NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JoJo Cooper, Wagner
6’0”, 190 lbs.
Sr., G, Wilmington, DE/Concord
Cooper claimed his second NEC Player of the Week accolade following a 2-0 week that elevated Wagner into a first place tie in the conference standings. The Wilmington, DE native nearly averaged a triple-double with 14.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 9.0 apg. He also contributed 1.5 spg and shot 42.9 percent from outside the arc. Cooper opened with 17 points, five rebounds, 10 assists and two steals as Wagner came back from nine down early in the second half to down then second place Saint Francis U, 73-64, at the Spiro Center. Two days later in a first place showdown with Robert Morris, he posted his second double-double of the week and sixth of the season with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in a 62-49 victory over the Colonials. Cooper is all over NEC leaderboards, ranking first in assists (6.0), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.97), third in steals (1.8) and double-doubles (six), 11th in rebounding (6.1) and 13th in scoring (14.1).]

NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jalen Jordan, St. Francis Brooklyn
6’3”, 160 lbs.
Fr., G, Conyers, GA/Rockdale County
Jordan’s second NEC Rookie of the Week honor of the 2017-18 season comes after the 6’3” guard averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in St. Francis Brooklyn’s 2-0 week. He shot 52.6 percent from the floor, including 50.0 percent from three-point range (5-10), and did not commit a single turnover in 63 minutes of play. Jordan hit 3-5 from distance and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in Thursday’s 81-73 win over the Mount, then came back with 12 points and a career-best eight boards to help lead the Terriers to an 85-80 conquest of Bryant. The wins lifted SFBK to within one game of first place with a 5-3 league mark. Jordan, who hails from Conyers, GA, ranks second among NEC freshman scorers with 12.1 ppg. He’s also fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.846), fifth in three-point accuracy (.433) and seventh in made three-pointers (2.25/game).

NEC PRIME PERFORMERS

Adam Grant (BRY, So, G)
Grant’s streak of scoring 20+ points reached six games last week after he netted 20 points at LIU Brooklyn followed by a game-high 26 at St. Francis Brooklyn two days later. For the week, Grant averaged 23.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 2.5 apg.

Ikenna Ndugba (BRY, So, G)
Ndugba has been heating up from the field, making 63.2 percent of his shot attempts over the last three games. Last week, his all-around line included 19.5 ppg on 57.7 percent shooting, 5.5 rpg and 5.5 apg. Ndugba scored 25 points and hit 4-7 shots from three-point territory at SFBK on Saturday.

Deion Bute (CCSU, Jr, C)
Bute contributed 15.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and shot 59.1 percent from the field as the Blue Devils stretched their win streak to three with a pair of victories last week. He scored a career-high 22 points on 9-10 from the floor - including the game-winning dunk with 3.4 seconds left to play - in CCSU’s 66-65 win over FDU on Thursday.

Kaleb Bishop (FDU, So, F)
Bishop elevated his game last week with 14.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg for the Knights. He shot 50.0 percent from the field. Bishop set a new career-high with 18 points and added eight boards at CCSU on Thursday.

Jashaun Agosto (LIU, So, G)
Agosto comes off his finest week of the season with 20.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 4.0 apg in LIU’s split. He made 50.0 percent of his shots, and went 7-15 (.467) from three-point territory. Agosto tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Thursday’s win over Bryant.

Junior Robinson (MSM, Sr, G)
Robinson averaged 20.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 4.0 apg last week for the Mount. Robinson, who has scored 20 or more points in five of his last six games, leads the NEC with 21.7 ppg on the year.

Chris Wray (MSM, Sr, F)
Wray did it all for the Mount with 11.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.5 spg and 2.0 bpg while shooting a sizzling 83.3 percent from the field. He made all five of his shots and finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocks at FDU on Saturday for his third double-double of the season.

Joseph Lopez (SHU, Sr, F)
Lopez posted a pair of double-doubles in averaging 14.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg last week. He shot 9-17 and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds against RMU on Thursday. Lopez is second in the NEC with eight double-doubles on the year.

