Category: NEC

Tempo-free NEC: Colonial Rule

Finally order has been restored! Thanks to Central Connecticut’s thrilling victory over Quinnipiac and Bryant’s blowout of Sacred Heart last night every NEC team has once again played 16 conference games. Here’s how things stack up in the tempo-free world as we head into the final weekend. Continue reading “Tempo-free NEC: Colonial Rule” →

The NEC Playoff Picture: A Q&A With Myself

Rather than tire you all with an exhaustive summary of the NEC playoff picture, I decided to ask myself several questions about the last week of NEC regular season play! There are so many things that can still change the complexion of the conference’s playoff race, so if you feel something isn’t factual here, please let me know in the comments section. Before we begin, please familiarize yourself with the updated NEC standings: Continue reading “The NEC Playoff Picture: A Q&A With Myself” →

NEC Makeup Monday: CCSU Clinches NEC Playoff Berth

The snowstorm that nearly destroyed the state of Connecticut a few weeks ago forced two postponements, therefore fans were treated to a rare doubleheader on Monday night. All four teams were seriously jockeying for playoff position, so let’s recap the action and summarize the NEC Standings.

Bryant 84, Sacred Heart 66
Given the recent play of both clubs, this final should surprise no one. The Pioneers hung around for a half thanks to Shane Gibson and Louis Montes’ combined 34 first half points, but the offensive firepower of Tim O’Shea’s Bulldogs was too much to handle as the game moved along. Sacred Heart cut Bryant’s lead to a paltry one point early in the second half, but then O’Shea pulled out the matchup zone. The different defensive look befuddled the Pioneers, and Bryant took full advantage going on a back-breaking 17-2 run. The big four of Bryant was once again unstoppable, as the Starks/Francis/Maynard/Dobbs group combined to log 70 points on a super efficient 44 shots. Starks led the group with 25 points on 10 of 14 shooting. In all, Bryant scored 1.20 points per possession (PPP). If the season ended today, Bryant’s 1.12 PPP average would be the best mark in the NEC since Javier Mojica’s Blue Devils scored 1.12 PPP in the 2006-07 season. With the loss, the Sacred Heart ship is capsizing fast. The Pioneers have lost seven of their last eight games and have pretty much guaranteed a St. Francis Brooklyn/Sacred Heart playoff play-in game on Saturday, March 2nd. There’s no way Dave Bike and company could have imagined that scenario after their hot 6-2 start. On the bright side, Shane Gibson became the fifth player in NEC history to crack the 2,000 point milestone. The senior scored 30 points on only 19 shots, which was 20 points more than the Pioneers front-court tonight.

Central Connecticut 67, Quinnipiac 65
Kyle Vinales long, contested (some would say ill-advised) three-pointer from the parking lot with five seconds remaining hit nothing but the bottom of the net, and pushed his Blue Devils to a thrilling two point victory over Quinnipiac. The Blue Devils were seemingly in control when Malcolm McMillan’s two free-throws gave Howie Dickenman’s group a six point lead with 5:35 left, but severe foul trouble helped the Bobcats go on a 12-3 run to push them ahead with a 65-62 lead. Despite the lapse, the Blue Devils scored the last five points and broke the Bobcats six game winning streak. The supremely confident Joe Efase scored 14 points in the victory and is averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in his last four contests. The win guarentees a playoff game for the Blue Devils, while Quinnipiac’s chances for their first regular season title since 2010 have all but vanished. It didn’t help that Quinnipiac missed nine of their 22 free throw attempts. Ousname Drame continued his dominant play with another double double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. In his last nine games – seven of them Quinnipiac victories – Drame has averaged 11.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. It looks like Drame is finally beginning to realize his full potential.

