Men’s Basketball – Page 19 – Nothing But NESCAC

I’ve Herd Enough About How Young the Ephs Are, They’re Still Good: Williams Basketball Season Preview

Williams the awesome opportunity to travel to Spain as a team this summer, a big advantage heading into the season (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Editor’s Note: While 99% of the work on these previews is done by the writers, the projected records for all NESCAC Men’s Basketball teams were decided upon by the editors collectively, not decisions of the writers themselves. So, if you want to be mad at someone about the record projections, be mad at us.

Projected Record: 7-3

2015-2016 was a rebuilding year for the Ephs after losing Hayden Rooke-Ley ‘15 and Dan Wohl ‘15, and youth was definitely an inhibitor at times for Coach App’s squad. Well, there are two sides to the youth coin. When you flip that coin, you’ll realize that Williams gained a bundle of experience last season preparing them well for a title run this winter. If the 2015-2016 season wasn’t enough time for some of the Williams calfs like Cole Teal ‘18, Chris Galvin ‘18, Kyle Scadlock ‘19, Bobby Casey ‘19, Marcos Soto ‘19, and James Heskett ‘19 to develop some familiarity and comfort playing with each other, the squad had the rare opportunity to travel to Spain this summer. Coach App thought the trip was an awesome experience for his players. Obviously it’s great that they got a chance to play together as a team over the summer, but more importantly, the team had time to just focus on building team chemistry and enjoying each other’s company, all while exploring a different culture. This seems to have translated to comfort on the court, something the staff is super excited about as they head into this year looking to improve on their first round exit in the NESCAC tournament as the #6 seed.

2015-2016 Record/Playoff Appearance: 15-10, 5-5, lost to #3 seed Tufts in quarterfinals of NESCAC tournament

Coach: Kevin App, 3rd season, 30-20 (.600)

Starters Returning: Four

Guard Mike Greenman ‘18 (7.8 PPG, 1.8 AST/G, 2.3 REB/G, 0.8 STL/G)

Guard Cole Teal ‘18 (10.5 PPG, 1.4 AST/G, 3.5 REB/G)

Guard Dan Aronowitz ‘17 (18.2 PPG, 2.3 AST/G, 7.4 REB/G, 0.9 STL/G)

Forward Kyle Scadlock ‘19 (11.1 PPG, 1.0 AST/G, 6.2 REB/G)

Key Losses:

Center Ed Flynn ‘16, started 25/25 games, (7.1 PPG, 1.6 AST/G, 5.4 REB/G)

Projected Starting Five:

Guard Mike Greenman ‘18

Mike Greenmail '18 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Mike Greenmail ’18 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Greenman spent essentially all of last year on the shelf, but he is back this season, and I can’t emphasize enough how big that is for Williams. Bobby Casey ‘19 did a fine job of running the point in Greenman’s absence, but the kid was just a freshman after all, and with immaturity comes mistakes. Greenman is just 5’8” (such a classic NESCAC point guard height), but he is quick, smart, and knows how to distribute the basketball. As a sophomore, Greenman played 31.4 MIN/G, averaging 8.6 PPG and 4.4 AST/G. After basically an entire season off from basketball, it will be interesting to see how Greenman adjusts to getting back into game-shape, but I have no doubt that he will be back to his normal self by the time NESCAC play rolls around. Getting Greenman back gives Williams a giant edge since they now have two point guards with big-minute experience – look for the 4th year junior to have a great year for the Ephs.

Guard Cole Teal ‘18

Cole Teal '18 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Cole Teal ’18 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Every team needs their shooter, and guess what, Cole Teal is that guy. Teams had success against Williams when they could chase Teal off the three-point line, but as the team has progressed, I just don’t know how much opposing defenses will be able to focus on that this winter. Teal is knockdown from deep…I mean seriously, as a sophomore, he shot 41.3% from three-point land…AND 52.3% IN CONFERENCE PLAY. That’s absurd. Though he only averaged 10.5 PPG over the course of last season, he would have had a much higher average if not for his slow start. Teal showed the ability to go off for 20+ a couple times, and 15-17 points pretty frequently. It’s consistency that has held Teal back, but if he can avoid those games where he is completely shut down, it will only open things up for his teammates.

Guard Dan Aronowitz ‘17

Dan Aronowitz '17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Dan Aronowitz ’17 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Team MVP last year, league MVP this year? Seriously, Dan Aronowitz might be the best all-around player in this league, and what’s awesome for him is he has a chance to be the go-to-guy two years in a row for the Ephs. His 18.2 PPG ranked third in the league behind Bowdoin’s Lucas Hausman ‘16 and Middlebury’s Matt St. Amour ‘17, and Aronowitz was also one of just two guards in the top 10 in the NESCAC in rebounds (the other being Tufts’ Ryan Spadaford ‘16). The kid did it all for Williams this year, and the game should be easier for him now that the rest of his team is more experienced. I wouldn’t be surprised if his scoring drops due to the improvement of the players around him, but I could also see Aronowitz averaging 20+ this year pretty easily given his knack for putting the ball in the bucket. He is a tough matchup at an athletic 6’5”/200 lbs. because he’s bigger than most guards, but quicker than most forwards/centers. I’d be surprised if Aronowitz had anything less than a First Team All-NESCAC type of season.

Forward Kyle Scadlock ‘19

Kyle Scadlock '19 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Kyle Scadlock ’19 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Scadlock is one of the most agile big men in the league, which is definitely his biggest strength. While he is nearly as tall as most NESCAC centers, Scadlock has the athleticism and quickness of many wing players, making him a big threat for this Williams offense. The sophomore had a solid freshman campaign by all accounts, and I expect him to take off this year now that he knows what to expect. Scadlock’s 11.1 PPG was the second highest on the team behind Aronowitz, but what was more impressive was his usage as a freshman: 27.2 MIN/G overall, 29.3 MIN/G in-conference. Scadlock was also the second-best rebounder for Williams, and he will need to shoulder the load on the boards once again as the Ephs boast some very young big men this winter. If Williams is going to make some noise this year, it’s not going to be without contributions from Scadlock — keep an eye on this kid for an All-conference type of season.

Center Matt Karpowicz ‘20

Matt Karpowicz '20 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Matt Karpowicz ’20 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Though he is just a boy in terms of age, Matt Karpowicz is a man physically. The freshman center measures in at 6’8”/250 lbs., and he is just what the Ephs needed after the departure of Ed Flynn. Karpowicz is a big body that can band around down low with the Ed Ogundekos and the Tom Palleschis of the league, and he has a big interior presence on both ends of the court. Though Marcos Soto is definitely going to see big minutes this year, Karpowicz’s game complements Scadlock’s better due to the fact that they have such different styles of play. Expect an upward trend over the course of the season out of Karpowicz as he adjusts to the physicality of the college game. I know he comes from the elite New England prep league, but high school ball and college ball aren’t the same thing. Karpowicz’s advantage is his size, which will allow him to adjust much quicker than other first year players – I’m excited to see this kid play.

Breakout Player: Forward/Center Marcos Soto ‘18

Marcos Soto '19 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Marcos Soto ’19 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

Soto is a sneaky weapon for Coach App this year. The 6’8” sophomore averaged 15.1 minutes off the bench last year behind Scadlock and Ed Flynn ‘16, gaining some valuable experience in his first season as an Eph. While Soto isn’t an enormous scoring threat, he is an efficient scorer. He takes care of the ball and is just an all-around smart player, something that complements the Williams scorers of Aronowitz, Teal, and Scadlock nicely. One thing that killed Williams last year was their lackadaisical ball security, but with an increased role in 2016-2017, Soto should play a part in decreasing the team’s turnover numbers. Coach App is looking for extra helpers on the boards this season after the loss of Flynn, so if Soto can demonstrate a strong effort rebounding the basketball, he should see lots of floor-time for the Ephs.

Everything Else

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, inexperience was clearly the biggest hindrance to success for the Ephs last season. I’m certain that after taking their lumps this past winter, Williams is in a perfect position to be the snake in the grass that takes the NESCAC championship. Now that they have had time to improve individually and become more comfortable playing together, these guys are going to have a much easier time scoring the basketball. Coach App hopes that they’ll actually be able to have a much less structured offense this year because of this heightened familiarity, allowing them to push the ball in transition and make quicker decisions. It’s a matter of knowing who to get the ball in certain situations, and Williams should be much more efficient now they’ve developed this presence of mind.

Like I noted above, getting Mike Greenman back is a huge boost for this Williams roster. Greenman is a great player, but the bigger difference maker for Coach App is that he can now take a starting point guard off the bench in Bobby Casey ‘19. Casey started 7 games last year, and if not for Greenman he’d probably be the starter this year. Casey is a great asset in that he is a 6th man that can come in and get buckets. As a freshman, he averaged 9.6 PPG, and put up a season-high 17 points against top-of-the-conference Trinity last winter. He has shown the ability to come in and make positive contributions off the bench, and his 2016-2017 season will be about Casey’s ability to be consistent with those contributions. Ball control was an issue for Casey down the stretch, but that can definitely be attributed “freshman year jitters.” Expect Casey to have a phenomenal year for the Ephs.

James Heskett ‘19 and Chris Galvin ‘18 were two other contributors for Williams last year, and they should see increased roles this winter. Heskett is a 6’8”/205 forward that saw some fill-in minutes off the bench when Scadlock and Flynn needed a rest, but with the absence of Flynn, Heskett will be relied on as an additional rebounding presence for the Ephs. Galvin is a solid guard that was more of a drive and kick type of player than a high-scorer, which will fit into the Williams offense very well this season. The junior will once again be a helper on the glass from the guard spot. Michael Kempton ‘19 and Jake Porath ‘19 should also see time down low for the Ephs.

The freshman class of Williams features a range of talents, which bodes well for the Ephs. Henry Feinberg ‘20 is a big wing player that possesses a knockdown jumper; Mickey Babek ‘20 is another sizeable guard that is very well rounded, and it’s his versatility that makes him such a threat; Vince Brookins ‘20 is a talented, athletic combo guard, and he fits very well into what Coach App and staff are trying to do with the team this year. It will be an uphill battle for this freshman class to get on the court because of all the experienced returners Williams has, but Coach App is not afraid to play freshmen, so don’t be surprised if we see some of these guys in the rotation when the season starts.

The biggest knock on the Ephs is that they lack a dominant center, something that many of the league’s elite teams possess. An quicker offensive tempo should allow Williams to hide this deficiency somewhat on the offensive end, but defensively, they will be vulnerable until one of their inexperienced big men shows that he can defend offensive powerhouses in the paint. If a Williams center emerges as a defensive weapon, or Coach App game-plans around this hole in their lineup, Williams will be a pretty scary team when league play rolls around.

