Adam Lamont

NESCAC Quarterfinal Preview: #7 Williams at #2 Bowdoin

The Bowdoin starters on the bench at the end of the game. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com)

Bowdoin finished their NESCAC season on a three game winning streak against Bates, Middlebury and Tufts to jump up all the way to the #2 seed in the tournament. Williams just lost by more than 20 points at home to Wesleyan. Yet this might be the most intriguing quarterfinal game because it matches two very different styles of play against one another. Williams lives and dies on the perimeter with Dan Wohl ’15 and Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 while Bowdoin still relies on their strong interior defense.

Last time they played:

Bowdoin jumped out to a 17-point lead as Williams scored only 23 first half points. The lead got all the way up to 20 points for the Polar Bears before Williams starting chipping away. A Ryan Kilcullen ’15 three with 0:48 left brought the Ephs to within three, but Bowdoin was able to salt the game away with free throws to win 67-60. Williams barely ever went inside and finished the game with eight made two point field goals and 12 made three point field goals. The Ephs stayed in the game by upping their defensive intensity in the second half and allowing only 27 second half points.

The rosters look somewhat different from the first time these two played, however. Keegan Pieri ’15 led Bowdoin with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the last matchup, but he is out for the season. Also, Neil Fuller ’17 was out with a leg injury, but he is now back and has played some minutes to give Bowdoin more depth in the frontcourt. Meanwhile, Rooke-Ley did not play in the first game for Williams but is fully healthy now.

John Swords '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — John Swords ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

Bowdoin X-factor: Center John Swords ’15

Since the 6’7″ Kilcullen is Williams’ tallest player, one might have expected for Swords to dominate in the first match-up, but he only managed four points, tied for his season low. Bowdoin still scored a lot of easy points in the paint because of Pieri but without him, Swords needs to step up. He has been more aggressive offensively since Pieri went down. He has started to put the ball on the floor one time and make a move to the basket that usually ends in a layup. Smaller defenders often times can deal with his height, but it is the length that comes along with that height which really gives defenders problems. Swords will simply go around players who try to defend him straight up. A couple of baskets early for Swords would be huge. On the other end, if Bowdoin plays man, Swords has to be able to get out on Kilcullen on the perimeter and keep the Boston College transfer from hitting too many threes. Of course, that puts him in the conundrum of being away from the basket which is where he makes the biggest impact for Bowdoin.

Mike Greenman '17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Mike Greenman ’17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Williams X-Factor: Point Guard Mike Greenman ’17

We might be seeing a transformation in how Greenman plays point guard. The sophomore has never been afraid to shoot the ball and also got into the lane and turned the ball over a lot. In recent weeks, he has shot less and, more importantly, his turnovers are down. In conference play he has averaged 1.7 turnovers per game compared to 3.6 in out of conference games. Over his past seven games Greenman has a 3.5 assist/turnover ratio, far above his 1.6 ratio for the season. During that same seven game period, Greenman has scored less than 4.0 PPG and shot only 4-24 (16.7 percent) from three. Greenman knows he is struggling and is adjusting his play because of it. It was just one play, but on Tuesday against Castleton State we witnessed Greenman pass up a wide open three in order to pass to Dan Aronowitz ’17 who drove to the lane for an easy layup. He needs to keep making the right play, and if he makes a couple of early shots too? Look out.

Three Big Questions

1. How different are these teams from the last time they played?

On the surface the presence of Rooke-Ley and Fuller combined with the absence of Pieri would seem like it would have a huge effect. The truth though is that Bowdoin and Williams have played basically the same with or without those guys. Bowdoin’s conference record with Pieri was 3-1 and 4-2 without him, and they played a harder schedule after Pieri got hurt. The Ephs went 2-2 in conference without Rooke-Ley and 3-3 with him while playing harder games without him. It isn’t like those players don’t help their teams when they are on the floor, but when they are out, other players step up. For Williams that was Aronowitz, and Bowdoin has seen Matt Palecki ’16 and Jack Hewitt ’17 combine to help Bowdoin work without Pieri.

2. Can Bowdoin play zone?

Usually when a team has as many shooters as Williams does, it is unthinkable for a team to play zone against them. For Bowdoin, they might need to play zone because they don’t have personnel to stop everyone. The zone that Bowdoin plays is not a simple 2-3 zone with each player sitting in his zone. Instead, Bowdoin plays a matchup zone centered around Swords. He always stays near the basket and only leaves the paint as a last resort if an open player is going to get a three. The four other players basically float around the perimeter switching on screens and always having one player they guard. The scheme requires constant communication and no missteps on defense. On Monday, Husson burned Bowdoin at times with penetration and ball movement. The weakness of the defense is certainly in defending the three point line. If Williams starts whipping the ball around the three point line and hitting open threes, Bowdoin will have to go man.

3. How does Williams slow Lucas Hausman ’16?

Last Saturday Tufts managed to slow down Hausman simply by playing zone against Bowdoin. Williams is unlikely to take that route because they have played almost exclusively man-to-man all season. Wohl will likely get the first crack at Hausman, but Aronowitz should also draw the assignment at times. Both are good defenders and have the right combination of quickness and size to give Hausman problems in theory. No doubt Williams has spent this week dissecting all the film they have on Hausman. They know he likes to get a great first step when he drives right and LOVES to spin into a fadeaway jumper when he drives left. What makes Hausman hard to defend is that he doesn’t use pick and roll so you can only double him once he starts making a move to the basket. Limiting his chances in transition is also crucial for Williams.

What to Expect

I haven’t really even talked yet about the offensive fireworks that Wohl and Rooke-Ley regularly produce or the importance of Bryan Hurley ’15 to everything Bowdoin does. Wohl has struggled shooting the ball from the outside (30.4 percent from deep in NESCAC games). If he does guard Hausman, the outcome of that matchup very well could decide who wins NESCAC Player of the Year. Rooke-Ley is so dangerous from behind the arc that having a hand in his face often isn’t good enough. Hurley has looked more and more comfortable as the season has gone along, and Bowdoin will look to use him and Swords in pick and rolls to put pressure on the Ephs.

These two teams have very different roster makeups so each presents problems for the other. The team that is more effective in exploiting their mismatches will win. For Bowdoin, their advantage is their size inside. We covered Swords above, but the size difference extends to the power forward position where Palecki is tough to move around inside. The edge for Williams is on the perimeter obviously. They need to have everyone hitting their threes so that Bowdoin can’t key on Wohl and Rooke-Ley. Forcing turnovers and going on runs is also important for them. This might be the highest variable game because of how Williams plays. I can see a comfortable Williams win just as easily as a Bowdoin rout. In the end, I think Hausman and Hurley do enough to offset Wohl and Rooke-Ley and Bowdoin pulls out a very entertaining game.

Prediction: Bowdoin 78 – Williams 73

NESCAC Quarterfinal Preview: #6 Wesleyan at #3 Bates

Can Bates finish up an undefeated season at Alumni Gym? (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

To get you ready for Quarterfinal Saturday, the craziest day on the NESCAC calendar, we are going to go in-depth on all four games. The format for each game preview will vary a little, but our goal is to prepare you to expect the unexpected for every game this weekend.

Last time they played: Wesleyan got strong first half performances from Joe Edmonds ’16 and Harry Rafferty and led by four at halftime. After Mike Boornazian ’16 brought the teams to even at 38 all a few minutes into the half, Wesleyan hit three consecutive threes to take a nine-point lead. It looked like Wesleyan was going to notch a big win until Graham Safford ’15 went off. He scored 18 of his 31 points in the final 12:24 to will Bates to the win. Boornazian was the only other Bobcat in double figures while Rafferty, Edmonds and Jack Mackey ’16 all scored 15 points or more for the Cardinals.

