Just Another Crazy Weekend: Stock Report 1/26

It was another wild weekend in NESCAC basketball, with all of the action going down on Saturday afternoon/evening. The amount of chaos so far in the conference is unquantifiable, but comparing the current NESCAC standings to our preseason composite power ranks gives you a good idea. Things might still shake out and end up a little bit closer to what we imagined at the beginning of the season, but right now the only teams we appeared to be really close on are Conn. College and Wesleyan, whom we ranked sixth but is sitting in a tie for fifth at the moment.

This weekend might have been the craziest yet. We had underdogs pulling off big wins at home in Clinton and Lewiston (that’s if we’re buying into Tufts. Are we ready to do that?), a classic CBB game with Bowdoin and Colby, and Middlebury losing to an United States College Athletic Association school (did anyone even know that the USCAA was a thing?). What do we make of all the madness? As always, some players’ stock rose while others fell.

Stock Up

1. Bryan Hurley ’15 and Lucas Hausman ’16

The two Bowdoin backcourt mates combined for 47 points, nine boards, seven assists and three steals to help the Polar Bears edge Colby by three points on Saturday, 68-65. With the crushing news that Keegan Pieri ’15 has probably played his last basketball game for Bowdoin due to his second concussion of the year (see below), this was a major statement game for the Polar Bears.

Boy, did Hurley and Hausman respond in a big way. We’ve talked quite a bit in this space about how Hurley hasn’t been quite the same player as he was pre-ACL injury, and Saturday was not a classic Hurley performance, but it was undoubtedly his best game of the season as he went 7-16 from the field, 4-9 from three and 5-6 from the line for 23 points. He’s now had four straight games shooting over 40 percent from the field and six straight with multiple made treys. Suffice to say he looks much more comfortable these days.

As for Hausman, he might have a case for Most Improved Player in the NESCAC this season, and he’s among the league leaders in scoring. With him and Hurley firing on all cylinders, Bowdoin might have the best offensive backcourt in the NESCAC. But it remains to be seen whether the duo can keep up this level of performance for the rest of the season.

2. Joseph Lin ’15

I guess it’s time to start believing in Lin, who’s averaging 19.6 PPG and 9.8 APG in conference games. Lin had his worst shooting night of the NESCAC season against Williams (4-12, 11 points), but he stilled handed out nine assists in 37 minutes. He is the key cog for Hamilton, and it must have been huge for the team’s confidence to knock off the Ephs for Hamilton’s first conference win of the season. Now I must acknowledge that the three minutes that Lin did not play just so happened to be the last three of the game on Saturday and he exited with Hamilton down by three, so others probably deserve more credit for the upset win in particular, but Lin has been spectacular overall in big games and I think we can expect that to continue for the senior.

3. Trinity Offense

Now let’s take this with a grain of salt. The Trinity offense is still no Middlebury or Williams, but maybe they’ve caught on to something – shoot more threes. The Bantams went 8-18 from deep in their victory over Amherst, and are shooting 37.7 percent from three in conference games but have taken the fewest number of attempts. Chucking up shots from long range doesn’t really fit with this team’s personality. They’d much rather be physical in all facets of the game, but maybe that’s what the Bantams need to do to get the offense rolling. Hart Gliedman ’15 is a perfect example of this. He is a defense-first guard, a tough defender who gets a lot of steals and only scores 4.3 points per game. But he is shooting 47.4 percent from deep on the season. He hasn’t been a great three-point shooter in the past so maybe that percentage is an aberration, but for all we know he spent his entire summer jacking up treys like Jimmer Fredette and this could be for real.

Stock Down

1. NCAA Dreams for Non-Champions

If any of the top half of the league can win out in the regular season, that team will have a very good shot at making the tournament with an at-large bid based on the wins they would have to earn from here on out. Bowdoin made it last year at 19-5 and 6-4 in conference. But with the parity in the NESCAC the chances of Bowdoin or Trinity ending up 9-1 or for Middlebury going 8-2 are slim. Williams just had a terrible loss against Hamilton and has two other bad losses against teams hovering around .500. With eight losses already, Tufts would be a long shot if they lost in the NESCAC tournament, and the same can be said for Colby with seven losses. Bates is 12-4 and all of those losses came against winning teams, but with the rumors swirling that Graham Safford ’15 is less than 100 percent right now the Bobcats will be hard-pressed to remain contenders. Safford hasn’t been shooting particularly well since 2015 began and was already rested for one game two weeks ago. What Bates does have in their favor though is that two of their losses came against out-of-region teams, so they won’t hurt the Bobcats as much when the selection committee convenes. The Middlebury loss to Maine-Fort Kent was not pretty, but Fort Kent isn’t a D-III school so the same logic applies. The Panthers should be rooting hard for Tufts to keep winning to boost their strength of schedule. Wesleyan still has an outside chance, but the loss to Curry will be crushing for them. Amherst has just five losses, but some of them came in dominating fashion, which leads one to believe that the Lord Jeffs have flaws that will prevent them from going on a run and remaining unbeaten from now until tournament time. The NESCAC might be a one-bid team this year, something that has been talked about quite a bit this season but is becoming ever more realistic.

2. Conn. College Camels

Not to kick a team while its down, but the blowout loss to Wesleyan probably ends the Camels’ chances of sneaking into the playoffs. There was a glimmer of hope after Conn. played Middlebury tough last weekend, but that glimmer has been extinguished. Conn. is a young team with a lot of work to do. They’ve let teams run away with games too often this season, losing by double figures five times this season. The Camels need to learn how to play a complete game and sustain runs from their opponents.

3. PG Tarik Smith ’17 (Tufts)

Smith has been featured in this section for three straight weeks now, but for the first time his stock has fallen. Since being removed from the starting lineup Smith had elevated his game in NESCAC play and turned into a leader for the Jumbos. But then he goes and has his worst game in over two weeks, 10 points on 3-9 shooting and six turnovers as Tufts fell for the first time in conference. I think what this says is that Tufts needs Smith to be a scorer off of the bench if they are going to beat the good teams in the NESCAC. Hopefully Smith can go back to the player he had been in the previous four games when he shot nearly 70 percent from the field and averaged 17 PPG and return to the Stock Up section next week.

On the Road Again: Weekend Preview 1/23

The NESCAC schedule means that this is the weekend when teams play their usual travel partner. Because they have played all the same teams in conference thus far, we should have a good idea on how each team matches up with their opponent.

