CCSU

Preseason Poll: Who Will Win the Northeast Conference?

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:42:07 -0700

Metro Basketball Report: NEC Championship

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0800

In tonight’s Northeast Conference championship game, Central Connecticut State and Sacred Heart will get together to determine who will represent the league in the NCAA Tournament. While the regular season champion Blue Devils have been in the position before, having won two of their previous four (2000, 2002) championship games, this is all new to the Pioneers. While Sacred Heart, led for the past 29 years by Dave Bike, has made thirteen appearances in the Division II NCAA Tournament, the two wins in this year’s NEC Tournament were the first two ever for the program at the Division I level. The game, which starts at 7 PM EST, will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 form Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT as a result of CCSU winning the regular season crown.

Game: #2 Sacred Heart vs. #1 Central Connecticut State

The Road to the Championship: Sacred Hart defeated Wagner 100-68 in the quarterfinals and Quinnipiac 83-6 in the semis. Central defeated St. Francis (NY) 79-61 and Mount St. Mary’s 74-68 to reach this point.

Previous Appearances: CCSU is 2-2 all-time in NEC title games with wins in 2000 (Robert Morris) and 2002 (Quinnipiac), and losses in 1999 (Mount St. Mary’s) and 2004 (Monmouth). Tonight is Sacred Heart’s first appearance in the NEC title game.

Team Leaders: Sacred Heart: Points (Sr. G Jarrid Frye-13.2 ppg); Rebounds (Jr. F Brice Brooks-6.2 rpg); Assists (Drew Shubik-4.0 apg). CCSU: Points (Jr. G Tristan Blackwood-17.2 ppg); Rebounds (Sr. F Obie Nwadike-10.9 rpg); Assists (Blackwood-4.1 apg).

SHU is the deeper of the two teams, going with a rotation of nine or ten players as opposed to CCSU, who goes seven deep. With a league-high average of 78.8 points per game (81.2 in conference games), the Pioneers will look to get out and run at any opportunity in order to take advantage of their number of contributors. While CCSU has guys more than capable of putting the ball in the basket in Blackwood, Nwadike and senior guard Javier Mojica (NEC Player of the Year), they would much rather play this game in the half court and rely on their tough defense. Blackwood was also name Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the NEC, and the aforementioned Blue Devil trio made CCSU the first team ever to place three players on the league’s first team all-conference squad.

Tonight’s game will be a classic matchup between the league’s best offensive and defensive teams, but the game may hinge on what Sacred Heart can do defensively to slow down Central. The Pioneers had the worst scoring defense in the NEC in conference games, giving up an average of 77.4 points per game. But since this number is just as much a product of their up and down style, the more important number to look at would be the 46.7% that they allowed opponents to shoot in conference games. These are also the two best three-point shooting teams in the NEC in terms of percentage. This should be an exciting affair, but in the end I like Central’s defense and the home court advantage to carry the day. Blue Devils by 7.

Big East First Round: #11 St. John’s vs. #6 Marquette

Time: Approx. 9 PM EST (ESPN)

Team Leaders: St. John’s: Points (Lamont Hamilton-13.4 ppg); Rebounds (Hamilton-6.5 rpg); Assists (Eugene Lawrence-5.4 apg). Marquette: Points (Dominic James-14.9 ppg); Rebounds (Ousmane Barro-7.0 rpg); Assists (James-4.9 apg).

Two teams who did not meet in the regular season get together in the final opening round game of the day at the Big East Tournament in New York. Both come off home wins in their season finale, with Marquette getting twenty from reserve guard David Cubillan in their 75-71 win over Pitt, and St. John’s dealing a significant blow to Providence’s NCAA hopes with a 77-64 win on Sunday. When senior guard Daryll Hill was lost to a knee injury a month ago, it was thought that the Red Storm would have a tough time scoring sixty points on a consistent basis. But players like Avery Patterson and Qa’rraan Calhoun have stepped up for head coach Norm Roberts of late. Calhoun, a freshman from Hazlet, NJ scored twenty-one in the regular season finale. This team still has offensive issues, but how they defend the Marquette guards will be the story of this game.

