In this episode of player interviews, we have two guards at opposite ends of the spectrum of their playing careers. Bradley Gampel was a big part of last year's successful MIT basketball team, but is a year removed from organized basketball. Meanwhile, Devin Dee is a freshman guard, out of Hillsborough, CA, who is in his first year with the MIT team.
Brad compares this year's team to last year's team, talks about how it has been coaching this year at his former high school, and discusses how his game compares to this year's starting point guard's (Mitchell Kates).
Devin discusses balancing school, basketball, and Naval ROTC, the team's strengths, and his most memorable experience of the season.
Check back tomorrow for our final episode of video interviews for the week with Billy Bender and Jamie Karraker featured.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Video Interviews: Arni Lehto and Patrick Gichuiri
In today's player video interviews, we have an international flavor as we interview the two players on this year's squad who went to high school across the Atlantic.
Arni Lehto discusses basketball in his homeland of Finland, how this year's team compares to last year's team, and what the team's mentality is going into the postseason.
Patrick Gichuiri discusses basketball in his native Kenya, his favorite part of being on the MIT basketball team, and his thoughts on the team's strength going into the postseason.
Arni Lehto discusses basketball in his homeland of Finland, how this year's team compares to last year's team, and what the team's mentality is going into the postseason.
Patrick Gichuiri discusses basketball in his native Kenya, his favorite part of being on the MIT basketball team, and his thoughts on the team's strength going into the postseason.
Noel Hollingsworth Named NEWMAC Player of the Year; Kates Top Rookie
Sophomore Noel Hollingsworth was selected as the 2009-10 NEWMAC Player of the Year on Tuesday after guiding MIT to its first regular-season conference title in school history and a new single-season record for wins. Mitchell Kates earned additional hardware for the Engineers by being tabbed NEWMAC Rookie of the Year.
Hollingsworth, who was a four-time NEWMAC Player of the Week selection, paced the conference in scoring (20.5 ppg), rebounds (9.1), and field goal percentage (56.6%). He produced 13 double-doubles on the year, led the team in scoring in 16 games, and topped 30 points on five occasions. As MIT's second consecutive Player of the Year, Hollingsworth was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
Kates picked up Second Team All-Conference honors in addition to earning the program's third Rookie of the Year award in the last five years. Kates led the NEWMAC in assists (4.2) and steals (2.2) while leading the team in minutes played. Kates also ranked eighth in the league in scoring at 13.1 ppg.
First Team All-Conference: Noel Hollingsworth (MIT); Jeff Robinson (WPI); Mark Alexander (Clark); Matt Cavalieri (Springfield); Brian Vayda (Clark)
Second Team All-Conference: Mitchell Kates (MIT); Pat Crean (Springfield); Anthony Coppola (Wheaton); Brendan Degnan (Wheaton); Kyle Nadeau (WPI)
Official NEWMAC Release
Hollingsworth, who was a four-time NEWMAC Player of the Week selection, paced the conference in scoring (20.5 ppg), rebounds (9.1), and field goal percentage (56.6%). He produced 13 double-doubles on the year, led the team in scoring in 16 games, and topped 30 points on five occasions. As MIT's second consecutive Player of the Year, Hollingsworth was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
Kates picked up Second Team All-Conference honors in addition to earning the program's third Rookie of the Year award in the last five years. Kates led the NEWMAC in assists (4.2) and steals (2.2) while leading the team in minutes played. Kates also ranked eighth in the league in scoring at 13.1 ppg.
First Team All-Conference: Noel Hollingsworth (MIT); Jeff Robinson (WPI); Mark Alexander (Clark); Matt Cavalieri (Springfield); Brian Vayda (Clark)
Second Team All-Conference: Mitchell Kates (MIT); Pat Crean (Springfield); Anthony Coppola (Wheaton); Brendan Degnan (Wheaton); Kyle Nadeau (WPI)
Official NEWMAC Release
Statistically Speaking
This is how MIT stacks up statistically in the NEWMAC and against other NCAA DIII teams across the country. Stats are for games through 2/28/2010. Only statistics in which MIT is top 2 in the NEWMAC as a team and top 10 in individual categories are listed. Note that the NCAA does not rank all categories that the NEWMAC ranks.
