Category: Wagner

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 Playoff Scenarios: 10 Teams Fighting for 8 Spots

With four to five conference games remaining, it remains anyone’s guess as to how the NEC playoffs will eventually align. Of course, there appears to be a distinct top five, but then again top seeds Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn haven’t even clinched a spot in the playoffs. (They are really close though.) As a result, please allow me to sift through the madness and break it all down.

Top Tier: Teams in Excellent Shape
1) Robert Morris*, 10-4
2) LIU Brooklyn, 10-4
3) Bryant, 9-4
4) Wagner, 9-5
5) Quinnipiac, 8-5
*owns head-to-head tiebreaker over LIU

I still view Robert Morris, LIU Brooklyn, Bryant, and Wagner as being in the driver’s seat for a NEC home playoff game. Robert Morris must end their regular season at Bryant and CCSU, but with home games versus Monmouth and FDU and with a tiebreaker over LIU (thanks Velton Jones!), the Colonials have the edge to grab the #1 seed. All eyes, however, could be on the Robert Morris at Bryant showdown on February 28th. With the exception of the Bulldogs, all these teams have been playing well as of late. Each team is essentially one more victory away from getting the clinched playoff berth asterisk next to their name.

Bobcat fans may take offense to the first sentence, but they conclude with a difficult final five games (38-29 combined record of opponents left), with four of them on the road. On the other hand, Wagner finishes the season off with FDU, Monmouth, and St. Francis Brooklyn. The Bobcats may only be a half game back of Wagner and are hot, but I’d be surprised if they leapfrog Wagner. If anything, Quinnipiac’s upcoming home showdown with Bryant could determine who plays in their friendly confines for the first round of the playoffs. As the last team in this cluster, Quinnipiac currently holds a comfortable 2.5 game lead over ninth place St. Francis Brooklyn.

Second Tier: Plenty of Work to Do
6) Sacred Heart, 7-6
7) Mount St. Mary’s, 7-7
8) Central Connecticut, 6-7

A few weeks ago, the Mount had a NEC record of 2-6, in serious danger of missing the NEC postseason for the third straight year. Since then, Jamion Christian’s club has won five of their last six, and now with a very manageable schedule to finish the season (LIU, SF Brooklyn, @Monmouth, @FDU), the Mount is in the best shape of the second tier to play playoff basketball. If they can find a way to split their two home games versus LIU and SF Brooklyn, then they’re probably in. It also helps that the Mount owns head-to-head tiebreakers on Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and CCSU. It sure sounds like someone will have Mayhem visiting their gym in the first round. (Ooh ooh, can I request a Mount St. Mary’s at LIU Brooklyn first round matchup??)

Sacred Heart is going in the opposite direction, and with a brutal schedule remaining (39-28 combined record of opponents left), it wouldn’t surprise me if they continued their tailspin out the playoffs. With the exception of Mount St. Mary’s though, the teams below SHU are struggling just as much, so I still believe they’ll find a way to sneak into the NEC tournament bracket. It would certainly behoove them to pick up a win or two versus Quinnipiac and CCSU coming up at home, because after that, a three game road stretch of Bryant, LIU, and SF Brooklyn is less than ideal.

Third Tier: Teams in Big Trouble
9) St. Francis Brooklyn, 6-8
10) Monmouth, 5-9

Monmouth kept their season alive with a badly needed home victory over SF Brooklyn and in the process may have crippled the Terriers’ playoff prospects. Still, Monmouth is on life support sitting at two games back of CCSU and having lost head-to-head tiebreakers over SHU, Quinnipiac, and CCSU. Anything short of a perfect finish to the season most likely knocks the Hawks out, so King Rice needs to find a way to defeat Robert Morris and Wagner on the road. Good luck with that.

For SF Brooklyn, the playoffs essentially begin on Thursday when they host Wagner. After that, they square off against a Mount St. Mary’s team that is very good in Emmitsburg (8-2 overall). Without the tiebreaker against CCSU, you have to think the Terriers must win AT LEAST three of their final four games and then hope that SHU or CCSU continues their downward spiral. Right now, the best Glenn Braica could hope for is that their final game of regular season against SHU becomes a play-in game for the NEC tournament. If that’s the case, I may have to make the 3.5 hour bus trip to Brooklyn just to see the game! (I can already see my wife rolling her eyes.)