Glenn Sanabria (SFBK, Jr, G)
St. Francis Brooklyn rode Sanabria’s hot shooting to a pair of wins last week. The junior made 11-18 (.611) from downtown and shot 56.5 percent from the field, while averaging 20.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.5 apg. Sanabria drained 6-9 from beyond the arc and scored 20 points in Thursday’s 81-73 win over the Mount.

Andre Wolford (SFU, Jr, G)
Wolford stayed hot from the field last week, shooting 60.0 percent from long range (6-10) and 55.6 percent overall. He averaged 15.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg. In Saturday’s 73-60 win at SHU, Wolford scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. The junior ranks second nationally in three-point accuracy at 50.4 percent.

PERFORMANCE OF NOTE

Mark Flagg (SFU, Fr, F)
Flagg played the best game of his young career on Thursday, scoring 15 of his career-high 18 points in the second half on 6-8 shooting at Wagner. He added four rebounds and a block, and did all his damage in just 15 minutes.

TOP STORYLINES FROM WEEK 11 OF #NECMBB

Here’s all you need to know from the 11th week of the 2017-18 hoops season...

WAGNER MOVIN’ ON UP AS MASON HITS CENTURY MARK

While Wagner defending its home court last week shouldn’t be all that surprising, what made it impressive was who they beat.

The Seahawks first knocked off then second-place Saint Francis U, 81-73, on Thursday to set up a first place showdown on Saturday with league leader Robert Morris.

In that tilt on Saturday, Wagner limited RMU to 27.3 percent shooting from the field and 2-20 from three-point range in a 62-49 win. After running the gauntlet, the Seahawks pulled into a first place tie with the Colonials at 6-2, with St. Francis Brooklyn and Saint Francis U one game back in the standings. The two league leaders will go right back at it this Saturday with the rematch at PPG Paints Arena.

The win was also the 100th in Bashir Mason’s six-year head coaching career at Wagner. Mason, whose career record at Wagner is 100-75, is the third head coach at the school to record 100 victories.

Wagner is now a perfect 10-0 at the Spiro Center this season, including 5-0 against NEC competition.

NEC-TV SEASON DEBUTS ON CBSSN & ESPNU

The NEC resumes its 27-game TV package with three national matchups in two days this week, including season debuts on both CBS Sports Network and ESPNU.

LIU Brooklyn and Mount St. Mary’s open the CBSSN schedule on January 25 in a 9:00 pm start at Knott Arena. Dave Popkin (PxP), Joe DeSantis (color) and John Cabral (sideline) are on the call. Earlier that evening, Bryant will play host to CCSU on ESPN3 for a 7:00 pm tipoff. Paul Dottino (PxP) and Terry O’Connor (color) are in the booth.

The following evening in Loretto will find Saint Francis U hosting Wagner in a battle of NEC contenders on ESPNU. The game will tip at 5:00 pm with Matt Schick on play-by-play and Mark Adams handling analysis.

MOUNT’S ROBINSON PROFILED IN SI.COM

With each passing performance, the legend of Junior Robinson (Mebane, NC/Eastern Alamance) continues to grow.

It started back in 2014-15 when the 5’5” Robinson began captivating fans as an NEC All-Rookie selection, and took on even greater proportions the next two seasons when he earned second team All-NEC acclaim.

But it was last March when the Mebane, NC product become somewhat of a household name after dropping 22 in the Mount’s NEC title game win over Saint Francis U, then followed with a star making 23-point performance on truTV to lead the Mountaineers to a First Four win over New Orleans.

Now in his senior year, Robinson has taken his game to another level. A preseason All-NEC pick and three-time NEC Player of the Week, he leads the NEC in scoring (21.7), and ranks second in free throw percentage (.913) and assists (5.3). He is x in the country in point production and xx in free throw accuracy.

With Robinson in peak form, national outlets are beginning to take notice.

Robinson was recently named to the Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I mid-major player.

Last week, SI.com writer Jeremy Fuchs got to the bottom of what makes the cat-quick guard so special in a terrific feature.

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2018/01/16/mount-st-marys-junior-robinson-second-shortest-college-basketball-player

In the article, Mount head coach Jamion Christian was effusive in his praise of his franchise player.

“He has high-major speed,” said Christian. “We play these high-major teams, and he’s the fastest guy on the floor. He has high-major athleticism. He has high-major shooting ability, and high-major understanding of the game. You need big personalities and big egos. People get caught up on size. But he has both those things. All the things that’s happened since he’s been here, that’s not an accident.”