Can the Baby Cardinals Fly?: Wesleyan Basketball Season Preview

Harry Rafferty '17 is looking to lead Wesleyan after the Cardinals graduated some big names last year (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Harry Rafferty ’17 is looking to lead Wesleyan after the Cardinals graduated some big names last year (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Projected Record: 6-4

Wesleyan had a tremendously uneven 2015-2016 season. They entered league play at 11-1 and many experts (like Joe McDonald and I) were calling them the best team in the league. But their performance in league play told a very different story. They finished at 5-5 and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Middlebury. Over the course of NESCAC play last season, Wesleyan both beat Amherst by 27 points and lost to Colby by 9. The Cardinals enter this season looking to recover from the discouraging end to last season. However, they have an uphill battle ahead of them. Among the losses they suffered in the offseason were BJ Davis, an All League point guard who was the heart, soul, crunch-time scorer and sick tip-slam aficionado of Wesleyan’s team. They also lost starting forward and rim protector Rashid Epps, and gritty, defensively minded guards Jack Mackey and Joe Edmonds. The importance of these players, particularly Epps and Davis, cannot be overstated. But do not by any means count out the Cardinals. They have several players waiting in the wings (so to speak), eager to prove that the new generation can improve on the old one.

2015-2016 Record: 18-7, 5-5; lost to #4 seed Middlebury in quarterfinals of NESCAC tournament

Coach: Joe Reilly, 9th season, 108-91

Starters Returning:

Forward Joseph Kuo ‘17 (11.1 PPG, 7.0 REB/G, 1.0 BLK/G)

Guard Harry Rafferty ‘17 (7.6 PPG, 1.5 AST/G, 0.8 STL/G)

Key Losses:

Guard BJ Davis ‘16, started 25/25 games (16.4 PPG, 2.7 AST/G, 1.4 STL/G)

Forward Rashid Epps ‘16, Started 25/25 games (9.5 PPG, 6.3 REB/G, 0.8 BLK/G)

Guard Jack Mackey, Started 16/25 games (8.1 PPG, 4.1 AST/G, 0.6 STL/G

Projected Starting Five

Guard Harry Rafferty ‘17

Harry Rafferty '17 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Harry Rafferty ’17 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Along with Kuo and forward PJ Reed ‘17, Rafferty is the senior statesman of the Wesleyan team. A gritty defensive specialist, Rafferty paired up with Davis and Mackey to give Wesleyan one of the deepest, most experienced backcourts in the league. Now Rafferty is the only one left, and he may need to step his offensive game up this season to make up for the loss of his colleagues. Rafferty shot 39.2% last year on only six shots per game, four of which were threes. Rafferty can expect an uptick in shot attempts, and will need to make the most of those opportunities if Wesleyan wants to continue their success.

Guard Salim Greene ‘19

Salim Green '19 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Salim Green ’19 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Many coaches throughout NESCAC were disappointed when Salim Greene chose Wesleyan before his freshman season. Greene was one of the highest touted recruits in recent NESCAC memory, and drew wide interest from the league’s elite, such as Middlebury and Amherst. However, Greene’s freshman season was derailed by a concussion suffered in training camp. He was never able to get in the rhythm of Wesleyan’s offense, and was buried behind Wesleyan’s many talented, more experienced guards. But Greene is healthy, and much of his competition has moved into the ever-blackening, vociferous hellscape of the real world (having some senior year stresses, don’t mind me.) Green is tremendously quick and an excellent shooter, and has the potential to be a defensive force on the perimeter. He is the best candidate to don BJ Davis’s mantle as lead guard.

Guard Kevin O’Brien ‘19

Kevin O'Brien '19 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Kevin O’Brien ’19 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

O’Brien was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2015-2016 season, overtaking Salim Greene as Wesleyan’s most impressive freshman. He came on at the end of the season to start 9 games, averaging 3.8 points per game on 44% shooting in just 15 minutes per game. At 6’5”, he has tremendous size for a guard, and showed the ability to use it to punish smaller defenders in the post and on the boards. O’Brien even showed a nice shooting stroke which should benefit from more reps this preseason. With his size and versatility, O’Brien has the potential to be a classic NESCAC forward/guard combination in the mold of Lucas Hausman and (if I may hop in the time machine for a moment) Willy Workman from Amherst and Tim Edwards from Middlebury.

Forward Joseph Kuo ‘17

Joseph Kuo '17 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Joseph Kuo ’17 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Kuo enters this season with the most responsibility of any Cardinal other than the Pope. He must both take BJ Davis’s place as the leading scorer AND Rashid Epps’ place in the middle of the defense and on the boards. Kuo averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds per game last season, despite battling a torn meniscus which sapped much of his mobility on both sides of the ball. Kuo was able to use a delicate touch and good footwork in the paint to shoot nearly 50% from the floor, and a full recovery from his knee injury should allow him to emerge as a force on both sides of the ball. Look for Kuo as a dark horse POY candidate this season, if Wesleyan runs much of its offense through him in the post.

Forward Nathan Krill ‘18

Nathan Krill '18 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Nathan Krill ’18 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Krill’s contributions on the court last season mirrored his hairstyle: highly energetic and very versatile. Krill provides the Cardinals with energetic rebounding and defense, but don’t let that sell short his offensive talents. Krill shot just under 50% from the field, many of those coming on midrange jump-shots. With greater playing time and freedom within the offense, Krill has the talent to extend his range to the three point line, giving Wesleyan a rare forward that can stretch the floor without sacrificing interior defense.

Breakout Player: Kevin O’Brien ‘19

O’Brien looks the part of a star, particularly in NESCAC. He is tall and lanky, with long arms that allow him to guard multiple positions and rebound as well as many forwards. It will be a major key (bless up) for O’Brien to develop a threatening outside shot, as Wesleyan does not have a ton of three point threats on the roster. If he can do this, O’Brien has the size and skillset to be part of the next generation of NESCAC stars.

Everything Else:

Wesleyan certainly lost a lot of talent this offseason, but this may be a blessing in disguise. Hidden behind the talented senior class that the Cardinals lost was a deep freshman class waiting to emerge. Salim Greene and Kevin O’Brien made minor contributions last season when they got playing time, but they are far more talented than the roughly 15 minutes per game they played last season. The departure of BJ Davis and Jack Mackey should allow that talented young backcourt to step forward and show what they can do.

The 2016-2017 season gives Wesleyan the opportunity to remake the style they play in. When they struggled last season, it was often because their offense slowed down and they relied too much on BJ Davis going one on five. Epps also slowed them down with his lack of offensive moves in the paint. Nathan Krill’s insertion into the starting lineup gives them a mobile big man who can run the floor along with Salim Greene and Harry Rafferty. Kuo should be considerably more mobile now that his knee has healed, and Kevin O’Brien is both big enough to help rebound and fast enough to get out on the break. We could see a far more explosive Wesleyan team than we did last season, which will help them match up with the other offense oriented teams in NESCAC such as Middlebury and Amherst.

An area in which Wesleyan will have to exceed expectations is their bench play. Many of the players that made Wesleyan so deep last season now must slide into starting roles to make up for graduated seniors, leaving the bench very young. PJ Reed ‘17 provides a versatile set of skills on the second unit, but he will need to be more of a threat offensively than he was last season (he shot only 34.2% from the field.) Sophomore Jordan Bonner could be a wild card. He is known throughout the conference as a tremendous athlete, but is very raw in most other areas. If he can make significant strides in the finer points of the game, he could be crucial in giving Wesleyan some explosive offense from the second unit.

Other than those two returners, Wesleyan’s bench, much like the library on a Friday afternoon, is primarily populated by freshman. Wesleyan has a large first year class this season, all of whom have the opportunity to compete for playing time. Elijah Wilson ‘20 is the only true guard in the freshman class, and could be valuable as a three point threat. The Cardinals also brought in two big men in David Dixon ‘20 and Justin Bergeron ‘20, both of whom are in the running for the backup big man spot vacated by Nathan Krill. In a league as deep as the NESCAC, it is imperative to have a solid second unit, and right now Wesleyan has considerable question marks in that area.

Wesleyan, and the rest of the league as well, benefits from a potentially far more stratified NESCAC this season. The loss of Lucas Hausman from Bowdoin and Mike Boornazian from Bates creates a defined bottom tier, comprising most likely of the Maine schools and Hamilton. Therefore, we may see far less upsets, allowing Wesleyan to play a considerably easier schedule. But, quite simply, they are also still a very good team. Wesleyan has the tools to not just survive the departure of those senior stars, but begin a new, even more successful era of Cardinal hoops.

Only a Dumbo Would Underestimate the Jumbos: Tufts Basketball Season Preview

“Oh, yeah? Well we’re preseason #5! OHHHHH” (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Projected Record: 8-2

Tufts really turned some heads last year with their strong start against a very tough non-conference schedule, but it was their run in the NCAA tournament that surprised NESCAC fans the most. After a top-scorer Vinny Pace came down awkwardly early in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Cousens Gym went silent, and soon enough everyone’s fears were confirmed: Pace had torn his ACL. Many thought the Jumbos were cooked at this point, but the valiant efforts of Tom Palleschi ‘17, Stephen Haladyna ‘16, Ethan Feldman ‘19, and Ben Engvall ‘18 showed the depth and perseverance of Tufts. The Jumbos continued their streak until they faced conference rival, Amherst, in the Elite Eight, at which point their Final Four pursuit came to an end. Well, their success last winter earned Tufts a #5 preseason ranking on d3hoops.com, and they hope to continue that success again this winter. The 2016-2017 season promises a lot for the Jumbos – they only lost three seniors to graduation, and they maintain their incredible depth off the bench. Additionally, they have a number of talented freshman-as well as a transfer junior. There is plenty of upside to this team, but their success will come down to their ability to execute, something that hurt the Jumbos at times last winter.

