#1 Robert Morris 60, #8 Fairleigh Dickinson 53
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Moon Township, PA -- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened play in the 2014 Northeast Conference Tournament Wednesday with a 60-53 victory over No. 8 seed Fairleigh Dickinson at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

In improving to 20-12 overall on the 2013-14 campaign with the victory, the Colonials advance to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament for the seventh consecutive year. The Knights conclude their season with an overall mark of 10-21.

A tight affair all game, sophomore forward Stephan Hawkins (Gary, Ind. / Bowman Academy) gave RMU a 43-35 advantage with 9:22 to play on a jumper from a feed from junior forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony).

Three straight points from Sidney Sanders, Jr., however, pulled Fairleigh Dickinson to within 43-38 with 8:02 to go, as he hit a jumper and converted one of two attempts at the free-throw line.

Jones came back with a three-pointer to push the advantage for Robert Morris to 46-38, and a fastbreak layup from junior guard David Appolon (Philadelphia, Pa. / Imhotep Charter) with 6:36 remaining off a steal kept the advantage at eight points for the Colonials, 48-40.

A pair of free throws from Mustafaa Jones for Fairleigh Dickinson would help the Knights trim their deficit to 48-42 just inside four minutes to play, but a 6-2 spurt over the next three minutes gave Robert Morris its first double-digit advantage, 54-44, with 1:01 left. Freshman guard Kavon Stewart (Paterson, N.J. / Hudson Catholic) hit a floater in the lane, Lucky Jones hit a pair of free throws and Appolon converted another fastbreak layup.

Twice in the final minute of action Fairleigh Dickinson made it a two-possession game, trimming their deficit to six thanks to layups from Mathias Seilund and Sanders, but RMU sealed the win at the free-throw line, finishing 6-for-7 at the stripe in the final 48 seconds.

Lucky Jones led all scorers in the contest with 19 points and also recorded seven rebounds, four assists and a steal. He converted seven of his 13 shots from the floor, including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, and hit both of his attempts at the line. Senior guard Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) added 10 points, four rebounds and two steals for Robert Morris, while Hawkins and Appolon each scored eight points.

Senior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College), the 2014 NEC Player of the Year, played 28 minutes and did not score, finishing 0-for-3 from the field. It marks his first scoreless game in an RMU uniform since Feb. 14, 2013, at Quinnipiac.

Fairleigh Dickinson was led by Sanders, who finished with 16 points, three assists and three steals. Scooter Gillette added 15 points, while Seilund recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 caroms.

RMU continues play in the 2014 NEC Tournament with a 2:00 p.m. tip Saturday, March 8, in a semifinal matchup against in-state rival and No. 6 seed Saint Francis U.

Robert Morris Head Coach Andrew Toole
 
Opening Statement
"I’m very proud of our guys figuring out how to get enough defenses stops to pull out the win. We’re fortunate we are able to advance."
 
On Karvel Anderson
"He wasn’t being very effective out there. We had to put people out there that are going to be effective."
 
On Other Players Stepping Up
"It’s important. We found a variety of ways to win this year, which I think is important if you are going to compete for a regular-season conference championship and a tournament championship."
 
On the Flow Of The Game
"We had some issues holding onto the basketball. That’s something that we talked about in the locker room. I said that the guys need to relax and play. We played like a team that was afraid to lose. Every single pass was 'deep breath' … Relax.”
 
Lucky Jones on shooting the ball
"I got my confidence back when we came back from Wagner. Immediately that night, I came back and started taking shots. I knew when I came into the game I needed to stay confident."
 
Fairleigh Dickinson Head Coach Greg Herenda
 
Opening Statement
"These three guys, I met them all at different points when I got the job 10 months ago and they have just been so special to me in a short period of time that I wanted to show them off to you guys. Tonight is really about our seniors. Our team got beat by a strong defensive effort that made it tough for us to score.”
 
On RMU’s Defense
"You can give credit to them. They play hell of a defense. Credit goes out to Robert Morris, they are a really good team. They were in a defensive groove. Their perimeter was bouncy and athletic. They are a good basketball team. They won a lot of games in this league."

#2 Wagner 83, #7 Central Connecticut 59
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Staten Island, NY -- No. 2 Wagner used a big second half to break open what was a close game en route to an easy 83-59 win over No. 7 Central Connecticut in quarterfinal action of the 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks will next face No. 4 Mount St. Mary's at the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday, March 8 at 12:00 pm in game that will be televised by MSG+ and FCS.

