Three time defending champion, the Long Island Blackbirds, failed to qualify for the postseason, so for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, there will be a new champion.
The tournament, as stated above, starts Wednesday March 5th on NEC Frontrow. The semifinals are Saturday March 8th on FCS, ROOT and MSG. The Championship is Tuesday March 11th at 7pm on ESPN 2.
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| It's tournament time. |
Now onto the bracket.
1. Robert Morris vs 8. Fairleigh Dickinson
2. Wagner vs 7. Central Connecticut
3. Bryant vs 6. St Francis PA
4. Mount St Mary's vs 5. St Francis Brooklyn
The tournament re-seed's with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals.
RMU vs FDU:
The Colonials shouldn't have too much trouble in this game. They beat FDU on the road last Thursday with only seven guys (Hawk rested for precautionary reasons) with nothing to play for after wrapping up the NEC a few days earlier. Now they get the Knights in Moon, with a healthy eight guys, and they start the only mission that truly matters; Getting to the dance. I think RMU wins by roughly 20. One other note, Andy Toole is a perfect 3-0 in the NEC tournament opening round, all at home. Since the league went to this current format, the eight seed has never beaten the one seed.
Wagner vs CCSU:
This game has upset written all over it. CCSU is five and two since Kyle Vinales returned. Their two losses were close affairs to Bryant and Mount, two games they could have easily won. Let's not forget this team won at Wagner (and Robert Morris) without Vinales, so they have it in them. With that said, Wagner is the hottest team entering the league tournament, and plays the best defense. With Kenny Ortiz giving Vinales fits on the perimeter, and Naofall Folahan protecting the rim, it will be difficult for CCSU to score enough points to take down Wagner. I think the Seahawks get a scare, but move on.
Bryant vs SFPA:
The Bulldogs come into the conference tournament wounded. They've lost four of their final six and look like a team with three players in the top five in minutes played. This happened last year, and Bryant was upset on their home court by Mount. However, the Red Flash got absolutely demolished in their final two games, and don't have much NEC tournament experience. They also went winless against the top five in the NEC. I don't think the Bulldogs have much of a problem in this one. For their sake, hopefully they get some rest for Alex Francis and company while picking up their forst ever NEC tournament win.
Mount vs SFC:
This should be a GREAT game. If my other predictions hold, RMU will get the winner of this contest Saturday. Mount is a really weird team. They looked near unbeatable in wins over Bryant and St Francis PA, but sandwiched in between that was a convincing defeat to Sacred Heart, who had two NEC wins ALL SEASON. It really comes down to making shots. When Sam Prescott and Rashad Whack are making three's, the Mount is maybe the best team in the league. When they don't Mount losses to Sacred Heart. So who shows up in this one? I'm taking the Terriers and Jalen Cannon. Cannon will provide consistent offense, help his team control the boards, and Brent Jones/Ben Mockford will make enough three's to pull of the road upset.
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| Lucky Jones needs to find his jump shot (AP). |
There is little to no doubt that Robert Morris, for the second straight year, is the team to beat. The Colonials earned the one seed with a 14-2 record, and will play on their home court so long as they keep winning. While home court is very important, it's not everything.
According to the guys over at NYC Buckets, six of the past nine #1 seeds have made it to the finals of the NEC tournament. The last two teams to miss? The 2007-08 and 2012-13 Robert Morris Colonials.
The Colonials, led by league MVP Karvel Anderson and standout Lucky Jones, have the NEC's second best defense, and third best offense. They're also toughhhh to beat in the Sewall Center going 10-2 in Moon this season.
RMU has been in this position before, and has failed to even make it to the title game. Let's see what they will do this time around.
Dark horse: Mount St. Mary's
While Wagner enters the NEC tournament on an eight game win streak, the leagues hottest team, Mount St. Mary's is my sleeper pick. Yes, I know I picked them to lose above, but that, in my opinion, that is what makes them a dark horse. They get a first round home game as the four seed. That's big because no team has ever won three straight road games to win the league title. Mount almost did that last year, beating Bryant and Robert Morris on the road, but lost to LIU in the championship.