A big theme of the weekend is road favorites trying to avoid losing to home teams. The combined conference records of home teams this weekend is 5-12 while away teams are a combined 13-6. And remember that those records come against the same teams. Colby is the only home team with a winning record at 3-1 and are also the only home team that can be considered a favorite going into tomorrow. Winning on the road is not easy, but most gyms in the NESCAC do not offer a significant advantage as overall teams are 9-11 on the road this season.

Three Players to Watch

1. Power Forward Rashid Epps ’16 (Wesleyan): A tough start for Wesleyan in conference is in part because of Epps not producing. The junior has seen his playing time squeezed somewhat and he even got dropped from the starting lineup against Middebury. Epps has never been the primary scorer for Wesleyan, but the emergence of Joseph Kuo ’17 has pushed him into the third or fourth role offensively. However, the Cardinals are not a particularly dynamic offensive team, and Epps is far and away their most efficient scorer. Some of that efficiency is because he scores a lot on second chance points, but even last year when he was more of a focal point on offense, he shot 55 percent from the field. He is shooting one less shot per game and has averaged only 5.0 shots per game over the past five games. Wesleyan cannot afford to lose at Conn College. Make no mistake, even though the Camels are 0-4 in conference, they are playing decently and will beat somebody soon. They need to avoid taking too many threes and get Epps involved early.

2. Point Guard Reid Berman ’17 (Amherst): Though Berman has still yet to start a game for the Jeffs, more often than not he, rather than Jayde Dawson ’18, ends up being on the court to finish games. Dawson continues to show flashes of excellence, but Coach Dave Hixon does not trust him as a point guard. After two early turnovers, Dawson went to the bench midway through the first half and never returned. Berman is pass-first almost to a fault, but he came up huge down the stretch for Amherst against Williams scoring seven points. I know seven points might not sound like much, but before Wednesday, Berman had scored eight points total since the Christmas break despite playing significant minutes in every game. Seven points is a major breakthrough for him. Berman is not going to shoot from the outside (one made three all season), but he showed he can get into the lane and be a threat to score. That is really all he needs to be since he has proven that he is an excellent passer. We don’t know whether Hixon will put Dawson back in the starting lineup or commit to Berman completely, but at this point it appears Berman is the primary point guard for Amherst.

3. Forward Dan Aronowitz ’17 (Williams): I got to watch Aronowitz in person last Friday when Williams visited Bowdoin, and he was the only reason the halftime score wasn’t 50-10 Bowdoin. And it wasn’t just his 13 points at half that stood out but the different ways he was able to affect the game on both ends. Even though webcasts around the NESCAC are now very good, it is hard to understand how a player really works unless you see them in person, especially if you are sitting courtside. The sophomore is undersized playing a lot of minutes at power forward, but he has held up on the defensive end. He is the second option right now on offense and is shooting 39.7 percent from three for the year. The injury to Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 could have CRUSHED Williams, but they are treading water right now without him. Because of improvements from Aronowitz and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 amongst others, Williams is becoming that team nobody wants to play.

Three Games to Watch

 3. Saturday 3:00 PM: Bowdoin (12-4, 3-1) at Colby (11-6, 3-1)

A matchup of teams 3-1 in conference and the CBB rivalry makes this a wonderful undercard for the weekend. However, both teams’ conference records are inflated a bit by having already played Hamilton and Conn College, objectively the two worst teams in the NESCAC. Bowdoin’s win over Williams was a very good one, but since the Ephs were without Rooke-Ley, it still carries a little asterisk. The winner of this game will need only a couple more wins before they can think about a home NESCAC tournament game while the loser falls back to the pack with the toughest conference opponents still ahead of them.

John Swords '15 and Chris Hudnut '16 will clash once again this weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)
John Swords ’15 and Chris Hudnut ’16 will clash once again this weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

The tough news for Bowdoin is that Keegan Pieri ’15 suffered his second concussion of the season on Wednesday night and is out for the foreseeable future. Concussions are obviously not something to mess around with and we wish Keegan the best of luck dealing with them. On the court, he is a massive loss given he is the second leading scorer and rebounder on the Polar Bears. John Swords ’15 will need to step up and be an offensive threat in the middle, something that he has not been for long stretches this season. Coach Tim Gilbride could fill Pieri’s place in the starting lineup in a couple of different ways including going small with guard Jake Donnelly ’16. Liam Farley ’18 should see an uptick in minutes because of the injury as well.

In the first game between these two teams Colby outplayed Bowdoin in the second half and managed to run away with it at the end. Bowdoin was simply unable to buy a basket from the outside going 2-15 from three. Bryan Hurley ’15 scored only two points in the game, but he is looking much more comfortable of late and has made multiple three pointers in each of his past five games. Bowdoin will have to adjust quickly to playing without Pieri who was the most capable guy on the team at creating his own shot.

For Colby, they know Chris Hudnut ’16 and Luke Westman ’16 will produce so it comes down to their other guys. Ryan Jann ’16 is a smooth shooter who makes one shot a game that you have no idea how he did it. Sam Willson ’16 played one of his worst games of the season the first time around, but he has been fantastic in conference averaging 14.0 PPG. The Mules need to also play Bowdoin to a standstill on the boards in order to keep the Polar Bears from getting easy buckets. These are two teams very familiar with each other so expect a close game.

2. Saturday 3:00 PM: Trinity (13-5, 3-1) at Amherst (12-4, 2-2)

Disregard the fact that Trinity lost a mid-week game once again to an opponent they should have beat while Amherst pulled out a big win against Williams in overtime. This game is almost a tossup.

The talent on the Amherst roster is undeniable, but for the first time in a long time Dave Hixon is unsure on how all the pieces best fit together. Nine players are averaging more than 10 minutes for Amherst. The last time the roster was so unsettled was the 2009-2010 season when Amherst had 11 players average more than 10 minutes per game (injuries to key players help explain the high number) as the Jeffs struggled to a 14-11 record, including 3-6 in conference. Connor Green ’16 is getting close to putting his stamp on this team as a leader with a 30-point performance Wednesday. The Jeffs need him to become their go-to guy, someone they can rely on to get easy offense. If that happens all the talent behind him can fall into manageable roles: e.g. David George ’17 as shot-blocker and rebounder, Jeff Racy ’17 as sniper from three, and Johnny McCarthy ’18 as a Swiss Army knife.

At this point everyone knows that Trinity is extremely talented defensively and relatively inept offensively. They can thank their defense for their 3-1 start in the NESCAC. Trinity is yet to have a NESCAC opponent score more than 60 points against them in regulation. On the other end, the polite way of putting it is that the Bantams are balanced, but a more realistic outlook is that they simply lack players capable of creating and making their own shots beyond, occasionally, Jaquann Starks ’16. Guys like Alex Conaway ’15, Shay Ajayi ’16, and George Papadeas ’15 are all capable of having good games, but they just are not reliant enough. The Bantams will want to make this game ugly, and there is a good chance they will succeed in doing just that against an Amherst team that tends to play to its competition.