NEC Standings
1) Robert Morris, 12-4
2) Bryant, 11-5
3) Quinnipaic, 10-6
4) Wagner, 10-6
5) LIU Brooklyn, 10-6
6) Mount St. Mary’s, 9-7
7) Central Connecticut, 8-8
8) Sacred Heart, 7-9
9) St. Francis Brooklyn, 7-9
10) St. Francis (PA), 5-11
11) Monmouth, 5-11
12) Fairleigh Dickinson, 2-14
*Quinnipiac earns tiebreaker over Wagner/LIU based on head-to-head-to-head record (2-0)
*Wagner earns tiebreaker over LIU based on head-to-head record (2-0)
*Sacred Heart earns tiebreaker over St. Francis Brooklyn based on head-to-head record (1-0)
*Top seven teams in standings have clinched a NEC playoff berth

CCSU Takes Control of Their Playoff Destiny, Beats Sacred Heart

It was set up perfectly. Shane Gibson, the greatest player in Sacred Heart Division I history, was only 19 points shy of 2000 points coming into Senior Day. The fifth year senior was approaching the end of his sensational career, so of course he’d crack the 2000 point milestone, while also leading the Pioneers to a much-needed victory in his last ever home game. After all, these are what dreams are made of.

The only problem was Kyle Vinales had other ideas.

The Central Connecticut (CCSU) sophomore was excellent on both ends of the floor in the second half, as his Blue Devils used clutch play late to seal a critical victory and break their four game losing streak.

“We’ve been on the skids,” said CCSU head coach Howie Dickenman after the game. “We came out and played with more emotion this afternoon than any game this year. We played like it was a championship game.”

The championship effort was anchored with terrific performances by Vinales and senior big man Joe Efase. Both players combined for 49 points on only 31 shots. It was Vinales phenomenal play down the stretch that impressed his grizzled head coach the most.

“Today, I thought we concentrated on [Shane] Gibson and Kyle did a fantastic job on Gibson,” said Dickenman. “We know Gibson is going to get his 25-28 points, but you can’t let him go off. And Kyle keeps him under 19, which would have been 2000.”

When asked about Vinales performance, Sacred Heart head coach Dave Bike simply added, “He got the best of [Gibson].”

CCSU played stout interior defense that allowed the Pioneers to only convert 38.1% of their two pointers. Joe Efase, in particular, was a beast defensively blocking eight shots, tying a career high. His defensive prowess, along with Brandon Peel and Terrell Allen, discouraged Sacred Heart down low and forced Dave Bike’s squad to jack up 27 three-pointers. For the first time in five contests, CCSU held their opponent to 1.00 point per possession. In their previous four games, all defeats, CCSU had given up an unsavory 1.23 points per possession.

“[Efase] was so focused and he was really upset after the Bryant game with how he played, how we played,” said Dickenman when asked about Joe Efase’s terrific game. “You could tell, he came out of that game besides himself and yesterday’s practice was probably the most intense practice we had. We played as hard as we could in practice, and it carried over into the game.”

Despite the Blue Devils energy, Sacred Heart kept the game close enough late to have a chance. When Shane Gibson, who finished with 14 points leaving the senior five points shy of 2000 for his career, hit his first three-pointer of the second half with 2:47 remaining, the Pioneers were only trailing by one point, 66-65. But no Sacred Heart defender could stay in front of Vinales late, as the fifth leading scorer in the nation at 22.3 points per game logged eight points in the final 2:16 to snap the Blue Devils losing streak.

In addition, Sacred Heart was sloppy with the ball late, which led to 12 turnovers for the game. The Blue Devils took advantage of the Pioneers miscues, by outscoring Sacred Heart 19-4 on points off turnovers. CCSU was also money from the charity stripe down the stretch (17 of 19), which certainly helped ice the game late.

“I think they got too many layups,” said a dejected Dave Bike after the loss. “Important games like these you got to play tougher defense, and they shot too well and we didn’t shoot good enough.”

Steve Glowiak scored a team high 21 points on six of 14 shooting. Freshman Tevin Falzon added ten points – eight in the second half – to go along with six rebounds. Louis Montes also finished with a double double with 14 points and ten rebounds, but he needed 16 shots to register the 14 points.