The Mountaineers have a guy in Julian Norfleet that can carry their offense. They have multiple guys who can score the ball, especially when Sam Prescott makes shots, and they have a lock down defender in Rashad Whack who can keep a Karvel Anderson or Dyami Starks in check for 40 minutes.
They're a streaky team, so a first round loss to St Francis wouldn't be shocking, but a deep run is certainly within their reach.
The pick: Robert Morris over Wagner
Obviously, there is some bias in this pick, but this Robert Morris squad just seems to have "it." Despite the fact they lost some major pieces from last year. Despite the fact they had six players removed from the team in a two week stretch dead smack in the middle of the season, this group kept finding ways to win.
The 2-3 zone is such a unique defense and teams around the league are still adjusting to it. It forces turnovers, and will keep the Colonials in games when the offense isn't clicking.
Karvel Anderson is a man on a mission, Andy Toole is desperate for that first tournament berth as a coach, and I just think this is the year he gets his team over the top.
They need Lucky Jones to starting knocking down shots. He's been ice cold coming into the tournament. Lucky rarely has cold streaks that last more then two-three games, so expect him to heat up. RMU still went 3-1 in this current cold streak, so imagine what would happen if he heats up?
Let's get to the dance fellas.
--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5
Tournament time! There is nothing in sports like the
pressure of a mid-major conference tournament. Having a good regular season is
cool but all of that work comes down to being able to get to three wins.
The NEC has been a tough league to get a feel for. I truly
believe we can see multiple upsets in the first round. First things first
though, there is no way I see Robert Morris losing in the first round to
Fairleigh Dickinson. I know RMU needed to storm back just last week to beat
FDU, but that was a road game with nothing on the line. This game will be
played in Moon Township
I can legitimately see the other three match-ups being toss
ups. I think Bryant will advance past St. Francis (PA). Both of these teams
aren’t playing very well, but Bryant kind of got themselves on track with a
dominating win over LIU Saturday and St. Francis is just a little too young and
inexperience to upset the Bulldogs. Maybe next year.
CCSU-Wagner is interesting. The Blue Devils already went
into Staten Island without Kyle Vinales and
beat Wagner. Now they have their best player back. With that being said, no one
is playing better than Wagner at the moment, who are just suffocating teams
with their defense. This will be a close one, but I think Wagner advances.
My upset comes in the form of the 4-5 matchup between Mount St . Mary’s
and St. Francis Brooklyn. I like the terriers in this one. For as little
offense as St. Francis has, Mount St. Mary’s
is porous on defense and will have no real answer for Jalen Cannon.
This brings up semifinal matchups of RMU-SFC and
Wagner-Bryant. It seems inevitable that Robert Morris and Wagner are on a crash
course for the NEC finals. SFC gave RMU a big time scare a few weeks ago but I
still like the Colonials to win this one with a (hopefully) healthy Stephan
Hawkins and more production from Lucky Jones. Wagner should be able to give
Alex Francis problems with their size down low and can take away Dyami Starks with Kenny Ortiz on the perimeter.
Which brings us to a finals matchup of Robert Morris-Wagner.
So many creative picks, right?! I truly believe Wagner cannot score with Robert
Morris though. Saturday’s game saw Lucky Jones and Chuck Oliver struggle big
time, Karvel Anderson not really assert himself, Marcus Burton turn into Steph
Curry, and I think Wagner had their big men playing on stilts with how many
shots they blocked. I just don’t see ALL of those things going right for Wagner
again, resulting in the Colonials dancing. Did you really expect a different
pick?
Round 1
Robert Morris over FDU 82-68
Wagner over Central
Connecticut State
Bryant over St. Francis PA
77-70
St. Francis Brooklyn over Mount St. Mary’s
72-70
Round 2
Robert Morris over St.
Francis Brooklyn 74-68
Wagner over Bryant 75-72
Round 3
Robert Morris over Wagner 70-66
--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
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