Follow Ryan on Twitter @pioneer_pride

NEC Saturday Recap: Old Guard Learns New Tricks

This new NEC looks a lot like the old NEC after Saturday’s action. Once again Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn are sitting at the top of the standings as Wagner, Bryant and Quinnipiac chase. The bottom of the standings though is getting tighter by the week as nine teams are fighting hard for just eight spots. Continue reading “NEC Saturday Recap: Old Guard Learns New Tricks” →

NEC Thursday: The Valentine’s Day Recap!

With my wife out of town, I was able to keep my eye on the NEC basketball scene for what turned out to be a special Valentine’s Day recap! Enjoy…

Mount St. Mary’s 84, Bryant 70
Sam Prescott had the performance of his life with 44 points on 16 of 24 shooting to help lead the Mount to an impressive drubbing of league leader Bryant. After the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead thanks to Dyami Starks’ three points, two assists, and one rebound in four minutes, Bryant struggled offensively when Starks was saddled with two quick fouls. After that, a Prescott onslaught from behind the three-point line guided the Mount to a double-digit lead at the half. In all, Prescott tied a Mount record for the most threes scored in a game (10-14), while also breaking the school’s D-I record for most points in a game. Perhaps quietly, Shivaughn Wiggins and Julien Norfleet did a wonderful job fasciliating on offense. The duo dished out 16 assists versus only one turnover. Bryant shot the ball well, but couldn’t overcome 15 turnovers and a porous effort defensively on the perimeter that allowed the Mount to sink 50.9% of their shots. Alex Francis scored a team high 25 points to go along with ten rebounds, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome Prescott’s special night.

St. Francis (PA) 64, Sacred Heart 60
In the upset of the night, St. Francis (PA) notched their third win of the season by knocking off a significantly banged up Sacred Heart team on the road. Phil Gaetano was out with the flu leaving the Pioneers devoid of a true point guard on the roster and limiting Dave Bike to seven healthy scholarship players and walk-on Louis Cramer. Shane Gibson did his part registering 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals, but it wasn’t enough as no other Pioneer logged a game efficiency rating higher than a six (for non-stat heads, a six isn’t very good). Four players scored in double digits for Rob Krimmel’s club, led by double-double machine Earl Brown with 13 points and 11 boards. St. Francis lost the edge on the boards, but shot well enough from the perimeter (7-16 behind the arc) and at the charity stripe (19-26) to pull through. The win moves St. Francis (PA) out of the cellar with a 3-10 record, while Sacred Heart nows find themselves only up 1.5 games on the 9th place team in the conference. With no more “cupcakes” on the schedule, it’s now or never for the Pioneers coming up.

LIU Brooklyn 82, Monmouth 66
A nearly down-and-out Monmouth team hung tough and even led the back-to-back defending champs with 11 minutes left in the second half, 52-51. But then a 20-5 LIU run put the game out of reach and made certain the Hawks would lose for the fifth time in six games. The offensive numbers won’t make Jack Perri all too happy (1.02 PPP, 14 assists versus 24 turnovers), yet the defense stepped up to force 17 turnovers and a mediocre 40% shooting mark for Monmouth. In addition, the Blackbirds won the rebounding battle 35-27 and hit 14 more freebies from the line. Jamal Olasewere led the team with 23 points, but C.J. Garner was equally as excellent with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Ed Waite led Monmouth with 24 points, but he needed 19 shots to get there. After him though, only two Hawk players – Jesse Steele and Stephen Spinella – scored more than five points.

Wagner 101, Central Connecticut 82
If Wagner scores the basketball like that the rest of the season, then I’m pretty confident they’ll join Robert Morris, Bryant, and LIU Brooklyn in the upper third of the league at season’s end. Wagner shattered their season high in points per possession with 1.32 PPP, while draining over 61% of their shots in a blowout home win over the suddenly defensively challenged Blue Devils. Seven Seahawks scored at least eight points with Marcus Burton claiming 23 points on only nine shots. The game moved at a feverish pace with 155 total possessions, but it was Wagner who benefitted the most from the tempo. Central Connecticut, led by Kyle Vinales’ 42 points on 24 shots, cut Wagner’s lead to seven points early in the second half, but a 15-0 run by the Seahawks essentially turned the game into a laugher. Odd enough, CCSU falls to 4-8 on the season when they average more than 73 possessions in a game. Is it safe to say the lack of depth hurts CCSU in these games that turn into track meets? Whatever the reason, Howie Dickenman shouldn’t be happy that Wagner outscored his club in the paint, 44-24, while also allowing the Seahawks to drill nine of their 15 long-range jumpers. It was a lousy defensive effort whichever way you slice it.

