Category: NEC

NEC Tournament First Round: Recaps and Highlights

Given all of the so-called parity in the NEC this season, several teams expected to finish in the upper third of the league did just that. No one was all that surprised to find Robert Morris, Wagner and LIU Brooklyn hosting home playoff games, with Bryant serving as the Cinderella story of the group. All four clubs won at least 12 NEC games; therefore KenPom pegged each as moderate to heavy favorites for tonight’s matchups. Frankly, it isn’t all that shocking given the numbers listed below, courtesy of NEC Associate Commissioner Ron Ratner:

  • Home teams have posted a 18-2 record in the quarterfinals over the last five years.
  • All four home teams hosting tonight were a combined 43-11 in their friendly confines before tonight’s action.
  • In the last seven seasons, the #1, #2, and #3 seeded teams of the tournament were 21-0 versus their quarterfinals competition.

In other words, history was not on the underdog’s side. But this is why we play the games, so allow us to recap and highlight the first round of the fabulous NEC tournament.

#1 Robert Morris 75, #8 St. Francis Brooklyn 57
History was certainly against the Terriers heading into this one, with Robert Morris compiling an exceptional NEC tournament record of 10-2 in the previous four seasons. St. Francis did nothing to thwart that trend, as the Terriers went quietly into the night never once threatening to become the first #8 seed to win since 1984. Robert Morris was dominant on the defensive end, forcing 16 turnovers and holding Glenn Braica’s club to 0.88 points per possession (PPP). The Colonials are now 12-1 on the season when they hold their conference opponents to under 1.00 PPP. Karvel Anderson, bum wrist and all, scored a game high 20 points with four rainmakers. Senior Russell Johnson registered 19 points and seven rebounds, while Lucky Jones also grabbed seven caroms to go along with 16 points. Jalen Cannon and Dre Calloway scored an efficient 29 points on 14 shots, but the rest of the Terrier roster only managed to make nine of 33 shot attempts. St. Francis concludes their season with a final record of 12-18.

#5 Mount St. Mary’s 75, #4 Bryant 69
Mount St. Mary’s continued their hot streak by winning their eighth straight game to stun the Bryant Bulldogs, 75-69, in front of a packed house in Smithfield, RI. It was the first playoff win for the Mount since the days of Milan Brown, thanks to a second half surge that saw the Mount outscore their opponent, 47-34. The Bulldogs, led by Alex Francis and Vlad Kondratyev’s combined 20 first half points, led at the break by seven. But Jamion Christian’s defense attacked in the second half, mounting a comeback fueled by nine Bulldog turnovers, some clutch shooting, and severe foul trouble by Bryant. Overall, it wasn’t a great shooting night for the Mount, but the team made a season high 26 of 27 free throws to provide separation at the end. Four Mountaineers scored in double figures, led by Rashad Whack’s 19 points paired with eight rebounds. It was Christian’s first playoff win of his career, and now he’ll get a chance for a second victory at the Chuck on Saturday afternoon. Only five players scored for Bryant, who found themselves in severe foul trouble throughout. Alex Francis logged a game high 25 points.

#3 LIU Brooklyn 91, #6 Quinnipiac 83
For the second straight season, Tom Moore’s Bobcats fell to LIU in the NEC playoffs. Quinnipiac had second half leads in both games, but failed to hold on. After leading by as many as nine points in this one, LIU embarked on a 14-5 run to tie the game at 75 all. From there, a back and forth battle ensued leading to six players eventually fouling out. But in the end, LIU Brooklyn’s experience pulled through thanks to C.J. Garner’s 30 points. Despite playing only 25 minutes due to foul trouble, NEC POY Jamal Olasewere scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, and handed out four assists. Quinnipiac’s season likely comes to an end (barring an unlikely invitation from the CIT or CBI), but Moore can rest assured that Ousmane Drame should be a dominant force down low next season. Drame scored 23 points in the defeat and ends his season averaging 14.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest over the final 12 games. Senior Jamee Jackson finishes his career with 10 points and nine rebounds. For Ray Curren’s guest post about the game go here.

#2 Wagner 72, #7 Central Connecticut 50
Wagner turned back the clock and played some Dan Hurley inspired defense to smother CCSU from the opening tip in a dominating first round victory. Led by Jonathan Williams’ 20 points and six rebounds, the Seahawks built a commanding 14 point lead at the half after holding CCSU to only 22% shooting. Things didn’t get any better for Howie Dickenman’s kids, as they shot 25% and committed 11 turnovers versus only four assists for the game. Kyle Vinales and Matthew Hunter combined to miss 25 of their 35 shots, with the more athletic and deeper Seahawks pestering the Blue Devils all night. Offensively, it wasn’t a great effort for Bashir Mason’s Seahawks, but they did just enough to comfortably win their 11th home game of the season. Like Christian, Bashir Mason is now in the win column for the NEC playoffs. Not bad at all for a 28-year-old.

