well. Plattsburgh also had a better strength of schedule than Skidmore. The SUNYAC was the top league in the East Region and it wasn't even close, as they were 8-1 overall against the Liberty League and 9-2 overall against the Empire 8 league. Our 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th place teams defeated some of the top teams in the LL and E8.

Every coach I spoke to this year said that Jon Patron was the beast of the East. Teams constantly double teamed him and triple teamed him when he got the ball inside and he still managed to put up his 20+ points a game almost every night. I'll be shaking my head on this decision for quite a while.

Here's the East Region Teams:

Player of the Year: Edvinas Rupkus, Sr., Skidmore

Coach of the Year: Russell Phillips, Alfred

Rookie of the Year: Latrell Carroll, F, Penn State-Berks

First team
       
Pos.   Player   School   Yr.   Hometown
G   Ryan Clamage   Rochester   Sr.   Lake Forest, Ill.
G    Dom LeMorta   Alfred   Sr.   Scotia, N.Y.
G   Edvinas Rupkus   Skidmore   Sr.   Naujoji Akmene, Lithuania
F   Jonathan Patron   Plattsburgh State   Sr.   Huntington, N.Y.
F    Kevin Dennis   Morrisville State   Jr.   Bronx, N.Y.

Second team
       
Pos.   Player   School   Yr.   Hometown
G   Colin Dougherty   Hobart   Sr.   Lockport, N.Y.
G   Tyler Stenglein   Nazareth   Sr.   Rochester, N.Y.
G   Noah Meren   Skidmore   So.   Providence, R.I.
F   Ryan Henderson   St. John Fisher   Sr.   Cazenovia, N.Y.
C   Tyler Pierre   Oswego State   Sr.   Deer Park, N.Y.

Third team
       
Pos.   Player   School   Yr.   Hometown
G   Jacob Wittig   Rochester   Sr.   Manilus, N.Y.
G   Justin Cooper   Cortland   Sr.   Pine Plains, N.Y.
G   Liam Sanborn   Oswego State   So.   Staten Island, N.Y.
F   Riley Naclerio   St. Lawrence   Sr.   Cohoes, N.Y.
F    Justin Summers   Brockport   Jr.   Brooklyn, N.Y.

Congratulations to all the players on great seasons.       

[Smitty Oom]

I was also quite shocked by this selection. I bet Patron will be honored by the NABC as player of the region. He was also announced to the All-Star team today, so it has still been a good week for him all things considered!

[magicman]

I was also quite shocked by this selection. I bet Patron will be honored by the NABC as player of the region. He was also announced to the All-Star team today, so it has still been a good week for him all things considered!

Yeah Smitty, I think so as well. He had another outstanding year and leaves Plattsburgh State as the program's all time leading scorer and only played there 3 and a half seasons. Plus he lost a few games when he was injured toward the end of his freshman year.