Marquette counters with one of the deeper backcourts in the nation, led by a banged-up Dominic James. But in their win over Pitt last Saturday night, it was David Cubillan who came in and stole the show. Cubillan dropped twenty off the bench to supplement the twenty of Wesley Matthews, but it’s the health of Jerel McNeal that’s of the utmost importance to Tom Crean’s Golden Eagles. Due to a thumb injury in practice last Friday, McNeal missed the Pitt game and will most likely be out for the first round matchup tonight. Getting James untracked to go along with contributions from other players will have a major impact on how far Marquette can go in this tournament as well as their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

Turnovers and rebounding will tell the story in this one. Marquette is second in the Big East in steals (9.3 spg); while St. John’s ranks thirteenth in the league in assist to turnover ratio (0.94). And despite their overall lack of height, the Golden Eagles rank second in the conference in offensive rebounds, pulling down 14.5 per game. With St. John’s ranking fourteenth in rebound margin, the Red Storm must control the defensive glass if they want to move on to Thursday. The winner will face the three seed Pittsburgh on Thursday. I like Marquette by 8.

Atlantic 10 First Round: #12 Richmond vs. #5 Fordham

Time: Approx. 2:30 PM EST

Team Leaders: Richmond: Points (Dan Geriot-11.3 ppg); Rebounds (Gaston Moliva-4.0 rpg); Assists (Brian Morris-2.8 apg). Fordham: Points (Marcus Stout-15.5 ppg); Rebounds (Bryant Dunston-7.4 rpg); Assists (Kevin Anderson-4.0 apg).

Fordham looks to avoid a letdown in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Atlantic City, taking on a young Richmond club that gave the Rams all they wanted in a 58-55 Fordham win back on January 6^th. Both teams are relatively young, but the difference for Fordham is that the guys they’ve relied on all year are primarily juniors, while the top four scorers for the Spiders are freshmen. Leading scorer Dan Geriot was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team. Knowing this, it would be easy o count this as a win for the Rams, but keep in mind that over the last month Richmond has knocked off Duquesne, St. Joseph’s and Rhode Island. But all those games were at home, so it remains to be seen what a young team that’s gone 2-11 away from home this year can do in a tournament setting.

Fordham arrives in Atlantic City with the school’s highest seed ever for the Atlantic 10 Tournament, getting the five seed. Neither team is very proficient when it comes to rebounding, but while the Rams finished 12^th in that category (32.4 rpg), the Spiders were dead last with their 24.0 boards per game. If Fordham can take advantage of Bryant Dunston on the block, they should move on to face Rhode Island on Thursday. But then again, you never know what can happen this time of the year. I like Fordham by 12.

Joel Knows: Weekend Review

Joel Welser — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:05:48 -0800

Joel knows Austin Peay took a giant step towards winning the Ohio Valley Conference championship by beating second place Samford on the road 52-50. The Governors now have a three game lead on Samford with just four conference games remaining. Drake Reed and Fernandez Lockett scored 31 of the team’s 52 points and Austin Peay is just one win away from clinching a berth in one tournament or another.

Joel knows Central Connecticut State had a similar win against Quinnipiac. CCSU beat Quinnipiac for the second time in less than two weeks on Saturday and now stands 12-1 in Northeast Conference play. The Bobcats are in second place, but at 9-5 it will take a miracle for Quinnipiac to win the conference, or for Central Connecticut State to lose it.

Joel knows Ohio isn’t the best team in the MAC and Northern Illinois isn’t the worst, but that is what the RPI said heading into the weekend. Yet, when Northern Illinois headed to Athens, most still did not expect a close game. Despite committing 23 turnovers, the Huskies held off a late Ohio run to surprise the Bobcats 81-74.

Joel knows San Diego State isn’t out of the running yet. The Aztecs have already taken their lumps by losing to the top three teams in the conference on the road. They beat Air Force at home this week and have UNLV and BYU still to come. Not only can the Aztecs still get an NCAA Tournament berth, they can still win the Mountain West Conference title. With UNLV, Air Force and BYU all in the top 25 of the RPI, there are tons of opportunities for San Diego State to pick up some quality wins. And that means the MWC could end up with four teams dancing.

Joel knows it must be stressful being an Oklahoma State fan. The Cowboys went to double overtime against Texas Tech over the weekend, making it a total of eight overtime periods for the Cowboys on the season. It may be stressful, but it at least it ends well. Oklahoma State has won all four of their games that have gone to an extra session, or two, or three.

Joel knows Mississippi’s stay at the top of the SEC West could last longer than one would expect. Every team left on their schedule is beatable, but trips to Arkansas and Alabama could quickly turn back the tide on the Rebels. However, Ole Miss has beaten Arkansas and Alabama at home already this season and nothing in the SEC West can be considered surprising at this point.