St. Francis Brooklyn 85, Fairleigh Dickinson 61
When it rains it pours, and right now it’s pouring losses for FDU. The Knights dropped their ninth straight to a struggling St. Francis team, as they were unable to overcome 21 point efforts from both Akeem Johnson and Travis Nichols. The Terriers were efficient on offense, and while that may be from FDU being in the bottom 10% of the nation defensively, Glenn Braica certainly has to be pleased with 16 assists versus a mere five turnovers, a 25-28 shooting performance from the free-throw line, and the fact that his team surged despite a zero point overcome from Jalen Cannon. Kinu Rochford had another monster game for FDU (what else is new) with 20 points and 16 rebounds, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent FDU’s slide into the NEC basement.

Quinnipiac 63, Robert Morris 61
In perhaps their last meeting before Quinnipiac departs for the MAAC, the Bobcats outlasted the banged-up Colonials in a ridiculously tight game throughout. Velton Jones supposedly did his best Willis Reed impersonation (OK, maybe not) by suiting up right before tipoff, yet he struggled with only six points on 13 shots. Evan Conti led Quinnipiac with 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists and has been the unsung hero in this recent run for Tom Moore. Conti has scored in double figures in four straight, while also averaging 5.5 rebounds per game. The big difference in the game was free throws, as Robert Morris uncharacteristically went to the charity stripe just 13 times (and missed eight of them). On the other hand, Quinnipiac had 17 points from the line and also doubled the Colonials output on the boards (44-22). The Bobcats are officially the hottest team in the NEC, winning five of their last six contests to move into a tie for fifth place. A home playoff game is now absolutely within reach.

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

Home Teams Hold Serve on NEC Wednesday Night

The NEC broke out of its shell and got some national attention on Wednesday night as FoxSports and ESPN3 carried both the St. Francis (PA) at Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary’s at Wagner games. While the Mount made things interesting down the stretch, both home teams managed to come away with wins by comfortable margins.

Continue reading “Home Teams Hold Serve on NEC Wednesday Night” →

NEC Thursday: Bryant All Alone in First Place With Four Teams Right Behind

In what amounted to another wild night of NEC hoops, Bryant pulled back ahead into first place all by themselves, after their road win and Sacred Heart and Robert Morris’ losses. Let’s dive into all the action from the fifth Thursday of the NEC schedule.

LIU Brooklyn 82, St. Francis (PA) 62
In easily the most predictable game of the night, LIU Brooklyn took care of business and cruised to an easy 20 point victory at the WRAC. The Blackbirds jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never trailed during the contest. To the Red Flash’s credit, two Earl Brown free throws cut LIU’s advantage to six early in the second half, but then a subsequent 24-8 run by LIU sealed the deal. The loss was St. Francis’ 15th straight road loss. LIU was uncharacteristically sloppy with 20 turnovers, but their 22 assists on 29 made baskets was enough to pull away. Booker Hucks made a career high five three-pointers to tie a career high of 20 points. In the last two games, the senior is absolutely scorching from downtown, draining 9 of 13 three-pointers. Jamal Olasewere, C.J. Garner, and Brandon Thompson also scored in double figures for LIU Brooklyn’s sixth straight NEC victory. Umar Shannon and Stephon Mosley returned from injury for St. Francis, yet both struggled in the defeat. Earl Brown led the Red Flash with 22 points.

Bryant 78, Fairleigh Dickinson 63
After an 8-0 run by FDU to begin the second half gave the Knights a brief 37-36 lead, Bryant outscored FDU 42-26 the rest of way. FDU was unable to take advantage of recently porous Bulldog defense, as they only shot 45.3% from the floor versus a team that was in the bottom 15% of the nation in effective field goal percentage defense. 17 Knight turnovers also didn’t help, but Bryant got terrific, efficient production out of Alex Francis (27 points on 13 shots, 9 rebounds). Usually the forgotten man outside of Bryant’s big three, Corey Maynard chipped in with an excellent line of 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Bryant won the rebounding battle (36-24), turnover margin (15-17), and made 12 more FTs than FDU. Just an overall solid effort to move back into first place all by their lonesome once again.