With its ninth straight victory, the Green & White improves to 19-10 as the Blue Devils end their season with a record of 11-19.

In each of the nine wins, Wagner has limited the opposition to less than 70 points while moving to a perfect 17-0 while hitting the standard.

The Seahawks turned the ball over a season-low matching four times while pulling down 56 rebounds, including 24 on the offensive end, to fuel decisive advantages of 20-4 in points off turnovers and 23-10 in second chance points.

Senior Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Southern Mississippi) scored a game-high 21 points, fueled by a career-high three triples, while classmate Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) notched his second double-double of the year and the fifth of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead four double-figure scorers for the Green & White.

In the opening stanza, both teams started out slowly as Wagner held a slim 7-6 lead over CCSU with just over 13 minutes remaining until halftime following a Khalen Cumberlander layup. The Seahawks then responded with six-straight points in opening up a 13-6 lead with 9:59 to play.

The advantage would grow to a half-high 11 on two occasions before the Green & White entered halftime up 37-29.

Central Connecticut scored the first two buckets of the second half to cut the deficit to four and had a pair of chances to further dent the lead but was unable to get any closer. Despite that, the Blue Devils trailed just 49-44 with 12:24 to play in the game after a Kyle Vinales three pointer and got a stop but was unable to convert on the offensive end. Then on the ensuing possession CCSU forced an errant shot and was unable to corrall the rebound. Junior Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) made the visitors pay with a deep three pointer, before hitting a second one just 42 seconds later following a Central Connecticut turnover in extending the lead out to 55-44 with 10:29 remaining.

The Blue Devils wouldn't get any closer then nine the rest of the way as Wagner put the game away with a 10-0 spurt in opening up an insurmountable 71-52 lead with 2:55 to play. This sparked a game-ending 22-7 run to provide the final 83-59 tally.

For the game, CCSU was limited to just 33.9 percent (21-of-62) shooting, including a paltry 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long range.

Wagner shot just 35.5 percent (27-of-76), including 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from long distance.

The Seahawks also got a jolt out of their bench with Burton scoring all 13 of his points after halftime while freshman Greg Senat (Elmont, NY / Marianapolis Prep) added a career-high 10 points.

Vinales paced Central Connecticut with 20 points while Brandon Peel narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.

Bashir Mason - Opening Statement
“It was a team victory for us tonight. The way we played tonight, and where we ended the last 10-12 games. WE’ve got some guys who had some stuff to say about the selections, so I will say this: the way we played the last 10-12 games, it goes hand-in-hand with the All-Conference team stuff. We didn’t have a guy that got first or second team, which is fine, but our team play is really really good. When we play the way we played tonight, and the way we played the last 12, we’re able to beat some team with a lot of talent”

One of the things your team does well is defense. What do you think you did tonight to stop your opponent?

Central did a really good job of ball screen actions, big to big passing, and posting, and I thought we did a good job of taking out a win tonight, we didn’t give out big to big passing. We were playing well with each other. Our focus was to make sure they didn’t get second-chance opportunities.

From where you took the program, and what the senior class has accomplished.

In years past, we weren’t really thrilled about the position we were in. No one really knew where the program came from until we took it over. I think right now we have a really focused group, and now we have to figure it out, because something has to be different going into this next game, because we’ve been here three times now, and each time, we’ve come up empty-handed. Something has to be different about us for this next game.

Is there any common ground that you take from the past few years that you can apply to this coming game?

We just have to figure out a way to make sure these guys are fresh, and as a coach, put them in the right positionis to put them in the right position to execute to make sure they’re mentally with it for forty minutes.
 
WC's Kenneth Ortiz

Kenny, is this the best you’ve been playing all season?

“Yeah, we’ve had our ups and down, and right now we’re steady and focused.”

The motivation’s there, but with the past couple of years, falling short, what’s that do for your motivation?

The drive is there, but what we had to do was get over that, and the way everything has been coming along, we refuse to lose.

WC's Orlando Parker

Orlando, you guys had 25 offensive rebounds, and five yourself. What do you think you guys can do against your next team?

You know, rebounding is something that really just helps us with defense, and turns transitions to offensive events.
 