Bates X-factor: Forwards Mike Newton ’16 and Max Eaton ’17

The biggest reason for Bates’ great start to the season was the improved play of both Delpeche brothers, but both have cooled off at this point. Tuesday, the two combined for only two points. Newton and Eaton have both received more playing time to compensate, but they are different players. They can shoot some which helps give Bates spacing, but they lack the ability to finish around the rim like Malcolm or Marcus can. If one of the Delpeches struggles, then Newton or Eaton will have to play major minutes. And given the Cardinals’ X-factor, it might help to have a forward who can play away from the basket on the floor.

Wesleyan X-factor: Center Joseph Kuo ’17

The Cardinals have become progressively more perimeter oriented as the year has gone along, but they are still going to make sure to get Kuo the ball a lot. He still has possessions where he makes moves and ends up missing the rim by a couple of feet, but Kuo still makes enough of his post shots that teams have to at least think about doubling him. On defense, he is a good rim protector who does a good job of avoiding fouls. Why are both team’s X-factors post players? Because the perimeter play could very much be a wash given all the talent out there. In the interior and on the boards is where both of these teams really win and lose games.

Three Questions

1. How does Bates try to slow down Wesleyan?

The Bobcats played some 1-3-1 zone earlier in the year, but we have seen less and less of that zone as the season has gone along. Wesleyan has good personnel to play against the zone also with a knockdown shooter in Jack Mackey ’16 and a slasher in BJ Davis ’16. Still, Bates has not had great success in man-to-man. Coach Jon Furbush kept trying different players against Lucas Hausman ’16, but none of them slowed him down very much. If Bates is in man then Wesleyan will likely give the ball to Davis and let him go to work. In their first game, Davis handed out a season high 11 assists. Because Joe Edmonds ’16 has been playing so well for Wesleyan, Boornazian will probably have to guard him because he has the best size. That will leave Billy Selmon ’15 on Davis. Selmon is not known as a defensive whiz, but at the very least he has a good size advantage over Davis. If the match-ups aren’t working for Bates then they will slow down the pace and play zone.

2. Did Wesleyan turn a corner last weekend?

Winning on the road in conference play is not easy, but the Cardinals just had two of them by more than 20 points last weekend. The win against Williams especially was impressive given the teams played earlier in the season and the Ephs won in OT. The Cardinals have led in the second half of a couple of their losses, including their first match-up with Bates and a 65-61 loss to Trinity two weekends ago. Yet, they are also a team that got their doors blown off at Middlebury and got handled easily by Amherst. This team does have a different look than it did near the beginning of the year. Jack Mackey ’16 and Davis are the leaders of the team while Harry Rafferty ’17 has seen his role been reduced somewhat. The Cardinals aren’t as good as they looked last weekend, but they are playing better than Bates right now.

3. Can the crowd be a factor?

Bates has a somewhat unusual academic schedule, and students are on break until Monday morning. The Bobcats are trying to get students back early, as seen above, and how many actually return could have a big impact if the game is close. Even though studies have found home advantage is an overrated aspect in many sports, college basketball is one place where it really does matter. That study looks at Division I schools which usually have more boisterous crowds, but if any school can claim a home-court advantage, it’s the Bobcats. For what its worth, more than 100 people have said on Facebook that they will be at the game, but we won’t know until after tip-off really how many people show up.

What to Expect

Wesleyan is still kicking themselves for letting the first match-up slip away. The Cardinals 5-5 record in conference misses the fact that two of those wins came against Bowdoin and Tufts, good quality teams. Their balance is what makes them good, but it’s also true that a lot of their scorers are streaky. It is usually two or three guys who carry the load each game and not everybody scoring 10 points each game. To me, Bates has slipped just a little bit in conference play. A lot of their wins ended up being close ones at home, and the Alumni Gym magic can only do so much. It is also unlikely that Wesleyan will allow Safford to go off like he did last game. Safford and Boornazian will keep it close, but the ability of all five players on Wesleyan to score will be the difference in a low scoring game.

Prediction: Wesleyan 68 – Bates 58

How They Stack Up: Power Rankings 2/18

Our usual Power Rankings writer, the esteemed Dave Peck, is busy this week with work and other endeavors so I am going to fill in for the week. Keep that in mind if these rankings look very different from the ones last week. However, I think Dave has been doing a fantastic job and have not made too many changes, though one of my decisions near the bottom might surprise you.

1. Trinity (19-5, 9-1) Last Week: 1

This Saturday will mark exactly one month since the Bantams lost a game. Trinity fell to Fisher, an NAIA school, on January 21 and has won six NESCAC games since then. Nothing much has changed since last week for them. They handled their business against Middlebury for 38 minutes, but the Panthers did make a late comeback to make things interesting. Trinity continues to get little respect nationally, as they are not ranked in the D3Hoops poll and were below Amherst and Bates in the first NCAA regional rankings.

Captain Hart Gliedman '15 made life miserable for the Panthers' Dylan Sinnickson '15 in Trinity's last regular season game, a 90-85 win at Middlebury. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — Captain Hart Gliedman ’15 made life miserable for the Panthers’ Dylan Sinnickson ’15 with outstanding perimeter defense in Trinity’s last regular season game, a 90-85 win at Middlebury. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

2. Bowdoin (17-7, 7-3) Last Week: 6

The Polar Bears rocketed up the standings this weekend, and now they rocket up the Power Rankings. Plenty has been said about back-to-back NESCAC Player of the Week Lucas Hausman ’16 and his improvement this season, but one should not overlook the improved quality of play from his classmates Matt Palecki ’16 and Jake Donnelly ’16. Palecki has settled into the power forward position and is even providing some needed three point shooting, and Donnelly is also now in the starting lineup as a third guard. His contributions do not always come through on the stat sheet, but he is the best perimeter defender for Bowdoin and is the primary ball-handler when Bryan Hurley ’15 needs a rest.

3. Amherst (18-6, 6-4) Last Week: 3

The Jeffs bungled their chance to get the number two seed in the NESCAC tournament and subsequently hurt their NCAA at-large chances with a loss Sunday to Middlebury. Yet the loss does not really change our opinion of the Jeffs. Besides Connor Green ’16, nobody played well for Amherst, and there is way too much talent on the roster for that to happen again. The key for Dave Hixon will be figuring who has the hot hand and get them on the court as much as possible Saturday.

4. Bates (19-5, 7-3) Last Week: 2

The Bobcats second game against Bowdoin went completely differently than the first one which was a rout for Bates. Do not put too much stock into this loss because the Bobcats ran into the perfect storm for Bowdoin. The important thing is that they took care of business Saturday against Colby and now have a home game against Wesleyan in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. This is most likely the final home game for Bates this season, and seniors Graham Safford ’15, Adam Philpott ’15, Cam Kaubris ’15 and Billy Selmon ’15 would love to finish their final season at Alumni Gym undefeated.

5. Tufts (13-11, 6-4) Last Week: 5

It is starting to seem like Tufts has simply been treading water the last couple of weeks since Hunter Sabety ’17 got hurt. The Jumbos went 3-3 in their final six NESCAC games without him. To be fair, those three losses were all by single digits and Tufts was either winning or tied at halftime of each of them. Tom Palleschi ’16 has benefited from the extra space on the inside and has been scintillating to watch lately. However, he went cold down the stretch against Bowdoin, a big reason why Tufts could not keep up at the very end.

6. Wesleyan (16-8, 5-5) Last Week: 9

No team made a bigger statement in their two games last weekend than the Cardinals. They went from squarely on the bubble of making the tournament to the sixth seed and a chance to redeem a close lose against Bates. The Cardinals are a very unselfish, balanced team that had four players finish with 11 or more PPG over the course of the regular season. No other team did that, even though as a team Wesleyan was only the fifth highest scoring team this season.