Central Connecticut 78, Monmouth 58
Kyle Vinales, Matthew Hunter, and Adonis Burbage combined for 59 points on 50 shots, while never once taking a break during the game. The relatively fasted pace game (142 total possessions) got out of hand late in the first half for Monmouth, as the Blue Devils raced out to a 16 point lead. From that point forward, Monmouth never got any closer than 12 points, despite Marcus Ware scoring a season high 16 points. The Blue Devils shot 52% from the floor in this one, but it was their assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.5 in the first half that was most impressive, especially against a team that’s fourth in the nation in turning opponents over. Christian White missed the game with an injured ankle and it showed as the Hawks made 27.0% of their three-point attempts.

Wagner 84, Sacred Heart 78
Although Wagner controlled the game for much of the second half, two fade away threes by Shane Gibson and two Phil Gaetano free throws improbably sent the game into overtime. In the extra frame, however, Wagner regained their composure and held on for their third straight conference victory. Kenny Ortiz had perhaps the game of the night registering 17 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Phil Gaetano, after receiving heavy praise from John and I this week, had the worst half of his career committing six turnovers. To his credit though, the 5’10” floor general recovered to finish with 12 points and 11 assists. The bounce back effort wasn’t enough, as Shane Gibson struggled all night thanks to Wagner’s stingy defense that gave up 0.96 points per possession. The Pioneers shot 36% from the floor and gave the ball up 22 times, but it was their 29 free throws that kept them in the game in the second half. But late, Jonathan Williams was clutch, scoring ten points in the final eight plus minutes of the game. Wagner now find themselves in a four-way tie for second place with SHU, Robert Morris, and LIU Brooklyn.

Mount St. Mary’s 77, Quinnipiac 73
Quinnipiac may have evened their record to 4-4 last Saturday, but it never truly felt like the team was completely back. Tonight’s result was indicative of that. After trailing 6-5 early, the Mount took the lead and never was behind again, although the Bobcats cut the deficit to one point late before Julian Norfleet’s three extended the lead for good. Quinnipiac’s negative turnover differential and awful foul shooting ultimately did the Bobcats in, with the Bobcats committing 13 more turnovers and missing half of their 32 attempts at the charity stripe. Yikes… It was a balanced scoring effort with nine Mountaineers scoring, led by Shivaughn Wiggins 17 points. The freshman has taken advantage of Josh Castellanos’ injury, as he’s now averaging 14.6 points in his past five games. For Quinnipiac, the defense continues to struggle, as the Mount scored 1.04 points per possession. It was the sixth time in nine conference games that Tom Moore’s squad has given up more than 1 point per possession this conference season. Last year that happened only seven times in 18 NEC contests. Sophomore center Ousmane Drame did have a career game with 19 points and 20 rebounds in the loss.

St. Francis Brooklyn 71, Robert Morris 61
The Colonial’s six-game winning streak was snapped after falling to the streaky Terriers at the Pope Education Center. Velton Jones injured his shoulder early and only played two minutes. It has been a tough season injury wise for Jones, who missed zero games in his first three seasons at RMU. Brent Jones was sensational for St. Francis, who scored 1.15 points per possession against a solid defense. Jones had 16 points, three rebounds, and six assists against only three turnovers. John has the complete recap of the game here.

NEC Standings
1) Bryant, 7-2
2) Wagner, 6-3
3) Robert Morris, 6-3
4) Sacred Heart, 6-3
5) LIU Brooklyn, 6-3
6) Central Connecticut, 5-4
7) St. Francis Brooklyn, 5-4
8) Quinnipiac, 4-5
9) Mount St. Mary’s, 3-6
10) Monmouth, 3-6
11) Fairleigh Dickinson, 2-7
12) St. Francis (PA), 1-8

NEC Week 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I broke a personal best this past week when I attended four NEC games in three days. I spent a majority of my Sunday adjusting to the craziness as a result, but I’d certainly do it again. I saw two-thirds of the league in action, therefore I’m ready to broadcast my thoughts, opinions, and a bunch more on the week four version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, NEC style. Continue reading “NEC Week 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” →