CCSU Head Coach Howie Dickenman

“Well, we came in here knowing it was a tough place.We realized they had a veteran team, an experienced team, so we knew our hands were full. We had to play a real good game to beat them. Wagner is, I believe, the best defensive team in the league, and I think they demonstrated that today. There was a low percentage of threes. We didn’t get as many good looks as we usually get. They got several second-shot opportunities, where the initial shot wasn’t in the basket, but they fought extra hard and they wound up getting some pretty good chances to score again. Again, rebounding was 56 to 44. They got 56 because we missed so many shots. But a credit to them. We beat them earlier in the year after they hammered us in New Britain, but theyu’re a good team. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the end, they would be the selection Sunday. They did a good job. Whatever we had, we had to earn. They are just all over our guys.”

#6 Saint Francis U 55, #3 Bryant 54
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Smithfield, RI --  After being down double digits with less than 10 minutes to play in the contest, #6 Saint Francis University went on the road and earned a huge come-from-behind victory over #3 Bryant, 55-54, Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center in Northeast Conference Quarterfinal action.

It marked the first NEC Tournament win for Saint Francis U since 1995.

They say basketball is a game of runs and if ever a more fitting example was Wednesday night's NEC Quarterfinal matchup in Smithfield as the near-sellout crowd erupted after every Bulldog bucket, the Red Flash persevered, answering every Bryant run, eventually earning the 55-54 comeback victory.

Junior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) led the Bulldogs with 19 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes, while classmate Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) chipped in 11 points to round out the Bryant double-digit scorers. Seniors Alex Francis (Harlem, New York) and Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) each put up seven points in the final NEC contest of their storied Bulldog careers. Sophomore Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) rounded out the Bryant starters with eight points, five assists and three steals.

Francis wraps up his time in Smithfield as the only player in NEC history to rank in the top five in both points (2,085) and rebounds (990).

Ronnie Drinnon put up the game of the career leading all players with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Greg Brown, Dominique Major and Earl Brown all finished with eight points, with Earl Brown dishing out a game-high seven assists.

After opening up a 9-2 advantage minutes into the contest, the Bryant offense became sluggish, allowing Saint Francis to knot the score, 20-20, at the 3:20 mark of the first half.

Despite an O'Shea 3-pointer and a Starks layup, six-straight points from Greg Brown and an Earl Brown finish at the rim with time expiring gave the Red Flash their largest lead of the game, 28-25, heading into halftime.

O'Shea lead all scorers at the break with 10 points, with Starks adding seven, but it was Drinnon who dominated the first half with 11 rebounds to go along with eight points.

The second half picked up right where the first left off, both teams trading blows back-and-forth, until a 7-0 run put the Black and Gold back in the driver's seat, 40-33, with just over 13 minutes to play. Saint Francis answered with five-straight of their own but, another Bulldog run, highlighted by seven-consecutive points from Starks, gave Bryant its largest lead of the night, 49-38, with 9:21 left on the clock.

Fittingly enough, another streak by the Red Flash, this time a 10-1 run capped by a Drinnon and-one, brought the visitors within a bucket, 50-48, at the final media break of the contest. On the next Red Flash possession Major buried a 3-pointer to give Saint Francis its first lead of the contest, 51-50, with 3:37 to play.

Both teams stood scoreless for almost three minutes until Drinnon laid in his seven basket of the contest to put the Red Flash up 53-52 with 43 seconds left. After a McLaughlin miss, Drinnon went to line and buried a pair of clutch free throws to put the Red Flash up 55-52 with 27 ticks left.

On the following Bryant possession, Starks earned a trip the line, knocking down both to cut the deficit to just a point with under 20 seconds to play. On the inbound, McLaughlin intercepted a pass, giving the Black and Gold a final possession with 14 seconds left but the Bulldogs were unable to retake the lead, eventually falling, 55-54.

Bryant wraps up the 2013-14 season with an 18-14 overall record, finishing 10-6 in the NEC. The Bulldogs earned their best finish in conference play the Division I level, capturing the third overall seed earned their second-straight berth in the NEC Tournament.

Saint Francis University Head Coach Rob Krimmel

“I told these guys to be prepared for the game in the playoffs in terms of the intensity and what it was going to take defensively with the necessity to rebound on the road but it’s so hard to simulate that in a practice experience especially for those who haven’t been to playoffs like that before at the collegiate level. I thought our guys really responded to that well and lived up to that challenge that we issued and to be able to make plays in a tough environment. What a great playoff atmosphere, loud gym, I’m proud of the way these guys responded. Bryant made a run there in a second half. The guys didn’t hang their heads, they’re talking in the huddle the whole time, stay together, stay together and it all came down to one rebound. That’s what it’s going to take to move forward and I thought Ronnie played great and we really played with  focus and an intensity for 40 minutes.”