7. Williams (15-9, 5-5) Last Week: 4

The final weekend did not treat Williams as well as they might have hoped. Wesleyan ended up blowing out Williams at Chandler Gym in what was one of the worst shooting performances for the Ephs all season. In fairness, a lot of the shots they missed seemed to rattle in and out, but the fact remains that Williams lives and dies by the three. While that makes them a terrifying opponent to play against, the chances of them having three straight great shooting games in a row to win the NESCAC tournament are long.

8. Middlebury (17-7, 4-6) Last Week: 8

I know that Middlebury did not make the playoffs, but after watching them play Amherst, you think Trinity is thankful that they are playing Colby and not Middlebury? That is no disrespect to Colby, but the Mules are a different team without Chris Hudnut ’16. The improvement of Matt St. Amour ’17 (19.6 PPG, 62.7 percent FG [32-51] in his last six games) as the year went along is an encouraging sign for a Middlebury team that will look to get the program back quickly to the high level it was performing at a few years ago.

Once he recovered from an ankle sprain suffered in late January, St. Amour looked like a different player. The Vermont native will be at the center of Middlebury's reloading effort in 2015-16. (Courtesy of Michael O'Hara/Middlebury Campus) — Once he recovered from an ankle sprain suffered in late January, Matt St. Amour ’17 looked like a different player. The Vermont native will be at the center of Middlebury’s reloading effort in 2015-16. (Courtesy of Michael O’Hara/Middlebury Campus)

9. Colby (13-11, 4-6) Last Week: 7

Give credit to Colby: they are fighting like crazy and having a lot of guys step up in order to stay competitive right now. Not many teams could have lost their projected starting power forward and center and still lose to Tufts and Bates by single digits. While an upset of Trinity is a longshot, it certainly is not impossible. Luke Westman ’16 and Ryan Jann ’16 are right up there as one of the top backcourts in the league. Both of them need to play superbly Saturday.

10. Hamilton (14-10, 2-8) Last Week: 10

The Continentals closed out their season with a victory over the Mules. Despite the 2-8 record, there were a lot of positives for the Continentals who had to deal with the unexpected loss of Matt Hart ’16 to transfer. Joseph Lin ’15 was one of the best stories of the season, but he suffered an unfortunate injury that cut short his campaign. On Saturday for his final home game, Conn College allowed Lin one last basket at home.

11. Conn College (7-16, 0-10) Last Week: 11

For the second time in three seasons, the Camels finished the season without a win in conference. The good news is that everyone should be back next year for Conn, barring any transfers. There appears to be a foundation for at least respectability in place in New London, but winning will not come easy for Conn. The current sophomore and freshmen classes are both big so Conn will rely on the growth of those players next year.

Cardinals Fly at Expense of Panthers: Stock Report 2/16

Going into the weekend, the biggest piece yet to be solved in the playoff puzzle was whether Middlebury or Wesleyan would take the final spot (Colby could have also fallen out under one unlikely scenario). On Friday the Cardinals breezed past Hamilton while Middlebury could not complete a miraculous comeback and fell just short to Trinity. Only a Wesleyan loss and Panther victory Sunday would send Middlebury to the playoffs. By late Saturday afternoon the playoff field was set. Wesleyan sucked out the drama from the proceedings when they opened up the second half with a 14-0 run to take a 20-point lead over Williams, eventually closing out the Ephs with a 74-52 victory. Middlebury actually finished the season on a high note with a nice win over Amherst, but their fate had already been sealed.

Stock Up

Point Guard Jack Mackey ’16 (Wesleyan)

If you look at his statistics from the weekend, it seems like Mackey had his normal productive if somewhat cursory weekend. That would miss the fact that he scored 13 straight points for Wesleyan in the second half when Williams tried to mount a comeback. More importantly, it would miss the defense that Mackey played on the Williams guards. Mackey was a big part in holding Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 to six points. Mackey is a tenacious and physical defender. Though he does not use his quickness very often on the offensive end, he has good lateral quickness which makes it hard for opponents to get into the lane against him. Mackey is a big reason why Wesleyan finished the season ranked third in the league in scoring defense with 64.0 PPG allowed.

Shooting Guard Lucas Hausman ’16 (Bowdoin)

Lucas Hausman '16 tallied 44 points on Friday night, the highest total recorded in the NESCAC this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CI Photography) — Lucas Hausman ’16 tallied 44 points on Friday night, the highest total recorded in the NESCAC this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CI Photography)

Hausman was absolutely on fire Friday night tying the Bowdoin single game record with 44 points. He went 20-25 from the field while scoring in almost every way imaginable: fast break layups, fall away jumpers off of his trademark spin move, and threes with a hand in his face. In fact, the only way he didn’t score was from the foul line where he went 0-1 on the night. Yet on the season he has made the most free throws in the NESCAC. Hausman cooled off Saturday against the Tufts zone, but he still scored 16 points as Bowdoin won to secure a home playoff game. Dan Wohl ’15 has been the favorite to win Player of the Year honors for most of the season, but Hausman is making a worthy late charge. Because the NESCAC tournament is also included when deciding who will win NESCAC honors, the award might come down to how Hausman and Wohl play against each other when Williams plays at Bowdoin in the first round.

Trinity

The Bantams already had the number one seed sewn up before the weekend, but they still were big winners because of two things. First, they went up and controlled the game against Middlebury. The bench, led by Rick Naylor ’16 and Ed Ogundeko ’15, had 29 of the team’s 39 first half points. Trinity’s 90 points in the game was a high for them in conference. The second thing that went well was Colby finishing with the eight seed. The Mules are still dangerous without Chris Hudnut ’16, but they simply do not have the size that Trinity has inside. The Mules are definitely a preferable matchup for Trinity compared to Middlebury or Wesleyan. I’m not saying that Colby can’t get hot shooting the ball and shock the Bantams this weekend, but it will take a heck of an effort to do it.

Stock Down

Amherst’s Sense of Urgency

Going into Sunday, Amherst knew a win got them the two seed while a loss dropped them all the way to the five seed and a trip to Tufts in the first round. That didn’t seem to show as Middlebury led wire-to-wire, and Amherst never really made a run. Maybe it was the delayed start time because the referees were late or that Amherst lacked somebody who could rally the team and tell them that this was a must-win. Whatever the case, the win cost the Jeffs and deprives us of a third Williams vs. Amherst matchup in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, Amherst has to take on Tufts, a team that blitzed them in a 27-point victory. Granted, the outcome is very unlikely to be the same because Hunter Sabety ’17 is hurt, but the Jeffs did themselves no favors this weekend.

Forward Marcus Delpeche ’17 (Bates)

Though we often lump them in as one unit, the Delpeches are in fact two different basketball players. Marcus has played slightly more and put up bigger numbers than Malcolm overall this season. Against Colby and Bowdoin, Marcus scored 7.0 PPG, not that far below his 9.7 PPG average on the season. What was concerning was that he had only four rebounds against Bowdoin and ONE against Colby. Bates still managed to do okay on the boards as a team. Don’t be fooled by Bowdoin having eight more rebounds than Bates on Friday. The reason for that was not Bates’ rebounding but their defense: since Bowdoin made 63.5 percent of their shots, there were less defensive rebounds for Bates to grab. Still, Marcus Delpeche should be getting way more than five rebounds over two games. Hopefully a return to Alumni Gym will get him going.