1. Saturday 3:00 PM: Tufts (8-7, 3-0) at Bates (11-4, 1-2)

The road was not kind to Bates last weekend as they fell to Trinity and Amherst. Now they return to the comfy confines of Alumni Gym where five of their final seven conference games are at home. In fact, Bates’ only conference road games remaining are at Colby and Bowdoin so the Bobcats will not leave the state of Maine for the rest of the regular season.

Meanwhile Tufts continues to look better and better as we get further into conference play. Their win Thursday over UMass-Boston 80-67 saw them overcome 16 turnovers and four of their five starters scoring five points or less. Of course, it helps when your fifth starter, Hunter Sabety ’17 goes 9-9 shooting for 24 points. Even though Ryan Spadaford ’16 and Thomas Lapham ’18 have started recent games, Vincent Pace ’18 and Tarik Smith ’17 are the guys who do most of the backcourt scoring. The Jumbos are now above .500 for the first time all season. A win at Bates would cement their place at the top of the league with a good chance at going 7-0 before they play Williams in February.

Defensively Bates should match up well with Tufts because the Delpeche brothers can slow down Sabety and Tom Palleschi ’16. The Bobcats have to find a more consistent rhythm on offense, as they are averaging a NESCAC low 56.3 PPG in conference. Graham Safford ’15 has seen his scoring take a dive, and over on the D3Boards there are unsubstantiated rumors that he is playing injured. Safford is still playing heavy minutes and his backups, Jerome Darling ’17 and Justin Zukowski ’18, have played very sparingly. Safford has to be at or near his best for Bates who should be playing in front of a large home crowd tomorrow.

The Fantasy Continues: Week 2

We’re back with another edition of the fantasy basketball report. As a reminder, Lin and Tonic (Joe) led after one week, 5-3. Despite my strategy to draft big men early, I ended up with a commanding lead in assists and a slight advantage in steals and a major deficit in rebounds and blocks after Week 1, so I made the decision to drop the injured Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 in favor of Ed Ogundeko ’17, who played really well in the first week of conference play. I then decided to move Ogundeko into my starting lineup over Zuri Pavlin ’17, who only had one conference game this weekend. In the back court I moved Jaquann Starks ’16 into the lineup for Joseph Lin ’15. I never should have doubted Lin, who had 43 points, 18 assists and six steals on the weekend. Whoops…

Adam shook up his lineup a bit, too, but didn’t make any roster changes, so our lineups going into the weekend looked like this:

Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam) Lin and Tonic (Joe)
POS. Player Player
Guard G. Safford J. Starks
Guard D. Wohl L. Hausman
Guard J. McCarthy L. Westman
Forward J. Swords C. Hudnut
Forward D. Sinnickson E. Ogundeko
Forward A. Santos H. Merryman
Forward Mar. Delpeche D. George
Bench J. Brown Z. Pavlin
Bench S. Ajayi H. Sabety
Bench R. Epps J. Lin

First we’ll show you the scoresheet for Week 2 alone. Notice that scoring was way, way down from Week 1. Also, just looking at who we decided not to start, and I’ve already mentioned my mistake to bench Lin, but Adam really could have benefited from Jake Brown’s ’17 19 assists. Of course the tradeoff would have been only getting seven points and six boards. On the other side, having Hunter Sabety ’17 in the lineup would have been pretty helpful. After missing the conference opener against Middlebury last weekend, Sabety came back strong against Amherst and Trinity, scoring 28 on 14-21 shooting (66.7 percent) with eight rebounds and four blocks.

Category Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam) Lin and Tonic (Joe)
Points 139 146
Assists 25 25
Rebounds 67 99
Steals 16 4
Blocks 14 9
FT% 74.4% (32/43) 72.8% (59/81)
FG% 40.9% (56/137) 48.8% (63/129)
3PT Made 15 6

Just by glancing at the table above, it’s clear that I was able to maintain my leads in points and assists and the percentage categories, while also closing the gap in rebounds, so I should be pretty happy.

HausmanShooting
Lucas Hausman ’16 has increased his scoring by 7.7 points per game this season, and poured in 49 points for Joe’s Lin and Tonic squad this past weekend. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics and CIPhotography.com)

 

Unfortunately steals, blocks and 3PT made are quickly slipping out of reach. Take a look now at the composite standings.

Category Lord of the ‘CAC Lin and Tonic Leader
Points 352 399 Joe
Assists 47 76 Joe
Rebounds 171 168 Adam
Steals 29 22 Adam
Blocks 33 15 Adam
FT% 70.5% (79/112) 77.1% (138/179) Joe
FG% 49.1% (132/269) 50.5% (147/291) Joe
3PT Made 33 12 Adam

Overall score: Tied 4-4

Power Rankings 1/21

Currently at seven in our ranks, Williams can move up starting tonight with a non-conference matchup at Amherst. (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)
Currently at seven in our ranks, Williams can move up starting tonight with a non-conference matchup at Amherst. (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

The results this past week have brought forth much change in this edition of the power rankings. Teams we once thought were falling have started to find a groove, and teams that once looked great are beginning to slip. While only two or three games separate this weeks rankings from last’s, the conference action this week sent the league into upheaval.

1. Middlebury (12-2, 2-2) Last week: 3

At the start of the conference season Middlebury was expected to be at the top and a couple months in they have done enough to regain the top spot. Right now they are on a four-game winning streak during which Dylan Sinnickson ’16 has averaged 16.0 points per game and the team as a whole has averaged 89.0 points. But what has been underrated so far has been Middlebury’s defense. Opponents are averaging 62.2 points per game, but they also get more chances against the fast-paced Panthers. NCAA.com D-III hoops statistics were last updated on Monday, but at that time Middlebury’s opponents’ field goal percentage was tops in the nation and the Panthers had the 11th-best scoring margin in D-III. The grind for the Panthers comes at the end of the season, and as we know that a lot can change in a week in the NESCAC. As of right now, Middlebury has found a groove that looks sustainable

2. Amherst (11-4, 2-2) Last week: 4

The Lord Jeffs went 1-1 this week but remain ranked in my top three. A solid offense and a solid defense is obviously key, but what makes Amherst appealing is their winning culture. They’ve been here before. David Hixon’s experience and the reputation of his team’s to get better as the year goes on (Amherst won 24-straight to win the NCAA title in 2013 and 20 out of 21 before losing to Williams in the semifinals last year) earns the Lord Jeffs the benefit of the doubt. Despite a loss to Tufts, which seems to be happening to every top team, the Lord Jeffs are getting good production off the bench especially from G Jeff Racy ’17, who leads the league in three point field goals made in conference games.