Joel knows the Big Ten bubble teams didn’t help their cause on Saturday. The Big Ten really has five teams on the bubble (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue). Illinois, Iowa and Purdue all had good showings against the big three in the conference, but moral victories won’t get them into the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State took a much need weekend off and Michigan was the lone bubble squad to take on a lower level team. Yet, the Wolverines struggled to put away Minnesota on their home floor en route to a pedestrian 82-80 victory and they’ll need to play better to get wins with Michigan State, Indiana and Illinois coming up.

Joel knows Butler might not even win the Horizon. And with the second round and semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament at the #1 seed’s home court and the championship at the highest remaining seeds floor, the battle for the #1 seed is a big, big deal, well at least for Wright State. Wright State knocked off Butler 77-65 on Saturday to take a half game lead in the standings. Assuming both teams win out and finish at 14-2, and the schedule does favor WSU over Butler in that regard, the tie-breaker would come down to who is having a more disappointing season…Illinois Chicago or Wisconsin Milwaukee. The battle for seventh place has never been so interesting. The Horizon tie-breaker goes down the standings and compares the two tied teams with each team in order of finish. WSU lost to UWM and Butler lost to UIC, thus if UIC finishes ahead of UWM, Wright State gets the #1 seed, and if UWM finishes ahead of UIC, Butler gets the #1 seed. And there is more, if UIC and UWM tie in the standings, we go to the RPI. Confused yet? At the moment, UWM and UIC are both 5-8 and they do play each other on February 21st in Chicago...which is good news for Wright State. I think.

Joel knows not why anybody bothers to play in, or watch, the Pro Bowl. I miss football and all, but that won’t hit me until April. And college football starts just 150 days after the national championship game. That is 201 days from today if you are keeping track.

The Blue Devils back on top, and a big one in the CAA

Raphielle Johnson — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:21:56 -0800

If you think that the Blue Devils I'm referring to in the title hail from Durham, NC...you're incorrect. These guys are the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, and they hail from New Britain, aka "hard-hittin' New Britain". Howie Dickenman's bunch, picked by the coaches to finish fourth in the NEC, lead Sacred Heart by one game in the loss column heading into their game at Quinnipiac tonight. Junior guard Tristan Blackwood is the reigning NEC PLayer of the Week after lighting up St. Francis (NY) and Sacred Heart to the tune of 27.5 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Blackwood went 14-for-29 from behind the arc in the two games, and a win over the Bobcats would give CCSU even more distance between themselves and the rest of the NEC. And with the higher seeds in the the conference tournament getting home court advantage, any team hoping to get to the NCAA Tournament will have to go through New Britain to do so. In the Patriot League, once again it looks to be a two-team race between Holy Cross and Bucknell. The Crusaders are atop the league standings at 7-0 thanks to their win Friday night over Lehigh. HC is led by the senior backcourt consisting of Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas, but don't sleep on big man Tim Clifford. Bucknell, whose only league loss came at Holy Cross, has a battle-tested group of upperclassmen who have won NCAA Tournament games each of the past two years. Three games each stand between these two and the rematch at Bucknell February 9th, a game that will decide who wins the Patriot League. Although you normally want to wait until a team plays more than two games to state that they are the clear favorite to win their conference, can anybody truly challenge Penn at the top of the Ivy League? Preseason prognosticators tabbed Princeton to finish second, but they're sitting in last place right now. Maybe Cornell or Yale? Who knows, but I'll take the Quakers over the field. The MAAC, where Marist was the unanimous choice to win the league in the preseason, has eight teams within three games of first place, with Loyola atop the standings at 8-2. But the attention at this point goes to still winless Iona, now 0-20 after their loss to the Greyhounds on Saturday. Injuries and academic issues took away their chance to do anything in the league before the season began, but hopefully the Gaels can upset someone soon. They host Canisius on Monday. The "big one in the CAA" refers to the showdown in Hempstead between first-place Virginia Commonwealth and second-place Hofstra. With Drexel and Old Dominion losing a couple of game to hit three losses in league play, Hofstra may be the only team standing between Anthony Grant's Rams and the regular season title. The backcourt matchup will be one of the best this season has to offer at any level. The home-standing Pride have Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera. The Rams will counter with their own three-headed monster, B.A. Walker, Jesse Pellot-Rosa and Eric Maynor. Checking the NCAA's listings for game on the air Wednesday, this one was absent from the list. I hope that this is merely a typo and we all will get to see this one. With this being their only regular season meeting, we will have to wait until the CAA Tournament in Richmond for a rematch. And with conference tournaments, that's never a sure thing. Lastly, in a non-Northeast note, is it really that hard for an SEC West team to win a road game? Arkansas' win at Alabama Saturday was the division's first conference road win of the season. That's embarassing. Thanks for reading.