Williams

Saturday was senior day in Williamstown for Ryan Kilcullen ’15, Rooke-Ley and Wohl, but the day did not end the way supporters of the Ephs were hoping. The blowout loss to Wesleyan means Williams finishes the year at 5-5, seventh in the league standings. For all intents and purposes, this year’s team was the product of Mike Maker, the former Williams coach. He recruited all of the players on the roster, and though Kevin App changed some things schematic-wise, the team retained the same up-tempo three point heavy style. The talent still on the roster was properly recognized as one of the most talented in the league before the season began, but they have been inconsistent all season. While they blew out Middlebury, they also lost to Hamilton and struggled to put away Conn College. There is still a distinct possibility they get hot and make a run to win the NESCAC title. If not, then the season will end far short of where it did a season ago. The Ephs lose three starters in Rooke-Ley, Wohl and Kilcullen after this year. None of their juniors this year saw very significant minutes. This is going to be a very young team next season led by Dan Aronowitz ’17 and Mike Greenman ’17. The heavy lifting of the rebuilding process is just beginning for App.

The 10 Most Important People This Weekend

Graham Safford '15 might be holding flowers, but he still has his eyes on the prize: two wins this weekend. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics) — Graham Safford ’15 might be holding flowers, but he still has his eyes on the prize. (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

Usually in our weekend preview we tell you three players who we think are going to have a significant impact on the weekend. Given how big of a weekend this one is, three is simply not going to be enough. The criteria for this is not simply the best players on each team. The most important players are the ones who will have the biggest impact on how we look back on the weekend.

10. Small Forward Peter Kazickas ’15 (Hamilton)

The emergence of Joseph Lin ’15 has overshadowed the improvement of Kazickas, another senior who has stepped up in his final season. Last season Kazickas was a secondary option for Hamilton and only made 0.4 threes per game. This season he is shooting an unfathomably hot 59.1 percent from three in conference while making four times as many threes as last year. Yes, Hamilton is officially eliminated from the tournament, but as Williams learned earlier, traveling to Clinton is not an easy task. The Continentals could play spoiler to Wesleyan, if Kazickas shoots like he has been recently.

9. David George ’17 (Amherst)

If George watched the Middlebury-Bowdoin game, he was salivating at all the dunks John Swords ’15 had against the Panther frontline. He could have a great game Sunday if Amherst makes a concerted effort to get him the ball. George has been a very good player this year for the Jeffs, but he has not been close to the dominant force he looked like for parts of the NCAA tournament. He is shooting 52.8 percent from the field which honestly is not a great percentage for a big man. A big game going into the NESCAC tournament will put fear in Amherst’s opponents.

8. Shooting Guard Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 (Williams)

Any doubt about who the best pure shooter in the NESCAC is was put to rest by Rooke-Ley Friday night against Bates. He went 6-8 from three, many of them with a hand in his face. To shoot for the season 46.7 percent from three given the difficulty of most of those shots is impressive. Finding him in transition is an absolute must. Rooke-Ley might not create very many opportunities for others, but he cashes in on the ones he has. At 4-4, Williams could be primed for a 2-0 weekend against Wesleyan and Conn College. If they got to 6-4, it would be the first time all season they have been more than a game away from .500 in conference.

7. Guard BJ Davis ’16 (Wesleyan)

Staying in front of Davis is a nightmare, and he gives Wesleyan more dynamism in their offense now that the Cardinals are running more offense through him. The Cardinals might need to win both of their games this weekend, and Davis is the one player who can truly be a difference maker for them. His shooting percentages are not great recently as he is drawing opponents’ top defenders. In conference games Davis is Wesleyan’s leading scorer and passer with 13.6 PPG and 4.0 APG. It is possible that on Saturday Williams puts Dan Wohl ’15 on Davis. If that is the case, Davis will probably try to use his quickness to get in the lane and forgo shooting from outside.

6. Point Guard Jake Brown ’17 (Middlebury)

Nobody thought that Middlebury would be here, needing at least one victory in the final weekend against Trinity or Amherst to even think about making the tournament. Brown could be important in very different ways. Friday against Trinity, Brown will defend Jaquann Starks ’16. Starks has been in double-digits the last five games, but Brown will be a real challenge for him. If Brown shuts down Starks, the Bantams offense could grind to a halt for long periods. Then, on Sunday Brown might take advantage of his athleticism against Reid Berman ’17 to get into the lane and cause Amherst headaches. Last Sunday Brown was limping at periods with what looked like an ankle injury, and if he is less than 100 percent, Middlebury will be in even bigger trouble than they are already.

5. Center John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin)

A fired up Swords is the best type of Swords, and that is the version we saw on Sunday against Middlebury. It probably helped that he only had one game that weekend and did not have to worry about his knees. Though his offensive production against Middlebury was great, it will be his defense and rebounding that Bowdoin really relies on this weekend. Because Tom Palleschi ’16 did not play last year, Swords and him have not matched up for significant minutes yet. The two will likely spend the beginning of the game feeling each other out with Palleschi probably relying on his jump shot initially.

4. Power Forward Sam Willson ’16 (Colby)

Willson is basically the entire Colby frontcourt right now. We aren’t sure because Colby does not publish the height of their players on their website, but based off of this photo, after Willson, Luke Westman ’16 was the second tallest player who played for Colby against Middlebury. Willson wasn’t even supposed to start this year, but a preseason injury to Patrick Stewart ’16 and more recent injury to Chris Hudnut ’16 leaves Willson as the only big man left. Offensively his role is the same as he is still really a stretch four who is good in pick and roll situations. On defense is where he will really make or break the Mules’ weekend. He could have a tough time going against Tom Palleschi ’16 and Marcus Delepeche ’17. He will need to use his strength and rely on help from his teammates to keep Colby afloat down low.

3. Center Tom Palleschi ’16 (Tufts)

In the first half against Williams, Palleschi looked unstoppable draining midrange jumpers, hook shots, and layups down low on his way to 22 points. Then suddenly in the second half he went cold and didn’t score in the final 17:20 of the game. That was a big reason why Williams came back to win and plunge Tufts back into the thick of things. Without Hunter Sabety ’17, Palleschi is the only inside threat for Tufts. He has to exploit Colby who is still playing without Chris Hudnut ’16. If Tufts stumbles Friday then Palleschi will have to deal with Swords. His ability to hit shots from outside might give Swords problems, but he has to make them first.

2. Power Forward Dylan Sinnickson ’15

His Player of the Year candidacy is over after last weekend, and Sinnickson just has not looked like the same explosive inside-out threat that we saw earlier this year. In his past four conference games, Hamilton was the only one where he scored more than 13 points or grabbed more than nine rebounds. He needs to be the man for Middlebury for at least one game this weekend. Something like a 20 and 15 performance. He most certainly has to outplay Connor Green ’16 when those two meet on Sunday. Maybe returning to Pepin will help Sinnickson to get back to the player who looked almost unstoppable for stretches earlier in the season.

1. Point Guard Graham Safford ’15 (Bates)

We have been saying all season that Safford is the single most important player to any team. There is a reason why he is averaging an insane 36.9 MPG. But how much of a toll is it taking on him? The last two Friday NESCAC games Safford has averaged 26.0 PPG, but on Saturday that average dips all the way down to 9.5 PPG. Both of those games have still been wins, but they were against Hamilton and Conn College, the two worst teams in the NESCAC. Bates might struggle Saturday against Colby. So maybe Safford knows that Friday is the game that Bates needs to win. After all, he was in the Bowdoin gym Sunday afternoon watching Middlebury and Bowdoin play.

Traveling to Maine Carries Significant Risk: Stock Report 2/9

Malcolm Delpeche '17 flushed this one home as the Bobcats slipped by Hamilton on Saturday, Feb. 7. — Malcolm Delpeche ’17 flushed this one home as the Bobcats slipped by Hamilton 73-71 on Saturday, Feb. 7.