3. Trinity (13-4, 3-1) Last week: 2

Winning a double OT thriller 71-69 against Williams and holding off a late Bates run gives Trinity the invaluable experience in close games come playoff time. But the Bantams won’t see the top spot in my ranks just yet. After an offensive breakout earlier in the season, the Bantams have cooled off and are ninth in points per NESCAC game.

4. Bates (11-4, 1-2) Last week: 1

The Bobcats had a difficult couple of games this past week; games that give us a better sense of who they really are. While Graham Safford ’15, who has been an integral part in the team’s success, did rest against UMPI, he and his squad were unable to get even one conference win against Amherst and Trinity. Is another late season slide in the works for Bates, or can they look to bounce back quickly against a Tufts team that has played very well as of late? While it has only been a couple of games, this week proved that the Bobcats need their entire starting five to contribute if they are going to beat the NESCAC’s elite squads.

5. Bowdoin (11-4, 3-1) Last week: 8

With the Polar Bears playing their last four games against conference opponents, they are now 3-1 in NESCAC play, tying them for first in the league standings. While a 3-1 record puts them in a good spot right now, two of those W’s came against struggling Hamilton and Conn. College teams. Don’t look now, but Bowdoin’s offense seems to be streaking, averaging 73.8 points per game in conference play. With Trinity and Middlebury among those still left to play, it will be interesting to see how Bowdoin stacks up against some of the league’s best defenses.

6. Tufts (7-7, 3-0) Last week: 11

The Jumbos, a team that was not high on my rankings last week, has proven me wrong by beating Middlebury, Amherst and Trinity in three consecutive games. Former starting PG-turned-sixth man Tarik Smith ’17 has played a huge role in their streak, shooting lights out, as well as in the clutch, hitting some big free throws against Trinity. Yes, they are 3-0 in the conference, and yes, Tufts has beaten three of the top teams in the league, but those are only three games, lets not start crowning them league champs. They are still 7-7 overall, which probably eliminates them from contending for an NCAA at-large bid already. This recent influx of offense, scoring 80+ points in four of their last six games, is bound to recede, but hey, maybe they’ve found something special this year.

7. Williams (11-5, 2-2) Last week: 5

Williams sits middle of the pack but has the pieces to get hot at any time. Recently, the Ephs played Trinity, Amherst, Colby and Bowdoin, a four-game stretch that epitomized their inability to get a consistent level of play. While Trinity and Amherst are similar, so are Colby and Bowdoin, and the Ephs were only able to win one of each. That being said, Daniel Wohl ’15 has been lights out offensively, averaging 23.2 points per game in-conference. Williams has the talent and are on the brink of finding their groove.

8. Colby (11-6, 3-1) Last week: 7

Colby is in a similar situation as Bowdoin, beating middle-of-the-road conference teams to give them a strong conference record. Chris Hudnut ’16 has been a huge factor in both scoring as well as rebounding the basketball (22.5 PPG and 11.5 RPG in-conference), which has helped the Mules get off to this fast start within the NESCAC. Colby has tallied the most points per game in-conference, but Wesleyan was the only opponent that is among the top half of the league in defensive scoring. We’ll know if Colby is for real after they go through the gauntlet of Bowdoin, Amherst and Trinity.

9. Wesleyan (12-5, 1-2) Last week: 6

Wesleyan is a team that looked promising early on has had a tough couple of games against Amherst and Middlebury. In both losses the offense struggled, scoring only 46 and 60 points, respectively. Their high-powered three point shooting was non-existent, while frequent turnovers halted any offensive flow. What a shame for a team that got off to an unprecedented start this season, winning 10 games faster than any team in program history. Facing Conn, Bates and Tufts in the next three games, Wesleyan needs to rediscover their offensive production.

10. Conn College (7-8, 0-3) Last week: 10

Conn is in a similar position to Hamilton, losing their last four games. Statistically ranked tenth offensively and eighth defensively in NESCAC games, the playoffs seem unlikely for the Camels. It might be time to adopt the spoiler role for the Camels. Wesleyan, Tufts and Bates are their next three opponents, and they can disrupt the league with every conference win they get.

11. Hamilton (10-6, 0-4) Last week: 9

Nothing seems to be going right for the Continentals, especially within the last four games. In these four NESCAC games, Hamilton has failed to get a win. Starting the season 7-0 in all non-conference games says one of two things; the NESCAC is much higher quality basketball than the upstate New York teams, or Hamilton’s game has lost its touch. I think it’s safe to say that both previous statements hold some amount of truth. While the playoffs are a pipe dream right now, don’t count Hamilton out to play spoiler against some “on the cusp” teams late in the season.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Stock Report 1/20

Tufts is the best team in the league, Bates is in danger of the same free fall as last year, and Wesleyan might be good, but they can’t compete with the NESCAC’s best.

All of these arguments could be made after this weekend, but could also also look foolish in another week. Consider this: at this point last week Middlebury was in the process of being exposed as soft. The Panthers responded with a 2-0 weekend, including the best half played by any NESCAC team this season in the first half against Wesleyan on Friday night. We still do not know much about how the league is going to shake out.

What is clear is that all of the chaos has hurt the NESCAC’s reputation nationally. For the first time since 2002, no NESCAC team was in the D3Hoops Top 25 released on Monday. Amherst and Trinity received a couple of votes each, but it will take a team stringing together a couple of weeks without losing before someone will claw back into the poll. The chances of multiple NESCAC teams making the tournament continue to fade as the committee sees the wide-openness as mediocrity.

Stock Up

Hard Non-Conference Schedules: Colby and Tufts entered conference play with a combined record of 11-12, but so far the two are 6-1 in conference play, with the Jumbos the most impressive team thus far in NESCAC play. Both coaches, Damien Strahorn for Colby and Bob Sheldon for Tufts, went out of their way to schedule hard teams out of conference. The combined records of the teams Colby and Tufts lost to is 126-52 (.710 winning percentage), and that record includes a 4-10 Maine-Farmington team which Colby lost to without Chris Hudnut ’16. Both teams now have turned the corner and for now are at the top of the league standings. Tufts in particular looked poised down the stretch against Trinity after losing a number of close games early in the season. Keep in mind that this stock is only up in the short term. The hard early schedule could come back to hurt both teams. Unless either team wins out in the regular season and wins a game or two in the NESCAC tournament, their chances of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament remains slim.

