PSAC EAST

[Ship69]

Not a great opener, although I didn't see much of it. 11-for-22 from the foul line. Frostburg with a 23-2 edge off turnovers. Only 8 points for Frank. And no sign of Dorsey; would he be redshirted?

Michael Dickson in the starting five with Martin, Conner, Frank, and Hill. Figueroa and Smith fast off the bench.

I'm not sure about Dorsey. He didn't play a lot in the scrimmage, and was a great HS player. But he's awfully thin, probably even more than Frank was as a freshman, and might benefit from a RS season. Probably depends on how he and coach see it. Jaydon Smith looks more advanced than him at this point. Max McFarland will be taking a medical RS, like Boone did last year. They missed a lot of foul shots in the scrimmage, too, and I really don't know why because individually this seems to be a good-shooting team. I watched a little of the second half, and Frank and Hill must have missed 4-5 bunnies in a row that they'd usually make with ease. I think coach Fite is probably still deciding on his lineups at this point, and I thought the season might get off to a slow start.

I like when they have Frank and Smith in at the same time, as I think Smith is another slasher who could draw some attention away from Frank. They could be something of a repeat of the Carlos Carter-Rashon Johnson combo of a couple of seasons back. Wouldn't mind seeing a little more of the transfer from IUP as well. The team is a little taller this year, but still not so much at guard when Dickson and Conner are in at the same time. And there aren't a lot of physically imposing players. Figueroa is about the only real tiger on the boards — wish he were about 3 inches taller.
Still too many turnovers as Frostburg's big edge in that department indicated. Ship is usually better at causing turnovers, but didn't get that done Saturday.

My view of the team is that there is enough of a skill level to make some noise at times, but they are definitely a work in progress and probably don't have the physicality or experience to challenge for the division.

[Ship69]

Interesting box score in Ship's 107-91 loss to Salem Sunday. I was pretty disheartened by the score, but then started looking at the stats and was surprised to find they were relatively even until — Salem shot 40 free throws to Ship's 19, resulting in a 21-point edge from the free-throw line. I didn't see the game, and maybe all the calls were legit, but you seldom see a game called as one-sided as that. Ship Freshman David Dorsey fouled out in 19 minutes after scoring seven points. Jaydon Smith had four fouls in 15 minutes, while scoring 10 points. Donovan Hill also had four fouls, and several other Raiders had three. Markus Frank snapped back from a subpar opening game and rang up 32 points.

I doubt many teams are going to get a 2-1 FT edge on Ship this season, so I'm not as bothered about this game as I might have been otherwise.

[WarriorVoice]

ESU is now 4th in the region and getting Top 25 consideration after a strong opening weekend. Lakeem McAlily is the Player of the Week in the East. He is continuing his assault on the ESU record books and has a chance to be their all-time scoring leader.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Mansfield lost in overtime to PSU-Schuylkill, 87-85.


Is this the first time a PSU branch has ever won against a PSAC team?


I remember PSU-Allegheny had a loaded up team several years back and nearly won a couple games.

[Ship69]

Mansfield lost in overtime to PSU-Schuylkill, 87-85.


Is this the first time a PSU branch has ever won against a PSAC team?


I remember PSU-Allegheny had a loaded up team several years back and nearly won a couple games.

There might have been other times, but I'm too lazy to look for them this morning. I know Ship hasn't played a PSU branch in years. About the only ones we have anywhere near here are Mont Alto and Penn State-Harrisburg. The Raiders are playing D3 Wilson this year, which is about 11 miles down Rt. 11 from Shippensburg.

[EastStroud13]

The bottom of the East seems to keep getting worse. Consider:

• Mansfield lost to a D3 school (and not a particularly good one). Might struggle to reach 5 wins.
• Bloomsburg lost to a WV Wesleyan program that has 6 total wins in the past 4 seasons.
• Ship lost to a Frostburg State program that went 3-26 last year.
• Kutztown at least was competitive against a solid Jefferson team, but lost to two CIAA teams that ESU beat handily

With early returns from LHU, Shep, and WCU being a mixed bag, it's another year where ESU (and Millersville) might not be able to afford too many losses in order to make the playoffs. Dominican at least should be a stronger non-con opponent than anyone we saw last season, but the bottom of the division being this bad consistently should be a cause for alarm.

[Ship69]

The bottom of the East seems to keep getting worse. Consider:

• Mansfield lost to a D3 school (and not a particularly good one). Might struggle to reach 5 wins.
• Bloomsburg lost to a WV Wesleyan program that has 6 total wins in the past 4 seasons.
• Ship lost to a Frostburg State program that went 3-26 last year.
• Kutztown at least was competitive against a solid Jefferson team, but lost to two CIAA teams that ESU beat handily

With early returns from LHU, Shep, and WCU being a mixed bag, it's another year where ESU (and Millersville) might not be able to afford too many losses in order to make the playoffs. Dominican at least should be a stronger non-con opponent than anyone we saw last season, but the bottom of the division being this bad consistently should be a cause for alarm.