2015-2016 Record, Playoff Appearance: 23-7, 7-3; lost to #2 seed Amherst in semifinals of NESCAC Tournament; lost to Amherst in Elite Eight of NCAA Tournament

Coach: Bob Sheldon, 29th year, 409-296 (.580)

Starters Returning:

Guard Tarik Smith ‘17 (11.4 PPG, 4.2 AST/G, 2.1 REB/G, 1.0 STL/G)

Guard Vinny Pace ‘18 (17.5 PPG, 2.7 AST/G, 6.1 REB/G, 1.3 STL/G)

Center Tom Palleschi ‘17 (15.0 PPG, 1.9 AST/G, 8.3 REB/G, 3.83 BLK/G)

Key Losses:

Guard Stephen Haladyna ‘16, started 30/30 games (12.5 PPG, 1.0 AST/G, 5.1 REB/G, 0.8 STL/G)

Guard Ryan Spadaford ‘16, started 27/30 games (11.8 PPG, 1.2 AST/G, 6.5 REB/G, 0.5 STL/G)

Projected Starting Five:

Guard Tarik Smith ‘17

Tarik Smith '17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Tarik Smith ’17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Flat out, Tarik Smith is one of the most dangerous guards in the NESCAC. His 11.4 PPG last year is deceiving, because he definitely has the potential to explode for 20+ points (see: Sweet 16 vs. Johnson & Wales). It’s not about how many points Smith actually scores, but how many points he creates, that makes him such a potent offensive player. He has an uncanny ability to get into the lane, and especially to get to the free-throw line. Last season, Smith shot 175 free throws, good for 2nd in the NESCAC; the key, however, is that he shot 82.3% from the line. This type of penetration forces opponents to collapse into the paint and creates shooting opportunities on the outside for the Jumbos, which is why Smith ranked 6th in assists in the conference. He has struggled with turnovers at times, but when he is under control, Smith gets the job done for the ‘Bos.

Guard Everett Dayton ‘18

Everett Dayton '18 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Everett Dayton ’18 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Throughout his Tufts career, Everett Dayton has made enormous strides. Dayton went from making 13 appearances in his first season to playing in 29 games as a sophomore, and I think this boost in playing time (along with his production) can be attributed directly to his level of confidence. Talent has never been a question for Dayton, but his tentativeness has hampered his ability to reach that next level. The coaches think that the junior is finally past this, and a big part of that his expanded role last season. As a sophomore, Dayton was often looked to as a safety valve on the press, especially when Smith wasn’t on the court to handle the ball. Everett will see a lot more playing time due to the departures of Spadaford and Haladyna, especially because Tufts lacks knockdown shooters, a weakness that Dayton will surely help alleviate.

Guard Ethan Feldman ‘19

Ethan Feldman '19 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Ethan Feldman ’19 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Feldman had his coming out party at a strange time for a freshman that really didn’t see much floor time throughout the season, but when Pace went down in the NCAA tournament, Feldman stepped up in a big way. In just 11 minutes in the opening-round of the NCAA tournament, the freshman sharpshooter dropped 10 points on Southern Vermont, all via the free-throw line or the three-point arc. Coach Sheldon seemed to use the old adage, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and upped Feldman’s minutes to 17 in round 2. How did his young guard respond? Just by knocking down 4-5 from deep and adding a couple free-throws for a total of 14 points. The element of surprise certainly allowed Feldman to find more open looks than he will in his sophomore season, but now that the Tufts staff knows they can rely on him, Feldman is sure to see more plays designed to find him open shots, and he will become a big part of this offense, especially if he can assert himself as a penetration-threat as well.

Guard Ben Engvall ‘18

Ben Engvall '18 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Ben Engvall ’18 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

Engvall has spent two seasons as a 1st/2nd man off the bench for the Jumbos, but I think it’s finally time for Coach Sheldon to throw him into the starting lineup. One word to describe the kid? Tough. Engvall will go toe-to-toe with anyone in this conference, and his aggression, hustle, and competitive desire often give him an advantage. He dives on the floor for loose balls, he runs the fast break as good as anyone, and he has a knack for drawing fouls. Engvall was good for 8-12 points pretty much every game last year, and it’s that type of consistency that the Jumbos need from him. He’s not going to be a premier scorer, but he will be an efficient scorer, he will draw fouls, and he will help out Palleschi on the boards. Coach Sheldon may ultimately find that Engvall’s style of play suits Tufts better as a 6th man, but until Pace is fully healthy (and back in game-shape conditioning-wise), Engvall should see a lot of time as a starter.

Center Tom Palleschi ‘17

Tom Palleschi '17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Tom Palleschi ’17 is using his 5th year of eligibility this year, and despite what this picture may have you thinking, he’s only 23 years old (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

The preseason All-American Palleschi was a force last year for the Jumbos, and his durability was on the biggest keys to their success. Coach Sheldon and staff relied on Palleschi to play big minutes for the Jumbos, especially down the stretch. In Tufts’ four NCAA games, he averaged 18 PPG, a necessity with Pace going down in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. With his ability to work out of the low block, knock down contested midrange shots, and even hit open threes, Palleschi is an issue for big men of similar size. He is more mobile than his build implies, and while you’d think a 6’8”/240lb. NESCAC center would be a bruiser, it is the soft touch of Palleschi that makes him such a (gentle) beast. Oh, don’t forget that he averaged 3.83 BLK/G last year, good for the second-best average nationally…

Breakout Player: Everett Dayton ‘18

As mentioned above, Dayton’s role has grown immensely given the vacancy of two guard spots in the starting lineup. What’s Dayton’s biggest strength? That he has a plethora of strengths. He can shoot, he can dribble, he can defend, he’s long, he’s a 6’3” athletic guard…he can do it all, and he can do it all well. My biggest criticism of Dayton is a lack of aggression, but that is something that generally sorts itself out with maturity. If Dayton is ready mentally, he could become a gigantic threat for this Tufts offense, and one that complements Palleschi well at that.

Everything Else

It’s clear that Tufts has the talent, but they will have to rely on their bench more this year if they want to compete for a NESCAC title. The uptempo style that Tufts moved to last season certainly increased their offensive output, but ball control was an issue at times, evidenced by their 12.8 TO/G. After watching Tufts throughout their NCAA Tournament run, I came to the conclusion that stamina was definitely a factor in their turnover totals. Still, there is plenty of experience remaining from last year’s roster, the first example being Drew Madsen ‘17, who will play a big role off the bench once again as Palleschi’s backup. Madsen is a much more athletic big, and he can really help Tufts in transition as well as on the boards. He is more of a cleanup guy than a center that creates his own shots, but he is a viable option when big boy Palleschi gets tired. Another benefit for Sheldon? The Jumbos only added to their depth over the offseason.

First, let’s take a look at returners looking for expanded roles this year. Stefan Duvivier ‘18 is another player who should see increased minutes this year, especially now that the Jumbos have grown accustomed to an uptempo style of play. Duvivier’s athletic prowess enables Tufts to push the tempo, and due to his decent size, Sheldon can deploy a more guard heavy lineup when the 6’3”/200lb. guard steps on the floor.

One returner you might not think of right away is Thomas Lapham ‘18, who was dealing with the after effects of hip surgery for much of last season. Lapham is now back and healthy, and looks to get back to his freshman year level of production, when he actually split starts with Smith at point guard. The level-headed junior is a facilitator on the court who will knock down shots from the perimeter, something the Tufts offense relies on. Another smaller guard who could see time is Kene Adigwe ‘18, who transferred to Tufts last year from Claremont McKenna College in California. The product of Lowell is akin to the Energizer Bunny, and will be someone who Coach Sheldon can look to as a defensive stopper or a sparkplug off the bench when the Jumbos need it.

Now for the newcomers. First is another transfer, KJ Garrett ‘18, who started at Tufts this fall after spending two years at the University of Washington. The Junior is big, strong, and quick, and he will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself. Garrett is absolutely in the running for the most athletic player in the conference, evidenced by the below video:

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— Kene Adigwe (@kadigwe3) November 4, 2016

Of the freshman, it’s hard to go wrong. Eric Savage ‘20, Pat Racy ‘20, and Miles Bowser ‘20 are all solid prospects, and Coach Sheldon has always enjoyed playing younger players, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys on the court early in the season. Savage is an athletic slashing guard with supreme finishing ability; Racy is a mobile, nifty big man with a decent mid-range game; Bowser is a smooth, shifty ball handler that has some significant size (6’4”) at the point guard spot. A solid recruiting class if you ask me, and one that will certainly make an impact early, especially as the Jumbos try to figure out rotations while Pace works back to full health. It should also be noted that Racy is the younger brother of Amherst’s senior guard Jeff Racy, so circle the Tufts-Amherst game on your calendars. Through and through, Tufts is a very strong team, and the Jumbos will be a force to be reckoned with this winter.

The Duality of Seasons – A (Managing) Editor’s Report on What to Expect Over the Next Few Weeks

Dear readers,

We have been blessed with one of the most exciting NESCAC football seasons in recent memory. Heading into the final weekend, each game has significant potential to determine the final standings in the league. Trinity could continue to push opponents out of the way like a bulldozer, and make all the drama simply a battle for second best. Even the lower tier games mean something, as Bates puts their pride on the line to possibly finish with the same record as deposed king Amherst at 4-4. It should be an exciting weekend filled with thrills, chills and spills (like when I spill my hot chocolate on myself after Middlebury scores a touchdown.)

However, in the midst of this football excitement, we also have the beginning of winter sport practices, which here at NbN means that it’s basketball season. Longtime readers of this blog (which may pretty much only be my parents at this point) will know that there might literally be nothing I love more in the world than NESCAC basketball. I used to bring my Harry Potter books to Middlebury games and read them between periods, as the timeout buzzer intimidated me. As I grew up, however, I overcame my fears and began watching the whole game, falling more in love with basketball every minute. So you’ll forgive me if I’m a little excited to get into the basketball coverage: it’s the reason I got into the blogging game in the first place.

It’s not an easy proposition to begin covering basketball the same week that the football season wraps up. We love #content and #pageviews as much as the next sports blog, but we also have #otherhomework and #friends. But we are your NESCAC informants first and foremost, and we will bring you all the football and basketball coverage you need, and then some.

The way we will handle this busy couple of weeks is as follows: we will release our regular football weekly schedule (Power Rankings, Stock Report, Weekend Preview, Game of the Week,) and a basketball preview each day. Next

Image result for kevin bacon footloose — Footloose is one of the five best movies of all time and you can FIGHT ME if you disagree

week we will wrap up football with postseason awards and reflections, and preseason basketball awards and previews. This should take us up to the first weekend of basketball tournaments, which trails only Thanksgiving, Christmas and Kevin Bacon’s birthday on my list of favorite days of the year.

This busy time encompasses everything that is great about NESCAC sports, and even the passage of time as a whole. The ending of football season signifies the end of fall, and therefore the beginning of our long NESCAC winter. But winter also brings so many beautiful things into the world: skiing, Christmas, fires in woodstoves, and best of all, NESCAC basketball. Sports in New England are uniquely married to these seasonal cycles, and this is one of the reasons that I, and the other writers, and all of you readers, love them so much. So bear with us through this potentially chaotic transition, and we’ll reward you with another season of passionate coverage.