The win moves CCSU into a seventh place tie in the NEC standings, which at the moment, puts them in very good shape to qualify for the NEC tournament. With head-to-head tiebreakers over seventh place Sacred Heart and ninth place St. Francis Brooklyn, the Blue Devils are likely to be playing a first round NEC tournament game on Wednesday, March 6th. Especially with three home games left on the regular season schedule.

Sacred Heart, on the other hand, concludes the season with a brutal three game road stretch, which includes Bryant, LIU Brooklyn, and St. Francis Brooklyn. If things break right, the Sacred Heart/St. Francis Brooklyn showdown could very well serve as an eight/nine seeded play-in game for the NEC tournament.

Ryan Peters covers Northeast Conference men’s basketball for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @pioneer_pride

NEC Saturday Recap: St. Francis Brooklyn In Trouble

Saturday’s NEC action really hasn’t done anything to make the playoff picture clearer. Instead it has become even more muddled as Central Connecticut defeated Sacred Heart and St. Francis Brooklyn lost at Mount St. Mary’s. At least Robert Morris provided some clarity by destroying Fairleigh Dickinson on senior night.

Continue reading “NEC Saturday Recap: St. Francis Brooklyn In Trouble” →

Mount St. Mary’s Continues Dominance at Home, Defeats LIU Brooklyn

To the casual fan observing from afar, nothing probably seemed amiss with LIU Brooklyn’s effort after nearly 28 minutes of play in Emmitsburg, MD. Despite getting limited contributions from Jamal Olasewere and Jason Brickman, the first place Blackbirds were leading the Mount, 53-50. E.J. Reed scored 20 first half points and had the team playing with a little cockiness and swagger you’d expect from the back-to-back defending champs.

The only problem was head coach Jack Perri wasn’t buying it one bit. To him, the three-point lead was a farce, a mere aberration based on what he had seen out of his team earlier in the week.

“For the first week in a while, our guys didn’t prepare the same way, they didn’t care the same way,” said a disappointed Perri after the game. “We did a good job of [preparing] since the Wagner game and we struggled with that this week. For whatever the reason, we were out of it. I tried to warn them. I tried to get them ready…I could see this coming.”

So when LIU lost their second half lead in the blink of an eye, it came as no surprise to the first year head coach. Three consecutive three-pointers by Kelvin Parker and Rashad Whack sparked a 9-0 run and gave the Mount a six point advantage midway through the second half. It was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish to the delight of the feverish crowd on hand.

One person’s delight though is another person’s dismay, and Perri was clearly disgusted at his team’s execution in two facets: The 20 turnovers Mount St. Mary’s forced throughout the game and their porous perimeter defense that allowed the Mount to sink 11 of 25 three-pointers, including six rainmakers from junior Rashad Whack.

Whack led the Mountaineers with 26 points – 16 of them in the pivotal second half – to go along with three assists and three steals. It was the eleventh time this season Whack led the Mount in scoring for the game, and the fourth time the junior had broken the 20 point barrier.

In all, five Mount players logged an efficiency rating north of ten for the game, but it was Jamion Christian mainly praising the inside presence of 6’8″ center Raven Barber as a key catalyst for the team’s second half run.

“Raven Barber was an unbelievable force,” said Christian. “We challenged him [to produce] in the under eight timeout to just do more. Fly around, play with some freedom and he did that. I definitely thought he was the difference in the game.”

After playing ten uneventful minutes in the first half, Barber stepped in and sparked the Mount with eight points and six rebounds in the second stanza. His toughness, along with freshman Shivaughn Wiggins, helped keep the Blackbirds at bay on offense, holding them to a respectable 0.95 points per possession. It was LIU’s second worst offensive output for the conference season.

LIU Brooklyn’s offensive struggles can certainly be pinned on the poor play of Jamal Olasewere and Jason Brickman. Olasewere played a NEC low 20 minutes, as he found himself in constant foul trouble throughout the second half. In fact, when the senior picked up his fourth personal foul (third offensive), the Mount then embarked on a 13-4 run to take a commanding nine-point lead deep into the second half. For Perri, Olasewere was the main culprit for LIU’s lackidasical attitude leading up to the game.