Top Performances of the Night
C.J. Garner, LIU Brooklyn – The senior was the man with Jamal Olasewere helplessly watching from the bench, scoring 17 of his game high 30 points in the second half.
Russell Johnson, Robert Morris – The most consistent frontcourt presence for Andy Toole all season shined once again, filling up the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. As far as game efficiency ratings are concerned, tonight was the best game of Johnson’s career.

Biggest Surprise of the Night
Mount Mayhem – After trailing by seven points at the half, Mount St. Mary’s defense dug in and shutdown the best offense of the NEC for the second half. The Mount held Bryant to only 1.00 PPP and 40.7% from the floor for the final 20 minutes, which may not seem like much, until you realize Bryant was scoring at a 1.14 PPP rate and shooting 47.9% for the NEC season.

NEC Semifinals Schedule
Saturday, March 9th, Noon: #3 LIU Brooklyn at #2 Wagner
Saturday, March 9th, 2:30 PM: #5 Mount St. Mary’s at #1 Robert Morris

Robert Morris Still Team to Beat

Back in November the preseason rankings told us that Robert Morris was the team to beat in the NEC. (Though they were overrated quite a bit.) Ten thousand sims in January right before conference play gave Robert Morris a 50-50 shot of winning the outright title. Continue reading “Robert Morris Still Team to Beat” →

Our NEC Individual Awards for the 2012-13 Season

Rather than have John and I release our consensus NEC individual awards, we decided to give each of us a say in who we would choose. As you’ll see, there was some disagreement for a couple of the categories, and we here at Big Apple Buckets support the First Amendment! Onto the five major awards… Continue reading “Our NEC Individual Awards for the 2012-13 Season” →

Our All-NEC Conference Teams: A Difficult Exercise Indeed

It was the year of parity and unpredictably in the NEC, and that notion certainly extends out to our all-conference awards. There are several worthy candidates, so it was a challenging exercise for John and I to sort out our All-NEC first, second, and third teams. For our individual awards, including Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, etc., go here. So without further ado, let’s begin! Continue reading “Our All-NEC Conference Teams: A Difficult Exercise Indeed” →

The All-NEC Surprise Team: Highlighting the Unexpected Performances

Before John and I go over our actual individual awards tonight and on Monday, I wanted to present our fictitious All-NEC Surprise team. Since some of these players may not crack the all-conference team – although some may very well – allow me to call attention to some players who have unexpectedly provided significant value to their respective teams. Continue reading “The All-NEC Surprise Team: Highlighting the Unexpected Performances” →

Shane Gibson: A Fabulous Career at Sacred Heart Leaves Fans Wondering What Could Have Been

A college basketball player doesn’t usually go out on his own terms. More often than not, a senior will end his career with a loss. Such was the case for the most prolific Division I scorer Sacred Heart has ever uniformed in Shane Gibson. But this ending was particularly cruel. The Pioneers dropped their season finale on Saturday to St. Francis Brooklyn, and in the process saw their NEC playoff hopes evaporate away.

If that wasn’t enough, it marked the end of a hideous slide that saw Sacred Heart drop nine of their final ten games and plummet down to ninth place in the NEC. For Gibson, he’d trade all of his individual accolades just for an opportunity to play for a league championship.

“I’d rather win then be good individually,” said a somber Gibson after his final game. “As a man, I’d rather have (team) hardware to bring home and it just didn’t happen for me in my career. Everybody played hard, I can’t really fault them for their effort. We just didn’t have enough firepower, I guess.”

The humble Gibson is only the fifth player in NEC history to register over 2,000 career points. His 2,079 points, to be exact, was the culmination of a wonderful career that was developed through a strong work ethic, an unrelenting desire to prove his naysayers wrong, and his tireless dedication to his craft.

“I coached a lot of guys and it’s a compliment to him to say he’s the second best scorer we ever had,” said Dave Bike, who just completed his 35th year of coaching. “He made shots throughout his whole career. That’s what he does best and he’s very good at it.”

When asked what the 2,000 point milestone meant to him, Gibson added, “It means a lot, because in high school I worked so hard to reach the 2,000 point plateau and I came up short. And I told myself that I would definitely work hard enough to get it in college and it’s a lot for me.”

