MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Jan. 6      Just one game scheduled for today   

Geneseo State  at  Hamilton College        1:30 PM

The Knights get back in action after a month off and will be playing their final non-conference game of the season. Unfortunately it's also one of their toughest. The Hamilton Continentals are currently ranked #22 in the D3hoops Top 25 poll. They may drop down a bit in the upcoming poll tomorrow,  as they suffered their 2nd loss of the season, on Friday, against Utica.

Geneseo is coming off losses in their first 2 conference games and with a trip to Northern New York to face Potsdam and Plattsburgh, after the Hamilton game, would like to start the new year out on a positive note. This is the 3rd year in a row they have played the Continentals and the first two weren't pretty. Last year they were hammered early in the first half and suffered a 68-43 loss. The previous year they actually had a 70-61 lead with under 4 minutes to play. They never scored another point and Hamilton ended the game on a 13-0 run and walked away with a 74-70 win.

Hamilton has their sights set on another NCAA bid and a big finish in the NESCAC conference. They have one of the better players in the conference in senior guard Kena Gilmour, who is a D3hoops 2nd team preseason All American. He's a big reason the Continentals are favored to win this game by 18 points. I believe the Knights are better than they were last year and Hamilton is not as good as they were last year so I think it will be a closer game but not necessarily a close game. Hamilton has had a few hiccups and while I don't see the Knights pulling off the upset here, it's a possibility. Geneseo teams are ususally well coached and execute their plays. I think Hamilton wins the game but I also see Geneseo covering that 18 point spread.  Hamilton 84  Geneseo 71.   

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

This might have been mentioned in the past, so forgive me ... but Buffalo State only has 22 games this season? Only played FIVE so far? Played FOUR of them in November?! And played THREE in the opening week?!

What?!

[magicman]

This might have been mentioned in the past, so forgive me ... but Buffalo State only has 22 games this season? Only played FIVE so far? Played FOUR of them in November?! And played THREE in the opening week?!

What?!

It wasn't mentioned to my knowledge. I spotted it earlier in the season and wondered if it wasn't a mistake and then forgot about it. I kept thinking they were going to do a Florida trip and add 2 games there, but that didn't happnen. I'm guessing they may have had a late cancellation from a team or two, but that's just a guess on my part. My Buffalo State connection has been silent for the past month. I'll have to rattle his chain.

[magicman]

Geneseo State 64  Hamilton 91

The Continentals put a shellacking on Geneseo Monday afternoon by blowing the game wide open in the early stages of  the 2nd half. Geneseo managed to stay close to the 22nd ranked team in the country (at the time..... now#32 with the new rankings that came out Monday night) throughout the first half and even had a 5 point lead after 5 minutes of play. They were still ahead after 9 minutes but Hamilton was beginning to assert themselves. The Continentals were down 15-14 and went on a 16-7 run to go ahead by 8 points at 30-22. The lead grew to 11 points with 2 minutes to go, but Geneseo closed the half with a 9-3 burst, to get within 5 points at 42 -37. Unfortunately, for the Knights, that was as close as it got.

Hamilton opened the 2nd period with a 23-4 explosion that turned a 5 point lead into 24 point advantage and the game was over. It was a 7 minute stretch that saw the Knights go 2 for 13 from the field with 5 turnovers. Hamilton went 10 f0r 14 with only 3 turnovers. Hamilton continued to pour it on and the lead grew to 29 points at 73-44 with 8:36 left to play. The bench players saw lots of action in the latter stages of this one.

Geneseo
Michael Gannon had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
Joseph Harclerode had almost the same stat line, with 14 points, 7 boards and 2 assists. He had a steal instead of a block
Alex Merhige  had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Hamilton
Kena Gilmour, led all scorers with 22 points. He added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.
Mark Lutz chipped in with 13 points and Eric Anderson dropped in 10 points.
Nick Osarenren had a game high 8 rebounds, along with 8 points, 4 steals and 1 assist.

Hamilton outshot the Knights from the field, had 47 boards to 39 for Geneseo and had 14 turnovers to 20 for the Knights.

Geneseo falls to 3-6 (0-2 SUNYAC) and will return to action on Friday January 10th at 7:30 at Plattsburgh State. I'll be courtside for that one.

Hamilton improves to 10-2 overall and begins conference play this weekend when they host Williams College on Friday and #3 Middlebury College on Saturday.       

[magicman]

Austin Gunder wins the SUNYAC Player of the Week

This was for a 2 week period from 12-23 19 through 1-5-20


This is Austin's 3rd POTW award this season. Here's the write up from the SUNYAC website.

"CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) selected Cortland's Austin Grunder (Trumansburg, N.Y.) as the PrestoSports Men's Basketball honoree for his performances during December 23-January 5.

Grunder averaged 22.7 points and 15 rebounds per game in three Cortland victories over the past two weeks. He scored 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 98-73 win vs. Pitt Bradford and had 25 points (9-for-15 shooting) and 10 rebounds against St. John Fisher as the Red Dragons won Fisher's Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament. Grunder also recorded 17 points and a career-high 23 rebounds, three shy of tying the school single-game record, in a 102-62 win over visiting Cabrini on Jan. 4 as Cortland scored 100 points in back-to-back games for just the second time in school history and first since the 1963-64 season. Over the three games he shot 57 percent from the floor (27-for-47)."