“I’m telling you, this one started well before the game even started,” reiterated Perri. “[Jamal] was one of the big reasons why, I don’t know what it was, but I could sense that he was out of it. I don’t know if he was trying to do too much, he was just out of it. I didn’t see the same Jamal as I know.”

Jason Brickman struggled as well, giving the ball up six times while only scoring 11 points on as many shots. Mount St. Mary’s freshman Shivaughn Wiggins was given the assignment of guarding the best point guard of the NEC, and his coach was incredibly proud of the freshman’s effort.

“I’ve said it time and time again, I don’t think there’s a better on-ball defender in the league,” gushed Christian. “[Shivaughn] did an unbelievable job on [Brickman] tonight. [Shivaughn’s] ability to guard the basketball has really changed the dynamic of our team.”

“Shivaughn just gives you some toughness. He’s not afraid to mix it up and go in there and get some of those crazy rebounds or take a charge. And for 35, 36 minutes, he’s going to guard the other team’s point guard and never need a break. He’s just given our team a different dynamic with the way he can score the ball in the lane.”

Christian gladly continued when asked if Wiggins deserves the NEC Rookie of the Year award at season’s end. “I think there’s no better player in the league as a rookie, because of what he’s done for our team defensively.”

E.J. Reed registered a career high 25 points on 12 shots and corralled a team high nine rebounds in the defeat. The versatile and athletic Reed served as the lone bright spot for the now second place Blackbirds. They’ll travel to Wagner for an enormous Sunday night showdown that should help decide who gets a home playoff game in the first round of the NEC tournament. How will Perri get his team ready for the challenge?

“Hopefully it’s a wakeup call and we’ll see tomorrow and Saturday and get ready for Wagner.”

Mount St. Mary’s will host St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, in a pivotal battle that will surely shape the bottom half of the NEC tournament draw. It will be the last home game of the season for Christian’s group, who now holds an excellent 9-2 record at the Mount.

NEC Thursday Recap: Playoff Picture Still Murky For Some

The second to last Thursday of the NEC regular season had some fantastic finishes and did little to clean up the race to the NEC postseason. Let’s recap all of the action… Continue reading “NEC Thursday Recap: Playoff Picture Still Murky For Some” →

NEC Freshmen Struggling to Make an Impact

With all due respect to the rookies of the Northeast Conference, this hasn’t been the year of the freshman.

With a majority of the NEC’s top talent staying put, this was to be expected. Yet when I charted the contributions of the top ten freshmen in the league every year since the 2007-08 season, the combined output of this current class paled in comparison to previous seasons. Here’s what I found:

Season

Top 10 Freshmen*

AVG Efficiency Rating

2007-08

Horton, Baker, Thompson, Rutty, Kyle Johnson, Cadell, Francisco, Hett, Galvin, Hicks

9.21

2008-09

Taylor, Boyd, James Johnson, Gibson, Ptacek, Myers Keitt, Perunicic, Campbell, Culpo, Martin

7.68

2009-10

Abraham, Felder, Olasewere, Onyechi, Kondratyev, Velton Jones, Russell Johnson, Efase, Waite, Conrad

7.36

2010-11

Francis, Rivers, Brickman, Parker, Montes, Norfleet, Williams, Myers, Evans, Azotam, Ware

8.23

2011-12

Cannon, Vinales, Parker, Lucky Jones, Drame, Nesmith, Nicholas, Hearst, Gaetano, Tillotson

8.56

2012-13

Wiggins, Mosley, Peel, Reed, Drinnon, Fanning, Tate, Hawkins, Danaher, O’Garro

5.79

*based on BBstate.com efficiency rating, which measures all positive and negative statistics
Players in bold were selected to All-NEC Rookie Team in that particular year

There still are plenty of talented, high upside freshmen around the NEC, but we simply haven’t seen the majority of them produce due to a number of reasons, I reckon.