Team Statistics
Team Statistics
| Statistic | Value | NEWMAC | NCAA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring Defense | 59.3 | 1 | 7 |
| Rebounding Margin | +7.2 | 1 | 16 |
| Scoring Margin | +11.3 | 1 | 24 |
| 3FGM | 7.42 | 1 | 65 |
| FG% | 46.0 | 1 | 99 |
| Assists | 14.27 | 1 | 109 |
| A/TO | 0.89 | 1 | |
| Rebounding Defense | 30.3 | 1 | |
| FG% Defense | 40.2 | 2 | 32 |
| Scoring Offense | 70.6 | 2 | 213 |
| 3FG% Defense | 32.3 | 2 |
Individual Statistics
| Player | Statistic | Value | NEWMAC | NCAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noel Hollingsworth | Scoring | 20.5 | 1 | 34 |
| Rebounds | 9.1 | 1 | 61 | |
| FG% | 56.6 | 1 | 65 | |
| Blocks | 1.38 | 3 | 104 | |
| Mitchell Kates | Steals | 2.15 | 1 | 72 |
| Assists | 4.23 | 1 | 90 | |
| FG% | 49.4 | 6 | ||
| A/TO | 1.20 | 7 | 237 | |
| Scoring | 13.1 | 8 | ||
| FT% | 70.0 | 10 | ||
| Will Tashman | FG% | 55.1 | 2 | |
| Rebounds | 7.1 | 4 | 212 | |
| FT% | 70.4 | 9 | ||
| Blocks | 0.60 | 10 | ||
| Jimmy Burke | 3FGM | 2.36 | 1 | 107 |
| 3FG% | 40.4 | 5 | ||
| Billy Johnson | 3FGM | 1.69 | 6 | 345 |
| Billy Bender | Rebounds | 5.3 | 9 |
MIT falls to #21 in this week's D3hoops.com poll, after losing their only game of the week in the semifinals of the NEWMAC tournament this past weekend. This is MIT's lowest ranking since Week 4 of this season when they were also ranked #21. MIT has been ranked for 11 consecutive weeks and are now 22-4 overall and 21-3 in DIII.Full D3hoops.com Rankings Here
MIT faces DeSales in the first round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament, to be played at William Paterson in New Jersey this Friday.
Monday, March 1, 2010
MIT Basketball NCAA Selection Reaction
Below is a clip of the MIT basketball team watching the NCAA Division III selection show. We pick up the action as the right hand side of the brackets are being announced and the tension is building as MIT awaits to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney. MIT was the last team announced because of their location on the bracket. Coach Anderson addresses his team briefly at the end of the clip.
MIT Falls to 5th in Final NE Region NCAA Rankings
The final regional rankings were released today by the NCAA, and MIT fell to the #5 ranking in the Northeast region after losing to Clark in the NEWMAC Semifinals on Saturday. Full NCAA rankings can be found here: NCAA Release
MIT Earns NCAA At-Large Bid
Once again, the MIT men's basketball team made history, although the Tech faithful needed to sweat it out until the very end. The Engineers were the last team named as CBS and the NCAA announced the NCAA Division III Tournament bracket during Monday morning's selection show. MIT is at the bottom right of the bracket and will travel to Wayne , NJ, to face Freedom Conference champion DeSales University (22-5). Nationally-ranked No. 10 William Paterson (25-2) out of the NJAC will host the first and second round pod, and will face GNAC champ Albertus Magnus (22-6) in the opening round.
Click here for a look at the complete bracket: NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship
The Engineers were one of 19 at-large (or Pool C) selections for this year's tournament. Its the first at-large bid for the MIT men's basketball team in the history of the NCAA Championships, and marks MIT's second consecutive appearance.
MIT will have the chance to face NEWMAC champion Clark Univerity if both teams can advance to the Sweet 16. The Cougars also have a difficult road as they travel to Reading, PA, to face the Albright Lions (21-5). Two nationally-ranked teams complete their pod as No. 18 Randolph-Macon and No. 21 Cabrini meet in the first round.
The opening round games are slated for March 4 and 5. Dates and times for the first round have not yet been announced. Check back to mitbasketball.blogspot.com for additional coverage leading up to the Engineers' first-round game.
Click here for a look at the complete bracket: NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship
The Engineers were one of 19 at-large (or Pool C) selections for this year's tournament. Its the first at-large bid for the MIT men's basketball team in the history of the NCAA Championships, and marks MIT's second consecutive appearance.
MIT will have the chance to face NEWMAC champion Clark Univerity if both teams can advance to the Sweet 16. The Cougars also have a difficult road as they travel to Reading, PA, to face the Albright Lions (21-5). Two nationally-ranked teams complete their pod as No. 18 Randolph-Macon and No. 21 Cabrini meet in the first round.
The opening round games are slated for March 4 and 5. Dates and times for the first round have not yet been announced. Check back to mitbasketball.blogspot.com for additional coverage leading up to the Engineers' first-round game.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Poor Outside Shooting Too Much to Overcome, MIT Falls in NEWMAC Semi
A season low 17.4% shooting from outside (4-23) was too much for MIT overcome, as they fell in the NEWMAC semifinals to Clark this afternoon at Rockwell Cage, 71-59. Clark, on the other hand, shot well all night, going 51% from the field and 48% from deep. MIT was led by Noel Hollingsworth who scored 30 points and added 9 rebounds. MIT missed the presence of Billy Bender, who was out for the second consecutive game with injury. In his absence, the MIT guards shot a combined 0-10 from 3.MIT came out of the gates on fire, taking a 17-4 lead 4.5 minutes into the contest. Undeterred, Clark mounted a 15-2 run to knot the game at 19 by the 9 minute mark of the first half. MIT thought they had weathered the storm, scoring 3 points to take the lead back 22-19, but Clark had other ideas as they went on a 15-0 run to take a 12 point lead with 2.5 minutes remaining in the half. MIT would not go away, as they went on a 9-0 run of their own, making the halftime margin 34-31 Clark.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were highly-contested, as there were 5 lead changes and 3 ties. However, with MIT up 49-47 with just under 13 minutes to play in the game, Clark went on a 13-2 run over a 6 minute stretch that MIT would not be able to recoup from. Clark would push the lead to double digits in the final 2.5 minutes of the contest, and were able to hold the lead for a 71-59 win.