Thank you, and keep reading,

Peter Lindholm

Reflections and Thoughts on NESCAC Sports

Our all-time favorite picture of NESCAC sports, and there have been a lot of great ones. — Our all-time favorite photo of NESCAC sports, and there have been a lot of great ones.

Adam wrote the following good bye, and in classic fashion, it’s plenty wordy for both of us, and I agree with everything he wrote, so I’ll say my piece in two sentences. Nothing but NESCAC has been a tremendous source of pride, frustration, stress, happiness, controversy, procrastination, relationships, blood, sweat and tears (okay, I’m exaggerating – slightly), late nights, early mornings, conversation starters, angry Facebook messages and aggressive emails, and, above all, learning. If you’re reading this, thank you. – Joe MacDonald

I graduated last Saturday from Bowdoin. That fact has not really sunk in, but it’s an inescapable reality. As I say goodbye to my physical home for the past four years, I wanted to write some thoughts down about my experiences with Nothing but NESCAC and general thoughts about NESCAC sports. Consider this an open diary entry, and remember that all thoughts are my own, so you can take them with a giant grain of salt.

First, I want to thank everyone who has helped make this website possible. Thanks to the readers and people that told us how much they appreciated what we were doing. Hearing from people that they enjoyed our work was so rewarding. I especially loved to hear from players that they were reading us, even if they thought that our opinions were garbage. Another special shoutout to the members of the NESCAC DIII Boards. Knowing that the most rabid fans in the NESCAC respected our opinions – sometimes – was nice.

Thanks to all the players and coaches who let us talk to them. Those interactions made the writing so much better. The work that all NESCAC coaches and players put in behind the scenes for their sport is remarkable, but the best thing about everyone that I got to talk to was how nice everybody always was. NESCAC sports are filled with great people.

Thanks to Damon Hatheway and Jeff Hetzel for creating PantherNation and serving as our inspiration for Nothing but NESCAC. Being able to get started writing for you was the best possible way to wet our feet. You set the bar high in terms of quality NESCAC sports writing, and I think that we were at least able to approach that level at times.

Thanks to all of the writers, from the ones who wrote just one time to those that wrote as much as we did. The website would not have been what it was if not for all of you – Chad Martin, Colby Morris, Colin Tiernan, Connor Colombo, Dave Peck, Josh Moss, Nate Courville, Oliver Goodman, Pat English, Rob Erickson and Sean Meekins. You guys were never under any type of obligation to write for us, but you did anyways because you had a genuine interest in the same stuff we did. An even bigger thanks to some of our MVPs. Carson Kenney was a huge asset for us last year, writing articles, competing in fantasy football and basketball, and serving as an ear on the ground at Trinity. Even this year, as he was working in the Trinity Athletic Department, he was always happy to help out when possible. Pete Lindholm has been there since the start of NbN, and has always brought a unique style to our pages. No one writes quite like Pete, and eventually we learned that it was futile to expect his work to come back to us with the format or tone that we asked for, but usually it was far superior than anything we could have done. This year, three new contributors jumped on board with a previously unseen eagerness. Nick DiBenedetto accepted every assignment thrown his way, and though “deadlines” seem to be a fluid concept to him, we loved him for it. Kaitlin McCabe came on board last fall, but she really shouldered the load for us this spring as Joe was in season and I suffered from a severe case of senioritis. Kaitlin has just graduated from Hamilton and will be working in sports journalism. Lastly, Rory Ziomek, a baseball player from Tufts, was always there for us this year, so much so that we feel confident in handing Rory the keys to NbN next year. Joe and I both will miss our interactions with these people, who are truly incredible, like all NESCAC students and student-athletes, at everything they do.

And finally, a huge thanks to my partner in crime, Joe MacDonald. There is no one else that I would have ever wanted to do this with. When I approached you with the idea of doing this, you were smart enough to make me pump the brakes and think through completely how we could actually do this. That was just the first time that you saved my butt from my terrible decision-making. I remember when I heard that you were going to spend junior fall abroad in Australia being upset because I thought you weren’t going to do anything for NbN. Instead, you did as much as I could have asked for, even though you were having the time of your life halfway around the world. I always infuriated you with my refusal to use standard grammar and a tendency to not finish sentences in my writing. All the best ideas for the site came from you. Thanks for letting me come along for the ride.

People call me cynical, so I’ll include some negatives. I have a lot of regrets concerning the website. I wish that the site had been able to grow more and to cover more sports than just the three on which we focused. Such a project would have necessitated many more writers, as Joe and I certainly did not have the time to devote learning about other sports. We concentrated on the few sports we did because we felt otherwise our writing would not add anything of value. I hope that in the future more students with deep interests in other sports will decide to be part of NbN.

I wish that I had done more research and reached out to coaches and players more than I did. Lack of preparation and sometimes social anxiety too often made me not want to go out on a limb and ask somebody to talk, but whenever I did it was very rewarding.

We were always terrible about getting out articles on time for them to be relevant, and I always would feel bad on Monday when I hadn’t done the Stock Report like I was supposed to. Being a college student with plenty of other things going on made it so that the website would be something that I would put on the backburner at times.

There were a lot of articles that I wish that I had undertaken which would have required much more legwork on my end. There are a lot of things related to NESCAC sports that require a different approach than what the student newspapers are capable of, but I never quite got around to doing them. I would have loved to examine the demographics of NESCAC athletes a little bit. This lack of research made me feel like I wasn’t doing a good enough job of presenting the stories that you can’t understand from just watching the games and looking at game recaps.

Despite all those regrets, I look back with immense pride at everything that we were able to accomplish over the past two and a half years. I’m also so excited that there is a plan in place for next year when Joe and I will be doing other things besides obsessing over DIII athletics.

Doing this was not easy, but it was a ton of fun and a little addicting. Knowing that some people actually cared about what we wrote was a little scary, and we tried our best to not let those people down. I also got really invested in Bowdoin teams because of it, with basketball being the one sport that I went above and beyond in my fanhood. I meant to write a long piece after the end of basketball season ended detailing my love for the team and why I fell so hard for NESCAC basketball, but I never got around to that. So I’ll write just a little about the team that I rooted harder for than any other.

I didn’t really discover the basketball team until the beginning of sophomore year. I went with a bunch of friends to a meaningless November non-conference game against St. Joseph’s. This was my sophomore year, the beginning of the 2013-2014 regular season when Lucas Hausman ’16 was nothing more than a reserve guard fighting for playing time behind an experience starting backcourt. The game was a 69-65 Bowdoin win and Hausman scored 19 points, though that would end up being his season high. The win took place in front of a few hundred people, and I along with some friends was one of the few students in attendance.

However, the attractions of a NESCAC home game were apparent to me even then. First of all, the lack of fans was a downside because of the bad atmosphere, but it did allow us to easily sit courtside. That ability to sit so close to the game meant it was possible for us to have an outsized effect on it, and I made sure to be as loud as possible at any games. The second thing that got me hooked was just the quality of play that I was only able to appreciate up close. NESCAC basketball players are really good. Like, really good. The success of Duncan Robinson at Michigan and all the players that have successful runs overseas prove that, but people still don’t realize it. The quality of the players made the games FUN to watch. Thanks to Lucas Hausman, Matt Palecki and Jake Donnelly for four years of great basketball.

There were a lot of great moments that I was able to watch in Morrell Gym, but my favorite was junior year when Bowdoin destroyed Bates. I had gone to Bates for the non-conference game when the Bobcats blew out the Polar Bears in front of a raucous crowd. Because it was a Friday night and both teams were good, a better than normal student crowd showed up. And boy did the team give the crowd a treat. From start to finish, Bowdoin was the aggressor, and I have never seen them play close to that level over 40 minutes. Hausman was the headliner of course with his record-setting 44 points, but my favorite comes around the one minute mark of the highlight video when Palecki falls down and then scrambles his way back to the three point line to hit a three.

Those moments watching Bowdoin basketball were some of my favorite as a college student. I’ll keep my final point brief, but beware that this is going to come off as very preachy.

The NESCAC likes to think of itself as different with regards to sports than other places. The first time I ever heard of the NESCAC was a Sports Illustrated article about the conference, praising the NESCAC for doing things ‘the right way.’ The Amherst President is quoted in the second paragraph as saying “I don’t have much trouble justifying them, but that’s only in this kind of setting. It seems everywhere else, sports are a distorting force.” The article basically reads as one big advertisement for the way that the NESCAC operates. The article makes it seem as if the NESCAC has perfected the athletic and academic balance. Maybe it had. I don’t know, I wasn’t there.

However, much of the article is no longer true, and it is a useful reminder that things aren’t as peachy as Sports Illustrated would have you believe. For one, unlike what the article would have you believe, most NESCAC facilities are not ‘dumps’ and there have been substantial resources poured into them. Coaches were once not allowed to recruit off-campus, with Middlebury basketball coach Russ Reilly saying that “All colleges should do this.” Well, this article details how that same Middlebury program put in a LOT of off-campus recruiting in order to convince Zach Baines to go to Middlebury. Going on recruiting trips to camps and AAU tournaments is now normal practice for NESCAC coaches.

When talking about the old rule of NESCAC baseball teams only playing 20 games per season, Tufts baseball coach John Casey is quoted as saying, “Why are some schools playing 70 baseball games a year? I don’t know. But I do know the players are not going to class.” Well it wasn’t 70, but Tufts, still under the leadership of Casey, played 43 games this season. The article claims that firing a coach because of a lack of winning is ‘unthinkable’, but this year Williams let go of head football coach Aaron Kelton for that exact reason, and there have been other instances of this occurring, although the public reason is (almost?) never the W-L record.

The NESCAC is different, but no one should fool themselves into thinking that NESCAC sports are perfect. NESCAC presidents, coaches and alumni have to be careful in the role that sports play on campus because it is easy to deviate slightly from the intended course for a long period and then wake up one day realizing that you are in a completely different place than you intended to be. The ability for sports to be a positive for individuals and communities is a real one, but it is also a limited one. Sports can, and sometimes are, a ‘distorting force’ in the NESCAC, and we cannot bury our heads in the sand and insist that the NESCAC model is perfect.

That doesn’t discredit all the amazing things about NESCAC sports that has made me fall in love with them over the past four years. From the quality of the student-athletes to the sound of the referee blowing his whistle, NESCAC sports are special, and still closer to the right way than anywhere else in the country. I will miss it immensely.

