MBB: NESCAC

[rdanie03]

The question of whether the last top-8 spot goes to Tufts or Endicott is going to be a function of the NESCAC title game. If Wesleyan wins, Endicott snags it(assuming they beat WNE today). If Trinity wins, it is going to come down to the thousandth place between the two of them, with the real potential that Tufts gets it solely based on the fact that their head to head loss occurred on the road rather than at home.

[D3BBALL]

Close game in Middletown. Pohlman and Lazarre are going to be gassed at the end of this game

[SpringSt7]

Fascinating first half in Middletown. Wesleyan leads 31-30. Not sure who should be happier about this one. Wolinski has half of Wesleyan's points but they are losing the TO battle 7-1. Trinity is 1-10 from 3 but navigated Davis' foul trouble well and Cosgrove completely ditched the second unit basically and started mixing and matching mainly with Norris and Berete. No one really seems to be playing well but they are down just 1 because they do such a good job of taking care of the ball. Will be a fascinating 20 minutes

[D3BBALL]

Wesleyan up 1 at the half. Trinity down 11 at one point. Trinity looked like they had really slow tired legs to start the game.

[nescac1]

Trinity has to be happy being down only one.  They've been awful in the half court mostly one on one stuff and Wesleyan moving the ball much better.  Vetter has been invisible, which I doubt continues for the whole game. But they've scrapped for second chance points and as always they kill you in transition, you just can't turn the ball over with telegraphed passes against them, they murder you on those. 

Wolinski is doing it all for Wesleyan, from deep, off the bounce, back-door, even drew a dubious foul on a three point shot with some nice acting. He's so skilled. Trinity doing a solid job on Pohlman. Lyttle having an elite championship weekend. 

[jumpshot]

Like Wesleyan's back door cuts and Trinity's interior passing ....

[SpringSt7]

Wesleyan down 12 at the under 8 timeout. They are 4-17 from the field in the second half and it has gotten late early. It's looking like a 3 peat

[D3BBALL]

Just a dominant, second half by Trinity, especially on the boards

[nescac1]

Yeah kinda felt like Trinity was saving this extra gear.  They are now fully in tourney mode and will be very tough to beat.  They can raise their defense up to such an intense level that it wears you down inevitably. I think with three Nescac titles, and what they've done and will likely keep doing in the NCAAs, they've locked down best Nescac team ever and are firmly in the D3 pantheon.  Especially if they reach a third straight final four, which is very, very rare.

[D3BBALL]

Wolinski 18 points first half 4 points second half. Someone on this site said he was doing it from the outside, he was 1 of 6 from three

[nescac1]

Ummm D3bball no one else on Wesleyan did anything!  He was by far their best player today. Aren't you the guy who said Pohlman should be POTY?  No shade on him, Trinity's guards play suffocating D, but he had 4 points, zero boards and seven TOs today.  Wolinski was the only guy who could do anything today.

[AmherstStudent05]

Yeah kinda felt like Trinity was saving this extra gear.  They are now fully in tourney mode and will be very tough to beat.  They can raise their defense up to such an intense level that it wears you down inevitably. I think with three Nescac titles, and what they've done and will likely keep doing in the NCAAs, they've locked down best Nescac team ever and are firmly in the D3 pantheon.  Especially if they reach a third straight final four, which is very, very rare.

Best team ever? Not so fast my friend.  I of course agree that the book on Trinity has not been written yet and a repeat National Championship would be an unprecedented accomplishment in the NESCAC but I do not think anything is "locked down" just yet.  I feel honor bound to remind you that Amherst won three consecutive NESCAC championships from 2012-14 and only lost ONE conference game during that stretch (which of course included some pretty good competition).  We were an overtime a way from a four-peat.  The 2013 team remains the only NESCAC team to win the NESCAC regular season, NESCAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament all in one season. 

[nescac1]

Amherst - 9 losses in three years, one loss in third round, one national title, one blowout loss to their rival in the Final Four (has to count against them a bit).

Trinity - a title, a Final Four, the top overall seed this year following a road blowout of rival in Nescac title game, so far seven total losses in three years.  If they make it to the Sweet 16 or better it's a wrap.  But fair to say they need to survive the first few rounds this year. 

[Bucket]

Yeah kinda felt like Trinity was saving this extra gear.  They are now fully in tourney mode and will be very tough to beat.  They can raise their defense up to such an intense level that it wears you down inevitably. I think with three Nescac titles, and what they've done and will likely keep doing in the NCAAs, they've locked down best Nescac team ever and are firmly in the D3 pantheon.  Especially if they reach a third straight final four, which is very, very rare.

Best team ever? Not so fast my friend.  I of course agree that the book on Trinity has not been written yet and a repeat National Championship would be an unprecedented accomplishment in the NESCAC but I do not think anything is "locked down" just yet.  I feel honor bound to remind you that Amherst won three consecutive NESCAC championships from 2012-14 and only lost ONE conference game during that stretch (which of course included some pretty good competition).  We were an overtime a way from a four-peat.  The 2013 team remains the only NESCAC team to win the NESCAC regular season, NESCAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament all in one season. 

That season also featured the Willy Workman free-throw-miracle, Aaron Toomey buzzer-beating win in 3OT at Midd. Otherwise known in these Northern parts as the "Box out, guys!" game.

[D3BBALL]

The question of whether the last top-8 spot goes to Tufts or Endicott is going to be a function of the NESCAC title game. If Wesleyan wins, Endicott snags it(assuming they beat WNE today). If Trinity wins, it is going to come down to the thousandth place between the two of them, with the real potential that Tufts gets it solely based on the fact that their head to head loss occurred on the road rather than at home.

So interesting to see how teams move up and down when they don't even play