Class of 2016: Two weeks ago we noted how the current senior class could end with only two players crossing the 1,000 point mark. Last week saw two current juniors, Chris Hudnut ’16 (Colby) and Connor Green ’16 (Amherst) cross the same mark.

Chris Hudnut '16 (Courtesy of Bear Sports News)
Hudnut earned his second Player of the Week honor of the season by averaging 22.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in two conference games this week. (Courtesy of Bear Sports News)

Mike Boornazian ’16 (Bates) has 794 points currently and looks like a lock to reach 1,000 points. A recent explosion in points from Lucas Hausman ’16 (Bowdoin) means that with 630 points right now, he appears likely to cross the mark as well. Meanwhile, Luke Westman ’16 (Colby) is averaging 14.0 PPG while shooting an UNREAL 74.8 percent from the field. Westman never shoots from outside, but even still to shoot that well around the rim is exceptional, especially for a guard. Trinity is powered by their duo of Shay Ajayi ’16 and Jaquann Starks ’16. The junior class is not as deep or as star studded as the 2014 or possibly 2017 class, but it’s not far off, either.

Point Guard Tarik Smith ’17 (Tufts): A lot of different players have elevated their play in conference for the Jumbos, but Smith has unquestionably had the biggest impact. In three conference games Smith is averaging 17.3 PPG on the absurd shooting percentage slashline of 68.4/83.3/95.5. He scored nine points in the second half against Trinity, including the game sealing free throws in the waning seconds. However, big questions remain. First, there is zero percent chance Smith continues to shoot this well from deep and at the charity stripe so his efficiency is sure to go down. Second, this scoring binge is coming out of nowhere. In non-conference play Smith averaged 6.0 PPG and reached double digits only twice. Finally, Smith is only averaging one turnover per game during this stretch but is averaging over two per game on the year. But note that before conference play began, Smith had started all 11 games at the point for the Jumbos, while he has come off the bench in each NESCAC game so far. There is a chance that Smith moving out of the starting lineup has taken pressure off of him. More likely, Smith played a great three games, but regardless his play is representative of a wider trend for Tufts.

Stock Down

Traditional Powers: The Big Three of the NESCAC (Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury) are each sitting in the middle of the pack at 2-2. All three lost huge senior classes, but that does not fully explain how far back to the pack they have fallen. Consider that since 2001-2002 season, one of those three won the NESCAC regular season crown by going either undefeated or having only one loss. Since Middlebury still has to play Amherst and Williams, it is possible that all three finish with at least three losses. All three teams are more than talented enough to win the NESCAC tournament, but their rosters are not as flawless as in years past.

Wesleyan: As someone who was in the front row of the Wesleyan bandwagon, this was a very hard week. First the Cardinals went up to Amherst in a non-conference game and forgot how to shoot from deep in the process of a 21-point loss. Then after going up early in the first half against Middlebury 14-13, Wesleyan let up a 38-10 run by the Panthers to go into the half down 27 points. Their normally stout defense was unable to find a way to slow down any aspect of the Middlebury attack. Things got out of control quickly as the home Panthers just got in an offensive roll. Sixteen turnovers, with each starter having at least two, also was not helpful.

Wesleyan's Joseph Kuo '17 can't stop this finish from Matt Daley '16. (Courtesy of Michael O'Hara, Middlebury Campus)
Wesleyan’s Joseph Kuo ’17 can’t stop this finish from Matt Daley ’16. (Courtesy of Michael O’Hara, Middlebury Campus)

Now Wesleyan is 1-2 in conference, and because of their schedule, they have to go on the road for five of their final seven conference games. The Cardinals just rebounded with a nice win last night over Baruch, but they now face an uphill battle in conference play.

Point Guard Graham Safford ’15 (Bates): Though a bit simplistic, as Safford goes, so go the Bobcats. Last Tuesday in order to keep him rested, Bates coach Jon Furbush did not play Safford at all, but the results this weekend were subpar. Safford scored 12.0 PPG on only 26 percent shooting, and he did not make a single two-point field goal against Trinity. Not coincidentally, Bates went 0-2 against Trinity and Amherst. Those are two very hard road games, but Tufts also went 2-0 as Bates’ road partner this weekend. The Bobcats need their leading man to figure out how to avoid another late season slide. Last season Safford had a similar falloff with his overall points per game 4.4 higher than his conference average while his shooting percentage plummeted at the same time. Keeping him fresh is crucial, and Bates might need to rely on Billy Selmon ’15 to become the primary ball handler for short stretches.

Caution! Potential for Chaos: Weekend Preview 1/16

We are predicting (even hoping) that this weekend is the one that officially throws the league into chaos. There is a very good chance that after this weekend not a single team will be undefeated in conference. Bates, Trinity, Colby and Tufts are the four teams still unbeaten. Bates plays Trinity tonight while the Jumbos head to Hartford for a matchup with Trinity on Saturday. Bates and Tufts both play Amherst in their other game this weekend. Meanwhile, Colby plays Hamilton and Williams at home. While the Mules looked good last weekend, we can’t call them an elite team just yet and Williams presents a big challenge for them. In almost every game this weekend there is a good case to be made for either team winning.

Three Players to Watch

1. Forward Tom Palleschi ’17 (Tufts): An injury to fellow big man Hunter Sabety ’17 for the Middlebury game contributed to Palleschi scoring 18 points on 8-11 shooting as the Jumbos sprung a big upset on Middlebury. Well, the term “upset” is contingent on the idea that Tufts early season struggles are unfixable. Sabety’s status for this weekend is still unclear, and Tufts has to go on the road and play Amherst and Trinity. If Sabety is out then Palleschi will once again be the focal point of the offense. After an uneven start, he is now averaging over 10.0 points per game. He is tough to guard because he has a very good mid range shot but can also go into the post and get buckets from there.

2. Guard Jake Brown ’17 (Middlebury): Last week Bates coach Jon Furbush made a bold tactical decision to have one of the Delpeche brothers guard Brown. Brown was goaded to shoot from the outside and had no way of getting into the lane and distributing. He finished the game with nine points, but he went 1-7 from deep. I would not expect Wesleyan to put Joseph Kuo ’17 on Brown, but whoever does guard him will give Brown all the space he wants to shoot. Brown knows that he does not have to be a scorer either. On Tuesday he went 0-5 from the field, but still had a good game because he passed out nine assists. Expect him to pass up outside shots and just try to get into the lane time and time again.

