MBB: MAC Freedom League

[Greek Tragedy]

Misericordia upsets Arcadia at the buzzer! It's Stevens v Misericordia in the Final.

[WPI89]

Any video out there of last 2 shots?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Any video out there of last 2 shots?

I didn't grab the Arcadia shot, but here's what we have of the last one. #swivel

https://x.com/twitter/status/2026844034631680306

[WPI89]

Incredible Ryan - thanks!

[Stretch4]

Thank you for finding and posting a version of the last shot where you can actually see the shot go in. Sleeping Beauty working the camera at Arcadia on the live stream ... definitely fell under the category of D3 Problems!

Heck of a game and a heck of a sequence to end it.

[Stretch4]

Congratulations to the Stevens Ducks who grabbed their fourth MAC Freedom conference tournament championship in their sixth season as a conference member. After losing a one point heartbreaker in the conference final one year ago, the Ducks would not be denied this year as they used a balanced scoring effort and key contributions from some of their more unsung players to push them past Misericordia. Credit also to the Stevens coaching staff who had a much more defensive oriented game plan for both the semi-final and final games than they had demonstrated over the course of this season. Defense always wins championships.

Unfortunately the end of the game was marred by some ugliness on the part of a Misericordia reserve senior player who decided he was going to disrupt the Stevens celebration by attempting to wrestle the ball from a Stevens player as the final seconds ticked off the clock and then take a swing at multiple Stevens players who objected to his behavior as the rest of his Misericordia teammates took the more sportsmanship route and walked back to their bench. Witnessing the game in person, and witnessing many Misericordia games over the years, this is sadly a direct reflection of Coach Willie Chandler and the embarrassing behavior he consistently demonstrates on the sidelines. The vast majority of his players play the right way, but Chandler confuses toughness with thug and bully type behavior, which every year trickles down to a couple of players on his teams. I understand he is a legend as a player at Misericordia, but as a mentor to young adults, he needs be better.

[Patrick Coleman]

The vast majority of his players play the right way, but Chandler [remainder deleted]

Hey, so ... the part where you reported the facts of what happened makes sense to post as your observation. However, this last part here, where you try to put yourself in Coach Chandler's brain ... that is totally your conjecture and doesn't have evidence to support it. Right?

[Stretch4]

Patrick - I am not putting myself in Coach Chandler's brain. I am commenting on the consistently embarrassing behavior (over many seasons) of a coach who routinely resorts to attempts to bully and intimidate, and the direct impact that behavior has on a few of his players every season who carry out similar behaviors. His behavior at the MAC Freedom championship game last weekend was beyond embarrassing. You are asking for evidence ... watch how several of his reserve players responded at the end of their amazing buzzer beater win in the semi-finals at Arcadia (sprinting to the opposing fans grabbing their crotches and flipping the fans off); watch how his reserve senior acts at the end of the championship game (getting in a Stevens player's face as he is simply holding the ball to let the clock run out, and then taking swings at multiple Stevens players); then watch Chandler's reaction to it and see how he not only tolerates it from his players, but appears to enjoy it. Feel free to sit on the sidelines of a Mis game (particularly one in which his team is losing) and watch and listen to the behavior of Coach Chandler and form your own opinion. You think other highly competitive and respected area coaches like Scott Coval at Desales, Marc Brown at NJCU, Don Friday at PSU Harrisburg, Bobby Hurley at Stevens, Justin Potts at Montclair, or Carl Danzing at Scranton would act like this? Not a chance. Coach Chandler can definitely do better.

[Patrick Coleman]

What you said here is different than your previous one, where you said "Chandler confuses toughness with thug and bully type behavior" -- that's the part you can't possibly know.

[lefty2]

As someone who has seen most of Will Chandler's career first-hand, I find it irresponsible and unfair to use words like bully and thug to describe his sideline demeanor.

I have seen and heard far worse from the opposing bench - and I only see those coaches once a year.