Yardbarker: Troy Barnies

Umaine Men Knock off Hartford

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:51:36 -0500

ORONO, Maine--The University of Maine men

America East: Almost a Power Conference! (Thoughts 12/5)

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:22:48 -0500

So lots of good stuff has happened this week. The AE is 7-1 so far! The RPI stands at 12, AHEAD of the Colonial and the MAAC! Woo! Suck one "superior conferences"!!

Anyways, Vermont gave Dartmouth a nice kick in the pants, pulling away big time in the second half of the game. Three Catamounts combined for 69 of the 88 points. Nice. Dartmouth's Alex Barnett lit them up yet again though, thankfully this time, he lost (I think he scored 27 or something last year when UVM lost to the Big Green). Barnett is a damn good player if you have never seen him. He would be all-conference first team in the AE. My sources tell me however that because he is black, has tattoos and dreadlocks, some UVM fans instantly labeled him a thug. Classy. These are the same people who boo Mike Lonergan at games and essentially want to see him fail, and when the team gets up big they still make fun and resort to making terrible remarks about his wife and children. The person who told me this would never lie to me (except that one time YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!). I have to say, that is awfully low, to bring the man's family into it because you simply don't like the guy. If you dislike him so much, why do you go to the games? From what I'm told, nobody would miss this bunch, in fact, there might be a parade and fireworks if they never come back to games.

Vermont gets Pitt Saturday. Keep that under 20, and I consider it a success.

Stony Brook did the league the ultimate favor. They did not lose to NJIT. Dewy (get it! DUI...Duh-ew-iii! Awful joke, I'm sorry) Adedeji returned to action playing six minutes. World-breaker Tommy Brenton only had 8 points and 5 rebounds. I am saddened. Some guy named Bryan Dougher scored 24. That much closer to breaking the school scoring record...which everyone loves to hear come from their point guards right?

Last night, UNH finally did some good and squeaked out a win against Colgate. That will happen when you shoot 50% from three. However, if you keep shooting 38% from the floor and don't make half your long range shots, consider yourself a loser (of the game).

BU dispatched a pretty good Harvard team. I mean, Harvard has like the best Asian college basketball of all time, so says Ricky Ricardo, in Jeremy Lin. Knocking off a team with that guy? Good job Terriers. The three headed monster that is Corey Lowe, John Holland and Jake O'Brien were all sex on fire. Hopefully they snag a win against Marshall and keep the AE dominance (2-0) of the MAC up.

UMBC pooped the bed against Towson for the only defeat of the week thus far. GEE THANKS GUYS! Well, really, shooting as bad as they did (32%FG, 18%3PT 60%FT), doesn't win. Don't know what to say other than the Retrievers were just bad.

Hartford gained some redemption tonight. Not only did they win against Lafayette, but they actually tied a team in total rebounds. Considering where they have been so far this season, that is a giant step. They also had a night where they shot the ball very well, 55% from both the field and three. Hopefully this is a confidence booster for them. La Salle will be tough, but they are a very beatable team, and they are probably going to want to get some wins before they go play Baylor and Stanford. Then again, Yale played Stanford close and Vermont ass-smoked them, and I think Hartford is a lot better than Yale, so the Hawks have a fighting chance.

Maine stat padded an entire game by playing some local dump in the pants D3 team and beating them 126-50. Their freshman walk on, Ryan Martin led eight scorers in double figures with 20. Troy Barnies grabbed 20 rebounds and had 16 points, while three other players had double doubles. 70 rebounds as a team. Enjoy that box score Maine. Isle-Presque is no Oklahoma, or Colgate for that matter.

The important part here is that the league is winning. And that someone else writes about it and mentions me in their article.

Break Up Those Gosh Darn Maine Black Bears!

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:58:52 -0500

Maine starts the season 2-0. Stony Brook is 1-0. Vermont, Albany, Boston University and Hartford are all 0-1. Simply put, all our preseason predictions are screwed.

Not really, but it certainly made for some surprises on opening weekend.

We will start off with Maine, who captured glory at the 100 Club Classic hosted by Keenesaw State. In the first game against Northern Illinois (a team that was 6-22 last season and only returns three upperclassmen who contributed very little), freshman Gerald McLemore led the way with 24 points to a 77-64 win. The team also got contributions from their rock, Mark Socoby (16pts) and Junior Bernal (12pts, 7rebs, 5ast). Another freshman and half-MAINE KID! (via prep school) Svetoslav Chetnov make a nice impact in his debut with 9pts and 7rebs.

In game number two, against host Keenesaw State, a team that was 10-21 last season, Socoby notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Fellow MAINE KID! Troy Barnies added 16 points in the 60-47 win.

As Carlos said, the tournament field, which also included Western Illinois (12-18 last season) might have been the worst tournament field ever, but Maine made the most out of it and got wins against conferences America East schools need to beat. It is far better that Maine go on the road and get victories against Division I opponents rather than staying home and hosting Maine-Farmington. The Black Bears certainly have a tough road ahead for the rest of the schedule, but this week they deserve a nice pat on the back for not messing everything up by losing to terrible basketball teams. And, I don't have to do a Replacing Ted until potentially Thursday. Kudos Maine!

Stony Brook beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 60-44. Some guy named Tommy Brenton grabbed 16 rebounds. He probably only plays two minutes in their next game. The Wanker from Windsor, aka Brit Danny Carter scored 11 points to lead the Seawolves to victory. Again, good job to Stony Brook for not messing it up and losing to another God-awful Division I team. It is all about victories against teams the conference should be beating up on. So way to go Seawolves!

Speaking of conferences that America East teams should beat, the AE went 0-1 against the NEC. Hartford dropped a 63-62 game to Quinnipiac. That is concerning for a team everyone expects to be in the top three in the league. Rebounding killed the Hawks, getting outrebounded 45-26. That is going to have to change if they want to take that next step and be the legit title contender people think they are going to be. Too bad they face UConn next. I don't think they will be outrebounding them.

BU lost to George Washington in overtime. Corey Lowe was awful, John Holland was good, and Tyler Morris only had two points and one assist. The team was missing Scott Brittian, and freshman Jake O'Brien filled in by shooting horribly (3-of-11) to finish with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Carlos Strong picked up the slack and contributed 14 points, but if Lowe and Morris suck that hard every game, BU is going to find themselves in the same place they were last season very quickly.

Albany got handled by #25 Villanova 78-60. Will Harris and Anthony Raffa had nice debuts, each having 13 points apiece. Raffa only had one assist and five turnovers, which should be concerning since he is a point guard. Harris actually led the way in assists with five. Brett Gifford had 7 rebounds, does this mean he finally dominates the league? My sources tell me no. Should be interesting to see how they perform against DePaul.

The "best" game, even if they lost might belong to Vermont and George Mason. The Patriots won 80-79 in overtime due to the Catamounts total incompetence to complete a final play in a close game. I wonder if the players actually think they are supposed to do that now it happens so often? Anyways, Marqus Blakely had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks. I don't think he is hurt as some people said he was. It is unfortunate that Vermont lost, but to hang tough with a team that is almost always good, and to even play competitively down the stretch without Blakely (he fouled out) and Mike Trimboli scoring, that is good news. And to be getting nice contributions around the board. I wouldn't be too concerned if I'm Vermont. Just beat Yale and get everything back on track.

And finally, UMBC's entire starting five reached double digits as they beat up on some crappy DIII team. Their first real test comes against Morgan State this week.