Congratulations to Austin on another fine set of games. He still leads the country in rebounds per game with 16.4.
He also is #1 in defensive rebounds per game and #6 in offensive rebounds per game. He is also tied for 5th place in double-doubles and all the players tied or ahead of him have played 2, 3, or 4 more games than he has. So he could move up there, as the season progresses. He'll be here in Plattsbirgh on Friday, January 24th. I'm looking forward to meeting him.

[Bengalsrule]

This might have been mentioned in the past, so forgive me ... but Buffalo State only has 22 games this season? Only played FIVE so far? Played FOUR of them in November?! And played THREE in the opening week?!

What?!

No mistake. 22 games is correct. Lost an opportunity for xmas holiday tourney that was beyond our control  so 22 game is it (so far).

[magicman]

Jan. 7               Two games on tap today both against non-conference opponents.

   

Oneonta State  at  Keystone    7:00 PM

The Red  Dragons travel to La Plume Pennslvania to take on the Keystone Giants for the 3rd straight year. The Giants have yet to win a game against Oneonta losing 2 years ago at home 97-85 and last year they were beaten in Oneonta by a 91-73 score to open the season. Keystone has already faced a YAC team as they were part of the Elmira Tip Off Tournament this year and had to play Oswego State in the championship game. The Lakers won a 92-81 decision there but the Giants kept the game interesting as the Lakers struggled to put them away. Oswego kind of toyed with them jumping out to a 19-1 lead and then giving most of it back. When Keystone would get within shouting distance, however, Oswego would build the lead back to double digits.

Oneonta is coming off a tournamnet championship at Medgar Evers and are streaking, with 4 straight wins after a sluggish 1-3 start. This team is expected to challenge for the SUNYAC title this year. After getting close in the last few seasons and with most of the same personnel back, the Red Dragons are hoping this might be their year to win it all.

The oddsmakers have made Oneonta a solid 11 point favorite in this one. I think they win by a few more. Oneonta 95 Keystone 79.   




Plattsburgh State  at  Middlebury        7:30 PM

The Cardinals and the Panthers usually put on a good show but I'm afraid this year may be a different story. Plasttsburgh won last year's match-up at home by a 92-83 final, but Middlebury has a 9-4 record over the last 13 years. No matter who wins, it's a quality game for both teams as they are two of the top teams in the area and always worth the price of admission.

However, the Panthers are one of the best teams in the country this year and currently are ranked #3 in the D3hoops Top 25 poll having moved up a notch overnight in the latest vote. They are undefeated at 12-0 and will start NESCAC conference play this coming weekend, on the road, against 2 of their biggest threats to the top spot, Amherst and Hamilton.

The Panthers already own a win over Skidmore College by a 73-56 score. Skidmore beat Plattsburgh 83-75. They also have wins against Stevens Tech (76-66) and Springfield College (74-71. Springfield is ranked #25 and Stevens is getting votes that place them at #31. Middlebury is deep, big, and talented with a host of scorers and 3 point shooters.

Tommy Eastman who was a SUNYAC All Conference selection two years ago when he played for Geneseo is now playing for Middlebury, and he comes in off their bench. He sat out last year and will be able to play this year and next for the Panthers. He comes in to bolster the guard/forward play. He is averaging 8.9 ppg and 5.7 rpg, in 20.7 minutes of court time per game.

Plattsburgh is on a two game winning streak and evened their record at 4-4 with Saturday's win over Clarkson. They lost the entire starting five from last year's game against Middlebury. The Panther lost only 1 starter from that game and Tommy Eastman coming off the bench has better ppg and rpg than the starter that graduated. Plattsburgh has started 3 freshman in most every game but Senior Nick DeAngelis is now back at full strengh and started his first game on Saturday. DeAngelis 16.5 ppg, and Travis Cox 19.8 ppg will lead the Cardinal attack.

The oddsmakers have made the Panthers a big 20 point favortie in this one and I'd like to think they are wrong about that but can't come up with many reasons to do so. Plattsburgh will play hard, though and I think they cover the spread. I see Middlebury winning this one by an 89-75 final score. Hope I'm wrong.     

   

[magicman]

Middlebury 46 Plattsburgh 24 at the half.

Not a good night for the Cardinals as Middlebury races out to a 19-2 lead to open the game. It was 3-2 and then it was 19-2 after a 16-0 Panther run. Plattsburgh came back to get within 10 points at 19-9 but the Panthers continued to pour it on. Another 11-0 run made it 30-9 and the lead has hovered around 20-22 points through the rest of the period.

Plattsburgh is led by Erik Salo with 9 points.

Middlebury has a big half from Jack Farrell with 18 points and 4 rebounds. Tommy Eastman with his first start of the season  has 8 points and 3 rebounds. Max Bosco with 7 points and 3 rebounds.

Hope the Cards can turn it around but the Panthers have so many weapons it will be difficult. 

[magicman]

Oneonta leads Keystone 57-37 at the half.

