MBB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

Union 75 - Hobart 68 ... Union coach Chris Murphy, seemingly concerned about getting little offense from his bench, found a way to get the subs involved early. He started them, leaving his three best players Jack Plesser, Tanner Tedesco and Matthew Garside sitting for the first 3 minutes. Did it work? No...Hobart took advantage and went out to an early 10 point lead...In reality it was senior night and Murph started his four seniors. The Garnet scrambled back, took a lead but trailed the Statesmen 34-31 at the break. In the second half Hobart grudgingly allowed the Garnet Chargers to take control and put it away late...A day after scoring his career high 37 points Plesser had only 6. Foul plagued and frustrated he played only 17 total minutes before fouling out. Hobart seems to have the answer for Plesser, holding him to only 12 and 6 points in the two league meetings, both won by Union none the less. Tedesco 21, Dufort 19 and Garside's 11 got it done. For Hobart Monty Nedd had an impressive 26.

Congrats to Union on doing what has become familiar result for Hobart, get a lead and lose the lead and then lose the game. This Hobart team has not played to its potential since the break. A small miracle needs to happen in order to leapfrog Clarkson and/or Skidmore to secure the last spot in the LL tournament.They could be a dangerous #6 in the tournament, but they need to get there. Union, and RPI seem to be headed to crash in the finals, with Vassar a strong third. I really thought Hobart was going to be one of the top three , but we lost our bench coach  to a HC job, who seemed to have really added value at the end of close games the last few years.

[Jersey42]

RPI has done surprising well with all of their key injuries.  Two of their starters from the first eight games remain sidelined and I don't know if either one will return this season.  Dylan Matchett (LL 2^nd team last season) has missed the last six 1/2 games and Pat White has missed the last eight games.  Two of their other top eight have missed multiple games earlier in the season.  Yechiel Stewart was their leading scorer before he missed five games.  Nate Tawiah-Boateng has missed six games.

The last time RPI had everyone healthy, they won by 20 points.  RPI has found a way to go 7-1 since then. All but one of the games were close, and any of them could have been a loss. 

Close games mean the starters are playing more minutes.  It makes the Saturday games tougher.  At least there will be one or more days off in the playoffs.

If I understand the tie breakers correctly, it looks like RPI now controls their own destiny for the top seed.  They need to win out or If Vassar beats Union next week, RPI can lose another game. In any case, it will not be easy.

[UfanBill]

Every team has injuries... Union's starting PF from last year, 6'7" Jr. Brendan Reid has not played a minute all season due to a knee injury. He averaged 6.9 pts/gm and a third in the Liberty League 8.4 rebounds in the 2024-25 season. Think they couldn't use him? And how about another PF Aren Cummings who was the 2022-23 LL Rookie of the year but has battled injuries that have compromised most of his talents. Cummings, now a senior, is just now getting a few minutes of floor time again but is still struggling. Union is guard dependent largely because of the unavailability of Reid and Cummings.     

[stlawus]

All of the top 6 have rather significant injuries.  The aforementioned RPI and Union personnel, but Vassar also hasn't had Avery Lee since the beginning of January. Was averaging almost 17 a game until then. SLU lost starter Chris Downs Jr for the rest of the season after a shoulder injury sustained against Hobart several weeks ago. They have already played the whole year without Troy McPherson who was going to be the starting shooting guard.  Ithaca didn't have their best player Evan Cabral against Clarkson yesterday, not sure the extent of his injury or situation.  Skidmore looks like they have lost their leading scorer and likely rookie of the year winner Jacob Gooden to what looked like a very nasty shoulder injury last week.

Teams are going to have to dig deep in the final stretch.

[Bartman]

This weekend is the last chance for Hobart to have any chance to make the LL tournament. SLU tonight in Bristol .Hope the Statesmen can break the 7 game losing streak and start a 7 game win streak. You gotta believe!GOBART!

[stlawus]

Another great night of basketball, this is such a tough league. Vassar now in 2nd place due to the sweep of Union.  It wasn't a buzzer beater, but for once Union on the wrong end of a 3 point shot in the final seconds to send it into OT. 

Skidmore gets a critical win against Clarkson to move up into the 6th spot.  Hobart and Clarkson are going to be in the fight for their lives tomorrow.

I was worried about SLU with their road shooting woes and playing a cornered animal type team in Hobart who were desperate to break their losing streak in front of big home crowd.  Suriano got in early foul trouble, so the SLU freshmen had to step up.  There were several times in the game where all 5 players on the court for the Saints were freshmen. Aside from some spotty free throw shooting they showed great poise to get a big road win. I feel for the Statesmen who are now on an 8 game losing streak. They are in desperate need of a ball handler, as the SLU press was a big reason why they took over in the 2nd half forcing turnovers as a result. Tomorrow's game between Hobart and Clarkson could end up being one of the most physical games of the year as it is a must win game for both.   

[stlawus]

And as I expected, SLU's road inconsistencies cost them a bad game. 16-57 from the field, with only 5 two point baskets.  Their rebounding problems also cost them, giving up 2 consecutive offensive rebounds on missed free throws in the final minute.  Even had 2 wide open looks from 3 at the end to tie it, not even close.  They just cannot play offense on the road. Very real chance they lose a home playoff game next week if they get swept.  One win guarantees the 4th seed, but with both games against RPI and Union the terrible loss today could loom large.

Clarkson now probably out after getting swept.  I thought they were going to finally put it together, but seems like another year coming up short.