Ship is half freshmen with no seniors and won't be competing for the East lead this year, but they are definitely not "worse" than last year. Half of last year's team is no longer with us. It's the transfer portal era and assuming what a team is going to be like based on the previous year's record is largely a fool's errand. Gannon won the league with a whole new cast of characters last year. Enjoy beating up on Chris Fite now because it's not going to be a lasting thing. Sorry to destroy the playoff hopes of your wonderful team three games into the season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The bottom of the East seems to keep getting worse. Consider:

• Mansfield lost to a D3 school (and not a particularly good one). Might struggle to reach 5 wins.
• Bloomsburg lost to a WV Wesleyan program that has 6 total wins in the past 4 seasons.
• Ship lost to a Frostburg State program that went 3-26 last year.
• Kutztown at least was competitive against a solid Jefferson team, but lost to two CIAA teams that ESU beat handily

With early returns from LHU, Shep, and WCU being a mixed bag, it's another year where ESU (and Millersville) might not be able to afford too many losses in order to make the playoffs. Dominican at least should be a stronger non-con opponent than anyone we saw last season, but the bottom of the division being this bad consistently should be a cause for alarm.

ESU does get Gannon, Cal and SRU in crossover. That will help. Those three are going to win a lot of games this year.

Cal isn't even full force yet and just beat Charleston (in Charleston).

[EastStroud13]

Ship is half freshmen with no seniors and won't be competing for the East lead this year, but they are definitely not "worse" than last year. Half of last year's team is no longer with us. It's the transfer portal era and assuming what a team is going to be like based on the previous year's record is largely a fool's errand. Gannon won the league with a whole new cast of characters last year. Enjoy beating up on Chris Fite now because it's not going to be a lasting thing. Sorry to destroy the playoff hopes of your wonderful team three games into the season.

You seem to have taken offense to what I said, but I'm going to be real with you. I want Ship to get back to where it was. The East division needs the basement to improve. But projection is one thing, and results are another, and so far Ship has losses to a Frostburg team that lost to Shepherd and got blown out by Seton Hill, and a D3 team that has had a winning record exactly once since 2020. That just isn't good. Beating Wilmington is encouraging, but I need to see a lot more from Ship to say that they aren't going to be a SOS drain this season.

Best of luck to Fite in his quest to rebuild the program.

[TheBigCat2192]

Mansfield lost in overtime to PSU-Schuylkill, 87-85.


Is this the first time a PSU branch has ever won against a PSAC team?


I remember PSU-Allegheny had a loaded up team several years back and nearly won a couple games.

When I was a student at BU there was one year that BU only beat PSU-Hazleton by a point out at their place. That ended up being a flop of a team that went something like 9-18 a year after splitting the East with WCU (not a typo, BU really did win a share of the East).

[Bart]

When I was a student at BU there was one year that BU only beat PSU-Hazleton by a point out at their place. That ended up being a flop of a team that went something like 9-18 a year after splitting the East with WCU (not a typo, BU really did win a share of the East).

Looks to me like Bloom only played Hazleton 4 times and none were close. They did lose to PSU-Wilkes-Barre in Nov. 2010. The next year they lost to PSU University Park in an exhibition.

[Ship69]

You seem to have taken offense to what I said, but I'm going to be real with you. I want Ship to get back to where it was. The East division needs the basement to improve. But projection is one thing, and results are another, and so far Ship has losses to a Frostburg team that lost to Shepherd and got blown out by Seton Hill, and a D3 team that has had a winning record exactly once since 2020. That just isn't good. Beating Wilmington is encouraging, but I need to see a lot more from Ship to say that they aren't going to be a SOS drain this season.

Best of luck to Fite in his quest to rebuild the program.

Well, I can tell you that the last thing we're worried about at Ship is whether we enhance East Stroudsburg's strength of schedule or anyone else's for that matter. And I'm not going to dump on other schools because they finish below us in a given sport. As BigIndian pointed out above, you have Gannon, Cal and Slippery Rock to play before you get to the East Division. I'd worry about them before becoming too concerned about how our division is going to sabotage you.

[TheBigCat2192]

Looks to me like Bloom only played Hazleton 4 times and none were close. They did lose to PSU-Wilkes-Barre in Nov. 2010. The next year they lost to PSU University Park in an exhibition.

They played a 79-78 game against Hazleton in 2012-2013. Box score here.

[Bart]

They played a 79-78 game against Hazleton in 2012-2013. Box score here.

I guess I haven't been to a game in years. I did attend the game at University Park.

[EastStroud13]

Well, I can tell you that the last thing we're worried about at Ship is whether we enhance East Stroudsburg's strength of schedule or anyone else's for that matter. And I'm not going to dump on other schools because they finish below us in a given sport. As BigIndian pointed out above, you have Gannon, Cal and Slippery Rock to play before you get to the East Division. I'd worry about them before becoming too concerned about how our division is going to sabotage you.

You need to relax. We are coming off a season where 25-5 was (rightfully) not good enough to make the playoffs. The strength of the division is a valid concern, and if Ship expects to become a contender again, it should be a concern for you as well.