Ithaca breaks SLU's home win streak by hanging on to win a game by 3 where they led 17 in the 2nd half.  Another game where SLU erases a major deficit to get it within 2, but nobody could make the big shot in the last 2 minutes.  4 wide open missed threes in the final minute. You can't shoot 18% from 3 in your own gym and expect to win.  Ithaca's press was the deciding factor, completely threw SLU off in the first half to get them a 16 point lead by having them discombobulated on offense.  I've lost count the amount of games SLU has erased near 20 point deficits only to lose by a possession or 2. Gotta live with it when you have such a young team.

I would say the playoff field as is will likely be the final 6 when it's all said and done.  Can't see Skidmore getting above anyone 4-6 right now. 

I can't imagine it has played a large role if any, but are financials playing a role here?  Ithaca has been significantly affected by a decline in enrollment (who hasn't), and Forbes has their financial health graded as a B-.  I would imagine the HC position compensation is competitive, but I'm not privy to anything regarding the process.

Clarkson with the underrated win the of the night.  Impressive showing at home against Ithaca.

SLU got some unfortunate injury news with Downs Jr having an upper body injury that will probably keep him out a while if not the rest of the season.  I didn't think it was too bad when he got the injury against Hobart but it turned out to be more serious. However, the freshmen class for the Saints showed out tonight against RIT. With Suriano hitting his shots from deep and being Downs' replacement in the starting lineup SLU did not miss a beat.

Looks like Arden Tobolski transferred to Davidson. 3 straight years of top Liberty League players transferring elsewhere.

deutschfan has previously said he would not be surprised if he transferred. In fact I think he even mentioned Davidson as a likely destination.

Quote from: Hopkins92 on January 21, 2026, 10:42:13 AMIt's a great topic, but I don't think you're going to find a like-for-like in any sport. The closest thing I think of in the NFL is a hypothetical where the Jets somehow go from - whatever that is -- to winning a Super Bowl.

Leicester City doesn't really work and I don't feel like typing out why.

Miracle on Ice in 80 has a very close vibe, in that the US was getting absolutely wrecked in its exhibition games leading into the Olympics. And the US hadn't won gold for 20 years... And they hadn't been particularly competitive since that win on the international stage.

But looking at the D3 champions, as you've already done... You'd need something like a bottom dwelling NESCAC, NJAC, Centennial or UAA team to come out of nowhere to becomes a national contender/champion and we just haven't seen that. (Unless I'm missing something.)

When I look at teams like Bethany, E-town and San Diego... I don't have time to dig into their history, but I highly doubt they were rags-to-riches stories.

I don't mean to be that guy, but I would contest the notion about the hockey team. They got wrecked in the 1 game against the Soviets before the Olympics, but they had a really good lead up.  The played about 60 games before that and won ~40 of them

Quote from: mrhoopfan on January 18, 2026, 06:18:57 PM

Quote from: stlawus on January 16, 2026, 10:31:54 PMVery bizarre coaching from who was at one point the premier coach in the Liberty League.  Skidmore was down 15-20 points most of the game, with SLU taking out starters with 7 minutes left.  Burke leaves all of his starters in including his point guard who played all 40 minutes, as well as the team's leading scorer for 38 minutes (did not sub the 2nd half). You're playing on the road in the first game of a back to back.  Just incredibly bizarre.

What made him the "premier coach in the league"?.Recruiter? Sure...Coach, I disagree....Skidmore has always had several guys that were scholarship level players

Between 2010-2020 Skidmore won 4 regular season titles and 5 tournament championships. Can say it was just because of recruiting but recruiting is part of coaching. And you still have to win the games. I don't think many would have disagreed with that moniker in 2019.  Now it's no longer the case.

Vassar now into sole possession of 1st place. No buzzer beater for Union this time, even though it looked like they would get yet another opportunity. RPI still up there with the same record as Union though Union currently has the tiebreaker. Not sure what to think of the Engineers. They are getting 200th percentile offense so one has to think a shoe has to drop at some point, but it hasn't. Their defense has always carried them with very hit or miss offense, and this year the defense hasn't been as tight but the offense has been orders of magnitude better.

SLU gets a very good win over Hobart, overcoming an injury 3 minutes into the game to Downs Jr and some serious ref chicanery at the end with the clock. Very classic SLU-Hobart game.  SLU's managing of the minutes last night certainly helped today.  Hobart is yet again a very tough team on the boards, that's just that program's DNA.  Hobart forced SLU into a very cold shooting stretch in the 2nd half and then the teams kept exchanging and 1 opportunities to make it an exciting finish.  When SLU was up 2 with 7 seconds left Hobart got a decent look to tie it but couldn't get it to roll in. That's where home court advantage comes to play.  Only thing I noticed about Hobart is a lack of clear ball handler and floor general, but otherwise are basically a carbon copy of every team of the last 10 years. They have their formula and stick to it for good reason.

