NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Darnell Edge, Fairleigh Dickinson
6’2”, 185 lbs.
Sr., G, Saugerties, NY/Saugerties
One of the league’s elite shooters, Edge caught fire again last week in a split for the Knights. Edge averaged 22.5 points on 53.6 percent shooting from the field, including 7-11 (.636) from three-point range. He also contributed 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while playing all 80 minutes. The Saugerties, NY native poured in a career-high 28 points in FDU’s 77-66 win at Princeton on Wednesday. He hit 4-6 from downtown, and added a career-best eight boards and a pair of steals. Edge’s three-pointer with 9:12 to play tied the game, and he added six more points down the stretch as the Knights pulled away to down their in-state rival. He went on to drain 3-5 from beyond the arc in a 17-point effort on Sunday in the Knights’ four-point setback to Lafayette. Edge currently ranks fourth in the NEC with 19.2 ppg and resides in the top-10 in three-point percentage (.480, sixth), made three-pointers (2.4, eighth) and field goal percentage (.508, ninth).
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Nana Opoku, Mount St. Mary’s
6’8”, 186 lbs.
R-Fr., F, Woodbridge, VA/Potomac
One of an impressive array of Mount newcomers this season, Opoku nearly averaged a double-double last week, posting 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He also shot 50.0 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the stripe. Opoku tallied 11 points and a career-high nine boards against North Carolina A&T last Wednesday, then added a career-best 15 points and nine rebounds four days later at Morgan State. The 6’8” forward from Woodbridge, VA has started all six games for the Mount and ranks third on the team with 9.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Opoku also ranks first among NEC freshman and sixth overall in field goal accuracy at 52.8 percent.
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Adam Grant (BRY, Jr, G)
Grant recorded 20+ points for the 16th time in his career on Sunday, finishing with 20 points, three rebounds and five steals at Brown. He is tenth in the NEC in scoring at 15.4 ppg.
Joe Hugley (CCSU, Jr, F)
Hugley continued his strong play with 17.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg and 1.5 spg. He shot an efficient 64.3 percent, including 6-8 from outside the arc and 10-11 from the stripe. Hugley came off the bench to score 21 points in 21 minutes at Loyola Marymount, making 4-5 three-point shots.
Tyler Kohl (CCSU, Sr, G/F)
Kohl’s scoring spree shows no signs of slowing down. The senior averaged 25.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and 1.5 spg while shooting 55.9 percent from the field and a perfect 11-11 from the line. Kohl netted 17 of his 22 points in the second half in a two-point setback at unbeaten Loyola Marymount last Wednesday. He leads the NEC with 22.9 ppg.
Darnell Edge (FDU, Sr, G)
The NEC Player of the Week put up 22.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.5 spg in FDU’s split. Edge shot 53.6 percent from the field and made 7-11 from three-point land for a 63.6 percent success rate. Edge torched Princeton with 28 points and eight boards - both career-highs - in FDU’s win on Wednesday. The senior leads the Knights with and ranks fourth in the NEC with 19.2 ppg.
Xzavier Malone-Key (FDU, So, G)
Malone-Key was red-hot from the floor last week, shooting 10-20 from long range en-route to 19.0 ppg for the Knights. He also chipped in with 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.5 spg. Malone-Key hit 5-10 from distance in a career-best 19-point effort in FDU’s win over Princeton last Wednesday.
Raiquan Clark (LIU, Sr, G/F)
Clark provided more high-octane offense for the Blackbirds last week, averaging 26.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor. Clark, who ranks second in the NEC with 22.3 ppg, finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds against NJIT on Saturday for his first double-double and second 30+ point scoring effort of the year.
Jalen Gibbs (MSM, So, G)
Gibbs led the Mount with 17.0 ppg and added 6.5 rpg and 2.0 apg over two games. He paced all scorers with 19 points at Morgan State on Sunday. Gibbs is the NEC’s sixth-leading scorer at 17.2 ppg.
