Probably not enough made of Bates' being the odd travel partner out in our analysis of the league slate. IT is a big ask, especially that combination of travel

Ayles' development is arguably the reason they have been this good. And it lets Berry play on the second unit and be primarily focused on getting his own offense (which is a good thing).

The scariest Trinity stat to me by far:

Assists: 199
Turnovers: 101

Opponent Assists: 139
Opponent Turnovers: 261

They have a 4 times better assist to turnover ratio than their opponents on the season

The only zag I'll offer on Trinity is that the second unit clearly to me is not as strong this year as it was last year. Berry is really struggling to shoot the ball, McDonald is I presume hurt - he hasn't played since December 9th, and then the rest of the group really doesn't have any NESCAC experience. Now Cosgrove can always bump up the starters' minutes if need be but the superpower is that they can just play at 130% effort for 25 minutes instead. It probably won't make a difference but it is worth noting.

Quote from: nescac1 on December 31, 2025, 10:18:09 AMWith Civiello putting NESCAC POTY-type stats so far as a sophomore (19-9-4 on 56 percent shooting including 47 from 3) and looking like a legit centerpiece of the team for the next few seasons, that's another program where the future looks bright.   

We have not seen this at the undergraduate level in the NESCAC yet but given the transfer boom, a 6'10 dude with two years of eligibility left who shows 47% from 3? His phone will be ringing soon, if it isn't already

Looks like the 1972 Dolphins can breathe another sigh of relief if they are watching Bates play Emory this afternoon

Williams won a game in 2019 against MCLA by 83 and then 9 days later beat Fitchburg St by 68. I wonder what the NESCAC record is

Wesleyan pulls away and beats Williams 65-54. Too many long dry spells on offense not helped by missed lay ups and poor FT shooting (4-11!) did the Ephs in tonight, and then with the offensive struggles came an increase in Wesleyan offensive rebounding and hustle plays that made the difference.

We are quickly beating a dead horse but for Williams, someone in the backcourt needs to step up if they want to accomplish anything of note. Matt Devine had a nice game off of the bench, 13 points on 5-9 shooting in 16 minutes. With 13 days until the next game, natural to wonder if he will be prepped by the staff to step up into a bigger role. But he is also not a lead ball handler by nature and they just don't have any sort of creation off of the dribble to force the defense to rotate. O, Cooley, Belcher, someone has to find a way to get into the paint more consistently and make something happen.

Wesleyan 27 Williams 26 at half. A familiar rock fight between these two but Jackson Rein has 12 while Pohlman and Wolinski have combined for 24. Otherwise the usual grit and grind Williams Wesleyan game. The Ephs are just so limited at guard and even more limited down low today with no Hudson Hansen, but if they execute and run their stuff they seem to be able to get Rein in position to be productive and get open shots for the others.

Will take a great 20 minutes but would be a massive win for Williams if they can steal this one

I believe that is what they call a statement win for the defending champs

Quote from: nescac1 on December 04, 2025, 10:25:38 AMBack to Dawkins, he's averaging 15-4-4 plus 2 spg on 62 percent shooting since he entered the staring lineup, not bad for a first semester FY, and he certainly satisfies the eye test.  I have not seen the alley-oop highlight from last night, but here is an equally impressive dunk from earlier this season:

https://x.com/BrewsterHoops/status/1989545824754290700?s=20

Dawkins provides a good chance of Bowdoin getting back-to-back ROTY winners - if he can improve his three point and foul shooting he should have a floor of an all-league player with potential to be more than that down the line.
 

You don't really see guys that move like this playing in the NESCAC - even despite the fact that he has no real jumpshot. Wonder if there is a story behind it (senior year injury, etc) or if this is the beginning of the portal related trickle down having a real impact on all divisions.

Notable strenghts of schedule per D3Datacast

Wesleyan - 14th
Middlebury - 24th
Tufts - 45th
Williams - 247th
Amherst - 306th

Also of note - Amherst is 7th in the country in adjusted efficiency.

Williams drops first game of the season at Rhode Island College. I would've expected them to win this game on the road but first one back after Thanksgiving is always tough. Also it was on FloSports so no one actually got to watch since the fans seem to be the lowest priority in college sports now. They made it close at the end but then they lost, Shepard missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with 37 seconds left down 4 and that was essentially it. No one shot it well. That's all I got

Colby ekes out a 1 point win against a frisky Suffolk team. Something to note - Max Poulton has played 21 minutes in each game under Coach Rutgliano so far and has scored just 12 points on 14 shots. Doesn't appear to be much of a focal point for what the Mules are trying to do

Williams moves to 2-0 with a sleepy 60-53 win over Alfred. The big story was that Alex Lee hurt his knee in the opener vs. SUNY Morrisville and was on crutches today. If he is out for a while they are in big trouble.

Jackson Rein was again the offensive bright spot with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Coach App appears to be rifling through the bench in hopes of finding the rest of his rotation as 12 guys got into the game. I have no problem with it if they can get by experimenting while still winning the nonconference games and eventually trimming that down to maybe 8 or 9. One of those 8 or 9 will definitely be FY big EJ Sommers. He looks like he is right off the Karpowicz/Karren line of skilled Eph centers that have come through under App. He had 8 points in 16 minutes tonight and 13 points the night before on 5-7 from the field. He moves well, the ball comes off his hand really nicely, and he clearly has a frame that can continue to physically develop. It is not inconceivable that this team's best lineup features him playing the 5 by the end of the season

So looking at Tufts schedule they started the season by playing:

Friday 11/14 @ Babson
Sunday 11/16 @ Endicott
Tuesday 11/18 vs. Suffolk
Thursday 11/20 vs. Emerson
Sunday 11/23 vs. Yeshiva
Tuesday 11/25 @ MIT

Ignoring the fact that they play some pretty good teams because that isn't my gripe - why are they playing every other day for two weeks? They don't get to practice back to back days over this entire unless they choose not to take an off day (against NCAA rules, not the end of the world if they break it but pointing it out) or just don't practice the day before a game which also seems strange. But I don't know how you are supposed to improve early in the season with very limited practice time if you schedule games like that