Category: St. Francis Brooklyn

Sacred Heart 74, St. Francis Brooklyn 70: Gutty, Gritty Pioneers

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – In the sometimes alternate universe that is the NEC, a 10-game losing streak like Sacred Heart endured in November and December is not all that concerning. There were a couple of bad losses in there and the defense was porous at times, but Tevin Falzon was just getting back into form, and, well, it’s not like anyone in the NEC is getting an automatic bid or anything.

But after a decent split of the annual western Pennsylvania trip to open conference play, Sacred Heart was run off its own court by Fairleigh Dickinson and blown out by Wagner. Looking for a response the next week, the Pioneers were extremely fortunate to survive Central Connecticut and then were blown out again at St. Francis Brooklyn.

Continue reading “Sacred Heart 74, St. Francis Brooklyn 70: Gutty, Gritty Pioneers” →

St. Francis Brooklyn 60, CCSU 49: Do Terriers Need An Offense?

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – It shouldn’t be terribly surprising that St. Francis Brooklyn is getting by with its defense this season. A quick check of the numbers shows that the Terriers have been in the top three of defensive efficiency in NEC play in each of Glenn Braica’s first five seasons at the helm in Brooklyn Heights, which is also the biggest reason why the Terriers are 54-34 in that span, never missing the NEC Tournament and winning the regular-season crown in 2014-15.

Even without Jalen Cannon and Brent Jones, St. Francis Brooklyn is moving slowly toward the top of the NEC defensive ratings (if it weren’t for two poor games against Wagner, it would be past Mount St. Mary’s and long there already). As I’ve talked about before, Tyreek Jewell is a fantastic defender and held Central Connecticut’s biggest offensive threat, Austin Nehls, without a field goal until the game was decided in a 60-49 smothering win for the Terriers (9-14, 5-5) at Detrick Gym Saturday afternoon.

Continue reading “St. Francis Brooklyn 60, CCSU 49: Do Terriers Need An Offense?” →

Projecting the NEC Regular Season From Here

As we quickly approach the midway point of the NEC conference season, John and I wanted to assess each team’s current standing among the muddle. John, in fact, ran some regular season simulations based on the current standings and KenPom’s rankings using his projection based system. Continue reading “Projecting the NEC Regular Season From Here” →

NEC Recap January 21

Unpredictable. Wide open. Difficult to handicap. This was how most people described the race to the NEC championship back in October and tonight condensed the standings even further. After all of the carnage, the top nine teams are just separated by 2 games. Continue reading “NEC Recap January 21” →

NEC Recap January 16 – Six Games Into the Real Season

Today marks the one third mark of the conference season and teams are clearly separating themselves into notable tiers. Let’s break down the action before laying out the NEC standings.  Continue reading “NEC Recap January 16 – Six Games Into the Real Season” →

Bryant 61, St. Francis Brooklyn 59: Bulldogs Clutch Again

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In an NEC race that seems to pretty clearly up for grabs this season, it’s nice to have a guy like Shane McLaughlin around. The Bryant senior captain leads the conference in assists, and although he averages just 7.4 points per game can almost always be counted on to do the right thing down the stretch.

And with seemingly every NEC game going to the wire in 2015-16, he’s a big reason why the Bulldogs have shaken off a frustrating non-conference campaign to sit atop the NEC at 4-1 thus far. Thursday night in a tie game with the clock running down, Tim O’Shea put the ball in McLaughlin’s hands and hoped he could find an open teammate. When the tough St. Francis Brooklyn defense wouldn’t let him, McLaughlin – despite being just 1-5 from the field for two points at the time – took it upon himself, draining a fade away 18-footer with 1.3 seconds left to give Bryant a hard-fought 61-59 win at the Chace Athletic Center.

Continue reading “Bryant 61, St. Francis Brooklyn 59: Bulldogs Clutch Again” →

NEC Midseason All-Conference Teams

With half of the season in the books, now is the perfect time to announce out my NEC midseason all-conference teams. Figuring out the NEC top 15 wasn’t an easy task, especially given the youth the league possesses, yet I’m confident this group of young men have been worthy of these honors.  Continue reading “NEC Midseason All-Conference Teams” →

NEC Recap January 9 – Rounding Out the Eight Day Stretch

We have reached the conclusion of the four games in eight days stretch. With more than 20% of the conference already completed, let’s break down the action from the second Saturday of the New Year. Continue reading “NEC Recap January 9 – Rounding Out the Eight Day Stretch” →