3. Guard Mike Boornazian ’16 (Bates): Another huge weekend for Bates as they go on the road to play Amherst and Trinity. Graham Safford ’15 is the leader for the Bobcats, but Boornazian is the player who makes them special if he plays well. He averages 14.2 PPG, but that comes on only 38.9 percent shooting. His importance is derived in large part from his ability to guard positions 2-4. Boornazian slowed down Dylan Sinnickson ’15 when he guarded him last week, and he will have a similar task against either Johnny McCarthy ’18 or newly minted 1,000 point scorer Connor Green ’16. Boornazian needs two stellar performances if Bates is going to pull out two tough road victories.

Three Games to Watch

1. Friday 7 PM: Wesleyan (11-4, 1-1) at Middlebury (10-2, 0-2)

No game is a must win this early in the conference season, and Middlebury knows that they don’t need to press, but there is still a sense of urgency for the Panthers. Falling to 0-3 is far from a death sentence, but the way Middlebury played at Tufts set off a lot of warning bells. How much of last weekend was a result of a stomach virus that ravaged the team is as of now unclear.

On the other side Wesleyan just got run out of the gym in the second half against Amherst. The game was much closer than the final score of 69-46 made it appear, but the Cardinals never really threatened the Jeffs. Amherst did a really good job of closing down on Jack Mackey ’16 and Harry Rafferty ’17 and without that outside shooting, the Cardinals offense was simply unexplosive. Wesleyan can live with a meh offense so long as their defense holds its own, but first Colby and then Amherst were able to find holes in the Cardinal armor. Sinnickson is a matchup problem for a lot of teams, and Wesleyan will likely have Rashid Epps ’16 on him. Epps is stronger than Sinnickson, but Sinnickson is also a dead-eye shooter. Against Bates, most of the threes that he missed rimmed in and out. He and Hunter Merryman ’15 will rely on Brown to get them open looks from deep.

2. Friday 7:00 PM: Bates (11-2, 1-0) at Trinity (12-3, 2-0)

Trinity just saw Merchant Marine, of all teams, snap their 10-game winning streak. The offensive struggles that Trinity always has to worry about reappeared. Because of an off game from Jaquann Starks ’17, they could not create anything and shot poorly from the outside. The loss takes a good deal of the shine away from the Bantams and could possibly haunt them in a couple of months if they are looking to get an at-large bid.

How much the referees let these two teams play could have a major impact because of the possibility for foul trouble. Both teams love to play physical, especially on the boards. Bates is more than happy to slow the game down just like Trinity so this could be a game that ends up somewhere in the 50s.

3. Saturday 3:00 PM: Williams (10-4, 1-1) at Colby (9-5, 2-0)

You should watch this game because Williams has decided that every game they play in this season is going to be awesome. Counting their December clash against Wesleyan, the three games the Ephs have had against NESCAC teams have combined for three overtimes, and then of course the one game that did not go into overtime ended on this crazy Ryan Kilcullen ’15 buzzerbeater.

These two teams are at the very bottom of the NESCAC in defense and near the top in scoring so that should make the game a wide-open, fun one to watch. Though Kilcullen and the Ephs held their own against two physical frontcourts in Trinity and Amherst, Chris Hudnut ’16 is a much more skilled offensive player than anyone on those two teams. Colby came back against Wesleyan because Hudnut came alive in the second half. With Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 still out, Dan Wohl ’15 will once again have to make a ton of plays on offense. Wohl is now the front-runner for NESCAC Player of the Year and after averaging 30.0 PPG last weekend. For Colby to keep pace with the potent Williams offense, they need their supporting players like Sam Willson ’16 and Ryan Jann ’16 to make outside shots.

Power Rankings 1/15

The first weekend of conference play gave us our best data points yet on teams. With that in mind, here are the Power Rankings.

1. Bates (11-2)

So far the Bobcats have been able to live up to and surpass the pre-season hype that surrounded their team back in November. The leadership and play of Graham Safford ’15 along with the production of his his right-hand man Mike Boornazian ’16, averaging 15.8 and 14.2 point per game, respectively, has propelled Bates to the number one spot in this week’s power rankings. Although they are 11-2, and seemingly in a good spot, they have only played one in-conference opponent, beating Middlebury 57-53. Their next opponent resides in Hartford Connecticut, a team that has been nipping at their heels all season. The Trinity/Bates game will be a good benchmark to see how dangerous this Bobcats team really is.

2. Trinity (12-3)

After the Bantam offense went through a stretch of four 70+ games, all manifesting in a win, the ability to score has begun to fall. Putting up only 60 point against Hamilton and then 56 against Merchant Marine, it seems as though the offensive augmentation has come to an end. While this may be the case, it has been the Bantam defense that has put them in a position to be ranked number 3 this week. So far they allowed their opponents a stingy 61.3 points per game., ranking second only to Bowdoin in team defense in the ‘CAC. As it stands now, juniors Shay Ajayi and Jaquann Starks are the consistent scorers for Trinity, but they will need more consistent production from players like senior forward Alex Conaway, as conference play heats up.

3. Middlebury (10-2)

The Panthers dropped to number three in this week’s rankings in large part due because of their 80-63 loss to Tufts (5-7) earlier this week. As the former No. 1, this defeat could be seen as solely a fluke loss, seeing as they followed the loss with a 94-56 onslaught against Castleton State. What keeps Middlebury towards the top is their ability to score points leading the league with 78.5 per game. Dylan Sinnickson ’15 continues to lead the offensive charge for the Mids top ranked offense as well as with his league leading 11.3 rebounds per game. Already 0-2 in the conference does not help as they will be facing a physical Wesleyan team later this week, defensive consistency has to be at the forefront of attention for the Panthers.

4. Amherst (10-3)

The Lord Jeffs are consistently in the mix for a NESCAC title, and this year is no different. Offensively Amherst is putting up decent numbers ranking fourth in points per game. Although they did lose to Williams 71-70, I remain adamant in my decision to put them above the Ephs, for now. Amherst’s next two games are against a Tufts team that embarrassed Middlebury, followed by a Bates team that seems to have everything working for them. The play of Johnny McCarthy ’18, who leads the league in steals per game (2.0) has enhanced  the Amherst defense. That being said, the Jeffs still have plenty of room to improve in the coming weeks.

5. Williams (11-4)

The Ephs sit directly below an Amherst team in this weeks rankings, despite beating the Lord Jeffs 71-70. Why then, are the two rivals not flip flopped? Defense. Williams has struggled to protect its own hoop this year, allowing a last place 71.8 points per game. The defensive struggles have been countered by a second ranked offense, led by Daniel Wohl ’15 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15. It has been well documented that a strong defense is key to making a playoff run. In the Ephs case, a defense that even ranks in the middle of the pack would be enough to support this team, given that they continue the offensive prowess that is ranked second in the league right now.

