On the final Monday of 2013, the NEC played six non-conference games with half of those teams were listed as favorites, according to KenPom. Could the conference come out ahead?

Wagner 59, Monmouth 52 — Remember when everyone thought Wagner was going to be good at defense? Well, this is approximately how it was going to happen. Naofall Folahan, and Mario Moody among others, was going to be guarding the rim and then the Seahawks would lock down on the perimeter and find enough offense to get by. That was exactly what happened against Monmouth. The Seahawks allowed 0.79 points per possession (PPP) in their best defensive effort of the season to date. Folahan put up a block rate of 26%, which is ridiculous. Even with Latif Rivers out, the Seahawks found a way to get enough offense, mostly thanks to 33 minutes of Kenneth Ortiz. The Wagner point guard scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting (though he also committed 6 of Wagner’s 17 turnovers). Mario Moody started the game and had 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. King Rice was apparently extremely frustrated after Monmouth’s first loss in three games, but perhaps the Hawks just ran into a more talented and athletic team trying to find its way with the New Year approaching.

St. Francis Brooklyn 60, Delaware St. 57 — DSU came into this game 2-9 overall (with both wins against non-Division I opponents), 0-2 in the MEAC and ranked 333rd nationally by Ken Pomeroy, so it was one the Terriers had to get. Still, playing on the road in college basketball, no matter where you go, isn’t easy. SFC got the victory, though, thanks to a double-double for Jalen Cannon (17 points, 12 rebounds) and 17 points off the bench from Ben Mockford. Mockford missed a few games with a bad back, but he seems to be hitting his stride again. Cannon once again didn’t shoot well from the field (just 4-12), but his free throw shooting was outstanding, as he drained all nine of his free throw attempts. Another player that seems to be more comfortable coming off the bench is Brent Jones. He had 7 assists and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes, and now has a career best assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0. The Terriers’ calling card continues to be their defense. They held the Hornets to 0.86 PPP by keeping them off the three-point line (DSU was 1-7 from distance) and some help on missed free throws. The Terriers have a big game coming up on Saturday against Columbia in an intra-city battle.

Bryant 70, Lehigh 68 — In a game that featured nine ties and 15 lead changes, Bryant came out on top over Lehigh in the closing minutes. An Alex Francis put-back with two seconds remaining was the difference and gave the Bulldogs their second nail biting victory over Lehigh in as many seasons. 
The victory guaranteed the Bulldogs a positive non-conference record for the second consecutive season as they now await St. Francis (PA) on January 9th for their NEC opener. Francis Dyami Starks, and Corey Maynard combined to score 57 of Bryant’s 70 points. For Lehigh, freshman standout Tim Kempton continued his excellent play with 17 points and 13 rebounds, giving him his third double double in his last five games. Senior point guard Mackey McKnight had 14 points and five assists, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Mountain Hawks’ winning streak to six games. Lehigh is now 13-2 versus the NEC the past three seasons, with both losses coming to Tim O’Shea’s Bulldogs.

Oklahoma State 92, Robert Morris 66 — The Cowboys jumped out to a 9-0 and 20-6 lead, and frankly never looked back, soundly defeating Robert Morris in the “guarantee” game. The Colonials were able to cut the deficit to eight points twice in the first half, but got no closer. Oklahoma State used their superior athleticism to carve up the Colonials 2-3 zone, connecting on several alley-oops underneath the zone in addition to outrunning the Colonials in transition. Karvel Anderson led Robert Morris with 16 points, yet only hit 2 of 7 from behind the arc. As a team, they only shot 22.2% from three-point range and 36.1% from the floor overall. Oklahoma State came in as one of the best defensive teams in the Big 12, leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (38%) and turnovers forced (16.0 per game). Marcus Smart, an all-American candidate averaging 18.0 ppg prior to tonight’s game, scored a season low seven points, but it hardly mattered with six Cowboys registering nine points or more.

Texas Tech 100, Mount St. Mary’s 69 — The inconsistent non-conference season continued for Jamion Christian’s crew. In what was originally pegged as an upset opportunity for the NEC, turned flat out ugly down in Lubbock as Texas Tech raced out to a 45-20 halftime lead. The Mount’s big three struggled to produce, with the exception of Julian Norfleet, combining to shoot 8 of 28 for 27 points. In fact, for much of the game, Mount St. Mary’s had as many turnovers as field goals made. Things weren’t much better on the defensive end, with Tubby Smith’s Red Raiders scoring a season best 1.37 PPP. After going more than 11 years without giving up 100 points in a game, the Mount have allowed opponents to hit the century mark twice this season – tonight and versus BYU this past November. Now at 3-9, the Mount concludes their non-conference slate when they travel to Norfolk State for a Friday showdown.

LIU Brooklyn 73, Texas State 64 — Jason Brickman scored six points – four in the final minute – and dished out ten assists against one turnover to lead the Blackbirds to victory in their final non-conference game of the season. The Blackbirds trailed by one with less than three minutes remaining, but closed the game out on a 14-3 run by limiting Texas State to three points in their final seven possessions.  The bigger Bobcats outrebounded LIU Brooklyn by 11 caroms, but were out-produced at the charity stripe (20 to 12) and from behind the arc (7 to 4). Landon Atterbury had a career high 22 points and grabbed a team high six rebounds. It was the tenth time in 13 contests where Atterbury scored in double digits. Overall, eight Blackbirds scored in the much-needed victory.