[magicman]

Oneonta State 101 Keystone 70 Final score

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State 60  Middlebury 99  Final score

[AllStar]

Hi magicman - I hope everything is well and you had a great holiday season!

[magicman]

Middlebury 99  Plattsburgh State 60


The Panthers played like they were one of the top teams in the country. The Cardinals didn't play their best. And that's the name of the that tune.

Middlebury set the stage early when they turned a 3-2 lead into a 19-2 lead and then stretched it to 30-9 shortly after. The Cardinals offense got better but they couldn't stop the Panthers from maintaining a 20 point advantage.

Down by a 46-24 score at the break, the Cardinals needed to heat up in a hurry if there was any hope to be had. They didn't and there wasn't. The Panthers scored the first 7 points of the 2nd stanza and the lead was now 29 points. Several times over the next 10 minutes Plattsurgh would cut the lead to 20 points but it was never less than that and the Panthers slowly marched their way to a 41 point margin near tfhe end of the game when both teams had their reserves in.

The Panthers played solid defense on Plattsurgh's two leading scorers Travis Cox and Nick DeAngelis as they were held to 7 and 5 points respectively.

Plattsburgh
Axel Rodriguez led the team with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Eric Salo had 12 points, 4 rebounds and a block.
Matt Bernhard had a career high 7 points and a career high 5 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
Cameron Ness had 8 points, 3 rebounds and a block.
Travis Cox had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

MIddlebury
Jack Farrell was the game's high scorer with 25 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Max Bosco had 15 points and 3 rebounds.
Tommy Eastman, ex-Geneseo player, got his first start of the season and had a double-double of 12 points and a game high 10 rebounds. Think he was saving that D-D just for us because we beat him twice, 2 years ago.

Middlebury led in all phases of the game most notably from long range where they went 16x41. Plattsburgh only had 5 threes in 16 attempts. The Cards were also guilty of 23 turnovers to only 11 for the Panthers. Middlebury took 17 more field goal attempts than Plattsburgh as a result. 36x73 compared to 23x56. The Panthers were also helped by a 39-33 advantage off the glass. Free throws were fairly even...9x13 for Plattsburgh to 11x15 for Middlebury.

Plattsburgh falls back below .500 to 4-5 overall (1-1 SUNYAC) and will try to regroup on Friday night, Jan. 10th, when they host Geneseo State at 7:30 PM.

#3 Middlebury is now 13-0 overall. They will travel to #15 Amherst College on Friday to take on the Mammoths at 7:00 PM in a battle of ranked teams as the NESCAC conference begins league play. That will be a good game to watch and I'm sorry I'll miss it but I will be courtside at the Plattsburgh-Genseso game. May be able to watch a replay of the Middlebury game later on, if one is available.

[magicman]

Hi magicman - I hope everything is well and you had a great holiday season!

Hello AllStar,

Glad to hear from you. I'm still kicking. Happy New Year to you and I hope life is good on your end. 

Looks like both our teams have had a bit of a struggle this year but your guys are doing well in league play so far. Hope they can contunue to stay on top there. My guys are hoping to make the playoffs after graduating the entire starting five. I know Keene State lost their top player and 1 other starter as well but you have 4 of your top 6 players back so you should be able to make the league playoffs without a problem. I see you won tonight (Tuesday) against  Plymouth State. Good luck going forward.
   

[magicman]

Oneonta State 101 Keystone State 70

Oneonta put up a few more points and Keystone a few less than my projected 95-79 score but I was in the ballpark. The Red Dragons trailed briefly in the early going and were down 14-10 when they broke out the whooping stick. A 14-0 run in a 5 minute span made it 24-14 and Oneonta didn't let up as they ran off another 15 points while holding the Giants to just 2 baskets. That outburst took only 4 minutes because Oneonta's Dylan Trombley scored 9 poinnts in a hurry and the Red Dragons had a 39-18 lead and never looked back. They led by 20 points at the break and it grew to 36 points at 83-47 with 13:46 remaining to be played.

Oneonta
Andres Rivera led all scores with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block.
Harrison Deegan had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block.
Joseph Bull had 13 points a game high 6 assists and 2 rebounds.
Kevin Mackin had 13 points and was 3x5 from long distance.
Dylan Trombley had 12 points, a game high 9 rebounds, an assist and a steal. He was also 3x5 from long distance.
Sean Nolan had 10 points,4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Ian Schultz had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
Frankie Williams had 7 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 19 minutes off the bench.

Keystone
Jeremy Jordan led the Giants with 16 points.
Ray Mills had 12 points
Tone Cockrell had 11 points 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Michael Leak had a team high 8 rebounds, 5 points and 2 assists.

Oneonta led all the important categories most notably field goal percentage as they were 36x66 (54.5%) to Keystone's 26x64 (40.6%) Oneonta only had 7 giveaways to 16 for the Giants. Rebounding was 42 to 34 in favor of the Red Dragons.

Oneonta improves to 6-3 overall (2-0 SUNYAC) and will be off until Saturday, Jan 11th at 4:00 PM  when they host their travel partner, New Paltz State. They have completed their non-conference schedule where they were 4-3.