6. Wesleyan (11-4)

The Cardinals are middle of the pack in a lot of ways, but one area where they stand out is from beyond the arc. As a team, they are ranked second in three point field goals shooting 36.7 percent. The production is in large part due to play of Jack Mackey ’16 and Harry Rafferty ’17. The fact they have been so good from three makes their 2-15 shooting performance as a team against Amherst on Tuesday all the more frustrating. The athleticism of Joseph Kuo ’17 has made itself apparent with his team leading 13.3 points per game. Not everything has fallen into place thus far, but the skill is there to claim a spot in the conference playoffs.

7. Colby (9-5)

Although Colby was able to edge out Wesleyan last week in a close 82-80 game, they have not showed me enough so far to be above the Cardinals. The part of the Mules’ game that is worrying is their defense, giving up 71.0 points per game. It’s no secret that allowing 70+ points each game is not a winning formula. Sure, their offense is ranked third with 76.8 ppg, but that’s not enough for me to join the Mules’ bench personalities in celebration.

8. Bowdoin (9-4)

The Polar Bears hit the ground running at the beginning of the season, but their conference play has been dismal, losing to Colby, Bates, and Wesleyan (Colby and Bates games do not count towards conference records). Defensively the Polar Bears have been able to hold opponents to a league leading 60.3 ppg, led by the big man John Swords ’15 underneath. For the Bears to make a serious push into the tournaments more offensive rhythm is going to be key. Transition offense has been lacking thus far, but if they can get the big men running the floor, Bowdoin may have more time to set up and execute offensively.

9. Hamilton (10-4)

Hamilton, like Bowdoin, was hot out of the gate winning its first seven games. Since then they are 3-4, two of those coming against conference opponents Amherst and Trinity. At 10-4 this isn’t the time for the Continentals to hit the panic button, but if their offensive struggles continue, this fast start could turn into a disappointing end.

10. Conn (7-6)

Conn’s stuggles are apparent in their record, and as we mentioned earlier, the Camels are a young but promising team. Look for the rest of this year to provide players like Lee Messier ’18 and Isaiah Robinson ’18 with time to develop their skills at a collegiate level. Losing to Bowdoin and Colby by 29 and 9 points, respectively, put Conn in a tough position in conference play. Stranger things have happened, but it does not look this is the year for the Camels.

11. Tufts (5-7)

Tufts rounds out this week’s rankings but with less negativity than you’d think. Yes, the Jumbos are 5-7 this year, and their schedule will only get tougher as they’ll play Amherst, Trinity, and Bates over the course of the next two weeks; however, a ray of hope cast down on Medford when they easily took care of previously top-ranked Middlebury 80-63, led by Tarik Smith’s big 20 point game off the bench.

A Fickle Fantasy: Week 1

We are still working some of the kinks out of fantasy basketball because the uneven schedule means not every player has two games each weekend. We decided that those cases are like a bye week for football. The lineups are set before Friday and can’t be changed during the weekend.

Also, a clarification on the scoring. Since this is rotisserie style (lame chicken jokes are always in fashion), this week’s stats merely go towards the running total as the year goes on. A point scored this weekend counts the exact same as one scored in the final week.

Alright, so after some back and forth about who we could start, here is what we both settled on.

Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam) Lin and Tonic (Joe)
POS. Player Player
Guard G. Safford J. Lin
Guard D. Wohl L. Westman
Guard J. McCarthy L. Hausman
Forward D. Sinnickson C. Hudnut
Forward J. Swords Z. Pavlin
Forward A. Santos H. Merryman
Forward R. Epps D. George
Bench J. Brown H. Rooke-Ley
Bench M. Delpeche J. Starks
Bench S. Ajayi H. Sabety

The first weekend saw a couple of really notable performances from Dan Wohl ’15, David George ’17 and most of all Joseph Lin ’15. My team combined had the same number of assists (22) that Lin had by himself for Joe. Lin got some love from former teammate Matt Hart on Twitter, as well.

A strong number of assists from Luke Westman ’16 means Joe has a commanding lead in that category. However, the flip side of that is my massive lead in rebounding, 104-69.

The irony of those two categories is that Joe drafted big men early while I targeted guards. Yet, two of my guards, Wohl and Johnny McCarthy ’18, are talented rebounders, combining for 40 rebounds but only eight assists. The big lead for Joe in free throw percentage is in large part due to Wohl’s struggles down the stretch of the Trinity game.

Joe’s edge in efficiency (thanks to George and Westman) puts him in a slight lead after Week 1, but the big edge I hold in counting categories like blocks and three pointers made will be important over the long term. As the weeks go on, we will adjust our roster slightly to try to make up for the shortcomings of our roster.

Category Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam) Lin and Tonic (Joe) Category
Points 213 253 Joe
Assists 22 51 Joe
Rebounds 104 69 Adam
Steals 13 18 Joe
Blocks 19 6 Adam
FT% 68.1% (47/69) 80.6% (79/98) Joe
FG% 48.4% (76/157) 51.9% (84/162) Joe
3PT Made 18 6 Adam

Overall Score: 5-3 Lin and Tonic

Time to Invest: Stock Report 1/12

IMG_0316

What a weekend in the NESCAC. Could you have asked for a better first night of contests? Of the five games played on Friday night, four were decided by six points or less. Williams-Trinity went into double OT. A missed call by refs in Lewiston helped Bates to the win over Middlebury. Wesleyan had three shots from deep in the final seconds to tie the game against Colby but missed all of its attempts. And Connor Green ’16 came out of hibernation to lead Amherst to a victory over Hamilton, aided by the best offensive night of David George’s ’17 young career. The second round of conference games was only slightly less exhilarating, as Williams and Amherst played yet another classic and Tufts pulled a major upset over the suddenly suspect Middlebury Panthers. Suffice to say, Week 1 of the NESCAC season did not disappoint.

Stock Up

1. David George ’17

The Amherst big man is respected around the league for his defense, but he turned up his offensive game this weekend, scoring 29 points against Hamilton and 18 against Amherst, his highest totals of the season (the latter matching an 18-point performance in late December). George was 16-20 (80 percent) from the field and 15-19 (78.9 percent) from the stripe. Amherst is already one of the highest-scoring teams in the NESCAC. If George can be a consistent weapon on the offensive end while still maintaining his level of play on defense, Amherst will be dangerous and we could be witnessing the maturation of a future NESCAC POY candidate.