[UfanBill]

Vassar 68 - Union 61 in OT...The home court was kind to the Vassar Brewers this weekend. Friday they got a Shea Fitzgerald 3 with 9 seconds left to tie the score and withstood a Union shot hanging on the rim to take the game to overtime. The Brewers then made 14 Free Throws in OT to run away with it. Parker Neuenhaus was once again a thorn in the side of Union scoring 21 with his soft little jump hook. Fitzgerald added 22 with the Brewers going 23-27 total from the line. Mathew Garside led Union with 19 while Jack Plesser was again in foul trouble and scored only 10. Usual dead-eye Tanner Tedesco was 3/14, 0/5 and finished with only 6.

Vassar 67 - RIT 61 in OT... Saturday was a repeat for the Brewers as they battled a determined RIT. Vassar used a late short jumper from Neuenhaus to tie the score late and again held their breathe as a last second shot by RIT rolled off the rim. Once more in OT the Brewers took charge and pulled away to secure an improbable two for two in overtime games.     

Union 84 - Bard 56...The Garnet Chargers rolled to a win over Bard despite not having their and the Liberty League's leading scorer Jack Plesser. I'm not sure if it was illness, injury or something else but Plesser has not been himself the last few games. First year Cade Furse came off the bench to score a career high 21. A night after shooting a season low 31.4% versus Vassar the Garnet shot much better making 11/26 3's to overwhelm the Raptors.     

[Bartman]

Looks like the tournament is set for 4 of 6 teams, with the final matchups TBD. Ithaca and Skidmore are tied and play each other for #5 or #6  slot. BUT, Hobart can make the sixth slot if they win both of their games (Vassar, Bard , both in Geneva), and either Skidmore or Ithaca lose both of their games this weekend. A long shot for the Statesmen, but at least they are playing for a chance this weekend. The eight game losing streak ended with a win over Clarkson Saturday, amazing we even still have a chance.

[NYHoopsGuru]

Now that we are heading into the final weekend of regular season play, I think it's time we should start talking about awards. Let's start off with player of the year.

Although Plesser has pretty much sealed the deal (and well deserving of course), I believe that the conversation still has to be had. This conversation needs to start with his partner in crime, Tanner Tedesco. Tedesco is the motor of Union's offense and everything runs through him. One could argue that without Tedesco, Plesser is not scoring nearly as many points per game, as Tedesco is leading the league in assists and 11th in the country. Union's lack of a secondary ball handler is evident to how important Tedesco is to his team. However, if the conversation is to be had about importance to their respective team, then Fitzgerald is making his case for a back-to-back. The Brewers have been without their leading scorer, Avery Lee, for the whole new year, and Fitzgerald has shouldered the Vassar offense. Although his numbers aren't what they were last year, his in-conference numbers are still up there and he is also a plus defender (which Plesser and Tedesco aren't). Whoever gets it will surely be deserving, but I rest my case with Tedesco.

As for DPOTY, there isn't a clear top dog. If we look at the league's patterns with this award in the past, they usually lean towards the league leader in steals. If they follow this logic this year, it will go to Anderson or Cabral. While Cabral is a great one on one defender, Ithaca's defense is so sub-par that it would be an interesting choice to give it to him. SLU's defense is elite, however, they don't prove anything one on one given that they play a zone in 100% of their possessions (and Anderson averages half the steals of the last SLU player that won the award). The same goes for Dudzinski, who is the leader in steals + blocks, but doesn't prove anything as a lockdown defender in their zone. Nonetheless, I think he is the most likely to win it. If we are strictly talking lockdown one on one defenders, then the case needs to be made for Karaguezian from Vassar. He is the top perimeter defender on the top defensive team in the conference (according to d3datacast), and he is matched up with the opposing teams best guard every game in a guard heavy conference. He has shut down Tedesco (3/14 FG & win, 6/15 FG & win), Gooden (3/17 FG & win), and Anderson (2/5 & win), just to name a few examples. He is also ninth in steals per game. Again, whoever gets it will be deserving, but there are many interesting cases to be made with no clear top dog leading the pack.


As for ROTY, there really shouldn't be a debate here. Although this is a fairly strong class, with Abernethy, Phelan, and Driscoll all having good rookie seasons, Gooden has shut this conversation down. Even with missing the last 5 (and assuming the next 2 + playoffs), the gap between Gooden and the next rookie is too drastic to make a case for anyone else.

[stlawus]

The DPOY award has often times been baffling. Sometimes it's been obvious and the right choice, but you never know with these coaches. Dudzinski has caused a lot of havoc on the wing in the zone, deflecting and picking off passes, and he's a much better rim protector than one would think with his slight frame. But DPOY worthy? I'm not sure, Anderson is good at the top of the zone and has picked many a guard's pocket this year, but SLU's defense didn't really turn around until the middle of January. Picking someone like Scalisi from RPI would be a safe choice given their defensive metrics. With Vassar's pretty drastic turnaround in terms of team defense I don't think anyone would have an issue with one of their players getting it.

There are several worthy for POY, but Plesser's volume stats as well as FG% will probably make it unanimous. First team will probably be 2 Union players in Tedesco and and Plesser.  Other 3 I think will be Dudzinski, Fitzgerald and Cabral. Could easily see Gooden but missing the last 5 games might result in him making 2nd team. 

[NYHoopsGuru]

While on paper it would seem that an RPI player should win DPOY, I'd have to disagree. As great as their team defense is, the one thing it lacks is a Dom Black-esque defender. This RPI team lacks the ability to shutdown an elite perimeter scorer. Players like Tedesco (averages 21.5ppg vs RPI), Fitzgerald (24ppg vs RPI), Gooden (20ppg vs RPI), Moesch (20ppg vs RPI), and Anderson (20pts vs RPI), to name some, have all scored well above their average against them. If it were to be an RPI player, I would vote Deppe. While he doesn't put up any flashy stats, he does a great job of guarding some of the leagues best interior players. Regardless, this goes to show how much of a toss up this award will be this year.