Familiar Territory: No. 16 Amherst Semifinal Preview with No. 2 Benedictine University

Amherst seniors Connor Green '16, Ray Barry '16 and Ben Pollack '16 celebrate their third Sectional title of their careers. (Courtesy of Alonso Nichols/Tufts Photos) — Amherst seniors Connor Green ’16, Ray Barry ’16 and Ben Pollack ’16 celebrate the third Sectional title of their careers. (Courtesy of Alonso Nichols/Tufts Photos)

Game Information: #16 Amherst vs. #2 Benedictine, 5 PM, Salem, VA

Video Live Stats

New year, new nickname, different roster, same result.

Amherst is back in the Final Four for the third time in just four seasons after a one year hiatus and looking to claim the program’s third national title. More than their previous two trips, this year’s journey to the Final Four was considered a long shot. In 2014 the Purple & White entered the tournament ranked No. 7 at 24-3, and in 2013, when they won the whole shabang, they were 25-2 and ranked second in the country. This year, Amherst ranked No. 16 coming into the tournament, and squeaked through the first weekend with two wins by a total of three points. Then, Amherst controlled the game against Babson in the Sweet 16, but the contest with Tufts was knotted up with under four minutes to play before Amherst finished on a 13-0 run.

No matter how it happened, Amherst is here now with a chance at the title. But, they have to take on, arguably, the best team in the country in undefeated Benedictine University.

It’s hard to find a weakness in the Eagles’ game as they play in their first Final Four. They are lead by two juniors, both from Naperville, Illinois, just a 10 minute ride from the Benedictine campus. Luke Johnson ’17 is an elite talent for the D-III level. He’s taken a circuitous route to get here – playing at two other schools and spending some time earlier in his career at Benedictine, too – but he certainly appears comfortable at last. The 6’9″, 235 lbs center averages 14.5 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 3.2 apg and, here’s the whopper, 3.0 bpg. That’s Tom Palleschi status. Johnson was named the All-Central Region Co-Player of the Year by D3Hooops.com. His fellow Napervillian, Michael “Blasé” Blaszczyk ’17 (I just came up with that nickname), leads the team with 14.6 ppg and contributes across the board with 4.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 spg and 0.7 bpg. Blaszczyk also brings size to the table at 6’3″, 190 lbs, and has ratched it up in the tournament, scoring 63 points over four games to lead his team. The third key Eagle to watch out for is PG Tahron Harvey ’17. Harvey is a D3Hoops.com All-Central Third Teamer averaging 13.5 ppg, 5.0 apg and 2.2 spg.

The key for Benedictine is that they have shooters all over the floor. Their rotation runs nine deep, and everyone but bruising sixth man Tim Reamer ’16 (6’5″ 240 lbs) can knock down the triple. (Reamer, by the way, was awarded the Elite 90 Award as the athlete at the Final Four with the highest cumulative GPA.) Seven of those nine shoot over 30 percent from deep, including Johnson, which presents a match up nightmare for Amherst. The Eagles will look to feed the big man on the block and let him distribute to their shooters. Furthermore, Benedictine is tenacious on the boards, outrebounding their opponents by 14.7 boards per game. Johnson is a big reason for that, but everyone in the lineup can get after the boards.

Amherst X-factor: Close Out Defense

I’m not going with one player here, but rather a philosophy. And, it’s a philosophy that Amherst has employed quite well so far this season. Amherst has the best three-point percentage defense in the country, and it’s not just because they present great length. To allow only 27.7 percent of opponents’ three pointers to drop, you have to be very good at closing out. I expect Head Coach Dave Hixon to instruct his players to double down on Johnson when he gets the ball in the post, which means it will be even more difficult for Amherst to close out on shooters. If they leave the Eagles’ shooters open it’s going to be a long day for Amherst, but if they can force Benedictine to try to make tough shots in traffic against the size that Amherst’s starting five provides, that could be a recipe for success.

Benedictine X-factor: C Luke Johnson

Johnson is obviously a great all-around player, but he’s an X-factor in this one not because of his scoring, but his propensity to rebound. Amherst has a pretty mediocre rebounding team, grabbing just 3.2 more rebounds per game than their opponents. Recall that Benedictine averages +14.7 boards per game. They also have a great defensive unit. Eagles’ opponents only score at a 37.8 percent clip from the field. That means buckets will be hard to come by for Amherst, and there won’t be many second chances with Johnson cleaning up the boards.

What to Expect:

It’s always so difficult to project NESCAC teams against out-of-region squads. From what I’ve seen over the past four years, the NESCAC is easily the best conference east of Wisconsin. They top-to-bottom quality of teams just can’t be beat, and I think you can look at the number of NESCAC teams that get into the NCAA Tournament, their success, and the success of even mid-tier and lower-tier NESCAC teams against high-quality out-of-conference opponents as proof of that statement. Therefore, and not because of favoritism, I often lean towards NESCAC squads. Even Benedictine can be questioned for the quality of their opponents. Their strength of schedule as of the last NCAA Regional Rankings, which come out before conference tournament play, was an average 0.524. Amherst had a .558 SOS at that time. Since then, however, Benedictine has beaten #10 Ohio Wesleyan and #13 Alma in the NCAA Tournament, so they’ve proven their mettle, and you don’t go 30-0 without having one heck of a roster.

On the Amherst side, the biggest question for me is always the point guard play. Jayde Dawson ’18 is great at times, and at other times gets pulled for Reid Berman ’17, who’s a very good player but has completely gone one-dimensional this year offensively, scoring just 2.1 ppg. One or the other will have to have a big game distributing, because with Benedictine’s defense the worst case scenario for Amherst is that they lose their offensive flow and start trying to go one-on-one on every possession. At the five spot, David George ’17 will see big minutes while trying to defend Johnson, which means less minutes for Eric Conklin ’17, George’s offensive counterpart. If Coach Hixon has to go with a lineup of Berman, Connor Green ’16, Johnny McCarthy ’18, Jeff Racy ’17 and George for extended stretches then they lose some significant offensive punch.

Whoever sees big minutes at the point for Amherst, though, expect this game to be played in the high 70’s and possibly 80’s. Amherst can score in bunches with the best of them, and the Eagles have tallied an outrageous 88.1 ppg this season. With two great, tough defenses though, don’t expect those points to come easy. We might have a uniquely fast-paced game on our hands with lots of misses, few offensive boards, and quick transitions.

As well as I believe the NESCAC prepares its teams for postseason play, I don’t see a chink in the Benedictine armor. The last game they won by less than nine points came on December 30. That’s almost three months ago. Amherst will have to play a perfect game in order to win. I don’t think they can pull it off. They may come close, and a hot night from Racy and Green beyond the arc could push the Purple & White over the top, but Benedictine has the lengthy defenders to stop that and I don’t see it happening.

Prediction: Benedictine 85 – Amherst 80

The Rise of the Jumbos: Tufts’ Season in Review

Tufts is going to miss senior leaders Stephen Haladyna '16 and Ryan Spadaford '16. (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Tufts is going to miss senior leaders Stephen Haladyna ’16 and Ryan Spadaford ’16. (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

The 2015-2016 Jumbos will go down as the best team in Tufts men’s basketball team history. At 23-7, Tufts tied their ’05-’06 team with the most wins in school history, and their Elite Eight appearance is the first ever for the program. Following back-to-back 13-12 seasons, expectations were unclear for Tufts, but given their plethora of returning players, Coach Bob Sheldon’s squad hoped to improve on recent years.

Tufts started out on a good note, and were 9-2 heading into conference play. Then they walloped Bowdoin by 33 and smacked around Colby by 27 – things were looking good for the ‘Bos. The following weekend, Tufts headed to Middlebury and lost in OT, and after a blowout win against Hamilton, they lost their second straight overtime game to Wesleyan. They barely scraped by Connecticut College the next day, and the way the NESCAC was shaping up, Tufts was looking like a team that might just beat up on the bottom half while they failed to finish games off against the top half. A Bates beat down and a bad loss to Trinity seemed to align with this trend, but everyone’s perception of the Jumbos changed when Amherst rolled into town the next day. Tufts dominated Amherst, winning by 11 points and never trailing after the 16:05 mark in the first half. Tufts finished the regular season with two more wins, putting themselves at third in the NESCAC heading into the playoffs and with a lot of momentum.

After a good first round win against Williams, Tufts played pretty poorly against Amherst in the semi-finals. Vinny Pace ’18 was really the only bright spot for the Jumbos, as he dropped 33 points, but Tufts could not stop the balanced attack of Amherst, and ended up losing by three. Regardless of this loss, it was pretty clear that Tufts was going to make the NCAA tournament based on their 20-6 record and a handful of quality wins. The NCAA Tournament committee decided that Tufts’ resume was pretty impressive, and as result, Tufts hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

On the first possession of the opening round game against Southern Vermont, Pace drove to the hoop and came down awkwardly, injuring his knee pretty badly and ending his season. With their top scorer out, Tufts’ first option obviously became big man Tom Palleschi ’17, and Palleschi sure did impress. Over the last stretch of the regular season, Palleschi carried the Jumbos, and he continued to do so once Pace went down. That night against Southern Vermont, Palleschi scored 17 and followed that with 19 points, 16 points and 20 points in the next three rounds. But just one scorer wouldn’t have been enough for Tufts, so who else stepped up? The answer to that was senior tri-captain Stephen Haladyna ’16. Haladyna scored his 1000th point against Amherst in the NESCAC semi-finals, and with Pace down he was the obvious answer for the next shot-taker. Over the four NCAA games, Haladyna averaged 23.0 ppg on 45.7 percent shooting from the field and went 26-30 from the free throw line. Though the Jumbos ran out of juice against Amherst in the last three minutes in the Elite Eight, this team showed some extreme resilience by winning three games without their top scorer. Palleschi and Haladyna were two of the biggest contributors on both ends of the court during that stretch, while the rest of the squad clearly stepped it up as well.

