Conference

NEC All-Tournament Team
MVP - Damian Battles, CCSU, (19.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg)
Peter Mulligan, UMBC (19.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg)
Bill Romano, QU, (19.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
Rob Monroe, QU, (21.3 ppg, 3.0 apg)
Ron Robinson, CCSU, (12.3 ppg, 12.0 rpg, three double-doubles)

"The only thing we won today was a chance to play another game," CCSU head coach Howie Dickenman said. "We’re pleased we won but we still need another win to get excited."

Trailing 45-40 with 8:22 remaining in the contest, Central Connecticut State (28-4) outscored St. Francis (19-9) 18-9 down the homestretch to seal the victory. A pair of free throws by NEC Player of the Year Corsley Edwards (Baltimore, MD) gave Central a lead, which they would not relinquish, 46-45. The Blue Devils padded the cushion to five points at 53-48 with 1:42 remaining as second-team All-NEC choice Ricardo Scott (Boston, MA) hit a mid-range jumper.

"I think we played very hard last night against Monmouth and tonight maybe we got a little tired," St. Francis head coach Ron Ganulin said.

The Terriers ended their last charge with 0:34 showing on the clock as Clifford Strong (Brooklyn, NY) hit a 3-point field goal from the right wing to close the margin back to one point at 55-54. A pair of free throws by John Alexander (Quantico, VA) with 27 ticks on the clock and a steal by Rich Pittman (Braintree, MA) with 0:09 remaining closed the deal for Central.

With Central leading 29-22 and 17:44 left in the game, Strong scored nine points during a 23-11 spurt by the Terriers to give St. Francis a 45-40 lead.

Central Connecticut State took a 26-22 lead into the intermission after a low scoring first half. CCSU hit the boards and St. Francis (N.Y.) put on the defensive clamps as the Blue Devils owned a 22-14 halftime rebounding margin and the Terriers’ defense held Central to just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the field.

"We rebounded tenaciously today and I think it was a sign of how we approached the game," Dickenman said.

St. Francis moved out to a 19-10 advantage with 8:12 remaining in the opening stanza, but the Blue Devils closed out the half with a 16-3 run to take a four-point lead into the locker room. Scott and NEC Edwards sparked the surge as they scored nine and seven points, respectively, during the run.

Central was led in scoring by Edwards and second-team All-NEC selection Damian Battles (Brockton, MA) who scored 15 points apiece. State received a pair of double-double performances as Ron Robinson (Bronx, NY) logged 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and Scott posted 11 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Francis was paced by first-team All-NEC choice Jason Morgan (Willingboro, NJ) with 14 points. Karl Sanders (Brooklyn, NY) had a strong all-around performance with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Strong added 12 points in the losing effort.

Quinnipiac (14-15), who on Friday shocked tournament quarterfinal host and #2- seed Wagner College with an 87-78 victory, joined Marist College in accomplishing the feat. The Red Foxes advanced to the tournament final in 1992 where they eventually lost 85-81 to Robert Morris College. The lowest seed to ever win the NEC Tournament championship was Mount St. Mary’s College who was triumphant in 1999. Quinnipiac, playing in its first-ever NEC Tournament owns to of the four wins by #7 teams in the 21-year history of the event.

Quinnipiac, which trailed by 11 points at halftime, staggered the Retrievers in the second half with a 27-8 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 52-44 lead with 9:50 remaining in the game. NEC Rookie of the Year Rob Monroe (Lanham, MD) sparked the QU surge with eight points, including an old-fashioned trifecta which gave Quinnipiac the eight-point cushion. UMBC responded quickly to cut the lead back down to three points at 53-50 with 8:00 showing on the clock. Eight consecutive points by Monroe on two 3-point field goals and a layup put UMBC to the floor and gave QU a 61-50 advantage with 6:04 left in the contest. The closest the Retrievers would get for the remainder of the game was the three-point final margin.

"We started to run in the second half, plus we found a few defenses that really took UMBC out of its rhythm," said Quinnipiac head coach Joe DeSantis.

The Retrievers late attempt to win the contest was severely hampered by eight missed foul shots in the final 4:03 of the contest as UMBC went 5-of-13 from the charity stripe down the stretch. The Retrievers shot just 19-of-33 from the free throw line for the game.

"This is the school’s first 20-win season since we’ve moved to Division I," said UMBC head coach Tom Sullivan. I think we have a talented group that still is learning how to play in big games."

UMBC mounted a 36-25 halftime lead behind 11 points and six rebounds by first-team All-NEC selection Peter Mulligan (New York, NY). The Retrievers charged hard out of the gates to build a 15-point lead in the first half at 36-21 with 1:47 left in the opening act.