The 6’2″ sharpshooter ends his senior season with numerous top five finishes within the conference in several statistical categories, including points per game (21.6, tied for first), free throw percentage (87.1%, first), three-point percentage (41.6%, fifth), three pointers made (87, second), and efficiency rating (15.1, tied for fifth).

Those highlights should earn Gibson another all-conference first team selection on Tuesday, which would be his second All-NEC first team honor in as many seasons. In fact, Gibson is a virtual lock to become one of the few players in conference history to be part of an all-conference team in every season of his eligibility.

Despite all of the accomplishments though, Pioneer fans can’t help but wonder why the Shane Gibson era only produced one NEC playoff win. That lone March victory occurred when Gibson was a freshman coming off the bench for a team that featured standouts like Joey Henley, Ryan Litke, Corey Hassan, and Chauncey Hardy. In that first round home victory over Central Connecticut, Gibson scored eight points in only 11 minutes.

When all of those aforementioned players graduated after the 2009-10 season there was a more muscular Gibson coming off a red-shirt season for an inexperienced roster, desperate for any scoring production. Gibson took full advantage of the opportunity, going from averaging 8.1 points per game in his rookie campaign to 17.2 points per game as a mere sophomore. Reflecting back, Gibson circles back to his decision to sit out the 2009-2010 season as a pivotal and ultimately necessary moment of his career.

“I’d recommend [red-shirting a season] for pretty much everybody who’s not a starter or a star in their league,” said Gibson. “You should redshirt, take the year to get what you want. Pack on some muscle and learn from watching. You can learn a lot from watching for a year, and that’s what I did.”

Gibson will now shift his focus to earning his degree in May. After that, he’ll set his sights on playing professionally. When asked if playing in Europe was an option, the senior was quick to suggest that competing in the NBA still remains a goal of his.

“I’m trying to stay here,” answered Gibson. “I’m trying to stay here definitely. I’m going to do everything I can to. I know and believe you get shots, that’s what they need you to do. It’s more spread out, and that’s what I do. I’m not going to miss.”

Sacred Heart and NEC fans who’ve watched Gibson blossom into a perennial all-conference player would be smart not to bet against the incredibly driven guard. It may be a long shot for Gibson to find his way onto an NBA roster, but who knows. Maybe someday you’ll find his smooth as silk, line drive three-pointers swishing through a net in an NBA arena near you.

If that’s the case, Pioneer fans like yours truly can crack a smile when reminiscing about the days of the great Shane Gibson. Those terrific memories, although special, will leave us wondering what could have been had Gibson teamed up with an accomplished supporting cast. What if another prolific scorer had emerged to take some of the defensive focus off of Gibson? What if the Pioneers possessed a couple of defensive stoppers, putting less pressure on Sacred Heart’s offense? What if Chris Evans, Evan Kelley, and Justin Swidowski had been healthy this season?

These are the questions Pioneer fans will continue to ask themselves when reliving Gibson’s storied career. And even though it seems silly to say this, Shane Gibson surely deserved better. Such a wonderful career shouldn’t have to languish on a non-title contender.

Regardless, the senior should always hold his head up high for what he was able to accomplish. It was a wonderful and truly memorable career, and for that Shane, we thank you.

NEC Saturday Recap: Playoffs Matches Are Set

It’s hard to believe, but the NEC regular season came to an end today. Playoff spots were solidified and first round playoff match-ups have been determined, so let’s sort through the final Saturday of the NEC season.

St. Francis Brooklyn 92, Sacred Heart 80
The widely hyped play-in playoff game lacked the drama throughout, as St. Francis coasted their way to an easy victory and locked up a date with the Robert Morris Colonials next Wednesday. After a second half Pioneer spurt cut the Terriers lead to eight points, Sacred Heart would get no closer thanks to an atrocious defensive effort that allowed 1.33 points per possession. Glenn Braica’s Terriers made 53.1% of their shots for the game, hit 12 bombs from behind the arc, and possessed a superb assist to turnover ratio of 1.78. Ben Mockford led the attack with 22 points, followed by the frontcourt duo of Akeem Johnson and Jalen Cannon, who each had 15 points. Johnson scored his 1,000 point for his career in the victory. In the loss, Shane Gibson ended his career with a bang, scoring a game high 29 points on 12 of 21 shooting. Gibson’s one man show, however, wasn’t enough to overcome a porous Pioneer defense that only forced nine Terrier turnovers. It was the seventh straight loss for Sacred Heart and continues a string of four consecutive seasons with a losing record inside the conference. Read John’s full recap here.