Very bizarre coaching from who was at one point the premier coach in the Liberty League.  Skidmore was down 15-20 points most of the game, with SLU taking out starters with 7 minutes left.  Burke leaves all of his starters in including his point guard who played all 40 minutes, as well as the team's leading scorer for 38 minutes (did not sub the 2nd half). You're playing on the road in the first game of a back to back.  Just incredibly bizarre.

Quote from: unionpalooza on January 10, 2026, 05:03:21 PMIn off season news, it is lowkey hilarious that Frank Rossi and some cheerleader's dad from North Cebtral have teamed up to make D3fb twitter one of the most toxic spaces on the platform.

I am getting caught up on this just now.  This is absolutely psychotic behavior.

Is there ever going to be a bill come due for Union with all these buzzer beaters?  Is that 5 in the last 3 years?  This defies the laws of statistics.  There has to be some severe regression at some point.  If not then there have to be multiple horseshoes crafted by leprechauns in their locker room to maintain this. 

There are no easy games in the Liberty League though, with Union needing a buzzer beater to make it to overtime and Hobart dropping a road contest at Ithaca.  Records in the league are meaningless.

SLU is keeping their annual tradition of playing their worst game of the year on the road at Vassar.  Every year without fail the road trip results in some of the worst basketball you've ever seen in your life.  Even the 2009 sweet 16 team played terribly in that matchup. SLU has been a fairly terrible road shooting team this year and will be happy to have 6 straight upcoming home games.  9 of 13 games have been on the road so far, including the road matchups against Vassar, Union and RPI. Both Clarkson and SLU are the only teams to have played 5 road league games up to this point.

Vassar so far has played only home league games, and should actually have played 5 if not for a game against Skidmore being rescheduled due to weather. Union is more tested having played and won 3 road games so far. RPI has already played 5 home league games. Hobart has been more balanced, also having been tripped up on the Vassar road trip but otherwise have taken care of business especially at home. In recent years the home and away splits in the league have been pretty severe, so we could still see some pretty significant movement in the standings. 

Halftime score: Bard 40, SLU 18.

Final score in OT: SLU 81, Bard 80. 

Never in doubt 

Talk about a tale of 2 halves. SLU had overcome 4 near 20 point deficits on the road but couldn't finish it out, tonight they finally did.  Biggest margin was 24 points.  It was also a 15 point game with 6 minutes left.  Freshmen Aidan Phelan was 1-8, and then made 3 of 4 from three at the end of the 1st half and OT including a 3 with 4 seconds left in regulation. Very tough shot by Bard to force OT too. Career high for Adam Dudzinski the game after getting his 1000th point, 35 points for him who almost singlehandedly willed SLU into the win.

In other news, Union takes the reigns for the Liberty League with an impressive win against RPI at ECAV.  I don't know what Jack Plesser did this summer, but he is a scoring machine.  I really enjoy watching well executed offense and Union does just that.

The UAA hype fest you see on social media is a bit quiet tonight with RIT beating Rochester.  The Tigers outrebounded UR 56-32 despite a height disadvantage at every position.

UR's obsession with having d1 size costs them again. Great win for RIT.

SLU gets their first double digit sweep against Clarkson since 2007. Of all teams this was not the one I expected to do it, but their road heavy difficult schedule up until now has paid an early conference dividend. All SLU freshmen looked noticeably more poised and collected compared to the first 10 games, the team is growing up quick.  J'Lin Brown who I have talked about previously with regard to his recruiting profile is starting to play according to his pedigree. He had some bad luck with minor injuries to the start the season, but looks like a player with sky high potential. Didn't have a flashy box score but he was a menace on the defensive side of the court and under the rim, and could have had double digit assists if not for several missed layups.

I have not seen it posted anywhere else (including anywhere related to d3hoops.com), but rest in peace to the great Jerry Welsh.  The story of division 3 basketball cannot be told without mentioning Welsh's tenure at Potsdam, and that is an understatement. 

Everyone even tangentially connected to north country basketball has a story about Welsh. My father has one that I think sums up Welsh's legacy.  My dad attended a coaching conference downstate in the mid/late 1980s. Every big name coach in the country was there.  Dean Smith held a Q&A session one afternoon, and one of the first questions asked came from none other than Jerry Welsh.  According to my dad Dean Smith cut Welsh off before he could finish his question by saying "Jerry, why on earth are you asking me this?  I should be asking you this! 

A major, major loss for college basketball.