The Maine triumvirate of Colby, Bates and Bowdoin combined on the weekend to go 4-0 at home. Behind hot shooting from Ryan Jann ’16 who finished with 26 points, the Mules beat Middlebury for their first win without Chris Hudnut ’16. Then on Sunday Bowdoin blitzed their way to an easy win over the Panthers to drop Middlebury to 3-5 in the NESCAC.

Meanwhile, Bates’ vaunted home-court advantage once again took center stage as the Bobcats pulled out close wins over Williams and Hamilton. The wins bring the Bobcats’ home record to 12-0 and 6-0 in NESCAC play. While you have probably heard all about how Alumni Gym rattles opponents, Colby and Bowdoin also boast great home records. Colby is 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the NESCAC at home, and this season has seen a resurgence in student attendance in Waterville. Bowdoin does not have as many students at their games (though I am one of the proud few), but the Polar Bears are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the NESCAC when they play in Brunswick.

Of the three losses between them, two of them came at the hands of one of the other with Colby beating Bowdoin in Brunswick in December and the Polar Bears returning the favor in Waterville a few weeks ago. So the only team that has managed to come from out of state and beat a Maine school is Williams which beat Colby on January 17.

Stock Up

Center John Swords ’15 (Bowdoin)

As the only returning player from the All-NESCAC First Team, expectations were high for Swords coming into the season, but he has fallen short of them on the offensive end. Sunday was the Swords that Bowdoin fans were hoping for. The seven footer scored 20 points on 10-13 shooting, and at least five of his baskets came on dunks. Swords attacked from the very beginning of the game, forcing Chris Churchill ’15 to pick up two early fouls. He was not afraid to put the ball on the floor and go to the hoop, something that he has been hesitant to do for long stretches this season. He also took it personal when he got called for an offensive charge drawn by Matt Daley ’16 and attacked Daley the next time he got the ball down low. It was only one game, but if Swords continues to play like he did on Sunday, Bowdoin will be difficult for teams to handle.

Shooting Guard Rick Naylor ’16 (Trinity)

Sometimes it is hard to pick out specific players on Trinity who are difference makers beyond Jaquann Starks ’16. That isn’t meant to insult the ability of anyone on the Bantam roster, but they are so balanced that picking out individuals is difficult. Naylor is certainly a role player averaging 5.8 PPG for the season, but he has come up big in recent weeks. First against Bowdoin he carried Trinity down the stretch on offense, and on Friday he helped Trinity outlast a determined Wesleyan squad. He went 5-6 from three on his way to a team high 17 points. On offense, Naylor is pretty much a straight shooter with 63 percent of his made shots coming from deep. In conference play he is shooting 54.5 percent from three, the second highest percentage in the league. On the other end, Naylor fits perfectly into the hard-nosed style Trinity plays. Despite averaging only 20.6 MPG, he has fouled out of four games so far this season, the fourth most in the NESCAC this season.

Guard Connor Green ’16 (Amherst)

Not that Green’s stock was necessarily low, but it has sky rocketed recently as the Lord Jeffs have started to look more like the perennial title contenders that we are used to seeing. Over the last four games, Green has scored at least 24 points three times and thrice snagged double digit rebounds. Last week we handicapped the Player of the Year race and Green came in with the fourth best odds to win the award. If we ranked these players again today Green would probably have the second best odds and the gap between Green and favorite Dan Wohl ’15 would be much smaller than it was then. Amherst is playing much better of late, blowing out some of the NESCAC’s bottom feeders and a couple tough Maine teams. It took awhile for Coach Dave Hixon to work out the rotation, but he seems to have found a serviceable point man in Reid Berman ’17 and a reliable bench scorer in Jeff Racy ’17. The Lord Jeffs are dangerous right now and Green is only elevating his game as the season goes on.

Stock Down

Hamilton’s Luck

Honestly, I feel terrible for the Continentals. They have played better than their 1-7 record would indicate. On Saturday Hamilton almost pulled off the upset at Bates. A layup from Joe Pucci ’18 put Hamilton up 71-66 with 1:36 to go, but Bates scored the final seven points to storm back for the win. For the Continentals, it was merely the latest close loss. Six of their seven losses in conference have been by single digits. It is a shame, too, because they play a fun, uptempo brand of basketball with an eclectic crew. Peter Kazickas ’15 is lights out shooting the ball, and he also rocks the best ‘mun’ (man bun. It is a hairstyle I swear) in the NESCAC. Ajani Santos ’16 has a nice post game, and Joseph Lin ’15 is one of the most clever players I have seen. Because of tie-breakers, Hamilton is already eliminated from the NESCAC tournament. We knew Hamilton would miss the transferred Matt Hart, but this group exceeded expectations even if the final records don’t show it.

Clarity

Remember when I said that this weekend was going to go a long way in figuring out the NESCAC picture? Yeah, well I lied about that. Going into next weekend, the number of scenarios that can end up happening are endless. Trinity will host a quarter-final game, Bates will host for sure as long as they win one of their games this weekend, and Amherst will host for sure if they win against Middlebury. If those three host, then the winner of Tufts-Bowdoin will host the fourth game. Unless Colby or Williams goes 2-0 on the weekend and Tufts beats Bowdoin, then the Ephs or Mules would host because they both own the tiebreaker over Tufts. If Colby, Williams and Tufts are all 6-4 then Williams would host because they went 2-0 against those teams, but if Bates loses both games then there could be a four-way tie…OK we give up. Personally I am rooting for the scenario where Bates and Amherst go winless for the weekend, Tufts beats Bowdoin, and Williams and Colby go 2-0. That would mean that all six of those teams would finish at 6-4.

Middlebury Defense

There were some questions about the quality of Middlebury’s competition at the beginning of the year, but nevertheless their domination was impressive enough for us to rank them at the top of our initial power rankings, and a big part of that decision was the Panthers’ commitment to defense. Coach Jeff Brown challenged his guys to be the best defense in the country this season, and for a good chunk of the year the Panthers were ranked in the top five nationally in field goal percentage defense. In Middlebury’s first 13 games, during which stretch they started 13-0, they allowed 70 points only twice and both were easy victories. In the subsequent 11 games, opponents have scored 70 points seven times and Middlebury has gone 7-5. This weekend Colby and Bowdoin combined to shoot 47.3 percent from the field against the Panthers. Even Jake Brown ’17, possibly the best perimeter defender in the NESCAC, struggled against the athletic Lucas Hausman ’16 on Sunday. If Middlebury is going to right the ship (and even make the NESCAC tournament), they will need to get back to playing good defense.

Time to Shuffle the Deck: Weekend Preview 2/6

Malcolm Delpeche '17 dunks against Wesleyan last weekend. (Photo courtesy of Phyllis Jensen and Bates Athletics) — Malcolm Delpeche ’17 dunks against Wesleyan last weekend. (Photo courtesy of Phyllis Jensen and Bates Athletics)

The penultimate weekend of the NESCAC schedule should clear up the logjam in the middle of the conference. Only a game and half separates teams 2-9 right now, meaning that Colby, currently not even making the NESCAC tournament, would very likely be the #2 seed if they won their final three conference games. Now, that isn’t likely to happen, but it just goes to show that the standings are a mess right now. This might be the weekend when teams sort themselves out and some wannabe contenders reveal themselves as pretenders.

With the NESCAC tournament right around the corner, teams are jostling to get one of the top four spots in order to host a first round game. Any team that goes 2-0 this weekend has a good chance of accomplishing just that.