When all is said and done, Robinson will leave a lasting legacy both at the Mount and in the NEC.

“When I looked at him, I felt he could be one of the best guards in the country. And I think he has been.”

ANDERSON’S CAREER CUT SHORT DUE TO INJURY

Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard Darian Anderson (Washington, D.C./St. John’s College), one of the NEC’s most exciting and talented performers, will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing foot surgery, ending the four-year player’s career.

Anderson was a two-time All-NEC honoree who sparked FDU’s run to the 2016 NEC title.

The cat-quick Washington, D.C. native will go down as one of the great clutch players in recent NEC memory with a host of game-winning and game-tying shots to his credit.

Anderson closed out his career with 1,538 points, and became the first FDU player to amass 1,500 points, 300 assists and 200 steals in his career.

FDU head coach Greg Herenda had no shortage of praise for his franchise player.

“It is a very unfortunate end to an incredible collegiate career. From day one, Darian made our program competitive again in the NEC and beyond. In his very first game, Darian led us to one of our program’s most historic victories at St. Joe’s in Philadelphia. He is obviously in rarified air here at FDU and will go down as one of the all-time greats but I will always remember him as a champion on and off of the basketball court.”

WRAY’S SEISMIC IMPACT

To say Mount St. Mary’s senior Chris Wray (Shelby, NC/Shelby (Fishburne Military School (VA)) made an impact in Saturday’s game at Fairleigh Dickinson would be an understatement.

Wray became the first player in the country this season and only the second in the last eight years to finish a game with at least 12 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and five steals.

The other player who turned the trick? That would be currently Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons, who finished with 43 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and five steals for LSU in a win over North Florida on December 2, 2015.

NEC TRIPLE-DOUBLE WATCH

On the cusp of reaching the triple-double threshold all year, it’s worth noting some of the stellar all-around performances turned in by NEC ballers this season.

LIU Brooklyn sophomore Julian Batts (Pittsburgh, PA/Jeannette (St. Thomas More)) and Wagner senior guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) had the latest near misses last week. Batts recorded a 17-point, eight-rebound, nine-assist effort in the Blackbirds’ 83-79 win over Bryant on Thursday, and Cooper registered 11 points, 12 boards and eight dimes in a 62-49 victory over RMU on Saturday.

NEC Near Triple-Doubles
JoJo Cooper (WC): 11 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists vs. RMU (1/20)
Julian Batts (LIU): 17 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists vs. BRY (1/18)
Keith Braxton (SFU): 29 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists vs. BRY (12/31)
JoJo Cooper (WC): 10 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists vs. MSM (12/29)
Keith Braxton (SFU): 20 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists vs. Lehigh (12/21)
Tyler Kohl (CCSU): 20 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists vs. ECU (11/17)

How rare is a triple-double in the NEC? Only eight players have hit the milestone in the last 20 years, the last being former Fairleigh Dickinson guard Stephan Jiggettts, who tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists vs. Lipscomb on November 19, 2016. The last player to secure a triple-double in a league outing was Quinnipiac’s James Feldeine, who went for 19 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists vs. Monmouth on February 25, 2010.

WAGNER’S SULTAN OF SWAT

Drive down the lane against Wagner and you’re bound to run into junior forward AJ Sumbry (East Windsor, NJ/St. Benedict’s Prep), the league’s premier shot blocker.

In fact, Sumbry is the current runaway leader in the NEC in rejections with 2.3 per game, more than a block more than any other player on the circuit. He’s been even better in league play with 3.0 per contest, including six in two games last week.

Sumbry has been so good that he also ranks 13th nationally in block percentage (13.20), meaning he swats over 13 percent of two-point shot opportunities taken by Wagner opponents.

INSIDE RMU...WHO NEEDS EXPERIENCE?

According to KenPom, league leader Robert Morris is the third least experienced team in the country. Colonial players average just 0.76 years of college playing experience, and that comes solely from a pair of returning players - junior guard Matty McConnell (Oakdale, PA/Chartiers Valley) and sophomore guard Dachon Burke (Orange, NJ/Orange).

