MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Amherst loses  again to a team called the Cardinals.  SJF for the 2nd day shoots the lights out.  Amherst down by 13 at the half could not make a comeback...loses by 17.  Not good defense...and the shots were not going in for Green and others.  Racy was on and JMac was solid.  Amherst was plain flat on both sides of the game.
Congrats to SJF!  Their defense and hot shooting from everywhere were outstanding.
See that Bates and Trinity held up the honor of the conference. On the men's side.
The women teams all won.  Tufts had to goto OT to win over the SJF women's team.

[CatCountry2013]

Bates, and Marcus Delpeche especially, were tough down the stretch in a dramatic win over Richard Stockton.  Quality win for the Bobcats.

Bates nearly gave that one away but played just well enough and was lucky enough to squeak out of New Jersey with a win and, incredibly, a birth in the Sweet Sixteen.  No one player stood out but congrats to junior Mike Boornazian on collecting his 1000th career point!  He'll be carrying the team next year, for sure.  I can't wait for the rematch against Trinity, presumably at Babson on Friday night. 

Also, very happy I won't have to listen to those Stockton announcers again... It was difficult not to press mute at times.

[nescac1]

Congrats to Bates and Trinity.  Two tough, gritty, defensive-minded teams, featuring a star point guard and great length and athleticism up front.  Mirror images in many ways.  Both very well-coached, and dramatically improved from last year.  Two NESCAC squads in the Sweet 16, one in the Elite 8 -- not too shabby for a "down" year in the league! 

[jumpshot]

St. John Fisher sends amHerst home with an impressive performance: 53% shooting, 60% on 9 of 15 three-pointers, 22 of 23 foul shots, holding their own on rebounding against the much bigger ljs, etc. St. John Fisher played cohesively with excellent fundamental skills ---ball handling, setting of screens, few turnovers, good defense ---aided no doubt by home court advantage.

St. John Fisher ---at least tonight ---really a team of accomplished individual and collective basketball players who use athletic ability to optimize their game almost in "an old school way", as opposed to teams consisting of athletes simply playing basketball.

Lots of whining from Coach Hixson which carried over to and distracted his players, particularly in the first half. Not helpful to see the ljs talking to the refs after almost every play. amHerst defense really porous ---and they only made 3 of 8 foul shots, so no getting to the rim.

Reminded me of the blowout of amHerst by the Ephs in Salem last year. The ljs again ran into a well-prepared team in St. John Fisher that played almost a perfect game.

[pinseeking1]

Great win for the Bobcats. They blew a 16 point lead and it looked like all was lost, but somehow managed to turn it around by hitting some clutch shots and free throws. (They also missed a few FTs down the stretch, but it didn't seem to hurt too much.) A big turning point was when Mike Boornazian got fouled on a three and made all three!

Sweet 16 in their first NCAA tournament! Way to go Bates! Does anyone have an idea where the next round of games will be? The group includes Bates, Trinity, Babson and Johns Hopkins. Babson just hosted the first two rounds, so I'd assume that they won't get the next two rounds, too.

[nescac1]

Babson will almost surely host.   Hosting the first round in no way disqualifies a team from subsequent hosting. Williams and Amherst have both hosted four straight games in past tourneys.    Babson is by far the highest seed in the pod and is also geographically central so I'd be stunned were they not the host.  Four top-notch academic powers going at it near Boston. Lots of tough defense and interior play in that pod.  Will be a battle and expect a lot of physical play and low scoring games. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Great win for the Bobcats. They blew a 16 point lead and it looked like all was lost, but somehow managed to turn it around by hitting some clutch shots and free throws. (They also missed a few FTs down the stretch, but it didn't seem to hurt too much.) A big turning point was when Mike Boornazian got fouled on a three and made all three!

Sweet 16 in their first NCAA tournament! Way to go Bates! Does anyone have an idea where the next round of games will be? The group includes Bates, Trinity, Babson and Johns Hopkins. Babson just hosted the first two rounds, so I'd assume that they won't get the next two rounds, too.

Since there are no plane-trip issues, it should be whichever one was highest ranked in the final (secret) regional rankings.

[falcons2010]

I would think it would be Babson again. Either there or Trinity. But, maybe Babson being ranked higher in region and winning their conference allows them to get the bid to host.

[jayhawk]

Amherst got beat by a team that really shot well.
Amherst got into foul trouble with Connor Green and Reid Berman going to bench in first half
Reid was driving well to the basket until he got into foul trouble and got into foul trouble.
Hoped to see him penetrate like last night

Young Amherst team with only one junior starting and both Ben Pollack and Eric Conklin had injuries this year
Season a success going to second round of NCAA playoffs
Building for next year
Last game for incoming 6'10" freshman Joe Schneider from Wilbraham and Monson High School today
twitter note by his high school coach
WMA Basketball @WMA_Basketball  ·  2h 2 hours ago
Joe Schneider will make Amherst program even better. He leaves WMA Basketball on a high note. Excellent stdnt &his best basketball is ahead

PS recruiting season may not be over

[jayhawk]

sorry for repetition of Reid got into foul trouble

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Games will be at Babson unless there's some weird quirk we don't know about.

[Vandy74]

Bates, and Marcus Delpeche especially, were tough down the stretch in a dramatic win over Richard Stockton.  Quality win for the Bobcats.

Also, very happy I won't have to listen to those Stockton announcers again... It was difficult not to press mute at times.
[/quot3]

With about 5 minutes remaining in regulation I decided it was impossible to endure any more.  Painful.  I did hit the mute.  Thankfully Bates took charge in OT and I muted the last few minutes of that as well.  That said, congratulations to Bates and Trinity.  The bad news is that only one 'CAC team can make the Elite 8.  The good news is that one 'CAC team WILL make the Elite 8.  No rooting interest either way.  I just hope it's a good game to watch.

[gordonmann]

Congrats to the Clucks.

If you've told me Trinity would reach the Sweet 16 at the start of the season, I would've laughed and then wept tears of joy.

[AmherstStudent05]

Always tough when your team's season ends on a loss.  Obviously, our team this year wasn't as strong as the teams we have fielded over the past few years.  However, I am really pleased that this team got a taste of both the NESCAC Championship game and the NCAA Tourney.  Should be a great experience to build off of for next year.

Thanks to Coach Hixon & Co. for another great season!

[amh63]

Amherst Student05.....nice wrap up post!  Plus K.
See that JayHawk put a teaser in his post....must talk to him wrt to it.
My only regret with the season...was not making time to watch the LJs live..more..   Hoped they would advance to a closer site. .  Will try harder next season.