Three Players to Watch

1. Shooting Guard Mike Boornazian ’16 (Bates): Boornazian might be the most underrated player in the NESCAC. He is capable of guarding every position besides center because of his exceptional length. This weekend will be a treat with Boornazian tasked with slowing down Player of the Year favorite Dan Wohl ’15. The two are physically very similar: 6’5″ guards who are fluid enough to handle the ball. Boornazian is also no slouch on the offensive end. He only shoots 39.8 percent from the field to average 14.8 PPG, but he is crucial for taking pressure off of Graham Safford ’15. He can act as a secondary ball-handler when needed also. On Tuesday Safford sat out in order to rest, and Boornazian had one of his best games of the season finishing with 26 points. He might be overlooked at the end of the year for league awards, but Boornazian is critical for the Bobcats.

2. Power Forward Drew Madsen ’17 (Tufts): Per the Tufts student newspaper, Hunter Sabety ’17 sustained what appeared to be a serious knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the year. If that is the case, then it is time to get familiar with Madsen, the talented 6’7″ backup to Sabety. He was already a part of the rotation before the injury, and now he will see his minutes climb even more. He has not put up tremendous per minute stats in his limited time so do not expect him to simply replace Sabety. However, he is a big body with enough skill to make plays. Given the ability of Tom Palleschi ’17 to make jumpers, Madsen should consider only ever leaving the paint when he needs to avoid a three second call. The rest of the time he should be battling position for any offensive rebound. Sabety, for all of his offensive prowess, was not a fantastic defender, so Madsen could offset his lack of offensive skill that way.

3. Shooting Guard Ryan Jann ’16 (Colby): The Mules started NESCAC play 3-0, and for a brief span they were at the top of the NESCAC standings. Since then they have lost their last four NESCAC games and found out Chris Hudnut ’16 is out with a knee injury for the rest of the year. Luke Westman ’16 is a great player, but his lack of a jump shot means he is not capable of being a go-to scorer. So now the sharpshooter Jann is the number one option for Colby. He exploded for 27 against Trinity, and he looked comfortable finding space to get his shot off. He has also gotten better as a distributor this year, but it is his scoring that will be most needed. The Mules need one more win to get into the NESCAC tournament, and Jann will have to shoot them there.

Three Games to Watch

3. Sunday 1:00 PM: Middlebury (15-4, 3-3) at Bowdoin (14-6, 4-3)

This is the NbN grudge match between myself and Joe. Last season saw Middlebury pull out a close victory because Coach Tim Gilbride called a timeout when he didn’t have one after Bowdoin tied the game with under five seconds remaining. The two rosters look very different than they did a year ago with Dylan Sinnickson ’15, Hunter Merryman ’15 and John Swords ’15 the only starters returning. How Middlebury defends Lucas Hausman ’16 could decide the game. The Panthers love to push the pace, but Hausman is exceptional in transition, even though as a team Bowdoin does not like to go fast because of their short rotation. Jake Brown ’17 usually takes on opponents’ point guards, but he might guard Hausman for stretches because of his quickness. Though Matt St. Amour ’17 is a good team defender who draws a lot of charges, he is still not as quick as he was before his ACL injury.

Given how Connor Green ’16 went off last weekend against the Polar Bears, Dylan Sinnickson ’15 could be primed for a big day. After struggling somewhat by his lofty standards in conference play, Sinnickson has averaged 25.0 PPG and 15.5 RPG in his last two games. He and Brown should look to attack John Swords ’15 at the basket because of the depleted Bowdoin backcourt, but an underrated improvement from Swords has been his ability to stay out of foul trouble in nearly every game, only fouling out once all season. The loser of this game will all but certainly be forced to go on the road in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.

2. Friday 7:00 PM: Williams (12-7, 3-3) at Bates (15-4, 4-2)

The Bobcats are a perfect 10-0 at home this season, and their fans are sure to come out for the final home games of the season this weekend. Beating them in Alumni Gymnasium, especially in what could be the seniors’ final home games, is going to be a tall task. Even though Williams is only 3-3, they just smacked Middlebury in their only game last weekend. Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 looks 100 percent again after missing time due to a hand injury.

We all know Williams is going to play with Dan Aronowitz ’17 as an undersized power forward and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 at center, so the question becomes whether Bates coach Jon Furbush is capable of playing two big men for most of the game. He will want to keep both Marcus and Malcolm Delpeche ’17 on the floor for most of the game in order to control the boards and get easy baskets. However, Aronowitz will look to attack using his combination of shooting and slashing against a bigger defender. Bates can also easily go small with Adam Philpott ’15 acting as power forward. The chess match between the two youngest coaches in the NESCAC, Furbush and Kevin App, will be fun. App has played a tight rotation all season, but he could mix things up and play Darrias Sime ’16 or Edward Flynn ’16 for longer minutes.

Ultimately, a great deal of Williams’ games come down to how they shoot the ball. Because they shoot so many threes, when a lot of them go in they are hard to beat. Bates will try to make up for that by destroying the Ephs on the glass and sticking to shooters as closely as possible. This is going to be the most fun game to watch because of the possibility for offensive fireworks and a first rate atmosphere.

1. Friday 7:00 PM: Trinity (16-5, 6-1) at Wesleyan (14-6, 3-3)

In the same year that the University of Virginia is in the Top Five behind a suffocating defense, the Bantams are on top of the NESCAC in much the same way. By the way, Jaquann Starks ’16 has been absolutely en fuego from beyond the arc recently. In NESCAC play he is shooting the third best percentage from deep, 56.2 percent, while making the third most threes per game, 2.6. In fact, he is shooting a higher percentage from three than he is from the field. Though Trinity wants him to continue to get into the lane, they would prefer he simply continue to nail shots from downtown. Though we have harped on how Trinity’s balance means different guys step up every game, Starks is the one guy they need to perform. In the three Bantam loses in 2015, Starks has averaged an anemic 3.0 PPG, well below his 13.4 PPG season average.

Wesleyan needs to not back down from the physical presence of Trinity. An underrated part of the Bantams defense is how uncomfortable they make things on the perimeter for teams, so it helps that Wesleyan can rely on BJ Davis ’16, Jack Mackey ’16 or Harry Rafferty ’17 to handle the ball. Davis in particular is adept at getting into the lane, and even if he isn’t finishing amongst the big men, it could stretch the Trinity defense enough to get Mackey open looks. Both teams will be fine with a slow plodding pace. That should keep the game in the 50s, meaning that this game might come down to offensive execution in the final five minutes. There the edge goes to Trinity, who, even though they don’t play great offense overall, manage to find ways to grind out points at the end of the game. When these two met last year, Trinity led by about five points for most of the second half, and Wesleyan was never able to get over the hump.

The game is in Middletown, but the Bantams are hoping a road win helps them secure home court for the NESCAC tournament. Trinity’s home court advantage is not significant, but the Bantams would still love the #1 seed to have the opportunity to host the NESCAC semi-finals and final if they get past their first round opponent. If they beat the Cardinals, they will be able to taste it.

Joe Loves Efficiency Part 27: Fantasy Report 2/4

Joe missed the impact of Tufts' big man Hunter Sabety '17. (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Joe missed the impact of Tufts’ big man Hunter Sabety ’17. (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

This was a big week in fantasy with injuries playing a big role. Joe did not have two of his top players, Chris Hudnut ’16 and Hunter Sabety ’17 healthy. Given the lack of public information about injuries, we have entered into a gentleman’s agreement to have bench players automatically fill in for players who get injured. Therefore our rosters ended up looking this.

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

This was the biggest week for both of us. I thought my 189 points was a lot, but buoyed by the huge weekend from Lucas Hausman ’16, Joe scored a whopping 218 points. Not surprisingly, he also beat me in FT% and FG% with a lot of different people pitching in. But then, beyond that my team had a much better all-around week. The reemergence of Johnny McCarthy ’18 was huge for me. His 7 blocks helped me squeak out a victory in that category. Graham Safford ’15 was my MVP this week, and Hausman was Joe’s best player.