Quinnipiac was paced by Monroe with 20 points. Kason Mims (Astoria, NY) added 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Bill Romano (Wethersfield, CT) chipped in with a double-double, registering 13 points and 11 rebounds. Rashaun Banjo (Far Rockaway, NY) supplemented the attack off the bench with 10 points. Jeremy Bishop (Cohoes, NY), the nation’s leading rebounder grabbed 11 caroms to go along with eight points.

UMBC was led by Mulligan with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kareem Washington (White Plains, NY) and Justin Wilson (Brooklyn, NY) added 17 and 16 points, respectively. Will McClurkin (Medford, NY) contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and a team-high four assists.

"We’ve had two great wins and anything can happen at this time of year," said DeSantis, referring to his team’s upcoming matchup with #1 seed Central Connecticut State, a team that has beaten Quinnipiac 15 straight times. The two teams will meet on Wednesday, in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Detrick Gym in New Britain, CT. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. Central Connecticut State defeated #5-seed St. Francis (N.Y.) College in Saturday’s first semifinals game, 58-54.

The Terriers advance to play #1 Central Connectcut, a 65-54 winner over #8 Sacred Heart, in tomorrow’s 4:00 p.m. semi-final game.

Trailing 45-29 early in the second half, the Hawks went on a 14-4 run, climaxed by a Russ Anderson fast break layup to cut the deficit to 46-41 with with 13:06 to play. After Monmouth’s Kevin Owens dunked to keep his team within striking distance at 57-51 with 5:11 remaining, Morgan hit his sixth three-pointer of the game to start a 10-0 run, which gave the Terriers a comfortable 67-51 advantage with 1:30 remaining.

St. Francis entered the contest struggling down the stretch, losing five of their last nine games, including a 75-68 setback at Monmouth last Saturday. It was Monmouth which had dealt the Terriers the cruelest blow, having erased a 20-point second half deficit in last year’s title game to prevail, 67-64. MU had four straight wins over St. Francis, as the teams played for the ninth time in three seasons.

"I’m very excited to finally be able to beat Monmouth,." said St. Francis Head Coach Ron Ganulin. "The kids really concentrated, focused and played their butts off for forty minutes. Before the game I wasn’t thinking about last year. After halftime, the lead was dwindling, and I started to think about it."

The Terriers raced out to a 13-2 lead four minutes into the game, as Morgan hit two of his four first-half three-pointers. They hit 14 of their first 21 shots of the game and extended the margin to 35-18 on another Morgan trifecta with seven minutes left in the half. Monmouth went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 35-27 with 4:32 to play, but the Terriers scored the final seven points of the half to lead 42-27 at intermission. For the half, St. Francis hit 17 of 30 shots from the floor (56.7%) and 6 of 9 from three-point range, while Monmouth converted on just 10 of 25 first half field goal attempts.

Morgan hit 6 of 11 from behind the arc, as six of his seven field goals occurred from long distance. He was aided by lead guard Karl Sanders, who added 14 points in 40 minutes of action, and senior forward Clifford Strong, who recorded a "double-double" with 12 points and 12 rebounds. St. Francis hit 9 of 17 three-pointers (52.9%) for the game, and outrebounded Monmouth, 37-22. Last year’s NEC Tournament MVP, senior guard Rahsaan Johnson, was the lone Hawk in double figures with 18 points, but he was just 5 of 13 from the floor, and 1 of 6 from outside the arc. Backcourt mate Cameron Milton contributed eight points, a team-high nine rebounds, six assists, and five steals.

In its first-ever NEC Tournament game, Quinnipiac became just the third #7 seed to knock off a #2 seed and QU accomplished the feat on Wagner’s home floor, the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island, NY. The Seahawks had been hoping to win their first-ever NEC Tournament with home-court advantage through the quarterfinals and semifinals, but were not able to hold serve.

"I tried to teach these guys that there is no such thing as a home court advantage," Quinnipiac University head coach Joe DeSantis said. "We know when we walk into this gym that we have to match their intensity. We were fortunate to make some shots and that’s the bottom line. We know it’s a game of runs and we knew this would be an up-and-down game."

After a tightly contested first half that ended with Quinnipiac (13-15) leading 44-40, QU pulled away midway through the second act. Leading just 49-48, Quinnipiac went on an 18-6 run to push the cushion to 67-54 with 10:22 left in the game. C.J. Vick (Springfield, VA) helped spark the run off the bench with four points, three rebounds and one steal during the surge. Quinnipiac would later push the lead to 16 points at 76-60 with 5:27 remaining on a Jared Grasso (Syosset, NY) 3-point field goal. QU coasted down the homestretch as Wagner (19-9) could draw no closer than eight points.