  •  I certainly don’t want to pick on individuals, but several of the league’s freshmen have not panned out this season for one reason or another. Wagner’s Dwaun Anderson, whose elite athleticism has certainly provided the occasional highlight dunk and top ten SportsCenter moment, needs more time to improve his basketball IQ before he can crack an all-conference team. Quinnipiac’s trio of rookies hasn’t stepped up as expected, although James Ford and Kendrick Ray have at times shown flashes of their excellent upside. After a promising start to the season, Sacred Heart’s Tevin Falzon was slowed up thanks to an academic violation, while Wagner’s Eric Fanning is currently serving a suspension because he allegedly upset Bashir Mason. Moreover, injuries have surely impeded the progress of potential impact guys like St. Francis’ Stephon Mosley, Bryant’s Andrew Scocca, Monmouth’s Christian White, and CCSU’s Khalen Cumberlander.
  • High turnover among the NEC coaching ranks this past offseason may have contributed to less than stellar recruiting. Texas high school star Taurean Waller-Prince was ready to make a name for himself in the NEC, but after Jim Ferry accepted a position at Duquesne and Waller-Prince’s marketability vastly improved after a stellar senior season, the 6’7” big man decided to attend Big 12 power Baylor instead. Jamion Christian was hired in late March and had little time to fill three scholarships for the Mount, and even though he uncovered a gem in Shivaughn Wiggins, he used the remaining spots for athletic, yet not ready to contribute projects in Melvin Gregory and Christian Crockett. Ditto for Rob Krimmel, who to his credit was able to find Stephon Mosley off the high school waiver wire deep in the summer.
  • It’s an upperclassmen league. Seven of the ten all-conference selections from last season returned, while the NEC’s sophomore class is full of high level contributors like Jalen Cannon, Kyle Vinales, Lucky Jones, Phil Gaetano, Kelvin Parker and Ousmane Drame. In addition, JUCOs and transfers have come in to play integral roles on their respective teams, whether you’re talking about guys like Rashad Whack, Sam Prescott, Dyami Starks, Joe O’Shea, Karvel Anderson, Shaq Shannon, Stephen Spinella, Alek Isailovic, and of course the best one of them all in Matthew Hunter. With more upperclassmen filling key roster spots, there are less opportunities for freshmen coming in to have an impact.

And in case you were curious, here’s my All-NEC Rookie Team at the moment. The freshmen are ordered in terms of who I’d rank for the All-NEC Rookie of the Year award.

PG: Shivaughn Wiggins, Mount St. Mary’s
He’s been a major reason why the Mount has won five of their last six games. He’s scoring, taking care of the basketball, and playing solid perimeter defense.

PF: E.J. Reed, LIU Brooklyn
Reed has taken full advantage of an opportunity when Julian Boyd tore his ACL early this season. His energy and athleticism has rival coaches taking notice.

PF: Brandon Peel, Central Connecticut
He needs to improve his offensive game, but Peel already has shown why Dickenman went down to Maryland to recruit him. He’s going to be a tremendous rebounder in the league for years to come.

Those three guys are locks for the all-rookie team, but after that it’s anyone’s guess who could make the final two roster spots. I currently have it between:

PF: Stephon Mosley, St. Francis (PA)
He was a serious candidate for NEC Rookie of Year at the midway point, but injuries have slowed down Mosley’s freshman campaign. Still, the overall numbers are tough to ignore.

G/F: Eric Fanning, Wagner
Fanning had an impressive stretch during the conference season, giving Mason a much needed scorer off the bench. If he doesn’t get back into the rotation soon, however, he likely won’t crack the all-rookie list.

PF: Ronnie Drinnon, St. Francis (PA)
Drinnon has been inconsistent overall, but the 6’7” freshman has given Rob Krimmel glimpses of his above average upside.

Just one of the many races to watch as the NEC season winds down these last couple of weeks! Are there any other freshmen worthy of all-rookie consideration?

Follow Ryan Peters on Twitter @pioneer_pride