Category	Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam)	Lin and Tonic (Joe)
Points	189	218
Assists	36	23
Rebounds	98	83
Steals	25	15
Blocks	19	18
FT%	67.2% (43/64)	77.6% (66/85)
FG%	40.5% (62/153)	47.6% (70/147)
3PT Made	15	10

Yesterday Joe said he has an “obsession with efficiency.” No place is that shown in real life more than Fantasy. For those who don’t remember (I know that’s everyone), Joe took Luke Westman ’16 with the third overall pick. I scoffed at this considering how few points Westman had scored to that point, and took Graham Safford ’15 with my next pick. That sequence in many ways is the defining moment of our fantasy foray. At this point, it looks more and more possible that we end the season tied at 4-4. My chances of winning outright are extremely low, and Joe losing Sabety and Hudnut will make it hard for him to come back in rebounds. Our differing philosophies might end in an anti-climactic impasse.

Category	Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam)	Lin and Tonic (Joe)	Leader
Points	594	721	Joe
Assists	99	126	Joe
Rebounds	318	303	Adam
Steals	62	49	Adam
Blocks	59	39	Adam
FT%	68.8% ( 130/189)	76.8% (229/298)	Joe
FG%	45.% (215/473)	48.9% (255/521)	Joe
3PT Made	51	25	Adam

Overall Score: Tied 4-4

The Bantams Separate From the Chaos (Barely): Stock Report 1/2

Trinity now holds a game and a half lead over everybody in the NESCAC with a 6-1 conference record, but it took a late second half comeback against Bowdoin to first force overtime and then escape with the win. In what was a very entertaining back and forth game, the Polar Bears took a six-point lead on a John Swords ’15 layup with 5:40 left, but the Bantams battled back and took a one point lead on a huge Rick Naylor ’16 three. Bryan Hurley ’15 knotted things up at 62 all with a free throw and neither team was able to score again in regulation. In overtime Naylor scored four more points and Trinity hung on to win by one. Naylor finished with 16 points and Ed Ogundeko ’15 had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bantams won a little more comfortably over Colby on Saturday to cement their status as the NESCAC frontrunners. That position is very tenuous because Tufts holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Trinity. Also, the Bantams have to go on the road for their final three conference games against Wesleyan, Conn College and Middlebury. Their offense is at best inconsistent, and every team they play feels like they have a good chance at winning so long as they make shots. That Trinity has also lost a couple of questionable midweek games also throws a damper on their NESCAC success. The Bantams have fought their way to the top, but the sifting sands of the conference landscape might not make that the place to be.

Stock Up

Point Guard Graham Safford ’15 (Bates)

Safford carried the Bobcats to a huge 2-0 weekend in Lewiston. Against Wesleyan on Friday night he scored 31 points, 22 of which came in the second half. He scored 18 of Bates’ final 31 points. Then Saturday he showed his ability to impact the game in so many ways despite having an awful day shooting the ball from the field going 1-11. He scored all 10 of his points in the second half, most of them foul shots down the stretch. Since he couldn’t hit shots, Safford made sure to get his teammates involved handing out 10 assists. He also upped the intensity on the other end finishing the game with a crazy seven steals. Conn College gave Bates a good battle, but Safford made sure that his team did not experience a let down game. A 2-0 weekend puts Bates right back into the thick of things near the top. They get to play Williams at home on Friday night, a big advantage for them. So long as Safford is healthy, his ability will keep Bates in every game they play.

Amherst Perimeter Players

Cheating a little here because Connor Green ’16 is really a forward, but he does a lot of work around the perimeter as well. One of the Amherst student announcers compared Green to Carmelo Anthony, a very apt comparison because both can get outrageously hot from deep but also like to be physical and get to the rim. Obviously Green got hot this weekend, especially against Bowdoin where he buried the Polar Bears with a flurry of three pointers. Reid Berman ’17 did not score a point all weekend, but he also handed out 21 assists, and Johnny McCarthy ’18 returned to his early season form averaging 15.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 SPG and 3.5 BPG. Coming into the season Amherst appeared to have a bevy of frontcourt players and a lot of question marks in the backcourt. Now, including Jeff Racy ’17 and Michael Riopel ’18, there is a plethora of players making an impact on the perimeter. In order to make space for everyone, Coach Dave Hixon is going back to a guard-heavy lineup and using Green as a small ball power forward for long stretches.

Small Forward Joe Edmonds ’16 (Wesleyan)

The Oklahoma City native had by far his best weekend of the season, and he came up huge on Saturday to get Wesleyan a much needed win at Tufts. He led Wesleyan with 18 points, four assists and four rebounds. Edmonds has been somewhat of a catalyst for Wesleyan. In the three Cardinal conference wins Edmonds is averaging 14.0 points, and in their losses he is averaging 8.0 points. He did a good job of attacking the basket against Tufts with Hunter Sabety ’17 out with an injury. Do not sleep on the Cardinals who came very close to completing a 2-0 weekend against Bates and Tufts. Many probably wrote them off when Middlebury tore them apart a few weeks ago, but this is a resilient team. At the very least, they are a team capable of giving everybody in the NESCAC a big scare.

Stock Down

Middlebury Depth

After a lot of tinkering, Coach Jeff Brown was finally able to employ the starting five that most fans envisioned on Sunday in Jake Brown ’17, Matt St. Amour’17, Hunter Merryman ’15, Dylan Sinnickson ’15 and Matt Daley ’16. Daley is finally delivering on his mountains of promise, and if (a huge if for him) he can stay healthy then he gives Midd a true big man in the middle. His emergence comes as many of the Panthers bench players slide into the background. Connor Huff ’16 will reinvent himself as an energy guy off the bench, but he might work better as a player with stars around him. Dean Brierley ’15 and Bryan Jones ’17 will see time at guard, but neither of them really scares teams. Not a single freshmen even saw the floor against Hamilton, though Nick Tarantino ’18 and Jack Daly ’18 have shown flashes of strong play this season. The Panthers starting five scored all but five of Middlebury’s points against Hamilton. Middlebury loves to push the pace and they are best when they rotate guys in and out, but they seem overly reliant on their stars right now.

Colby

Really a tough weekend for Colby because they had to face their two toughest road opponents without their star Chris Hudnut ’16, who was out with an injury. The Mules rely on Hudnut so much on the boards and in the paint that it likely would have taken a near perfect performance from every one of their remaining players to pull out a victory against either Amherst or Trinity. The severity of the injury to Hudnut is still unclear, but the Mules will not be able to survive a prolonged absence from him. Two weeks ago the Mules were 3-1 and seemed to be coming together. Now at 3-4 it is possible they miss the NESCAC tournament all together. This season, one injury, one bad weekend can ruin your season. On the flip side, the Mules could rebound quickly and get back on track.

Small Forward Stephen Haladyna ’16 (Tufts)

Lost in the hubbub around the Jumbos strong start in conference was the continued struggles of Haladyna. The second leading scorer on Tufts last season, the junior lost his starting spot in the lineup halfway through the season and has done little to justify getting it back. Then he had a nice game Friday against Conn College going 3-3 from three, his best shooting performance of the year. That made his subsequent goose egg on 0-5 shooting Saturday all the more frustrating. Haladyna is in a year long shooting slump making an abysmal 24.1 percent from three. Never a great playmaker for others, he is also now not getting a lot of rebounds which means he is struggling to contribute in any fashion. Other players have stepped up and helped Tufts manage his decline, but it looks close to a lost season for Haladyna.