2. Colby Mules

Sure, they only beat the Wesleyan Cardinals by two and their nine-point win over the 7-6 Conn College Camels isn’t all that impressive, but for a team that came into the weekend barely over .500 getting to Monday with a 2-0 conference record is all one could ask for. This is a team with a lot of potential, which we’ve talked about before. For the second year in a row Coach Damien Strahorn is leaning heavily on his 2016 class, and they all played great this weekend. Last year the Mules could make the excuse that they were still young, but now that the core of this team is in its third year, they need to start getting the results. Maybe this was the first step towards accomplishing that.

3. Tufts’ Guard Play

We raved about the Tufts’ front court before the season started, but with Hunter Sabety ’16 out yesterday the Jumbos dominated Middlebury. Coach Bob Sheldon shook up the starting lineup, inserting Drew Madsen ’16, Ryan Spadaford ’16 and Thomas Lapham ’18, and no one responded better than the usual starting point guard, Tarik Smith ’17. Smith went 5-7 from the field, 2-2 from deep and 8-8 from the line for 20 points, netted two steals and only turned the ball over twice in 28 minutes. Against one of the NESCAC’s best one-on-one defensive guards in Jake Brown ’17, Smith was able to penetrate and cause havoc. Ben Ferris ’15, who just hasn’t been his old self on offense this year, had eight points, but they all seemed to come at big moments. Newcomer Vinny Pace ’18 showed some impressive touch inside and creative moves as he added eight points, and Stephen Haladyna ’16, another usual starter relegated to the bench, chipped in 11 points in his second-best shooting night of the year, percentage-wise. Tufts is still 5-7 overall, but 1-0 in the games that count the most.

Stock Down

1. Middlebury Panthers

You had to see this one coming. A few days after we gave them the top spot in our composite power rankings, they go and do something like this, losing a tight game to Bates and them getting blown out on Sunday against Tufts. As was noted on Twitter, basically the entire Middlebury roster was fairly ill on Friday night, so much so that there were rumors (the accuracy of which we will never know) that the game might be moved to another date, so props to them for gutting it out and making it a close game, but I don’t think we can say that, two days later, sickness was the reason that the Jumbos stomped them by 17 points. I don’t see this weekend as being indicative of a problem in the future, and I still think Middlebury can and will compete for a NESCAC title. But, I would be concerned that some of the negative attitude that seemed to creep up on the Panthers last season could resurface. I hope I’m wrong.

2. John Swords ’15

Maybe a bit of a surprising pick, because Swords certainly didn’t play badly this weekend, but as I noted in the power ranks last week, Bowdoin needs Swords to be a force if they are going to make it back to the NCAA tournament, and 17 points in 60 minutes of play isn’t going to cut it. Swords was pretty much his typical self in the rebounding and blocks categories, and still discourages anyone from setting foot in the paint with the ball, but I was banking on Swords elevating his game for the NESCAC season. Consider this a challenge, Mr. Swords.

3. Jayde Dawson ’18

The Fairleigh-Dickinson transfer came to Amherst with big expectations at the beginning of the season, and at this point we can probably assume that those expectations were a little bit too much to put on Dawson right away. After a couple nice games in a row, Dawson got one point, two rebound and zero assists in just 16 minutes in the Lord Jeffs’ biggest game of the season against rival Williams. Much like Michigan-Ohio State, in order to be one of the greats at Amherst, you have to beat Williams, and it seems like Dawson wilted under the bright lights. But, if last year was any indication, there’s a good chance that these teams meet again before the season is over, so Dawson should get a shot at redemption.

Someone Get Us a Water: Friday Wrap-up and Saturday Preview

The best sports weekend of the year is the first two rounds (it will always be the first two rounds no matter what the NCAA tries to say) of March Madness. Last night felt like March because of a trio of fantastic finishes. Bates-Middlebury, Colby-Wesleyan, and Williams-Trinity all came down to the final minute, and the latter two games came down to the final seconds. We will wait until after the weekend is over to really go in-depth on any type of analysis or recaps of games because Saturday is sure to bring another heaping of crazy.

Bowdoin 77 over Conn College 48: The game became a runaway at the end, and Bowdoin was in control of the game pretty much the entire way. The rout is a very solid result for Bowdoin, of which you can read the recap of on the Bowdoin website.

Bates 57 over Middlebury 53: A very physical well-fought game saw Middlebury fight through a near team-wide stomach bug, but Bates was too strong on the interior. Both teams shot poorly from the field. The Bobcats held serve at home, something that they need to do. Here is the recap on Bates website

Amherst 93 over Hamilton 86: The Jeffs overwhelmed a very game Continentals team. It took a great shooting night from the outside and a career high 29 points from David George ’17 to secure a quality victory on the road. Joseph Lin ’15 had an incredible 16 assists and 1 turnover in the loss. Here is the recap.

Colby 82 over Wesleyan 80: A very enjoyable back and forth game saw Colby come back from 9 down in the second half to open up conference season with a big road win. After we said his matchup with Rashid Epps ’16 was a “mismatch”, Sam Willson ’16 made us look like idiots with a game high 26 points. Colby has a full recap up.

Trinity 71 over Williams 69: This was the game of the night as it took two overtimes to settle it. Williams rallied from 16 down in the second half to take the game to overtime. Jaquann Starks carried the Bantams with 21 points. A full recap on the madness that went down is here.

Alright so onto Saturday. Four games on tap today. Every single game has a 1-0 team facing off with a 0-1 team meaning that there is the possibility for either chaos if a bunch of those 0-1 teams win today. Here is the briefest of run downs on what you can expect from each one.

1. Williams is now in a hole 0-1 with Amherst coming to town. The Ephs short rotation will likely make the effects of their double overtime even more perverse. Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 is out with an injury to his hand for three weeks. How the Ephs handle the first big Amherst run is huge. Besides that, everything we wrote about before the games Friday about this matchup also still holds.

2. Wesleyan knows they were in position to beat Colby, and they can’t afford to lose to both games at home this weekend. Now they need to beat Bowdoin who played their most complete game of the season last night. Both teams lean heavily on their starting five. This will be a much lower scoring game than the Wesleyan-Colby one yesterday.

3. Trinity at Hamilton may not scream excitement, but this is a mildly intriguing undercard. The Continentals were balanced and calm on offense yesterday against Amherst. They will not be fazed by the physical play of Trinity. The Bantams have to not have a let down game in Clinton, a place notoriously hard to win at. Hamilton went 4-1 at home in conference last season.

4. Colby opened conference play in 2013-2014 with a similar win over Wesleyan before stumbling and losing their next four conference games. Colby has to take care of business at Conn College. The Mules are unlikely to shoot 56.9% from the field like they did last night, but they also overcame 15 turnovers. Conn needs to shoot the ball better than the 4-20 performace they had last night.