Official MIT Release
MIT will now have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. NCAA selections will be made tomorrow, Sunday, February 28, and will be released via webcast on Sunday morning starting at 10:00 AM. The webcast link can be found on the NCAA website. Clark will play the winner of the WPI/Springfield matchup, slated for later this afternoon.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Engineers Begin Quest for Second Consecutive NEWMAC Title Against Clark
On Saturday, nationally-ranked No. 13 MIT (22-3) hopes to take advantage of its first bye in the history of the NEWMAC postseason tournament in propelling to its third finals appearance in five seasons. The test will be stiff for the Engineers, who are 3-1 at home in the NEWMAC playoffs, and 2-1 all-time against Clark in the postseason. The Cougars enter the tilt full of confidence after dispatching Wheaton College on the road. The Lyons had proved to be MIT's nemesis this season after defeating the Engineers twice (the only Division III team to upend MIT this year), but they lost to Clark on Wednesday, 58-55.
Clark held MIT to its lowest scoring total of the season in the team's first meeting and its fourth-lowest scoring total of the year in the second encounter. The Engineers escaped with victories in both contests, although both games required a significant rally by the Cardinal and Gray.
On January 16, MIT erased a 14-point first half deficit en route to a 54-51 win in Worcester. The Cougars led 35-21 with two minutes remaining in the opening period before Mitchell Kates ran off six straight points to cut the lead to eight at the break. In the second half, MIT shot 55% from the floor while holding the Cougars to 29% shooting. Mark Alexander had a chance to tie the game at the end, but his attempt from three fell short.
In the second meeting of the season, MIT shrugged off a seven-point second half deficit to defeat Clark, 59-52. The Cougars led 38-31 with 14 minutes left to play, but four three's by rookie Jimmy Burke and a commanding 31-17 advantage for MIT on the glass proved to be the difference.
MIT and Clark rank first and second in the league in scoring defense and have slugged it out in the previous matchups, making it wise to take the under. The Engineers' battles against the Cougars have resulted in their two worst games of the year in terms of field goals made. On the other hand, MIT held Clark to a season-low 43 field goal attempts in their first trip to Rockwell Cage. Noel Hollingsworth has been the leading scorer in both meetings, totaling 20 points and 11 rebounds at Clark and 17 points in the re-match.
The keys for MIT include controlling the boards (+20 in two games), taking care of the basketball (-9 turnover margin), and keeping the Cougars off the free-throw line (22-of-26 against MIT). The Cougars offensive figures to go through Mark Alexander, who is third in the NEWMAC in scoring at 17.5 points per game and is second in the league in free-throw attempts. Alexander has totaled 29 points in two games versus the Engineers this season, while Brian Vayda has added 28. Both teams will look to shoot the open three, although few are expected to be had as the team's also rank first and second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense.
Clark held MIT to its lowest scoring total of the season in the team's first meeting and its fourth-lowest scoring total of the year in the second encounter. The Engineers escaped with victories in both contests, although both games required a significant rally by the Cardinal and Gray.
On January 16, MIT erased a 14-point first half deficit en route to a 54-51 win in Worcester. The Cougars led 35-21 with two minutes remaining in the opening period before Mitchell Kates ran off six straight points to cut the lead to eight at the break. In the second half, MIT shot 55% from the floor while holding the Cougars to 29% shooting. Mark Alexander had a chance to tie the game at the end, but his attempt from three fell short.
In the second meeting of the season, MIT shrugged off a seven-point second half deficit to defeat Clark, 59-52. The Cougars led 38-31 with 14 minutes left to play, but four three's by rookie Jimmy Burke and a commanding 31-17 advantage for MIT on the glass proved to be the difference.
MIT and Clark rank first and second in the league in scoring defense and have slugged it out in the previous matchups, making it wise to take the under. The Engineers' battles against the Cougars have resulted in their two worst games of the year in terms of field goals made. On the other hand, MIT held Clark to a season-low 43 field goal attempts in their first trip to Rockwell Cage. Noel Hollingsworth has been the leading scorer in both meetings, totaling 20 points and 11 rebounds at Clark and 17 points in the re-match.
The keys for MIT include controlling the boards (+20 in two games), taking care of the basketball (-9 turnover margin), and keeping the Cougars off the free-throw line (22-of-26 against MIT). The Cougars offensive figures to go through Mark Alexander, who is third in the NEWMAC in scoring at 17.5 points per game and is second in the league in free-throw attempts. Alexander has totaled 29 points in two games versus the Engineers this season, while Brian Vayda has added 28. Both teams will look to shoot the open three, although few are expected to be had as the team's also rank first and second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense.
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