LIU Brooklyn 96, Quinnipiac 90
Jack Perri’s two most important seniors, Jamal Olasewere and C.J. Garner, combined for 63 points and 15 rebounds, willing the Blackbirds to a season finale victory at the WRAC over Quinnipiac. The fast paced affair (151 total possessions) started off well enough for Tom Moore’s squad, with the Bobcats racing out to a first half lead of 11 points. The Blackbirds countered out of halftime with a 16-0 run, giving them a lead they would not relinquish. After a sluggish first half offensively, LIU exploded for a season best 62 points in the second stanza. Dave Johnson paced the Bobcats with a season high 24 points, while Ousmane Drame continued his dominance down low with 21 points (on 10 shots) and six rebounds. These two teams will meet up again in the first round of the NEC tournament.

Wagner 67, Monmouth 57
Monmouth closed out their disappointing season with a loss to Wagner on Senior Night. Monmouth’s threesome of seniors – Jesse Steele, Ed Waite, and Marcus Ware – were stymied by Wagner’s defense, as they were only able to muster a combined 26 points on 31 shots. As a whole, tonight was the 13th time in 18 conference games that King Rice’s offense failed to register more than 1.00 point per possession. (They’re 1-12 when that happens). For Wagner, the win secures a #2 seed and gives the Seahawks home court advantage throughout the semifinals. Despite committing 16 turnovers versus only five assists, the Seahawks manufactured enough offense via the charity stripe – 23 made free throws – to earn the victory. Jonathan Williams ended the regular season with his second double double of the year, registering 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Bryant 85, St. Francis (PA) 60
Bryant was able to put their bitter Thursday defeat to Robert Morris in the rear view mirror, as they confidently dispatched the inferior Red Flash by more than 20 points for the second time this season. Six players scored in double figures for Tim O’Shea, led by (surprise surprise) Alex Francis with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Corey Maynard added 18 points. The Bulldogs scored at will, achieving their season high of 1.41 points per possession and brought up their average to a NEC best 1.14 points per possession. On the flip side, St. Francis now has undergone eight consecutive losing seasons for a combined record of 55-178. The rebuilding project continues to chug along in Loretto, but Rob Krimmel does possess some respectable pieces moving forward.

Mount St. Mary’s 103, Fairleigh Dickinson 82
Talk about two teams heading in opposite directions. Saturday afternoon’s matchup did little to change that on FDU’s Senior Day, as Jamion Christian’s Mount enjoyed their finest offensive performance of the season. Shivaughn Wiggins led the Mountaineers with 28 points on only nine shots, while Sam Prescott added 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. It was the ultimate team effort with nine Mountaineers scoring and logging at least 11 minutes of action. The win caps off a phenomenal finish to the season and catapults the Mount to fifth place in the standings. The loss mercifully brings the Greg Vetrone era to an end, with the Knights missing their third straight NEC postseason. Seniors Melquan Bolding and Kinu Rochford were their usual efficient selves in defeat, scoring 19 and 14 points, respectively. It was the 14th straight loss for FDU.

Robert Morris 81, Central Connecticut 61
In a game that meant very little to either team, Robert Morris raced out to an early first half advantage and coasted to an easy double-digit victory to conclude their regular season. Andy Toole wasn’t terribly cautious with his banged up senior class on the final Saturday of the season, and they produced on the court. Velton Jones finished with 12 points, seven assists and four steals, while senior Russell Johnson led the team with 20 points. Lucky Jones threw in a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) for good measure. It was one of the poorest shooting performances by CCSU for the season with the Blue Devils only making 19 of their 40 two-pointers and 2 of their 19 three-pointers.

Final NEC Standings
1) Robert Morris, 14-4
2) Wagner, 12-6
3) LIU Brooklyn, 12-6
4) Bryant, 12-6
5) Mount St. Mary’s, 11-7
6) Quinnipiac, 11-7
7) Central Connecticut, 9-9
8) St. Francis Brooklyn, 8-10
9) Sacred Heart, 7-11
10) St. Francis (PA), 5-13
11) Monmouth, 5-13
12) Fairleigh Dickinson, 2-16
*Wagner has tiebreakers on LIU and Bryant based on head-to-head-to-head record (3-1)
*Mount St. Mary’s has tiebreaker on Quinnipiac based on head-to-head record (1-0)

NEC Playoff First Round
Wednesday night, March 6th
#8 seed St. Francis Brooklyn at #1 seed Robert Morris
#5 seed Mount St. Mary’s at #4 seed Bryant
#6 seed Quinnipiac at #3 seed LIU Brooklyn
#7 seed Central Connecticut at #2 seed Wagner