Blackwood is NEC Player of the Week

Press Release — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week

Tristan Blackwood, Central Connecticut State
Jr., G, 6-0, 170 lbs., Eastern Commerce/Toronto, Ontario

Blackwood was a dominant offensive force for Central Connecticut State, which assumed control of first place last week with a 69-61 win at St. Francis (NY) on Thursday, followed by a thrilling 103-96 overtime victory over visiting Sacred Heart two days later. For the week, he averaged 27.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and hit 14-29 (.483) shots from three-point range as the Blue Devils stretched their winning streak to six games. He began his week by drilling 6-11 shots from outside the arc in a 23-point, two-assist effort against the Terriers. With first place on the line against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Blackwood scored 29 of his career-high 32 points in the second half - including 13 of the Blue Devils’ 16 points in overtime - to help spark CCSU’s rally from a 19-point deficit with 16:46 to play in regulation. His eight three pointers matched an NEC single-game season high and were the third most in CCSU history and most since 1991-92. The Toronto, Ontario product added six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 42 minutes of play. Blackwood, who averages 14.6 ppg, leads the NEC in free throw percentage (.900) and made three-pointers (3.2 per game). The sharpshooter has now hit six or more three-pointers in seven different games this season.

Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week

Jeremy Goode, Mount St. Mary’s
Fr., G, 5-9, 170 lbs., Charlotte, NC/Providence Day

Goode’s third Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week honor of the season comes on the heels of a near triple-double performance on Saturday as Mount St. Mary’s capped off a 2-0 week with a 74-65 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in Emmitsburg. With the Mount currently nestled in third place in the conference with a 7-3 mark, much of the success can be attributed to the play of Goode, who contributed 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and shot 50.0 percent from the field last week. In an 80-70 over Wagner on Thursday, he totaled 10 points, three assists and two steals. On Saturday, he turned in one of the top single-game performances in the NEC this season with 18 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and zero turnovers in 37 minutes against the Knights. Goode, who hails from Charlotte, NC, is second on the Mount in scoring at 10.9 ppg and ranks second in the league in assists (5.2 apg) and third in steals (1.9 spg). His 109 assists on the season are the fourth-best single-season mark by a Mount St. Mary’s freshman in school history.

NEC Player & Rookie of the Week

Press Release — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:11:04 -0800

Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week

Javier Mojica, Central Connecticut State
Sr., G, 6-3, 180 lbs., Auburn, MA/Auburn
Mojica claims the first Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week award of his career after averaging 20.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in Central Connecticut State’s 1-1 week. He also shot a scintillating 69.6 percent (16-23) from the floor and 62.5 percent (5-8) from three-point range. Mojica posted his league-leading third double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 boards in a 77-64 win over St. Francis (NY) on Wednesday in CCSU’s NEC opener. He also tallied 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 55-52 setback at Lehigh on Saturday. Mojica has scored 20 or more points in five straight games, the longest stretch for a CCSU player in 12 seasons. The Auburn, MA product currently ranks among NEC leaders in nearly every statistical category, including first in three-point accuracy (.526), second in scoring (20.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg), third in made three-pointers (2.9 per game), fifth in field goal percentage (.520), 11th in free throw percentage (.760) and 12th in assists (2.9 apg).

Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week

Devin Sweetney, Saint Francis (PA)
Fr., G, 6-6, 180 lbs., Washington, D.C./Riverdale Baptist
Sweetney continued to put up big numbers for the Red Flash en-route to his second straight Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week accolade. He averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 40.0 percent from three-point range and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe last week. Sweetney scored 15 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, including 11 of his team’s last 18 points in a 75-69 setback at Howard on Monday. In a back-and-forth affair, he gave Saint Francis the lead three times in the final six minutes of the contest and pulled the Red Flash to within 68-67 on a layup with 1:46 to play. Two days later, the native of Washington, D.C. recorded 11 points, five boards and two steals in a near upset of Patriot League power Bucknell as the Bison ended the game on an 8-0 run to win, 60-56. On the season, Sweetney paces all NEC freshman and ranks in the NEC top-15 in scoring (eighth, 15.0 ppg), rebounding (third, 7.6 rpg), field goal percentage (11th, .481), free throw percentage (second, .880) and steals (sixth, 2.0 spg).

