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.
Mount St. Mary’s 73, St. Francis Brooklyn 65: Mayhem got to the Terriers in the first half and while they cleaned up their ball-handling in the second an early 15-point deficit was too much to overcome at the Mount. St. Francis got within four points, but couldn’t get the lead in the second half. The Mountaineers attempted 31 free throws on their home court and made the most of them, going 24-31 (77 percent). Jamion Christian’s team finishes the season with a 10-2 record at Knott Arena, an impressive feat. The Mount is now 14-13 and 9-7 in NEC play and looks to have a spot in the NEC tournament about sewn up, though winning at Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson next weekend certainly wouldn’t hurt. MSM was carried by Julian Norfleet, as the junior guard scored 25 points. Freshman Shivaughn Wiggins pitched in 11 on only five shots. The loss throws a wrench into St. Francis’ NEC tournament hopes. The Terriers are now 7-9 in the conference and currently in ninth place because Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut both have to play on Monday due to the aftereffects of Nemo. Ben Mockford scored a career-high 29 points for the Terriers, but no other player had more than eight points. This was also the third straight game that the Terriers allowed an NEC opponent to score over a point per possession. The Terriers host Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart next week. The game against the Pioneers could very well be an eight-nine play-in game.
Central Connecticut 80, Sacred Heart 72: The Pioneers’ slide down the NEC standings continued with a loss on Senior Night at the Pitt Center to CCSU. The thought was Shane Gibson would be honored before the game and then arguably the best player in the Sacred Heart history would lead the SHU to a much needed victory while also scoring his 2,000 career point. Well the victory and the 2,000th point will have to wait for another night. Gibson shot 5-16 from the floor for 14 points and committed seven of Sacred Heart’s 12 turnovers as the Blue Devils took one step towards the NEC tournament. Gibson did also have 10 rebounds, but he just didn’t look comfortable for much of the game. Once again CCSU went with a really short rotation and it paid off. Joe Efese came off the bench to score 21 points on 9-11 shooting and Kyle Vinales added 28 on a much less efficient 8-20 night. Vinales though hit the key shots down the stretch to help CCSU pull away for the victory. Both of these teams are now tied for seventh place in the NEC, but the Blue Devils hold the tie-breaker thanks to their season sweep of the Pioneers. SHU finishes the season with a brutal three-game road trip at Bryant, LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis Brooklyn. Central on the other hand plays all three at home, but against Quinnipiac, St. Francis (PA) and Robert Morris. Both teams desperately needed this win and it was a tie game at 68 with 2:18 left when Gibson’s turnover led to Vinales free throws and the dagger. A tough way to go out at home for sure. Read Ryan’s game recap here.
Quinnipiac 69, Bryant 58: The streaking Bobcats held the Bulldogs to their worst offensive game in terms of points per possession in NEC play and look to be rounding into form as the tournament approaches. The past three games Quinnipiac has played they’ve held their opponent way under a point per possession against Bryant they did it by stifling all of the Bulldogs’ big scorers and keeping them off the free throw line. Ike Azotam and Shaq Shannon each scored 16 points for QU, which is now tied for second with Bryant and LIU Brooklyn. If the Bobcats can get two games at TD Banknorth then the rest of the NEC should be worried, because Tom Moore’s team is playing good basketball at home right now. The win is Quinnipiac’s sixth in a row and pushed the Bobcats over .500 overall (14-13) for the first time since Nov. 16 when they were 2-1 overall. Bryant has lost three straight road games (with a home win over CCSU thrown in), but the Bulldogs do have a good schedule down the stretch with home games against Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and St. Francis (PA). Quinnipiac will be on the road for the remainder of NEC play starting Monday at Central Connecticut.
St. Francis (PA) 70, Monmouth 68: Raise your hand if you thought the Red Flash would sweep this weekend? No one. That’s what I thought. Rob Krimmel’s team quietly has had one of the better weekends of the season and is now tied with the Hawks for tenth place after a two-point home victory. This win was the first time the Red Flash scored over a point per possession since Jan. 24th against Robert Morris. Anthony Ervin had a big game with 19 points and Earl Brown chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds (he also had six assists). What’s even more incredible is that SFU overcame 22 turnovers to post the efficiency mark. The loss officially eliminated Monmouth from NEC tournament contention. The Hawks got 20 points from Dion Nesmith and 19 from Jesse Steele, but the rest of the team didn’t do much. (Steele also had six turnovers.) Could the Red Flash really spoil someone’s NEC tourney hopes with a win at Central Connecticut or Bryant? It’s unlikely, but at least this sweep gives Krimmel something to build on in Loretto.