Highlight Moment: 78-76 Win vs. Southern Vermont in the NCAA First Round

When Pace went down on the first play of the game, the packed house in Medford went dead silent. Everyone in the gym knew that Pace was an integral part of getting the Jumbos into the tournament, and a little doubt crept into everybody’s minds when he was helped off the court. Well, the Jumbos responded with one of their best all-around performances of the season. Palleschi was the anchor, totaling not just 17 points, but also eight blocked shots. Haladyna led the way scoring the ball with 24 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Fellow tri-captain Ryan Spadaford ’16 was not to be outdone however, as he added to the effort with 12 points and a game-high 14 boards – pretty impressive for a guard against the big bruisers of Southern Vermont. The well-rounded effort didn’t stop there, however. Tarik Smith ’17 didn’t shoot the ball particularly well on this night, but he found his niche and led the game with six assists. The bench also played an integral role in this win for Tufts: Ben Engvall ’18 played well, totaling his pretty consistent eight points while also grabbing seven boards, but the spotlight shined on freshman sharpshooter Ethan Feldman ’19 in this one. Despite his limited minutes during the rest of the season, Feldman stepped in and put on a clinic on how to shoot the rock, dropping 10 points in 11 minutes. This was a huge win for Tufts, and an extremely emotional one at that. They played as one unit, and it was truly impressive to watch.

Team MVP: Center Tom Palleschi

He might not have been the top scorer, but without this highly skilled big man, Tufts would not have been nearly as good as they were this season. That is not a slight to the rest of the team, but rather a nod to Palleschi. It’s pretty incredible how much attention Big Tom demands from opposing defenses, and his passing ability is a perfect complement to this. I haven’t seen a team play Tufts that doesn’t try to double down on the big guy, but Coach Sheldon intelligently surrounds him with shooters, so just one ball fake eliminates the possibility of a double team. Palleschi is so shifty down low, and his ability to step out and shoot the three-ball this year was huge for Tufts. On the other end of the court, he might be even more important. Palleschi’s 3.90 blocks per game ranked second in all of Division III, and he was one of just two players to block over 100 shots this season (he had 113 blocks in 29 games). Due to his redshirt year during what would have been his sophomore campaign, the Jumbos will get Palleschi back for another year, and they sure are happy to have him returning.

Biggest Surprise: The loss of Hunter Sabety was addition by subtraction

Entering the season, there was lots of talk about Sabety’s transfer to Hofstra. Many critics thought that Sabety’s departure would be a huge loss for Tufts, but it actually opened things up for Coach Sheldon, who took advantage of having a more guard-heavy lineup and incorporated a new fastbreak-based offense. The Jumbos dropped buckets at a crazy rate, and were head and shoulders above everybody else in scoring with an average of 86.0 ppg. Allowing other players to get more involved took away the ability of opposing defenses to collapse on Palleschi, and gave shooters like Spadaford, Haladyna and Pace to get more opportunities to reign down threes from deep. The fast-paced offense also served Palleschi’s shooting ability well, as he was often the last one up the court when they set up in their half-court offense. When opposing centers backed off of Palleschi, he made them pay, and he actually ended up leading the team in three-point shooting percentage at 47.6 percent. The new high-powered offense served the Jumbos very well, and I expect more of the same out of them next year.

Most Interesting Stat: Tufts lead the NESCAC in FTA by a lot

Seriously, Tufts got to the free throw line about a million times more than their opponents. They were 626-841 from the line on the season, which totals to 74.4 percent. The next high number of attempts came from Middlebury, who shot 441-660 on the year. That is 181 extra free throws! I understand that in conference, this number comes down significantly (Tufts still led, with 262 attempts, followed by Wesleyan at 242), but still, this difference is crazy. In their four NCAA games, Tufts shot 131 free throws. The most drastic difference came in their second round game against Skidmore, when Tufts attempted 44 free throws and Skidmore shot just 17. This sky-high number of free throw attempts over the course of the season is definitely related to the high-speed offense that Coach Sheldon implemented, and it is definitely going to be something to watch when next season rolls around.

Other Thoughts

I think it’s also important to note that Coach Bob Sheldon was the Northeast Region Coach of the Year, and Palleschi was named to the All-Northeast Region Second Team. Congratulations to the two of them on these accomplishments. The only other schools to have two players/coaches recognized were Babson (Joey Flannery ’17 and Isaiah Nelsen ’17), Bowdoin (Lucas Hausman ’16 and Jack Simonds ’19), and Johnson & Wales (Quarry Greenaway ’16 and Tom Garrick ’16). What’s one common denominator that jumps out? Tufts beat all three of these teams. The most impressive part about the Jumbos’ season to me is that they went up against the best competition week in and week out and still amassed a record of 23-7. They beat the #11, #12, #15 and #16 teams in the country, and played a total of nine games against opponents that qualified for the NCAA tournament. That strength of schedule certainly paid dividends for Tufts in March, and it will benefit this team in the future, as they only lose three seniors this year. The young Jumbos will be a very scary team in the NESCAC in 2016-2017.

NCAA Sweet 16 Preview: #20 Tufts vs. #12 Johnson & Wales

Haladyna is going to be a big piece of the puzzle for Tufts this weekend. (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

If this Tufts team hasn’t signed and sent a thank you card to the Amherst College women’s team yet, they better get on that, because without them, Tufts wouldn’t be hosting this weekend. Due to the NCAA Division-III rules, if both the men’s and women’s team from a school are set to host, the men’s team gets priority to host the first weekend of the tournament and the Women’s team gets priority to host the second weekend (it alternates every year). The Amherst men’s team would be hosting, but because their women’s team also advanced to the Sweet 16, Tufts got backdoor home court advantage. That leaves us with Amherst playing Babson at 5:30 pm tonight and Tufts playing Johnson & Wales at 7:30 pm. Here’s what to expect from the second game.

Perhaps the biggest story leading up to this game is Tufts’ loss of Vinny Pace ’18. On the first play of the game last Friday, Pace drove to the paint. There was some contact, which was certainly legal, but it sent Pace’s upper body in one direction and his lower body in the other. When Pace landed, he immediately grabbed his leg – more specifically, his knee – while writhing in pain on the floor. Pace exited the game in under 30 seconds and did not return all weekend. As of now, it’s unclear what Pace’s status is exactly, but I’d be surprised if he’s back this weekend based on his immediate reaction.

So where does that leave the Jumbos? Based on their play last weekend, I’d say nothing changes from a strategy standpoint. It was a “next man up” mentality, reminiscent of this season’s New England Patriots, as Ethan Feldman ’19 stepped in to play 11 minutes on Friday and 17 minutes on Saturday. Feldman scored 10 points and 14 points respectively, and showed off his supreme ability to stretch the floor for the Jumbos, going 6-9 from the three-point line on the weekend. On Friday, Coach Bob Sheldon was a bit more tentative to play Feldman, but the freshman clearly gained his trust, evident by his increased minutes on Saturday. So where did all the minutes go on Friday? Well, the rest of the starting five (excluding Pace) played the following number of minutes against Southern Vermont: Tom Palleschi ’17, 34; Ryan Spadaford ’16, 34; Tarik Smith ’17, 37; Stephen Haladyna ’16, 38. That’s pretty wild. Haladyna continued his late-season surge, going for a game-high 24 points, which also counted for his career-high. In his last six games, Haladyna is averaging 17.5 ppg, which barely tops Palleschi’s 17.3 ppg over the same stretch. Palleschi has also been red-hot, evidenced by his 17 points Friday night and 19 points on Saturday night. However, Palleschi’s impact hasn’t just been on the offensive end – over the weekend, Palleschi totaled 13 (!!) blocked shots. That’s insane. Though the scoring was more evenly spread out on Saturday against Skidmore, it is clear that Haladyna and Palleschi, two of the longest tenured players on the roster, are willing this team through. The resilience and desire of these two captains has allowed guys like their co-captain Spadaford and their junior point guard Smith to play with less pressure, while allowing younger players like Feldman, Ben Engvall ’18, and Everett Dayton ’18 to step in and play big minutes. The fact that these freshmen and sophomores can step in seamlessly in the biggest games of the season is a very encouraging sign for the Jumbos.

Quarry Greenaway (#15 in white) and Tom Garrick (#1 in white) are the leaders on the Johnson & Wales roster (Courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletics) — Quarry Greenaway (#15 in white) and Tom Garrick (#1 in white) are the leaders on the Johnson & Wales roster. (Courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletics)

On the Johnson & Wales side of the court, the story is pretty different. Both teams play about seven deep, but that’s where the similarities end. Tufts is a team that spreads the scoring around to lots of different guys (and different players on different nights) … let’s just say Johnson & Wales does not do that. Seriously though, two guys account for 53.7 percent of the J&W scoring, and when you add the third highest scorer, that percentage jumps to 64.8 percent of the team’s average. To put this in perspective, Tufts’ top two score 37.6 percent of their points, and the top three score 51.8 percent. J&W lives and dies by seniors Quarry Greenaway ’16 and Tom Garrick ’16. J&W has played 30 games this year. Either Greenaway or Garrick has led the team in points in every single game, and in just five of games have one of these two players been outscored by another player on the team. I think I have to chalk the first game of the season as either a fluke or just a lack of togetherness, because J&W is a better team than Linfield in every single way, so I’m not going to address that loss. In their only other loss of the season (J&W is 28-2 overall, 28-1 in conference), the Wildcats were carried by Greenaway’s 35 points, but Garrick really struggled shooting the ball, going just 6-20 from the field. It’s not that weird for a star player to have an off game – this is college basketball after all – that kind of stuff happens, right? Well, not at J&W it doesn’t. In their loss to Albertus Magnus on February 13, Garrick’s 13 points put him behind Greenaway, Jarell Lawson ’18 (18 points) and Robert Lewis ’16 (15 points). That was the only time this season that Garrick or Greenaway was below third in scoring on their team. Maybe it’s coincidence, but what I’m suggesting is this: if you want to beat Johnson & Wales, you just need to shut down one of these two guys. Maybe forcing foul trouble can do it; Greenaway plays 34.5 mpg, while Garrick plays 34.2 mpg; forcing a bench player to take one of their spots could work, but both of them have shown the ability to go off for 30+ when the other is struggling, so you never know. J&W doesn’t play the hardest schedule in the country, evidenced by an average margin of victory that sits at 25.2 ppg, but the consistency of these margins of victory shows that they always play at a high level. Last weekend, J&W was definitely challenged – just look at the turnover numbers. On average, J&W wins the turnover battle by just under eight per game (average margin is -7.7 to/g). In their two NCAA games, J&W turned the ball over two more times than their opponents did (J&W, 32 turnovers; opponents, 30 turnovers). This huge swing in turnovers shows that J&W definitely struggles against better defenses.