Hard to Kill a Polar Bear: Bowdoin Update

Bryan Hurley '15 goes to the hoop during the Bowdoin comeback against Colby. (Courtesy of the Kennebec Journal) — Bryan Hurley ’15 goes to the hoop during the Bowdoin comeback against Colby. (Courtesy of the Kennebec Journal)

Through a combination of injuries and the flu, Bowdoin walked onto the bus last Saturday, the 24th, to head to Colby with only nine healthy players, including Stephen Girolamo ’16 who walked onto the team this fall and has barely played all season. John Swords ’15 was the only starter still standing from last season’s team that went to the NCAA tournament. Colby won the teams’ first matchup of the season 61-48 in Brunswick, at which a promotion helped to bring the biggest and loudest student crowd at Colby in years.

Despite all of that and a nine point half time deficit, the Polar Bears scratched and clawed (apologies for the pun) their way to a huge win over their rival Mules to move to 4-1 in the NESCAC, tied for first with Trinity. Now the hardest games on the Bowdoin schedule still remain and the early gains they have made in conference play will be put to the test. This weekend against Trinity and Amherst will be huge in deciding whether Bowdoin will again host a home NESCAC game.

At this point, before we go any further, I should probably say that I care more about the Bowdoin basketball team than, frankly, any other basketball team, professional included. Heck, I traveled all the way to Pennsylvania last season to watch the Bears lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I have a completely irrational affection for this basketball team. With that being said, I think that the following analysis of Bowdoin is fair.

A three game losing streak, all by double digits, in December looked like a signal that Bowdoin simply did not have the same chutzpah that got them through so many close games last season. For the first time, I had actual doubts about whether Bowdoin was going to be able to contend. So, two weekends ago I came back to campus early to watch Bowdoin play Williams, a game that I thought had terrible match ups for Bowdoin nearly across the board. Then the first half happened and Bowdoin raced out to a 17-point halftime lead. Yet even when Bowdoin was up 20 with under 14 minutes to go, I knew Williams was going to come back because the Polar Bears don’t win games easily. More often than not, they win right when you begin to think the possibility that a loss is eminent. Even though the Ephs came storming back and almost won the game, what the win over Williams did was pull me back into believing whole-heartedly that Bowdoin could compete for the NESCAC championship.

More Adversity

Then, later last week the devastating news of the injury to Keegan Pieri ’15 came out. Pieri had just started playing his best basketball of the season according to Coach Tim Gilbride. He averaged 18.0 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game in the wins over Hamilton and Williams. Even in a league suddenly overflowing with 6’6″ forwards capable of taking over games offensively, Pieri was a mismatch for teams. He could hit open threes and put it on the floor when needed. But where he really shined was when he was isolated one-on-one in the mid-post. Pieri is a lethal shooter from the 10-15 foot area where he uses his length to shoot over defenders. If defenders got up too close he was able to exploit them with a lefty hook shot. He is a really crafty offensive player that has a great feel of the game. More often not, when Bowdoin needed a bucket, their offense was going through Pieri and he was creating either his own shot or the Polar Bears would swing it around the perimeter to a guard.

The loss of Pieri is even worse because Bowdoin already lost another forward, Neil Fuller ’17, to injury back in December. Bowdoin was a team that lacked depth when the season began, but forward was the one position where the Polar Bears could actually say they had plenty of impact players. Without Fuller, Matt Palecki ’16 moved into the starting lineup and saw his minutes increase while bench players Liam Farley ’18 and Jack Hewitt ’17 saw a little uptick in their minutes. Suddenly Farley and Hewitt move from secondary pieces to critical rotation members. Even though Bowdoin is not going to need their bench to produce much, those guys need to do enough to keep Bowdoin in the game and keep Gilbride comfortable with resting his starters.

Farley was a huge part of the second half comeback against Colby. He scored seven of Bowdoin’s 12 points during a huge 12-1 run to take the lead. His confidence was clear when, after shooting 0-4 in the first half, he stepped into an open three that gave Bowdoin a 48-47 lead. That offense and shooting is going to be critical going forward to keep the Bears in close games. From day one, Farley has been serene with the ball, never looking like an overmatched freshman. He does not have the same post game as Pieri, but he should be able to replace most of his outside shooting and slashing. Gilbride says a big reason Farley belongs on the court now is that “he has a better idea of team principles, especially defensively which require a lot of vision and idea of what other guys are doing.” Learning defensive rotations at a new level is often the hardest thing for a freshmen to do, and though he is still capable of freshmen mistakes, the 10 minutes in the second half Farley played against Colby shows that Gilbride thinks he will makes the right play more often than not.

Guard Leadership

Even though Bowdoin graduated their entire starting backcourt from last season, Gilbride knew going into the season that he had a more offensively talented duo this season in Bryan Hurley ’15 and Lucas Hausman ’16. Hurley of course was injured for most of last season but was the starter for his entire sophomore year. At the beginning of the season Gilbride could see that Hurley was pressing somewhat because he wanted to win so badly. He forced things too often as a point guard instead of having things come to him. Since Christmas break, Hurley has turned it around and gotten his swagger back. He is getting into the lane more and had eight assists three games in a row two weeks ago. He uses his body exceptionally well when he is in the paint to shield defenders from swiping at the ball. Hurley says the team is running more pick and rolls, something that the senior guard welcomes.

His partner in crime in the backcourt is Hausman, a junior who has had to bide his time as a scorer off the bench before becoming a starter this season. He is unique to this Bowdoin roster in his ability to finish in traffic because of his athleticism. His skill set is even changing up the way that Bowdoin tries to play. Hurley says that, “now with the loss of Keegan and Neil still out, we have been trying to push more in transition because Lucas is such a great finisher.” Watching Hausman on the fast break is awesome. Despite being only 170 pounds with a full stomach, he has no fear in barreling into multiple defenders. You can see the defenders think they have him stopped before Hausman twists and contorts until he finds some sliver where he pushes through and gets off a quality shot. He is admittedly more comfortable shooting off of the bounce than in catch and shoot situations which explains why he is only hitting on 25.9 percent of his threes. Though he is not always the most efficient player, when he gets hot, teams are in deep trouble.

Challenges Ahead

Now Gilbride has to figure how to stretch this thin roster out over two tough road games on back-to-back days. With the short bench Gilbride says the coaching staff has a plan for how to manage everyone’s minutes, but once Bowdoin is in a game situation, things are always capable of changing. Guys that I’ve barely mentioned here like Palecki, Jake Donnelly ’16 and Hewitt will all have to make huge contributions for Bowdoin to win at least one of their games.

The game tonight against Trinity is a rematch of last year’s NESCAC quarterfinal triple overtime thriller that saw the Bantams prevail in Brunswick. The Polar Bears know all about Trinity’s strengths on the defensive end. “Trinity is good in one-on-one matchups,” says Gilbride. “They have good length, strength, and athleticism to make it tough that way. Then they are very well coached as a team so they are good at rotating down and getting an extra guy in the paint.” The game tonight will not be an aesthetically pleasing one, and whoever can make just enough shots will pull it out.

Remember also that Bowdoin is doing all this even though Swords is scoring less this season. Though his scoring is down, Swords remains a huge presence in the paint that teams fear. Teams are shooting 28 threes per game against Bowdoin in conference play. Williams, who would shoot a three before they took an open layup, is averaging 27 threes per game for the season. Guards are loathe to try to challenge Swords at the rim, and he is so big that he clogs up a lot of lanes by simply being in the paint.

The hardest games on Bowdoin’s schedule are still in front of them. The Polar Bears wore down last season losing five of their last seven games, albeit in very close games against good competition. It will be a challenge for Bowdoin to bring it every game, but they have shown their reslience thus far. Yes, losing Pieri hurts a lot. But Palecki says, “[Pieri’s] injury is just another large bump on what has been a pretty bumpy road so far.”