Preseason All-Canadian Team & Rookies

Jeff Fox — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 21:27:00 -0800

With meaningful NCAA games just around the corner, its time to take a preseason peek at the best players Canada has exported to the U.S. for this season. While many of the big name Canucks have gone on to the play-for-pay big leagues this season there are still quite a few left who will make an impact. Here is CHN Preseason All-Canadian squad:

Guard - Antwi Atuahene – JR – Arizona State

Mississauga’s (Toronto suburb) Atuahene had a solid first season as a Sun Devil (he spent his first year of eligibility playing JUCO ball). Starting half of the team’s games, Antwi ranked only behind Mustafa Shakur and Jordan Farmar on the Pac-10 Assist leader board (conference games only). With good size for a point guard (6’3” 205lbs), Atuahene will look to step up his game to impress new coach Herb Sendek.

Guard - Tristan Blackwood – JR – Central Connecticut

The diminutive Toronto native might not get a lot of ink playing in the tiny Northeast Conference, but last season he showed he deserves some attention. He ranked in the conference’s top 10 in seven statistical categories – scoring, assists, free throw %, steals, three point %, threes made per game and assist to turnover ratio.

Guard - Majak Kou – SR – Loyola (IL)

The skinny (6’5” 165lb) Hamilton, Ont. native has one of the best all-around games of all the current Canadian NCAAers. He made the Horizon League All-Defense team last year after ranking 2^nd in blocks and 3^rd in steals in the conference. He also can score – he was 10^th in the league in 3s made per game and averaged 12.8ppg.

Forward - Levon Kendall – SR – Pittsburgh

While the Vancouver native has shown he can put up big numbers for Canada on the international stage, he is more of a “in the shadows” player for the Panthers. Still, numerous coaches have given him props in preseason previews for his all-around game and team first approach. He should remain a steady force for the highly ranked Pitt squad this season.

Forward - Marlon Pompey – SR – Texas A&M

Pompey and the Aggies came out of nowhere last season. While the Torontonian doesn’t put up gaudy stats he is a solid low post defender who lead the team in blocks last season. Look for him to continue his tough defense and to improve on his offensive stats.

The new kids on the block aren’t quite as impressive as last year’s, when rookie Canucks played for UCLA, Michigan, Michigan State and Arizona State. This year’s class has been depleted even more by a couple of long term injuries (Theo Davis – Gonzaga – shoulder surgery, Sam Ashaolu – Duquesne – multiple gunshot wounds to the head). Still there are a few kids who should make an impact (if not this season then in the future).

Guard – Kaylan Anderson – FR – Wisconsin-Milwaukee

One of the best players in Toronto and all of Canada, Anderson played a year of prep ball in Alabama before red shirting last year for the Panthers. The 6’5” Anderson will be looking to crack the rotation this year.

Guard – Etienne Labrecque – FR – Quinnipiac

Hailing from an underrated basketball hotbed – Montreal – the swingman appears to have worked himself into the playing rotation early in the exhibition schedule.

Forward - Thijin Moses – FR – Depaul

Born in the Sudan, Moses originally played his high school ball in Calgary, Alb. before moving on to finish up his prep career in Chicago. At one point a top 100 recruit, the 6’8” 190lb Moses will probably have to fill out a bit before making an impact in the Big East.

Forward – Kris Douse – FR – Nebraska

Toronto’s Douse also went down south to finish up his high school career, playing in North Carolina and finally ending up in Florida last year. The Huskers website call him an “athletic but raw talent”.

Center - Devin Brennan-McBride – FR – Syracuse

With experienced players ahead of him and most of his senior season in high school lost to injury, Brennan-McBride will probably spend most of his time watching from the bench this year. If the early exhibition schedule is any indicator, the pride of London, Ont. is about the 10^th man on the Jim Boeheim’s depth chart.

Northeast Conference Preview

CHN — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:41:22 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

Northeast Preview

Conference Rank: 28th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - AJ Jackson, Robert Morris, F

Jeremy Chappell, Robert Morris, G

Jarrid Frye, Sacred Heart, G

Obie Nwadike, CCSU, F

Durell Vinson, Wagner, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
133	Robert Morris	1	NCAA
171	Monmouth	2
183	Central Conn St	3
203	Long Island	4
205	Wagner	5
235	Quinnipiac	6
248	Sacred Heart	7
257	Fair Dickinson	8
268	St. Francis (NY)	9
304	Mount St. Mary's	10
315	St. Francis (PA)	11

Head Coach Q&A's

Mark Schmidt - Robert Morris

Other Articles

NEC Coaches Poll & All-Conference

NYC Metro Preview: Wagner, FDU, etc