Tufts X-factor: Center Tom Palleschi

Arguably the most important part of this game is going to be the ability of Tufts to break the Johnson & Wales press – the key to doing that is Tom Palleschi. The Wildcats play a five-guard lineup. No one on the J&W roster is over 6’5”, and pretty much everybody who gets minutes is listed as a guard except for Michael Kiser ’18, their 6’2” center. Their press works because of how quick the Wildcats are and how hard they attack ball handlers with the pressure. The huge advantage that Tufts has is that Palleschi is 6’8”. This size advantage is why Palleschi is so important in this game. If Palleschi can flash to the middle and receive the ball during the press, the Jumbos will be able to advance the ball down the floor much more easily than if they try to dribble their way through it. I’ve always thought that Palleschi is one of the best passing centers in the NESCAC, and his ball fakes are next-level (to be honest, he fools me with them half the time). If Palleschi can help break the J&W press, Tufts will get very good looks on the offensive end. Breaking the press will lead to a lot of quick, easy shots for the Jumbos, but if they slow up into a half-court game, Palleschi will once again be of great importance. He should be able to dominate down low, but expect that the Wildcats will double down when he touches the ball in the post, which will give the big boy a chance to kick it out to shooters.

Johnson & Wales X-factor: Guard Tom Garrick ‘16

Tom Garrick (Courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletics)

As I outlined above, J&W relies pretty substantially on two players: Tom Garrick and Quarry Greenaway. Out of the two, Greenaway is the more consistent, but Garrick still averages over 20 a game so he’s by no means an inconsistent player. Garrick is a slightly worse shooter from the field and from beyond the arc, but he excels at getting to the rim. As a whole, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference does not roll out a ton of really tall big men, which is why I’m pegging Garrick as the X-factor. Johnson & Wales has not seen a shot blocker like Palleschi, who is second in the country in blocks per game. This past weekend, Palleschi eclipsed 100 blocks on the season, and the way he was throwing shots out of bounds suggested that non-conference teams are just not quite as adjusted to his shot-blocking ability as NESCAC teams are. Garrick has shown the ability to shoot a decent midrange jump shot, but the 6’5” guard could struggle in the paint going up against the 6’8” center. I think Garrick’s success scoring the ball could definitely depend on his ability to hit jump shots, and if he’s not doing that, then guys like Anthony Jernigan ’17 or Jarell Lawson ’18 are going to have to step up.

Three Questions

1.) Can Tufts break the press?

As I mentioned above, Johnson & Wales presses all the time. I haven’t seen a press stump Tufts all year long, but I also haven’t seen them face a good press, so there’s very little to base an analysis off of in that regard. However, look at the Tufts ball handlers. Smith is obviously very competent with the ball in his hands, and I think Engvall does a great job of moving north/south with the ball in his hands rather than just east/west. Dayton has been a solid point guard behind Smith all year long and looks like he’s in control when he’s leading the Tufts offense, and Thomas Lapham ’18, though his minutes have been down this year, has plenty of game experience as he split time starting with Smith last year. However, Smith is really the only Tufts guard who has seen intense pressure on a regular basis this season, there is definitely a question mark against these other Tufts guards. The key is getting the ball to Palleschi in the middle, who can then look over the top of the defense and find the open man. Drew Madsen ’17 is going to play a big role on the press when Palleschi heads to the bench. If Madsen and Palleschi can serve as reliable outlets for the Tufts guards, I think they’ll be fine with the press.

2.) Can Tufts stop Greenaway and Garrick?

Tufts has showed that they can stop teams with just one premier scorer this season. For example, when they played Bowdoin in the opening weekend of NESCAC play, the Jumbos held Lucas Hausman ’16 to just 11 points on 3-10 shooting. However, when they played Amherst in the regular season, who has a much more balanced attack, they struggled a bit to stop Connor Green ’16, who put up 28 on the Jumbos. However, that same game, Jeff Racy ’17 didn’t hit a shot. On the flip side, they played Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals at Trinity and six Amherst players scored in double digits on their way to bouncing Tufts from the conference tournament. It’s games like this that the Jumbos struggle in – games where the opponents spread out their scoring among numerous players. In all their losses, Tufts allowed numerous players to beat them. The more one-dimensional teams struggle against the Tufts defense, specifically Haladyna, who has shown the ability to lock down premier scorers and shooters. So I realize that I’ve gotten away from the question a bit, but to put it simply, I think that Tufts can at least slow down the attack of J&W’s two studs. Sure, Greenaway and Garrick may carry the load, but I think J&W is going to have the most success if they get a couple other guys involved in the scoring. This will open up space for the two senior Wildcats to get buckets.

3.) Who steps up for the Jumbos on the offensive end?

Without Pace last weekend, and with Stefan Duvivier ’18 out with the flu, Tufts went a bit deeper than normal in terms of bench minutes. I believe Duvivier will be back this weekend, but it’s pretty tough to get your wind back following a sickness. That means the increased minutes that Dayton, Engvall and Feldman all saw will probably stay the same. So who steps up to score for the Jumbos this weekend? Last weekend, Palleschi and Haladyna led the way, as has been the case for Tufts over most of the last couple weeks. Feldman stepped up with some cold-blooded shooting last weekend – can he do that again? Will Spadaford get to the line and knock down five or six free throws like last weekend? How about Smith? The theme that has developed down the stretch is that the entire starting lineup needs to be involved for Tufts to play well. When the scoring is spread out, their shooting percentages are all way up and the defense has a hard time guarding everybody. In theory, Palleschi should have a high-scoring game based on his size advantage, but the fast pace of this one may limit his ability to get into the paint and go to work. I’m sensing a big game out of Engvall. He’s a great, tough finisher around the rim, especially on the break, and without the presence of a true big, there’s really nothing stopping him from getting those shots off in the paint.

Prediction

I think that two of the most important parts of this game are the first five minutes of each half. If the frantic Johnson & Wales throws off Tufts early, Johnson & Wales could jump out to a big lead. Ultimately, Tufts will get some easy hoops off the press, but they’re also bound to make some mistakes in their attempts to break it. The biggest battle of the first half lies in Tufts keeping it close or taking a lead out of the gate. J&W really hasn’t trailed too much this year, so this is the easiest way for Tufts to force the Wildcats out of their comfort zone. In the beginning of the second half, I assume that J&W will try to spark a run once again with their press, so it’s vital for Tufts that they stay calm and take care of the ball. Last year when these two met, Tufts shot the ball very, very poorly. They were 19-60 from the field, 4-16 from deep, and 10-20 from the free throw line. That’s horrible. It was close for a while, but about midway through the second half Tufts’ shooting caught up with them and J&W went on a big run. If Tufts allows runs like this from the Wildcats, they are going to have a tough time bouncing back with runs of their own. Then again, the Jumbos are much more apt to handle the five-guard J&W attack this year, as Tufts sports a four-guard attack of their own. I think Tufts has to play really, really well to win this one. They need to minimize mistakes, while J&W needs to force mistakes and then capitalize off of them. Tufts handled the ball very well last weekend – they had just 19 turnovers between the two games – and I think they will do this again. It’s going to take a really strong shooting performance, but I think Tufts pulls this one off at the end.

Tufts 80 – Johnson & Wales 79

Eye on Saturday

Amherst and Babson are two pretty evenly matched teams had to play two overtime periods to determine a winner back in December. Amherst ended up winning that game 103-96, primarily because Connor Green dropped 39 points on the Beavers. Joey Flannery ’17 is easily the best player on the Babson roster. He’s averaging 24.2 ppg this year, and actually recently became the leading scorer in Babson men’s basketball history. Oh yeah, he’s just a junior. Unfortunately for Babson, Flannery went down with an ankle injury last weekend. I’m guessing he’s going to at least try to play this weekend, which is a huge boost for the Beavers. Amherst benefits from a less than fully health Flannery, and I think the ex-Lord Jeffs are going to roll in this one. NESCAC teams have been Babson’s kryptonite this year: Babson lost five total games, and four were against NESCAC teams (they didn’t beat any NESCAC teams either). Babson does ride into this one with a 13-game winning streak, but I think Amherst will advance to Saturday.

That leaves us with a rubber match between Tufts and Amherst based on my predictions, which would be pretty incredible. Tufts beat Amherst by 11 earlier this year in Medford, and then Amherst got their revenge in the NESCAC semi-finals when they edged Tufts by three points. The two keys to this game (if it happens) will be Palleschi’s matchup with Eric Conklin ’17 and the ability of Tufts to slow down Green, who absolutely dominates in Cousens Gym. I have no idea what would happen in this game, because the two matchups between Tufts and Amherst this year have been completely different games. All I can say is this: a NESCAC matchup in the Elite Eight would be pretty epic, and I am definitely rooting for that to happen.

NCAA Sweet 16 Preview: #15 Amherst vs. #16 Babson

Johnny McCarthy '18 needs a big game in order to stop Babson's high-powered offense. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Johnny McCarthy ’18 needs a big game in order to stop Babson’s high-powered offense. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

This game is going to be a barn-burner. Amherst is ranked 15th and Babson is 16th. They already played each other early in the season on Dec. 10, and it was a wild double-OT, 103-96 finish in favor of the NESCAC squad. These teams have been deep in the NCAAs before, have seasoned coaches, big time players, and championship aspirations. Babson lost in the Final Four last year and the year before that, Amherst won it all. These teams are used to playing good teams in big time situations and that’s why its going to be one of the best games we have seen all season. The last time these two saw each other, Amherst’s Connor Green ’16 went off for 39 points, way above his 14.9 ppg average on the season, and Babson shot just 21-32 (65.6 percent) from the free throw line, not making their free baskets when it counted. The overtime periods were completely different contests as three Amherst starters, David George ’17, Jayde Dawson ’18, and Johnny McCarthy ’18, all fouled out while Isaiah Nelsen ’17 also reached five fouls for Babson. While it was undeniably a close game, many things could change for each team in this game, so who is going to do what it takes to come out on top?

Babson Overview

Amherst is a familiar opponent for the Babson Beavers. Babson has played four contests against the NESCAC which have accounted for four of their five total losses. It would be easy to say that the Beavers can’t handle this conference. After talking with Coach Stephen Brennan, 2016 NEWMAC Coach of the Year, I am not going to say that they are going to roll over so easily. First off, the fact that they played so many NESCAC teams shows that they have a tough schedule and play strong non-conference teams. Their overall strength of schedule this year at the time of the last public NCAA Regional Rankings was an impressive 0.539. Amherst’s wasn’t much higher – 0.558. Last year against NESCAC teams, Babson only lost to Bates, perhaps showing that this year’s record might have been a bit of an anomaly. In their game against Tufts, the opposition’s Ryan Spadaford ’16 made a 30-foot shot as time ran out to win the game, something that probably wouldn’t happen again if they played later this weekend. As far as personnel goes, Joey Flannery ’17, averaging 24.2 ppg and 6.9 rpg, and Nelsen, averaging 16.1 ppg and 8.6 rpg, are the clear leaders for the Beavers, both All-ECAC honorees. However, Flannery missed Babson’s Second Round game with a sprained ankle, and without him the Beavers are a much weaker team. The recent emergence of Nick Comenale ’18 has really helped Babson down the stretch. Comenale was averaging 3.4 ppg on January 24, the day he got his first start for Babson. Since then, he’s averaged 13.1 ppg and Amherst Coach Dave Hixon says “He really stretches other teams out.” Also, the potential of Bradley Jacks ’18 is something to watch out for as he averages 12.0 ppg but dropped 30 against Bowdoin earlier this year.