Robert Morris 89, Fairleigh Dickinson 46: With this victory not only did Robert Morris take a 1.5 game lead over all of its challengers, the Colonials also once again became the best defensive team in the NEC according to points allowed per possession in conference play. It helps that 1) Velton Jones returned on Senior Night and 2) Kinu Rochford reportedly quit at halftime. Considering how far Moon Township, PA is from New Jersey I’m wondering how he’s going to get back. Rochford’s frustration is probably related to the fact that his team is playing poorly down the stretch, the Knights haven’t won a game since Jan. 12 against St. Francis (PA). While the Red Flash have rebounded and gotten some wins, the Knights have regressed hard. This night though was about the best team in the NEC (or at least we think they are) going out and enjoying Senior Night. Andy Toole started Jones and Russell Johnson alongside senior walk-ons Treadwell Lewis and Shane Sweigart. Jones responded with 20 points on 6-9 shooting, three assists and a steal, while Johnson had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Colonials dominated on the boards. The Knights grabbed only two offensive rebounds all game. Melquan Bolding shot 2-10 from the field, but did score 12 points and Kyle Pearson added 14 for the Knights. Still, there are some bigger questions that FDU will have to answer moving forward.
Current NEC Standings:
- Robert Morris – 12-4
- Quinnipiac – 10-5
- LIU Brooklyn – 10-5
- Bryant – 10-5
- Wagner – 9-6
- Mount St. Mary’s – 9-7
- Central Connecticut – 7-8
- Sacred Heart – 7-8
- St. Francis Brooklyn – 7-9
- Monmouth – 5-11
- St. Francis (PA) – 5-11
- Fairleigh Dickinson – 2-14
Not seeing the game in person and only looking at the box score SFC is in trouble due to lack of acceptable division 1 guard play. SFC guards turn the ball over like it is a hot potato. The shooting percentage was 38% for the game. Bracia’s team get NO EASY buckets, he really needs to go up tempo and try to turn the other team over. He does not have the players to play a structured half court offense, since they turn the ball over so much. Big men also have trouble handling the ball on inside passes. Double team and trap try and create some break away hoops. Unless Bracia recruits a legit point guard SFC will be at the exact same level next year. Calloway is graduating, Jones is not the answer. White who had a big rep from Long island has not shown anything, especially making a shot from the outside. I thought SFC program was on the rise but I think I am sadly mistaken.
I think White has shown promise, but he’s more of a combo guard than a true point. The Terriers have caught some tough breaks this season, but yes, they’ll certainly need some talent to compete next season. A lot of teams have struggled at Mount St. Mary’s, so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
I’ve been following the SFC program since 1962-63, which incidentially was the last time that they were involved in post-season play (the NIT, in that case). This had to be one of the most disheartening seasons in recent memory, as most local observers had pegged the Terriers for a much higher NEC finish than this. They still have not learned how to take better care of the basketball and it shows in their record. Even if they somehow make the playoffs, an early exit would not be a big surprise. Glad baseball season is almost upon us.
I also have been following the SFC program since the laye 1960′s and in a 55 year period have only experienced 5 or 6 good years. I do realize SFC maybe the most difficult division 1 program to recurit for but I real thought they would have done better this season. I realize they may have overachieved last season but the talent level Braicia has brought in so far leaves much to be desired. Bracia’s first two seasons he had Akeem Bennett, Cadell and Stefan all Nash recruits. I have not been impressed with Bracia’s recruits so far, except cannon to a certain extent.
The more enjoyable years in the post-Danny Lynch era were the period when the late Lou Rossini had the program playing at a high level (wins over Seton Hall and a Jeff Ruland-led Iona, along with a 2-point loss to a nationally-ranked Temple squad) and that stretch during which Ron Ganulin had the Terriers elevated to one of the premier programs in the NEC. The one constant in both of those extremely enjoyable periods is that the Terriers were able to successfully recruit from around the globe. SFC will always get some NYC talent because there’s so much of it here, but they have never been able to corral the “difference makers” (to coin a Sandy Alderson term). Those two periods that I’m referring to were marked by exceptional play from recruits from across the water. Being that Glenn Braica was Ron’s top assistant during that latter run, it is surprising that he has not been more aggressive internationally than he has been so far to supplement his US recruits, especially since the Terriers have been so successful recruiting Eastern European stars for their national powerhouse Water Polo team. Given the fact that the small college on Remsen Street has so much exposure in that area of the world due to its surprising water polo story, the hope here is that the Terriers might be successful recruiting there in other sports, such as basketball.
Rossini was connected to the Puerto Rican national team and had many ties down there. Manny Figueroa was a very good player, also Cora and Vega were very good. Ganulin’s main success came from transfers (1997-2002) Ray Minlend, Mike Wilson, Steven Howard, Jason Morgan and Tore Cavalieri with some real good 4 year players, Santana, Reyes, Dominguez and Christian Brown. Unless Braica can attract some high level transfers not sure how much the program can grow. As a side note regarding waterpolo, SFC had 4 or 5 freshman recruits last year, none from eastern Europe all from U.S. Might be an coincidence but who knows.