"I thought we panicked a little bit," Wagner head coach Dereck Whittenburg said. "We couldn’t get the ball to Jermaine (Hall) we lost our composure but it was mainly our defense, we gave them a lot of open looks."

Monroe helped Quinnipiac take control of the game early on as QU built a 24-11 lead 6:45 into the contest. Monroe scored 14 points in the initial assault as he drilled three 3-point field goals and converted on one old-fashioned trifecta.

"I took this as a challenge so I came out here with everything I’ve got," Monroe said.

Wagner gradually reeled Quinnipiac in and eventually took a 37-35 lead with 2:08 remaining in the opening stanza. QU regrouped with the assistance of a five-point trip down the court. With 1:05 remaining in the half, Romano hit a turnaround jumper to even the score at 37-37. The next time down the court, Wagner’s Courtney Pritchard (Southampton, NY) was called for a defensive foul and a technical foul. Grasso hit three of the four foul shots and with Quinnipiac keeping control of the ball, Romano hit another jumper in the paint to give QU a 42-37 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the half. A fast-break lay-up by Jeremy Bishop (Cohoes, NY) pushed Quinnipiac’s cushion to seven points with 0:07 showing on the clock, but Yves Kabore (Queens, NY) drilled a three as time expired to cut QU’s lead to 44-40 as the teams entered the locker room.

Romano led Quinnipiac with 28 points, in addition to nine rebounds and four assists. Monroe added 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Grasso tallied 10 points and five assists. Bishop, the nation’s leading rebounder grabbed 14 caroms and contributed nine points.

Wagner was paced by All-NEC first-teamer Jermaine Hall (Dublin, GA) who logged 15 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 4:19 left in the bout. Chris Jackson scored 14 points for the Seahawks. Nigel Wyatte (Staten Island, NY) came off the bench to log a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

UMBC (20-8) got solid second-half performances from Peter Mulligan (New York, NY), Kareem Washington (White Plains, NY) and Ron Yates (Jamaica, NY) to lead Retrievers to the victory. Mulligan and Washington logged 15 points apiece and Yates posted 11 points in the second stanza. With the score tied at 49-49 with 12:52 remaining in the game, the Retrievers went on a 14-2 run behind five points by Washington to give UMBC a 12-point edge with 9:17 showing on the clock. Robert Morris (12-18) was unable to draw within seven points for the remainder of the game. UMBC was able to hold onto the victory despite hitting just 8-of-16 foul shots in the final 2:30.

"One of the things we were concerned about was them executing their half-court offense," UMBC head coach Tom Sullivan said. "I was hoping it would be a game of attrition, I thought that at around the six minute mark they got fatigued."

Both squads were able to mount substantial leads in the first half, but neither was able to pull away as UMBC went into the intermission leading 34-31. Robert Morris came out of the gates strong and built a 16-9 lead 6:35 into the contest behind three 3-point field goals by Ricky Richburg (Pittsburgh, PA). The Retrievers went on a 16-5 run of its own, on the back of six points by Will McClurkin (Medford, NY), to take a 25-18 lead with 9:14 left in the half. The Colonials stopped the swelling as a pair of free throws each by Wesley Fluellen (Cleveland, OH) and DaMarco Ellis (Dallas, TX) along with a lay-up by Ellis and a trifecta by Richburg gave RMU a 27-25 lead. The game was tied on two more occasions in the opening act and the Retrievers made a late charge in the final two minutes to take a slim three-point lead into the locker room.

"They stepped up when they needed to," Robert Morris head coach Mark Schmidt said. "We were confident that if we played the way we were capable of we could hang with them. They made plays when they needed to and we didn’t."

Mulligan led UMBC with 20 points and nine rebounds. Washington also added 20 rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. McClurkin chipped in with 15 points and Yates added 11.

Aaron Thomas (Middlebury, IN) paced Robert Morris with 21 points. Thomas it 5-of-7 from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Ellis contributed 15 points and five assists. Richburg tallied 14 points and Matt Smith (Mansfield, OH) finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds.

UMBC advances to Saturday’s NEC Tournament semifinal round where it will face #7-seed Quinnipiac in a 6:30 p.m. bout at the Spiro Sports Center. QU defeated #2-seed Wagner 87-78 in the afternoon’s third game. In earlier action, #1-seed Central Connecticut State University defeated #8-seed Sacred Heart University, 65-54, and #5-seed St. Francis (NY) College was triumphant over #4-seed and defending NEC Tournament champion Monmouth, 71-61. CCSU and St. Francis meet in a 4 p.m. contest to be televised live on Fox Sports New York.