Upcoming Announcements
Tuesday at 12 pm: #NECMBB Tournament Preview
Tuesday at 3 pm: #NECMBB Major Award Winners & All-Conference Teams on Twitter

PDF Release
NEC Co-Players of the Week: E.J. Anosike, SHU & Keith Braxton, SFU
NEC Rookie of the Week: Charles Pride, BRY
Previous NEC Releases: February 25 | February 17 | February 10 | February 3 | January 27 | January 22 | January 13 | January 6 | December 30 | December 23 | December 16 | December 9  | December 2 | November 25 | November 18 | November 11 | Preseason Poll Release

NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
E.J. Anosike, Sacred Heart
6’6”, 245 lbs.
Jr., G, East Orange, NJ/Paramus Catholic (St. Thomas More)
Anosike’s NEC-best fifth Player of the Week accolade came after he sparked the Pioneers to a pair of wins to close out the regular season. The East Orange, NJ product posted his 16th and 17th double-doubles of the year while averaging 19.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Pioneers, who claimed the #3 seed in the NEC Tournament for the second straight year. Anosike committed just two fouls and turned the ball over only three times in 70 minutes of action. He tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and three steals in Thursday’s 73-63 triumph over St. Francis Brooklyn, then had perhaps the most complete game of his career with 20 points, 17 rebounds and a career-high matching six dimes as the Pios downed LIU, 76-67, for their third straight victory. Anosike leads the league in double-doubles and rebounding (11.6), and ranks seventh in scoring (15.9).

Keith Braxton, Saint Francis U
6’5”, 210 lbs.
Sr., G, Glassboro, NJ/Delsea (Lawrenceville School)
Braxton ended his final NEC regular season weekend on a high note with the ninth Player of the Week honor of his storied career. First and foremost, the senior from Glassboro, NJ made history on Saturday by becoming the first player in the history of the conference to hit 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for his career when he cracked the 2K scoring mark at Robert Morris. For the week, he stuffed the stat sheet with 22.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He notched 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals in Thursday’s 75-62 victory over the Mount, then added a game-high 24 points and 12 boards vs. the Colonials. The senior will lead the second-seeded Red Flash into the NEC Tournament, while ranking in the NEC top-10 in scoring (17.2, third), rebounding (7.5, ninth), assists (3.7, sixth), free throw percentage (.817, sixth) and steals (1.3, ninth).

NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Charles Pride, Bryant
6’4”, 185 lbs.
Fr., G, Syracuse, NY/Putnam Science (CT)OK
Pride put the wraps on his regular season by winning a league-leading fourth NEC Rookie of the Week award in a 1-1 week for the Bulldogs. