Two of the hottest teams in the NESCAC will face off Saturday, as the Middlebury Panthers will take on the Colby Mules at Wadsworth Gymnasium. The Panthers are on a three-game winning streak, having convincingly knocked off mighty Williams before annihilating the Bantams this past Saturday. The Mules are enjoying a three-game winning streak of their own, and their last two road upsets against Amherst and Hamilton have people talking that this team might be a giant-killer as we progress further into the season. Both teams rank in the top four teams in the NESCAC in 3PFG% and PPG, so there’s sure to be some fireworks on display. A Panther win and they keep pace with Wesleyan and Amherst in the conference standings, while still in reach of WIlliams. Conversely, another Colby upset and the Mules will have essentially clinched a top eight seed for the postseason tournament. Needless to say, there’s a lot of the line for both teams in what should be a dog-fight that could come down to the wire.
Overview
The Panthers are an offensive juggernaut, and opposing defenses are still having trouble figuring out the trio of Jack Farrell, Matt Folger, and Max Bosco. All three rank in the top 12 in the NESCAC in PPG and command an offense than leads the NESCAC in scoring at 84.7 PPG; in fact, no other NESCAC team is averaging 80 PPG in conference play. The Panthers’ ball movement is exceptional (2nd in AST/G), they rebound at a high rate (3rd in offensive REB/G, 4th in defensive REB/G) and they average under 10 turnovers per contest. Simply put, this team does not beat itself, and Colby’s defense will have its hands full trying to disrupt Middlebury’s well-oiled machine of an offense. On the defensive end, the Panthers seem average, but recent performances against Williams and Trinity suggest this team might have turned the corner. Against the Ephs, Middlebury held their potent shooters to just 36.2% from the field and an eye-opening 10% from beyond the arc. They followed up that performance with annihilation of Trinity, where the Panthers allowed 38 points. Yes, you read that right – 38 points in a college basketball game. I realize Trinity has one of the worst offensive teams in the ‘CAC, but allowing a mere 38 points (22.4% from the field) against a conference opponent is extremely impressive. If they continue this type of defensive intensity come Saturday, the Panthers will walk out of Wadsworth Gymnasium with a big-time win.
Noah Tyson ’22 has made an immediate impact as a first-year
The Mules like to bombard their opponents from deep (an absurd 677 attempts from three on the season) and are the only NESCAC team to have attempted over 200 three pointers thus far in conference game – the next closest being Middlebury at 148 attempts. They shoot close to 41% as a team from downtown, and what’s more impressive is the Mules do not have a single senior who plays significant minutes. Leading the way is Sam Jefferson ‘20 (18.6 PPG, 44.1% 3PFG), Matt Hanna ‘21 (14.3 PPG, 41.7% 3PFG), and a slew of shooters all capable of knocking down the deep ball. Colby opts for a starting lineup featuring five guards instead of inserting a true center; this might be the main reason why they have a negative rebounding margin, but the strategy seems to have paid off against the likes of Amherst and Hamilton. On defense, the Mules are less impressive, ranking in the bottom half of points allowed/game and defensive 3PFG%. Similarly to Middlebury, however, Colby played much better on defense against Amherst and Hamilton. The Mammoths shot just 11.8% from deep, and the Continentals weren’t much better at 25% from three.
Middlebury X – Factor
Max Bosco ‘21
Bosco has been an integral part of Middlebury’s success over the course of the season, leading the Panthers in 3PFG%. In the past three weeks, the sophomore has elevated his game to another level; in a non-conference game against Widener, Bosco exploded for 27 points, and followed that up with a season-defining performance against Bates, where he scored 28 points and dished out five assists. After another solid performance in Middlebury’s close loss to Tufts, Bosco was inserted into the starting five in favor of Griffin Kornaker ‘21; he hasn’t looked back, and has Middlebury looking like a dangerous team come postseason time. Middlebury knows it will get offensive production from the likes of Jack Farrell and Matt Folger, but Bosco needs to extend his hot shooting streak if the Panthers want to escape Waterville with a win.
Colby X – Factor
Sam Jefferson ‘20
Jefferson is tied for 4th in the NESCAC in PPG, and the junior only needs an inch of space to make defenders pay. He’s averaging an absurd 27.3 PPG over his last three contests, and single-handedly willed his squad to back-to-back road upsets against Amherst and Hamilton. He shot 50% from deep against the two NESCAC teams and went 17/20 from the charity stripe, showing Jefferson’s capability to burn you from long range or take it to the hole and get to the line. The outcome of the game will most likely hinge on Jefferson’s performance; the Mules are 9-1 when Jefferson scores 20+ points, including 3-0 in conference play. In their conference losses against Bates, Bowdoin and Trinity, he averaged a mere 12.3 points and shot 36.1% from the field. The Mules will definitely need some help to accompany Jefferson on Saturday, but he has to have another Amherst/Hamilton-esque performance if the Mules want to keep the winning streak alive.
Final Thoughts
I’m not a betting man, but I would expect a ton of points in Saturday’s game. Despite the recent defensive resurgence for both squads, the offenses should have plenty of space to knock down shots. Colby’s wins against Amherst and Hamilton are undoubtedly impressive, and they should have every reason to think they can do it again, this time in front of their home fans. Still, I have to side with the team with the better overall talent. The Panthers have the more refined set of shooters and have proven they can win in a multitude of ways; Colby is too reliant on the three ball and I think Middlebury will be well-prepared to guard Jefferson and Colby’s other offensive weapons. In what should be an exhilarating game, give me the Panthers to snag a hard-fought road win and stay in contention for a top seed in the NESCAC posteason tournament.
Williams had gone completely undefeated until last weekend when they lost their first two games in a row to Amherst and Middlebury. Before this it seemed pretty clear that Williams was the favorite in the CAC and one of the favorite seeds nationally, but at this point we may need to reevaluate. In their game against Midd the Ephs shot a measly 10% from 3-point range. Could this possibly explain what seems to be an out of place loss? Maybe, maybe not, though. The Amherst loss was probably an even bigger blow to Williams, they were leading at half and had all the opportunity in the world to take that game but they couldn’t pull it out. This next game needs to be a turning point for Williams if they still wish to fulfill their lofty goal of a national championship. Trinity, on the other hand, are feeling good right now. They went up to snowy Maine and took both games from Colby and Bowdoin, much improving their NESCAC record. They also were able to sweep their latest 2 mid-week games, putting them up to a 4 game win streak. This would be a huge opportunity for the Bantams to shake up the conference. The only question is whether or not the Bantams have the grit to hold of big bad Williams.
Score Prediction: Williams 81 – Trinity 72
#25 Wesleyan (14-4, 4-1) @ Bates (5-12, 2-3)
The Cardinals are on a roll at the moment as they have won their last 6 games. To make that even more impressive, within those 6 wins they faced 4 NESCAC teams and 3 nationally ranked teams. All of these feats have pushed them into a national ranking of their own. Jordan Bonner and Austin Hutcherson continue to thrive as the core of the Wesleyan team with terrific support from Antone Walker and others. As of now I would consider Wesleyan a member of the top 4 elite in the NESCAC along with Williams, Hamilton and Amherst. The fact that they have taken down two of those three already shows their talent. Bates has been a surprise team as of late. Looking at their preseason record I was not expecting much from the Bobcats but they have held their own in conference thus far. Big wins over Tufts and Colby have lifted them every so slightly out of the cellar of the NESCAC. Despite their success against these low to mid tier teams, I just don’t think they have what it takes to take down a team like Wesleyan, especially not right now.
Score Prediction: Wesleyan 82 – Bates 69
Connecticut College (6-11, 0-5) @ Tufts (8-10, 2-3)
Justin Kouyoumdjian will have to bring his A-game for the Jumbos to make a turn around this weekend
Tufts is a confusing team, to say the least. One game they will take down a Middlebury squad who have received national votes and then the next game they will lose to a bottom-tier team like Bates. It’s fairly evident that consistency is an issue for this squad, but at the same time they are talented enough to hang with most teams. Luke Rogers has been a solid big man for the Jumbos, nearly putting up a double-double a game. Beyond him no names and numbers really stand out on the stat sheet and that is their issue. Tufts has a lot of solid role players but not enough star players. If everyone happens to get hot then they are extremely dangerous but on your average game they are not anything to write home about. If anyone was going to hand Conn their first win of the year, it could be this Tufts team. While Tuft’s biggest issue is inconsistency, Conn’s biggest issue is their consistency: they are constantly losing. David Labossiere and Dan Draffan have been holding down the for for the Camels but there is only so much these guys can do. It’s clear that these guys are good NESCAC basketball players, they just need more of those to support them. I’m going to take a risk here though and say that Conn is going to roll into Medford and pick up their first conference win. I mean you can’t lose every game, right?
Score Prediction: Conn 81 – Tufts 80
Colby (12-5, 1-3) @ #19 Amherst (13-2, 2-1)
The Mammoths find themselves back in the national rankings this week after taking down formerly undefeated Williams in a non-conference matchup. After the last 2 intense matchups that Amherst has had, there will probably be a sense of relief for them being able to stay home and face a slightly less dangerous squad. Amherst has only lost 1 home game this season and it was against a very good Babson team. The thing I like most about this Amherst team is that they receive contributions from everyone on the roster. They have 8 guys that have clocked in for every game and nobody has played less than 7 games this year. When everyone gets a chance to be involved, it is much harder for the defense to develop a game plan and that has showed in Amherst’s success. Colby has been fairly frustrating to watch as a team this year. The big win over Tufts to start the season was extremely uplifting and gave that team a lot of hope but since then it seems as if everything has gone wrong. Losing tight games to Trinity and Bowdoin as well as a loss to Bates really hurts the Mules’ slim chances of making playoffs. With a very talented lineup that includes Sam Jefferson, Matt Hanna, Wallace Tucker and Noah Tyson one would expect that the Mules can compete game in and game out. While they have been competing they just haven’t been finishing. Maybe this weekend can change that, but I doubt it.
Score Prediction: Amherst 92 – Colby 81
Saturday
Bowdoin (11-5, 2-2) @ #19 Amherst (13-2, 2-1)
After facing Colby on Friday the Mammoths with play host to another Maine team in Bowdoin. So far this year it seems as if Bowdoin has taken the “gimme” wins in the NESCAC of Bates and Colby, although they were barely able to hang onto their win against the Mules. I actually think that Bowdoin has a really strong starting 5, or at least core 3, and am surprised that they weren’t able to find success against teams like Tufts and Trinity. Those wins could have been huge for the Polar Bears but they couldn’t pull them out and now they need to look in harder places to find wins, harder places like Amherst, Mass. As I just talked about Amherst in the last paragraph you know how I feel about their team. They are solid and well balanced and can compete with anyone in the NESCAC. I don’t see them losing this game either but I think Bowdoin might give them a little scare that they weren’t expecting.
Score Prediction: Amherst 88 – Bowdoin 83
#25 Wesleyan (14-4, 4-1) @ Tufts (8-10, 2-3)
It’ll be a big weekend for Antone Walker and the Cardinals who are riding a 6-game win streak
Wesleyan drew the short straw this week, having to trek all the way up to Maine on Friday and then all the way to Massachusetts on Saturday. I hope that bus is comfy because those boys will be spending around 8 hours on it over a short 2 day period. Although the travel may pose some problems for the Cardinals, their opponents are less of a problem. Tufts’ loss to Bates put their abilities more into perspective. They are not the team they once were and are now struggling to maintain a middle-of-the-pack status in the conference. While Tufts has been falling behind Wesleyan has been catching up to the top of the conference at a rapid rate. Purely based on momentum this should be Wesleyan’s game.
Score Prediction: Wesleyan 86 – Tufts 71
Connecticut College (6-11, 0-5) @ Bates (5-12, 2-3)
Despite their decent NESCAC record, I don’t remember the last time that Bates was favored in a conference matchup. For Bobcat fans, today is your lucky day. Bates has proved that they are a gritty team who can play up to the level of their opponents, even against much stronger opponents. Conn has had many opportunities to surprise us and pull off an upset but they have never seized it and there’s just not too much to say about them. Bates, on the other hand, has the opportunity to sneak up the conference standing by taking a fairly easy game from one of the only teams that they may have an edge on. I wouldn’t expect this to be a quality basketball game as far as NESCAC basketball goes, but a win will be huge for either team that walks away victorious.
Score Prediction: Bates 74 – Conn 68
Colby (12-5, 1-3) @ #6 Hamilton (15-1, 2-1)
Michael Grassey will have to help lead the way for the Continentals
Hamilton has a pretty simple weekend ahead of them, two home games against two Maine teams that, on paper, they are far superior than. The Continentals have the most consistent starting 5 of anyone in the conference. All 5 of their starters have started every single game that they’ve had this season. That makes it clear that Hamilton has a strong gameplan that they are confident in and clearly they have been executing it well. Colby, much like Wesleyan, have a tough travel schedule this weekend as well as a tough schedule of opponents. When looking at all outside conditions it looks like Hamilton has a huge advantage well before the jump. When looking at all on-court factors, Hamilton wins big again. If Colby wins this game it will be through pure grit and lights out 3-point shooting. If Hamilton wins, it will be because they should.
Score Prediction: Hamilton 91 – Colby 80
Trinity (13-5, 2-2) @ Middlebury (14-5, 3-2)
Our final game of the weekend comes from Middlebury and Trinity. Midd id coming off of a lot of rest time for this game and they also have home court advantage. Trinity will have faced an elite Williams team in Massachusetts and then have to go to Vermont and have to face a ready-to-go Panthers squad. Midd should go into this game with heaps of confidence as the last time that they played a game was taking down formerly undefeated Williams last weekend. Although Trinity has a 4-game win streak heading into the weekend, it is more likely than not that that streak will be broken before they even reach Vermont.
We’re now in the thick of things as each team has played 3 or 4 NESCAC games, and there is absolutely no more clarity in the rankings than we had last week. This conference is tough, and everybody just seems to be beating everybody. Even Williams is no longer unbeaten (continue reading to find out more). The Ephs still remain the league’s top team and they stand alone now that Hamilton has taken a conference defeat. Next week will give us some more marquee matchups and maybe next week the rankings will somehow be easier to write. Probably not, and that’s what makes it fun. For now let’s see where everyone falls in the mid-January rankings:
(1) 1. #3 Williams (15-1, 4-0)
Last week: W 85-61 @ Tufts, W 75-69 @ Bates
This week: vs. Middlebury
It wasn’t pretty at times, but Williams is still every bit deserving of their top spot in the rankings. After an impressive team effort in a blowout victory on Friday, the Ephs faced a bit more adversity in their matchup with Bates in Lewiston. The Bobcats led by as many as 14 in the first half and it remained close right up until the very end. The Ephs looked visibly uncomfortable against Bates’ 1-3-1 zone, uncharacteristically turning the ball over on several occasions. It took some hot shooting by Bobby Casey ’19 and a few critical plays by Kyle Scadlock ’19 to secure the victory for Williams. The ability to win games in which they aren’t playing their best has really set this Eph team apart through the first half of the season, and it was very much on display against the Bobcats. Williams actually took their first loss of the season on Thursday night in a non-conference matchup with Amherst, so maybe things aren’t as pretty as they seem in Williamstown. A huge matchup looms on Saturday when the Middlebury College Panthers come to town to try and hand Williams their second consecutive loss so stay tuned for the result this weekend in Western Mass.
(4) 2. Wesleyan (11-4, 3-1)
Last week: W 73-69 vs. Hamilton, W 62-60 vs. Amherst
This week: @ Conn College
Austin Hutcherson is slowly becoming “the man” in Middletown
It’s no secret why the Cardinals worked their way up to the 2 spot in this week’s rankings. After knocking off no. 6 nationally ranked Hamilton for the first time, Wesleyan turned around and gave Amherst their first conference loss of the year – just their second over all. This weekend was the Austin Hutcherson show: against Hamilton on Friday the sophomore dropped 32 points on 9-19 shooting, including 9-10 from the free throw line. He absolutely took over the game, scoring 24 points in the last 20 minutes and scored 12 in a row at the very end, sealing the win for the Cardinals. The very next day Hutcherson took an inbounds pass with 11 seconds to go in a tie game, drove the length of the court, and banked in a game-winner with 3 seconds remaining to defeat the Mammoths. Wesleyan made a statement this weekend that not only can they compete with anyone, but they have the star power to do some real damage in this league. Conn College won’t do much to get in the way of this machine, so look for the Cardinals to put another one in the win column this weekend.
(2) 3. #7 Hamilton (15-1, 2-1)
Last week: L 73-69 @ Wesleyan, W 91-46 @ Conn College
This week: vs. Amherst
They had to lose eventually and I suppose eventually for the Continentals was last Friday in Middletown. Wesleyan was the better team that night, carried by Austin Hutcherson and Jordan Bonner. Hutcherson won the star battle with his 32 points, as Kena Gilmour ’20 scored only 15 points, while grabbing 2 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists. Obviously he can’t put up insane numbers every single night, but no one besides Gilmour and Michael Grassey ’19 (20 points) could get into double figures and the rest of the team was very cold shooting the ball the entire game. The good thing was that Hamilton bounced back on Saturday and demolished Conn College by a score of 91-46. This is a powerful way to respond after suffering your first loss of the season, so my guess is that the Continentals aren’t going anywhere. They’ve got another huge chance to prove themselves when they host an Amherst team this weekend who is also looking to rebound after a loss. I’m sure we’ll be in for an exciting matchup from New York.
(3) 4. Amherst (13-2, 2-1)
Last week: W 88-60 @ Conn College, L 62-60 @ Wesleyan
This week: @ Hamilton
The Mammoths are in the exact same position as the Continentals coming out of the weekend. They were off to a tremendous start, lost a tough game to Wesleyan, and now have to come back and play another tough team who’s in the same spot. Grant Robinson ’21 continues to impress, posting 18 points on Friday and 21 on Saturday while nearly draining a three-pointer for the win in the final seconds of the Wesleyan game. The only apparent problem for the Mammoths is that Robinson isn’t getting a lot of help right now. He’s averaging 15.1 points per game (19.3 in conference play) and his teammates haven’t been able to support him as much as Coach Hixon would like. In the loss at Wesleyan, Robinson had 21 and there actually were double-digit efforts from Fru Che ’21 and Eric Sellew ’20 who had 13 and 11, respectively. The problem was that is took them both at least 14 shots to get there, so not very efficient. I’ll say the same for Amherst as I said for Hamilton – they have nothing to worry about and they’re still in a comfortable position, but this should serve as a wake up call. This Saturday is a big one.
(5) 5. Middlebury (13-5, 2-2)
Last week: W 100-93 @ Bates, L 86-84 @ Tufts
This week: @ Williams
Max Bosco has been playing really well as of late, and even worked his way into the starting lineup in their mid-week game
What a tough way to end the weekend for the Panthers who really hoped to go 2-0 against the likes of Bates and Tufts. It took a bit of late-game magic for the Jumbos who picked up a huge win at home. Again, no reason to panic yet in Vermont – Tufts is a good team and it’s still very early. In the game against Bates the Panthers were forced to deal with the same 1-3-1 zone that stifled Williams at times, but they shot the Bobcats out of the gym. The game was relatively close the whole way, but Middlebury led pretty much start to finish. It really felt like every time Bates would get the game a little bit closer they’d hit another big shot to keep the Bobcats at bay. Max Bosco had a huge weekend, dropping 28 on Bates and 17 on Tufts, while shooting 50% from the field. He has a very crafty nature and can beat you in a variety of ways – one of which is taking it hard to the basket and often getting fouled. In fact, he got to the line quite a bit over the weekend hitting 14 of his 17 free throws, good for 82%. Midd will take a trip down to western matchup for an enormous matchup at Williams on Saturday so keep your eyes on the score from that one.
(9) 6. Trinity (12-5, 2-2)
Last week: W 66-56 vs. Bowdoin, W 62-60 vs. Colby
This week: non-conference
I have to admit; I was a little down on Trinity early in the year and even after their close game with Hamilton, but this weekend they definitely proved something. Colby and Bowdoin aren’t traditionally the top teams in the NESCAC, but they’re having very good seasons and had played well recently. Winning close games in this conference is no small task, and the Bantams won two of them in a single weekend. Kyle Padmore ’20 led the charge on Friday, netting 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting, grabbing 7 rebounds, and even blocking 4 shots. The hero on Saturday was freshman Anthony Kelley ’22 who caught the inbounds pass and took the ball coast to coast, laying it in with 3.5 seconds on the clock to win the game for the Bantams. That basked accounted for 2 of just 4 points for Kelley on the afternoon, but they were certainly the biggest. Donald Jorden, Jr. ’21 has slowly been making a name for himself as he posted 26 points and 19 rebounds on the weekend, continuing to play really good basketball all season. Trinity is idle this weekend as far as conference play goes, but they’ve got big games coming in the near future with Williams, Middlebury, and Wesleyan, so there’s no question that they have some preparing to do.
(8) 7. Tufts (8-9, 2-2)
Last week: L 85-61 vs. Williams, W 86-84 vs. Middlebury
This week: @ Bates
The loss against Williams was tough, but I’d say this was a fairly successful weekend for the Jumbos. They had 5 guys score between 14 and 17 points against Middlebury, but it was Brennan Morris ’21 who stole the show, hitting a fade away baseline jumper with just a few seconds left to win it. Those were 2 of Morris’ team-high 17 points in the contest, but it was a true team effort in the win. Eric Savage ’20 and Luke Rogers ’21 turned in really the only significant performances in the big loss against Williams. Savage scored 16 points and handed out 6 assists while Rogers recorded a double double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tufts has been a bit of a wild card thus far, struggling at times in non-conference play but picking up a couple of impressive wins in Bowdoin and Middlebury when conference play started. They sit at 2-2 and they’ll travel to Lewiston on Saturday to take on a streaky Bates squad. A win puts them at 3-2 and in a great spot in the standings, but the Bobcats have won 3 of the last 4 meetings between the two teams so it’s certainly not a matchup to take lightly.
(6) 8. Bowdoin (9-5, 1-2)
Last week: L 66-56 @ Trinity
This week: @ Colby
The loss to Trinity is a bummer for the Polar Bears who surely had their hopes a little higher for this one. The Bantams played terrific defense, holding Bowdoin to just 34.4% from the field on the day. Moving forward they’re going to need more from their stars, David Reynolds ’20 and Jack Simonds ’19. These guys combined for 14 points and 9 rebounds, and that’s not going to win you a tough conference game on the road. Zavier Rucker ’21 had the best game scoring 14 points of his own, but really no one stepped up for the Polar Bears and they drop to 1-2 in conference play. It seems like if Simonds and Reynolds don’t play well then they lose, because no one else has stepped up this season in the scoring column aside from Rucker at times. They’ve got an important game on Saturday with Colby in what is essentially a must-win game if Bowdoin wants to stay in the race to potentially host a first round NESCAC tournament game. Colby won their first meeting 83-70 when they faced off in a non-conference CBB game, so some adjustments are going to be necessary if the Polar Bears want to have a chance this weekend.
(7) 9. Colby (12-4, 1-2)
Last week: L 62-60 @ Trinity
This week: vs. Bowdoin
It seems that many teams are in the same spot heading into their 4th/5thconference games because Colby could use a bounce back. They started conference play well by defeating Tufts, but they’ve dropped games to Bates and now Trinity since then, so things seem a bit shakier. Alex Dorion ’20 put together a notable effort off the bench, dropping 17 points that included 4 of his 6 3-point attempts. I’ve obviously pointed it out enough at this point, but the NESCAC is a star-driven league and Sam Jefferson ’20, Matt Hanna ’21, and Noah Tyson ’22 weren’t their usual selves against the Bantams. These guys have led the team in scoring and rebounding all year and they couldn’t really produce against a tough Trinity defense. The Bowdoin game this weekend will be very telling because the Mules have already defeated them once so they certainly know what it takes. They beat Bates in their first meeting but lost in the conference matchup so Colby really can’t afford to let this happen again. At this point only time will tell.
(11) 10. Bates (4-12, 1-3)
Last week: L 100-93 vs. Middlebury, L 75-69 vs. Williams
This week: vs. Tufts
Tom Coyne has had the hot had off the bench recently
Bates lost two games this weekend, but it definitely wasn’t all negatives in the two games. The Bobcats introduced a new 1-3-1 zone that they used on Middlebury and Williams and it gave us a few different results. Middlebury shot the ball incredibly well – in fact they shot a higher percentage from behind the three-point line than they did in front of it. The zone was a sneaky look, but the Panthers simply shot too well to lose this game. Nick Lynch ’19 had one of the quieter 25-point games I’ve ever seen, but along with 11 rebounds he had himself a pretty nice looking double double. On Saturday the defensive ploy worked a bit better, confusing the Ephs and giving the Bobcats a number of fast break layups. Tom Coyne ’20 had himself a huge game off the bench, lighting it up from the perimeter to the tune of 24 points on 8-13 shooting including 7-11 from 3-point land. Towards the end of the game it was Coyne’s hot hand that kept Bates within striking distance where they ultimately got stuck. There’s no doubt that the Bobcats have struggled this year, but they have showed some positive signs and they have a winnable game against Tufts on Saturday. This could be an exciting mid-January matchup from Alumni Gym.
(10) 11. Conn College (6-10, 0-4)
Last week: L 88-60 vs. Amherst, L 91-46 vs. Hamilton
This week: vs. Wesleyan
It seems like more of the same in New London as the Camels took two drubbings at home at the hands of Amherst and Hamilton. For a number of years now they just haven’t been on the same level as the rest of the NESCAC. David Labossiere ’19 and Dan Draffan ’21 have been putting together some very strong seasons, but neither of them could get anything to fall over the weekend. I will give them the fact that these games were against Amherst and Hamilton who are currently right near the top of the standings, but Conn struggled nonetheless. Their next game is against a hot Wesleyan squad that just knocked off the same two teams that they just lost to. The expectation is low at this point for the Camels but maybe that’s a good thing. Spoiler is a fun position to be in sometimes so maybe they can make something happen.
This Williams team looks nearly unstoppable. They have three players averaging over 14 points per game and three averaging over five boards per game, dominating each of their nine opponents thus far. Bobby Casey has been lights out from deep, draining 47.7% of his threes, Scadlock has been electric from the floor, shooting over 60% from the field, and James Heskett has been doing his thing for the Ephs, following up his All-American season with some more balanced numbers among a more talented supporting cast with the return of Scadlock. Matt Karpowicz and Michael Kempton have been doing well all around as a big man unit, averaging a combined 14 PPG and over ten boards, equalling a dual double-double. No NESCAC team can match the size and big-game experience of this Eph team with the Continentals as the only real threat on their road to a second straight NESCAC championship.
Casey and the Ephs are not going to be a fun opponent this season.
2.) #5 Hamilton (9-0)
I’ve been a big fan of this unit that Coach Stockwell has developed for quite some time. They were set on a course for predestined greatness in this 2018-2019 season long ago when the group of Peter Hoffmann, Tim Doyle, Andrew Groll, and Michael Grassey joined forces in the 2015-2016 season. Those four along with the most athletic player in the lineup, junior Kena Gilmour, make up this team that could bring the Continentals their first major men’s sports championship in who knows how long. Gilmour and Grassey are doing most of the scoring in the perfect 9-0 start to the season, averaging 19.7 and 15.2 PPG, respectively. They are a balanced team and Gilmour, Grassey, and Groll all haul in over five boards per game. Their trusty point guard, Doyle, dishes out passes to the rest of the shooters and is the glue that keeps the gears turning and rounds out the deadly group that is, top to bottom, without any glaring weaknesses.
Gilmour’s Continentals are the biggest threat to the Ephs in 2019.
3.) Amherst (7-1)
This is a bit of a surprise for me as I figured that after losing some studs, the Mammoths would enter more of a rebuilding year. Their only loss so far was to the 2017 national champion Babson Beavers and they received votes in the last D3 Hoops rankings. Their big man, Joe Schneider, is their only senior, boding well for the future of this historically dominant program. Grant Robinson is leading the way on the scoring front with 15.8 PPG with Eric Sellew putting in 9.6 PPG, and sixth man-to-be and deep threat off the bench, Garrett Day, dropping 9.3 PPG in just 17.3 minutes per game. Five Mammoths average over four rebounds per game and while Robinson is the closest they have to a superstar, they are a deep team with many possible contributors and several wild card players who entered into new roles at the start of this season.
4.) #24 Middlebury (8-2)
This is an unusual year for the Panthers as they are without a true leader on the court like they have had the past few years. Matt Folger is the most talented player on the floor for Midd and has been off to a hot start, putting up 16.0 PPG, shooting over 50% from the field and over 47% from deep which is going to need to be sustainable for the Panthers to have a shot to compete with Bobby Casey and the Ephs. My biggest concern for the Panthers this season was at the guard position as they lost Jack Daly and had a big scoring, passing, and rebounding hole to fill. Jack Farrell, Max Bosco, and Griffin Kornaker have all contributed surprisingly well so far this year, making up the next wave of elite Panther guards. Farrell is averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.9 REB/G, and 4.3 A/G while Bosco is scoring 13.8 PPG in 21 minutes per game off the bench. Kornaker is more of a distributor, averaging 4 A/G and spreads the floor well between Folger, Hilal Dahleh, and Eric McCord down low. While Folger hauls in boards in his own right, raking in 9.5 per game to nearly total an average of a double-double for himself. McCord and freshman forward Alex Sobel are the defensive specialists, grabbing 10.8 and 5.4 REB/G, respectively. The guards are going to need to continue to play lights out for the Panthers with Folger leading the way for Midd to compete in the postseason. Their early season conference match ups should provide a good indication of how this rather unpredictable teams competes against better competition.
5.) Wesleyan (7-3)
Contrary to Andrew’s (unsurprisingly) favorable preview for the Cardinals entering this season, this team has proven to be human in the early going despite their notable athleticism. They played a non-conference game against Williams and lost by 15—not such a bad result considering the prowess of the second-ranked Eph team. It actually was a poorly played game by the Cardinals, boding even better for their future games against the NESCAC’s top foes as they shot just 25% from beyond the arc. They also hauled in just 28 boards which was likely the main issue—allowing Williams to dominate on defense. Jordan Bonner, Austin Hutcherson, and Antone Walker are the big time scorers for this Wesleyan team, all averaging at least 14 PPG and represent a dangerous trio of shooters. This young team may be a bit inconsistent at times with Bonner as the only senior on the roster, but they should have a shot in some games that they are not favored in due to their athleticism and potential to score.
6.) Colby (8-2)
This young Mule team is coming out of nowhere to intimidate the other NESCAC competition in the 2018-2019 preseason. While I didn’t really expect them to compete without any seniors on the roster, they are quietly putting together wins with five players averaging double digit point in the early going. Matt Hanna (14.1 PPG, 5.7 REB/G, 3.5 A/G), Sam Jefferson (16.6 PPG, 4.0 REB/G, 40.3% 3-PT), Wallace Tucker (11.1 PPG, 3.7 REB/G, 2.0 A/G), Noah Tyson (11.8 PPG, 8.6 REB/G, 2.6 A/G), and Ronan Schwarz (11.9 PPG, 4.9 REB/G, 58.2% FG) round out a well-balanced, and deep starting five for the Mules. While it’s hard to determine the quality of their opponents, they knocked off Bowdoin pretty easily 83-70 and Bates 86-69.
7.) Trinity (7-3)
Trinity is a team much like Colby in that they lack a superstar or one player really performing above the rest of the team. Four of five starters (Kyle Padmore, Donald Jorden, Christian Porydzy, and Nick Seretta) average 10 PPG while Connor Merinder adds 8.3 PPG. Jordan and Merinder each haul in 8.1 and 6.4 REB/G, respectively and are the best rim defenders on the team. They lost to pretty badly 84-67 to 16th ranked Nichols but lost by less than five points in their other two hiccups thus far. This team still has a lot to figure out after losing key players last season, much like Middlebury and Amherst, but they seem to have a deep enough lineup so far to be dangerous and a match for many NESCAC foes.
8.) Bowdoin (6-3)
Despite a below average 6-3 record entering the break, including a loss to rival Colby College, the Polar Bears are boasting a modest four game win streak after staring the season just 2-3. While it often takes some time for younger teams to get going, I didn’t expect to see this from the rather experienced Bowdoin team. Jack Simonds, Jack Bors, Hugh O’Neil, and David Reynolds who represent a similar level of experience to the Hamilton team. In fact, I’d even go to say that similar to Hamilton, this is the year of hope and destiny for the Bowdoin team too. If there was ever a year for them to make a run at the whole thing, this is it. Now I’m by no means saying they’re as talented as Hamilton or Williams, but David Reynolds and Jack Simonds both have POY potential, making a run at the league’s scoring title, and Hugh O’Neil has DPOY potential, bringing down rebounds with the best of them for his entire career. They fall all the way down here to eighth on these first power rankings of the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get hot and make a run and host a first round playoff game.
Simonds, Bors, and O’Neil represent a NESCAC ‘Big 3’ that could challenge any team on any day.
9.) Tufts (4-5)
Nobody lost more key players than Tufts did at the end of 2018. They lost starters Thomas Lapham, Everett Dayton, and, most importantly, Vinny Pace, leaving them with just Miles Bowser and team leader Eric Savage remaining. Savage, however, is the only Jumbo left in the starting lineup from last season as Bowser is no longer on the roster. Tyler Aronson and Carson Cohen are two of the new starters and are freshmen looking to make a quick impact at the college level. Both highly decorated high school players, Aronson and Cohen should improve as the season goes along but likely, as seen in their early record, will be overmatched by against some better teams and will experience up-and-down shooting nights. Rounding out the starting five are sophomores Justin Kouyoumdjian (that is a mouth full), Brennan Morris, and Luke Rogers. Savage has been a bit banged up thus far, leaving room for Cohen to make an early impact, but expect Cohen to come off the bench in games that Savage plays in. Arguably their best game of the season was in a loss to #7 MIT that went to OT early in the season. While the Jumbos might be the last ‘good’ team in these power rankings, they still have the talent to knock off any team on any day, speaking to the depth of the NESCAC.
10.) Conn College (3-5)
And then there were two. Conn and Bates seem to be far below the rest of the NESCAC competition thus far. I hope they prove me wrong, but each program is in different places and will struggle for different reasons throughout the spring. For Conn, they have their star player, David Labossiere, leading the way but they lack a solid supporting cast to propel them into the fire of the NESCAC competition. Dan Draffan is another great player for the Camels, but Jack Zimmerman, Phil Leotsakos, and Ryan Omslaer need to step up their game for Conn to work to sneak into the playoffs. With that said, however, Labossiere could make a run for the NESCAC scoring title and could take over any game as he is shooting 40% from deep and averaging nearly 20 PPG so far. Draffan scores over 16 PPG and hauls in nearly 10 boards per game and if they can figure out how to score, this team could upset better NESCAC teams on their off nights.
11.) Bates (2-7)
Bates had an underwhelming but not abysmal 2017-2018 season, but lost one of their starters in Guards Shawn Strickland. They went into the holiday break with five straight losses, two to NESCAC teams (Colby and Bowdoin) which I think clearly makes them the worst team in Maine so far. They shoot from beyond the arc at just 27.8%, make under 60% of their free throws, and only have two players in Jeff Spellman and Nick Lynch scoring in the double digits per game. Lynch and Spellman are also the only Bobcats averaging over six boards per game and it looks as if, unless there is going to be a dramatic shift in the new year, this may be a long season for Bates. Tom Coyne should return after the break in time for NESCAC play, and while it’s been rough so far, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bates make the playoffs and slowly climb up the rankings into the top eight.
At this point in the season every team has played between 8 and 10 games, which isn’t a particularly large sample size. Well, we decided that the p-value is low enough for us to be able to hand out some awards for what we’ve seen thus far. At the end of the season the NESCAC hands out awards for Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year. We felt that this simply isn’t enough to recognize all of the talent that is present in NESCAC basketball, so we added 6th Man of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. We plan on putting out an updated list midway through the season and, of course, at the end of the season as well so stay tuned because we’re in for an action packed season.
Player of the Year
Kena Gilmour ’20 (Hamilton)
19.7PPG, 6.6REB/G, 2.7AST/G, 52.6% FG
Gilmour has been off to an incredibly hot start in his junior campaign after earning Rookie of the Year honors two seasons ago and finding a spot on the all-NESCAC first team last year. He is a true do-it-all player who scores, shares the ball, rebounds, and defends well. Averaging 19.7 points per game is already impressive as it is, but he hasn’t even played full minutes in a number of their matchups given that they’ve been blowing teams out. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see his scoring numbers actually increase come conference play. What really stands out is that he’s shooting over 50% from the field, proving that he’s an efficient scorer who has the awareness to take good shots and not force anything despite being the team’s best player. He’s certainly aided by the fact that the Continentals have so many other threats, but the 6’4” guard is already looking like a very strong candidate for POY honors.
Defensive Player of the Year
Matt Folger ’20 (Middlebury)
9.9REB/G, 2.1BLK/G, 0.9STL/G
He’s no slouch on the offensive end either, but Folger has really been making a name for himself on the other end of the court. In the NESCAC, guys who are 6’8” and 210 pounds are almost always going to be big men so Folger has a huge advantage given that he plays as a wing. He possesses the size to defend NESCAC bigs but he has the quickness and athleticism to defend guards as well. It also doesn’t hurt that the Panthers have an outstanding true big man in Eric McCord, so Folger has been able to play mostly around the perimeter. This is a huge reason for why he is tied for the league lead in blocks per game – he’s almost always defending someone 2 to 5 inches shorter than him. This allows him to often get a hand on jump shots when he’s closing out on a shooter. Folger consistently causes problems for whomever he is defending, so opponents beware and try not to get distracted by that outrageous moustache.
Rookie of the Year
Noah Tyson ’22 (Colby)
11.8PPG, 8.6REB/G, 2.6AST/G, 0.5TO/G
At this point in the season, this was the easiest award to pick. The former Mr. Basketball in Vermont has really been making a name for himself during his first season in Waterville. His scoring numbers have been good, but the 6’2” guard has been hauling in rebounds like it’s his job. His 8.6 rebounds per game is good for 8thin the NESCAC, but each of the 7 guys ahead of him on the leaderboard are over 6’4” so you can see that Tyson is a next level athlete. Perhaps the most promising feature of Tyson’s game is that he’s very sure-handed with the ball. The freshman is averaging a miniscule 0.5 turnovers per game, giving him the 3rdhighest assist-to-turnover ratio (5.2) in the league. He has all the tools to become a star, so keep an eye on the standout youngster to see if he can continue this blistering pace as we start to move into conference play.
Side note: Apologies for using this photo of Tyson from last year, but Colby hasn’t uploaded their headshots for basketball season yet so it’s the best we could do.
6th Man of the Year
Max Bosco ’21 (Middlebury)
15.3PPG, 2.9AST/G, 48.2% FG
Here’s another early award that was frankly a no-brainer. Bosco has been easily the most effective 6thman in the league, putting up an impressive 15.3 points while playing just 21.6 minutes per game. He is the perfect complement to Middlebury’s top offensive threats – Matt Folger and Jack Farrell – because it allows the Panthers to take one of those two off the court and without sacrificing any offensive production. Bosco is a guy that is easy to lose track of, but if you do then he’ll make you pay. He’s capable of knocking down threes with his quick release, but he can also put the ball on the floor and get to the rim if you close out too hard. This guy is exactly what the Panthers could ask for in a 6thman and the rest of the league should be on notice – don’t forget about Max Bosco.
Comeback Player of the Year
Kyle Scadlock ’19 (Williams)
14.4PPG, 9.2REB/G, 2.3AST/G, 63.2% FG
Not only is Scadlock a lock to win comeback player of the year, but he’s also a very serious contender for player of the year. The senior currently falls at 16thin the NESCAC in points per game, however he’s doing that while taking nearly half as many shots per game as the first 15 guys on the list. Shooting 60% over the course of an entire season seems impossible, but Scadlock has been getting great looks because of how many other weapons are in this Eph lineup. Scadlock has also been a rebounding machine thus far, but this also isn’t too much of a surprise given that he’s 6’7” and is almost always the most athletic guy on the court. Williams has also played a relatively easy schedule to this point so they haven’t needed any serious late-game leadership that a guy like Scadlock can bring. I wouldn’t be surprised to see his scoring totals actually start to increase once they start facing more talented teams.
Coach of the Year
Damien Strahorn (Colby)
This is probably the toughest award to give out this early in the season since each team has played a vastly different schedule to date. That said, Strahorn is doing an excellent job with the guys he has to come up with a winning formula. He has the Mules off to an 8-2 start while scoring the 3rdmost points per game in the conference, behind only Williams and Hamilton who currently sit at #2 and #4 in the national rankings. They also lead the league in assists per game and are doing a very respectable job rebounding given their lack of a true big man. On the other end Colby forces a ton of turnovers and are very pesky defensively, which is exactly how they need to play with their size disparity. If he can keep the Mules as hot as they have been to flip the script from last season’s 10thplace finish, Strahorn will be on his way to earning coach of the year honors.
Jefferson and the Mules are known for their electric celebrations.
Key Losses:
G Pat Dickert ‘18 (6.0 PPG, 4.8 REB/G, 1.3 AST/G)
Dickert was a solid role player, seeing at least 10 minutes of action in 23 of the Mules 24 games last season. He was extremely efficient in the preseason last year but when it came to conference play his numbers took quite a hit and subsequently so did his playing time.
F Dean Weiner ‘19 (10.8 PPG, 9.2 REB/G, 3.1 AST/G, 3.1 BLK/G)
Weiner, who was named Maine’s Defensive Player of the Year last season, does not return to the Colby basketball roster for the 2018-19 season. Despite missing a third of last season due to injury, Weiner still lead the Mules in rebounds and blocks while averaging nearly a double-double per game. This will be a huge loss for the Mules because when Weiner was in the lineup last year Colby had a completely different dynamic.
Projected Starting Lineup:
G Matt Hanna ‘21 (11.0 PPG, 3.7 REB/G, 3.3 AST/G)
Matt Hanna ’21
After starting every game but one for the Mules in his freshman campaign, Matt Hanna returns to the starting lineup for another season. Hanna made his presence felt as a freshman, he finished first on the team in assists (76), second in steals (23), and third in points (253). Hanna was a consistent presence for the Mules, he was almost guaranteed to give you 10/3/3 every game and on a good day possibly some more. Hanna is the best ball distributor on this team and will be called upon to facilitate the Mule offense.
G Sam Jefferson ‘20 (15.4 PPG, 3.8 REB/G, 1.9 AST/G)
Sam Jefferson ’20
Jefferson is another returning starter on this Colby team. Jefferson was the leading scorer for Colby last season and that is due to his volume shooting from beyond the arc. Jefferson shot a respectable 36.1% from 3 last year, but he put up an average of 8.4 3-point shots per game, leading to a slight inflation of his scoring. Jefferson is the Mules greatest threat from 3 and when he gets hot it can be dangerous for other teams.
G Ronan Schwarz ‘20 (DNP)
Schwarz did not appear in any action for the Mules last year but nonetheless it appears as if he will work his way into the starting lineup for the 2018-19 season. Schwarz is not a threat from deep but is a consistent mid-range shooter and can work his way into the paint. He is also a solid defender who can record multiple steals per game. Due to the fact that we have not seen a lot of Schwarz in the past he will be a real wildcard in the Colby lineup.
Tucker returns for his second season and cracks the Colby starting lineup for the second time as well. Tucker started 20 of the Mule’s 24 games last season and will look to make an even bigger impact with a year of NESCAC experience under his belt. He is a high percentage, efficient shooter who does not take a lot of shots but when he does they usually go in. He finished second in points for the Mules last year and first in steals. Look for him to continue to improve and develop his game this year.
G Noah Tyson ‘22
Tyson will be a first year starter for the Mules after an extremely impressive high school career. He lead his Rutland HS team to two straight Vermont D-I State Championships in his junior and senior year. After his senior season he was presented with the prestigious “Mr. Basketball” award for the state of Vermont. Similarly, he was named to the First Team of the USA Today All-Vermont Basketball Team. Tyson has been described as a leader, facilitator and relentless on the boards. He will contribute from the get-go for Colby and will hope that his high school success translates to the NESCAC.
Everything Else:
Matt Hanna is off to a hot start this season.
No you did not read that wrong, Colby will be starting 5 guards this year. Of the 14 players on their roster, 9 are guards and 5 are forwards. None are listed as centers although their tallest player (6’7” Sean Gilmore ‘20) could possibly be considered one. This will inevitable make it difficult for the Mules to compete against NESCAC teams that have dominant centers. Although this may detract from their abilities in that sense, it will also create a very fast paced dynamic on the court which other teams will need to be ready to deal with. The biggest positive for the Mules is that the only lost one starter and they have replaced him with high school phenom Noah Tyson. Tyson was a heavily decorated player in high school and it will be interested to see whether he can play at a similarly high level in college. They also are an extremely young team. None of their starters are seniors (2 juniors, 2 sophomores, 1 freshman) and they only have one senior on the roster. This young core may struggle initially but it could blossom into a dynasty in a year or two. The Mules lost quite a few close conference games last year and perhaps with more experience under their belts they will be able to more easily hold off and finish off their talented NESCAC opponents. I believe that this year will begin to move the Colby basketball program in the right direction. While they might not see success immediately, they are well set up for success in the future.