Sean Hoehn (SHU, Sr, G)
Hoehn scored a career-high 35 points and recorded three steals at Binghamton. He also matched a personal best with seven three-pointers on just 12 attempts. Hoehn is third in the conference with 21.8 ppg and ranks second with 3.67 three-pointers per outing.
TOP STORYLINES FROM AROUND #NECMBB
Here’s all you need to know from the third week of the 2018-19 season...
SANABRIA 1K
On Sunday, St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard Glenn Sanabria (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) became the second player this season to join the NEC’s 1,000-point club.
Sananbria, who finished with a season-high 18 points in a 75-63 win at Niagara, is the 32nd player in SFBK history and 223rd in NEC annals to reach the milestone.
Sanabria joined Saint Francis U’s Keith Braxton (Glassboro, NJ/Delsea) as NEC players to hit the millennium mark this season. SFU’s Jamaal King (Salisbury, MD/Bishop O’Connell (VA)) and his cousin, FDU senior forward Mike Holloway (Pittsgrove, NJ/ Arthur P. Schalick) reached the plateau last season. They will be joined in short order by a host of players, including FDU senior guard Darnell Edge (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) (945 points), Wagner senior guard Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac) (942), LIU Brooklyn senior swingman Raiquan Clark (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse) (936), Bryant junior guard Adam Grant (Franklin, VA/Norfolk Collegiate School) (926) and Sacred Heart senior guard Sean Hoehn (Morristown, NJ/Morristown (St. Thomas More (CT))) (924).
HOEHN’S RISE
When you talk about an upward career trajectory, Sacred Heart’s Sean Hoehn (Morristown, NJ/Morristown (St. Thomas More (CT))) immediately comes to mind.
Hoehn’s steady rise over his four years has culminated with a star turn in his senior season.
Hoehn, who averaged 4.8 ppg as a freshman, 8.0 ppg as a soph and 13.1 ppg as a junior, has emerged as an elite scorer this season. Over his first six games, Hoehn not only ranks second in the NEC with 21.8 ppg, but he’s doing it in quite the efficient manner. The Morristown, NJ product ranks first in the league in effective field goal percentage (.655) and true shooting percentage (.667), seventh in field goal percentage (.512) and eighth in three-point accuracy (.449). Hoehn is also second in made three-pointers (3.67/game) and fourth in steals (2.2/game).
On Saturday, Hoehn erupted for a career-high 35 points at Binghamton and his seven three-pointers also matched his career-best. In doing so he became just the third player in the nation this season to finish a game with at least 35 points, seven three-pointers and three steals, joining Cal Fullerton’s Khalil Ahmad (40/8/4 vs. Monmouth) and Boston College star Ky Bowman (38/7/3 vs. Wyoming).
BLACKBIRDS HEAD TO U2 COUNTRY
LIU Brooklyn will be making the trip from the city of blinding lights across the pond to Ireland this week to take part in their final two games of the Hall of Fame Belfast Classic.
It will be a beautiful day on Thursday when the Blackbirds clash with Albany at 2 pm. The tournament schedule moves in mysterious ways, however, with LIU’s second opponent to be determined. The Blackbirds will take on either Dartmouth or Marist on Friday in the championship (2:30 pm) or consolation game (12 pm). Both LIU games will air live on Zoo TV CBS Sports Network.
The games will be played with or without you at the SSE Arena, a 10,800 seat venue in Belfast.
LIU still hasn’t found what it’s looking for, falling to San Francisco and Milwaukee in the two mainland games of the exempt tournament.
Fun fact: NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris will bring some #NECPride (In The Name Of Love) to Ireland, as she will be in attendance at the event.
STAT TRACKER
CCSU is shooting 44.3 percent from three-point range this season, which is tops in the NEC and ranks eighth nationally. The Blue Devils shot 32.9 percent from long distance a year ago.
RMU senior Josh Williams (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron)) currently leads the NEC and ranks fourth in the nation with 5.0 made three-pointers per contest. After opening his RMU career 4-15 from beyond the arc in his first two games, Williams has converted at a 56.5 percent (26-46) clip over the last four contests to boost his season mark to 49.2 percent.