There is some precedence for a first-year dominated team to make a run to NEC glory. Two years ago, Fairleigh Dickinson won it all despite being the third-least experienced team in the country. Last season, Saint Francis U reached the NEC title game as the team with the sixth-least amount of experience.

In fact, each of the last three NEC champions have ranked in the lower third of experience in the country.

2017 - Mount St. Mary’s - 260th/351 teams
2016 - Fairleigh Dickinson - 349/351
2015 - Robert Morris - 246/351

MOUNT’S ROBINSON, FDU’S HOLLOWAY HITS MILESTONES

Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Junior Robinson (Mebane, NC/Eastern Alamance) became the 52nd player in NEC annals to rack 200 career three-pointers. Robinson made eight from long range last week and now has 201 in his career.

Fairleigh Dickinson junior forward Mike Holloway (Pittsgrove, NJ/Arthur P. Schalick) became the 124th player in NEC history to reach 500 career rebounds. He enters play this week with 505 boards.

INSIDE THE MAYHEM

How strong is the Mount’s drive-and-kick game?

Led by senior guard Junior Robinson (Mebane, NC/Eastern Alamance) and his freshman counterpart Donald Carey (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass), the Mountaineers rank sixth nationally in three-point assist percentage at 49.5 percent, meaning nearly half the Mount’s triples have been assisted.

Likewise, 41.7 percent of the Mount’s scoring this season has come on three-pointers, the 11th-highest in the country this season.

The Mountaineers have made 10 or more three-pointers in each of the past six games, averaging 12.7 per game on 42.5 percent shooting over the stretch. For the season, the Mount leads the NEC with 10.3 per game.

JUNIOR BY THE NUMBERS

Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Junior Robinson (Mebane, NC/Eastern Alamance) has compiled 15 games this season with 20 or more points, giving him 27 for his career. He now ranks fifth all-time at the school for career 20-point games since the program’s move to NCAA Division I in 1988-89. Mount all-timers Landy Thompson and Gregory Harris are tied for third on the list with 28. Likewise, Robinson now has 81 career games in double figures, including every game this season.

QUICK HITTERS

It was another strong week for FDU freshman guard Jahlil Jenkins (Ranson, WV/Virgina Academy), who averaged 13.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 5.0 apg. He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting with five assists in a one-point win over the Mount on Saturday.

Over the last six games, Robert Morris owns a +5.0 margin in offensive rebounds against its opponent. The Colonials tied a season-high against an NEC opponent with 18 offensive caroms at Wagner on Saturday. RMU is averaging a league-high 13.38 offensive rebounds in league play, a category the Colonials have never led in their history.

Wagner senior guard JoJo Cooper’s (Wilmington, DE/Concord) behind the back dribble and dropoff to Chase Freeman (Gallatin, TN/Station Camp) for the transition layup against Saint Francis U was the #5 play on the #SCTop10 last Thursday.

NEC in NCAA STATS (Top-25)

Name                    School    Category    Rank    Value
Junior Robinson         MSM       PPG         16th    21.7/gm
JoJo Cooper             WC        APG         23rd    6.0/gm
Andre Wolford           SFU       3PFG        20th    3.21/gm
Andre Wolford           SFU       3PFG%       2nd     .504
Junior Robinson         MSM       FT%         11th    .913
Joseph Lopez            SHU       Off. Reb.   13th    3.65/gm
Keith Braxton           SFU       Def. Reb.   12th    7.74/gm
Keith Braxton           SHU       Doub-Doub   20th    9

Team                    Category       Rank     Value
Mount St. Mary’s       3PFG            22nd     10.29/gm
Wagner                 FG% Defense     19th     .394
Robert Morris          3PFG% Defense   19th     .306
Saint Francis U        FT%             10th     .777
Fairleigh Dickinson    Steals          14th     8.53/gm
Sacred Heart           Rebounds        9th      40.76/gm
Sacred Heart           Def. Reb.       23rd     28.43/gm
Sacred Heart           Reb. Margin     15th     +7.2
Wagner                 Off. Reb.       23rd     13.05/gm
Wagner                 Rebounds        25th     40.16/gm
Robert Morris          TOs Forced      9th      17.62/gm
Fairleigh Dickinson    TOs Forced      25th     16.32/gm