SFU sophomore forward Ronnie Drinnon
 (in response to being asked if he’s ever played a game like tonight at any level in the past)
 
“First of all, I’d like to thank God for this opportunity and put me in a position to play for [Coach Krimmel]. To be on a team with those guys, is a blessing and wonderful opportunity. This place is the loudest place I’ve ever played at, I don’t ever remember playing at a place this loud with this much intensity and that just goes to show what playoff basketball is all about. We came out and held our own and that’s a statement for us and this program and coach Krim.”

Bryant University Head Coach Tim O’Shea

“I feel terrible for the seniors. I think of what Alex [Francis] and Corey [Maynard] brought to the program and what Clay McMath has done for us. It’s tough. I mean, they’re inconsolable in that locker room because it’s certainly not the way they wanted to go out. It just wasn’t our night. Obviously when you get stuck in a game that’s played in the 50s, it’s going to be very, very close. A play here, a play there, and you’re out of luck. I’ll say this, Corey Maynard took the last shot there, and there’s nobody I’d rather have taken the last shot. It was a good, clean open look for him. He’s made so many big plays during his career at Bryant. He’s played with so much character, he’s played with so much toughness. He’s the guy on the floor that made that steal late and got us the ball back with the chance to go ahead. It just wasn’t our night, unfortunately.”

#4 Mount St. Mary's 72, #5 St. Francis Brooklyn 71
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Emmitsburg, MD -- Rashad Whack's three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left capped a furious rally to lift fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's to a 72-71 victory over fifth-seeded St. Francis Brooklyn in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at Knott Arena on Wednesday night.  The Mountaineers (14-16) rallied from a 19-point deficit with 9:15 left in the game to earn the victory.

Trailing 64-53 with 1:53 remaining, Julian Norfleet hit four consecutive free throws for the Mount to cut the deficit to 65-57.  On the ensuing inbounds, Gregory Graves forced a turnover, and was intentionally fouled.  Graves hit 1-of-2 at the line, and Sam Prescott scored on the inbounds play to cut the St. Francis Brooklyn lead to 65-60.

The Terriers (18-14) hit 3-of-4 free throws to push the advantage back to 68-60 with 1:05 on the clock, but Prescott rebounded a missed three, and was then fouled shooting a three-pointer from the left corner with 54 seconds left.  Prescott calmly sank all three free throws to make it 68-63.

After another St. Francis Brooklyn turnover, Norfleet was fouled with 44 seconds left, and he hit both free throws to cut the deficit to 68-65.

Yunus Hopkinson hit a pair of foul shots with 28 seconds left to make it a five-point game, but Graves answered on the other end with a lay-up off an offensive rebounds with 28 seconds to make it 70-67.  Whack then stole the inbounds and converted a tough drive to make it 70-69 with 26 seconds on the clock.

Lowell Ulmer hit 1-of-2 at the line for the Terriers, but the Mount turned the ball over on its next possession, and sent Ulmer back to the line with 8.8 seconds remaining.  Ulmer missed both shots, and the Mountaineers called timeout to set up the winning play.

The Mount inbounded the ball to Norfleet, who raced up court and scooped the ball back to Whack in the middle of the court near the three-point line.  Whack dribbled to his left and nailed the shot from 23-feet with 2.4 seconds on the clock for the winning basket.

The Mount's Taylor Danaher intercepted the long inbounds pass to secure the victory.

Whack led all scorers in the game with 28 points while Norfleet finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds.  The Mount's trio of seniors, Norfleet, Whack and Prescott, finished the game 12-for-42 from the field, but were 25-of-27 at the foul line.  The three combined to score 54 of the Mount's 72 points in the game.

Ulmer led the Terriers with 18 points with Ben Mockford and Amdy Fall chipping in 10 points each in the loss.

The Mount shot just 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the floor in the win, but was 31-for-40 (77.5 percent) at the charity stripe.  St. Francis Brooklyn shot 45.1 percent in the contest, and committed 13 second-half turnovers.

St. Francis Brooklyn controlled the first half, taking a 33-21 lead at the intermission.  The Terriers stretched the margin to 56-37 with 9:15 left after a Fall tip-in.

Mount St. Mary's will now travel to third-seeded Wagner for the NEC Tournament semifinals.  Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

Game Notes:  The Mount improves to 11-2 all-time at home in the NEC Tournament...Mount St. Mary's is now 4-0 all-time against St. Francis Brooklyn in the tournament.