Robert Morris senior forward Malik Petteway (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (Northwest Florida State)) ranks second in the NEC in both field goal percentage (.667) and free throw percentage (.895).
SANABRIA HANDLES WITH CARE
An underrated aspect of St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard Glenn Sanabria’s (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) game is his ability to take care of the ball.
After leading the NEC in assist-to-turnover ratio last season (2.87), the Staten Island native has posted a league best 5.0 A/TO ratio over his first six games in 2018-19. That figure ranks in the top-20 nationally.
Sanabria has turned the ball over just four times in 171 minutes this season and 119 times over 2,819 minutes in his career. He holds impressive career marks of just 1.7 turnovers per 40 minutes played and 2.5 turnovers per 100 possessions.
#NECMBB WHERE ARE THEY NOW? LIU'S BRICKMAN SETS ANOTHER RECORD
His passing exploits while at LIU Brooklyn were both legendary and record breaking.
Jason Brickman led the NEC in assists in each of his four years from 2011-14, and ended a star-studded career as a three-time NEC champion and the league’s all-time leader in dimes. His 1,009 assists ranks fourth in NCAA history behind the ACC trio of Duke’s Bobby Hurley (1,076), NC State’s Chris Corchiani (1,038) and North Carolina’s Ed Cota (1,030). Brickman’s 11.3 ppg and 10.0 apg as a senior earned him recognition as one of just two players in NCAA annals to average double figure in points and assists (Southern’s Avery Johnson, 1987-88) in a season.
Fast forward nearly half a decade later and Brickman is still setting records.
The San Antonio native recently became the ASEAN Basketball League’s (ABL) all-time assist leader at the start of his fourth season playing for Mono Vampire.
Brickman set the record in Mono Vampire’s season opener on November 17, finishing with 10 assists to boost his career total to 577, eight more than Frolian Baguion, who accumulated 569 from 2009-15.
A year ago, Brickman averaged 10.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 5.9 apg for Mono Vampire.
Since graduating from LIU, Brickman had brief pro stints in Russia and Germany, and played one season for the Westport Malaysia Dragons before moving on to Mono Vampire.
NEC Profile on Brickman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSG9z1a0W20
LIU Tribute to Brickman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK1Wy8Zv-Ls
HERE AND THERE
CCSU nearly pulled out a win over unbeaten Loyola Marymount last Wednesday. The Lions, who earned double digit wins over both Georgetown and UNLV this season, were trailing by five points with under a minute to play before rallying to win, 76-74. Senior swingman Tyler Kohl (Allentown, PA/Mineral Area College) scored 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half.
LIU Brooklyn junior guard Jashaun Agosto (Seattle, WA/Garfield) averaged 8.5 apg last week, highlighted by a career-high 11 assists vs. NJIT on Saturday.
Robert Morris senior forward Malik Petteway (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (Northwest Florida State)) finished with 17 points on 7-11 shooting in an 81-72 win at Stetson last Monday at the Hall of Fame Classic. He ranks second in the NEC with a 66.7 success rate from the field.
St. Francis Brooklyn sophomore guard Chauncey Hawkins (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional) came off the bench to score 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half as the Terriers posted a 75-63 win at Niagara on Saturday. He hit 3-6 from three-point range. It marked his third game this season scoring 14 or more points after intermission. The SFBK backcourt trio of Hawkins, Glenn Sanabria (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) (18) and Jalen Jordan (Conyers, GA/Rockdale County (National Top Sport Institute)) (14) combined for 54 of the Terriers’ 75 points.
Saint Francis U junior guard Keith Braxton (Glassboro, NJ/Delsea) leads the Red Flash in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (9.4), assists (2.2) and steals (2.2).
Wagner had two first year players make their first career starts against Rider on Saturday. Freshman guard Jonathan Norfleet (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem) recorded career-highs with 10 points and four assists, while junior guard Jeff Coulanges (Trenton, NJ/Mandarin (FL) (Daytona State College)) finished with eight points. Coulanges has hit 6-8 from three-point range this season for the Seahawks.