Amherst X-Factor: Guard/Forward Connor Green

Last time against Babson, Green scored 39 points in 41 minutes, accounting for basically 40 percent of Amherst’s points. While Amherst does have a balanced team with four players averaging over 10 points and nine players averaging over 10 minutes, clearly Green’s outburst helped them win. On top of that, as Amherst’s top scorer, he will be going back and forth scoring with Flannery who was injured last game, creating a potential deviation between their productivity. Green could easily give his team an edge.

Babson X-Factor: Free Throw Shooting

While Amherst’s Coach Dave Hixon doesn’t think that Babson’s poor free throw shooting was a huge reason for his team’s win in their previous meeting, Babson Coach Stephen Brennan thinks differently. In a call with him, he emphasized how important accuracy from the charity stripe was going to be for his Beavers and how if not for a low 65 percent from the line last time, his team could’ve very well have pulled out the win.

Three Questions

1. Does the presence of Comenale make a difference?

Yes. He didn’t play last time the two teams met, and at the time, wouldn’t have had a huge impact, but since then he has become a starter, reaching double digit points almost every game and grabbing over four rebounds a game since he began receiving significant minutes. Also, this will change around the lineup that Amherst saw last time, making their last meeting less of an indication of how this game could go.

2. Will Flannery be ready to go for Babson?

Joey Flannery '17 was a D3Hoops.com Preseason First Team All-American, and his 24.2 ppg this year ranks 11th in the nation. (Courtesy of Jon Endow/Babson Athletics) — Joey Flannery ’17 was a D3Hoops.com Preseason First Team All-American, and his 24.2 ppg this year ranks 11th in the nation. (Courtesy of Jon Endow/Babson Athletics)

He’s probably going to play, but we have no way of knowing exactly how ready and mobile he will be after a sprained ankle. I’m sure that he will play hard in this pivotal game for his Beavers, but without him, I am not sure how well they would compete against Amherst. Without his 24.2 ppg, Babson won’t have much room for error, as they barely won their last game 70-67 against #19 Susquehanna. So he better be ready to go.

3. Who is the predicted favorite?

Even though Amherst won the only meeting these two teams had earlier this season, as both coaches put it, each team is much different than they were when they last played. As previously mentioned, Comenale is a new starter, averaging big minutes, and each team has played a season’s worth of games, developing as a unit, especially with each team’s transfer students as “it takes a while for them to settle in,” according to Coach Hixon. This is going to be a close contest and since Amherst won before and is still higher ranked, it looks like they are the favorite on paper, but not by much.

What to Expect

The Babson Beavers look comically relaxed. (Courtesy of Jon Endow/Babson Athletics)

Babson is not going to go away lightly. Learning from a double OT loss before, they know that this game is going to be a dog fight. Amherst likes to shoot a lot of threes and is certainly good at it, racking up 37.3 percent of the long shots this year. McCarthy and Michael Riopel ’18 are going to need to defend Nelsen, Flannery and the rest of Babson well as they average 81.6 ppg (the same ppg as Amherst). The site of this game will also be impactful as the last meeting was at Babson and this is at a neutral site. Ah, the beauty of the D-III tournament. Amherst deserved the regional more than anyone else left, but Tufts is more centralized for all four teams (the last being Johnson & Wales of Providence, RI) and the Amherst women are hosting on the No Mascots’ campus this weekend. Instead of a home crowd decked out in Purple and White, Amherst will probably be met by more Beaver fans. Even though Flannery was injured for Babson against Susquehanna, they were still able to win their 13th straight game against the #19 ranked school in the country. Amherst on the other hand lost a close game to Middlebury in the NESCAC championship while their team was pretty beat up. Each team at this point in the season is going to be a bit injured, but that shouldn’t give one team too much of an advantage over the other. Overall, Babson has more momentum, but Amherst won’t be lacking confidence after beating them earlier in the year. Bottom line is both teams deserve to be here. If Flannery was 100 percent healthy, I think Babson pulls this game out, but since he is hobbled with the ankle injury, Amherst looks primed to outlast the Beavers in a back-and-forth game.

Prediction: Amherst 90 Babson 86 in OT

Really Big Wins, No Big Rin(g)s: Trinity’s Season in Review

The efforts of Jaquann Starks '16 and Eg Ogundeko '17 weren't enough to get Trinity by high-scoring Johnson & Wales in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Plattsburgh St. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — The efforts of Jaquann Starks ’16 and Eg Ogundeko ’17 weren’t enough to get Trinity by high-scoring Johnson & Wales in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Plattsburgh St. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

The Buffalo Bills of the early 1990’s. The 1990’s Atlanta Braves (except for 1995). University of Michigan basketball in 1992 and 1993. And, worst of all, the 2007 Patriots.

All dynastic-type franchises and programs. None of them champions. It takes a certain level of talent to be the best team and win more games than anyone else throughout the course of a season. It takes something else, some undefinable, to be a champion.

As great as Trinity basketball has been over the course of the past two seasons – a 42-15 record (.737), 18-2 (.900) conference record, defenses rated near the top of the NESCAC and all of Division-III, an Elite Eight run a year ago and another NCAA trip this season – they have not been able to win a NESCAC title despite the Semis and Finals being played in Hartford. After once again clinching home court advantage through the NESCAC playoffs, the Semifinal exit for the Bantams was a disappointing one.

Let’s not forget, though, about the accomplishments that this team achieved. The Bantams graduated a few critical pieces, as most good teams do. Hart Gliedman ’15, a tenacious perimeter defender. George Papadeas ’15, a paint-clogging center at 6’8″. And a couple of important forwards in Steve Spirou ’15 and Alex Conaway ’15. The backcourt went through a further transition, as Andrew Hurd ’16 became the PG1 and Jaquann Starks ’16, an All-NESCAC player last year, had to morph himself into a traditional two-guard. There was a question of what kind of offensive production Trinity would get out of the post. Last year center Ed Ogundeko ’17 was the team’s third-leading scorer, but he shot an ugly 46.3 percent from the floor – not very good for a guy that doesn’t shoot from outside the paint. And lastly, there was the question of how the team would respond from a disappointing loss in the NESCAC Semis followed by a deep NCAA run.

All things considered, Trinity had a successful year, once again claiming the No. 1 seed by being the best team during the NESCAC regular season. There’s no doubt, though, that the Bantams will look back on this season and feel that there was some unfinished business.

Highlight Moment: 76-75 Win against Williams in the NESCAC Season Opener

The first game of the conference schedule always carries a lot of weight, but that is particularly true for a team like Trinity, trying to prove that it is not a fluke. The upstart Ephs had the advantage down the stretch, but it was the cool nerves of the experienced Bantams that made the difference. Trinity was down 70-68 with just moments to play, but then scored six points off of steals – two from Shay Ajayi ’16 and one from Starks – to stay in the fight. Finally, it was a contested, banked-in runner from Starks with six seconds left and followed by a steal from Starks himself that iced the game.

Team MVP: F Shay Ajayi

Shay Ajayi '16 is nasty. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — Shay Ajayi ’16 is nasty. (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

This is an easy one, as Ajayi not only gets our vote for Team MVP, but he already took home NESCAC POY honors. Ajayi’s game is so well-rounded that it’s hard to find a weakness. He is a menace defensively because of his length, and his ability to score inside, outside and attacking the rim is unmatched in the NESCAC. His stat line speaks for itself: 13.9 ppg on 48.3/32.1/78.0% shooting, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 spg and 1.0 bpg.

Biggest Surprise: The Loss of Hart Gliedman Didn’t Hurt Too Badly

People close to the program might read that and think I’m crazy. I don’t know how important Gliedman was as a leader and a presence off the floor, and believe me, as a former scrappy all-defense guard myself back in high school and today on the intramural circuit, I respect the man’s game. I only say this because American University transfer Langdon Neal ’17 became a vicious perimeter defender this season. Every time I watched Trinity, Neal was the player that caught my eye, constantly pressuring the ball handler and disrupting passing lanes. Need proof of his defensive capabilities? How about 1.0 steals per game in just 14.1 minutes per game. Ajayi lead the Bantams with 1.6 steals per game, but of course was also on the floor for almost 25 minutes per game. Neal comes in at 14th in the league in steals per game, and played by far the fewest minutes of anyone ranked that high. Tim Ahn ’19 (17.0 mpg) and Josh Britten ’16 (19.5 mpg) were the only guys above Neal that played less than 20 minutes per contest. I’d love to see what Neal does in an expanded role next season, and if he breaks into the starting five he could be a sneaky play for DPOY.

Most Interesting Stat: Shay Ajayi lead the Bantams with 24.9 mpg

That might not sound like a spectacular stat, but get this. Ajayi’s 24.9 mpg ranks 33rd in the NESCAC. Every other team besides Bates (one, Mike Boornazian ’16) and Conn College (two, Tyler Rowe ’19 and Zuri Pavlin ’17) had at least three players average more minutes than Ajayi. The entire Colby starting five averaged more minutes than Ajayi. Obviously, the advantage for the Bantams was that they were always fresh. It’s interesting though. What could Head Coach James Cosgrove be giving up by leaving Ajayi (or Starks, or Ogundeko, etc.) on the bench for 15 minutes and going to the eighth, ninth or 10th guy in the rotation? The Bantams’ core players were forced into more usage in the playoffs. Against Middlebury, Ajayi played 24 minutes, Starks 25, Ogundeko 26 and Hurd 29. Against Johnson & Wales, the totals were Ajayi 22, Starks 22, Hurd 27 and Ogundeko 31. Is it possible that they were worn down towards the end of the game, and that lead to those losses? We’ll never know for sure, and Cosgrove basically employed the same strategy last season, when the Bantams lost in the NESCAC Semis but did make it to the Elite Eight (Starks lead with 28.6 mpg, Ajayi was second with 25.2 mpg and no one else topped 22.1 mpg). It’s proven to be an effective strategy during the regular season, but perhaps it has contributed to a few disappointing postseason showings.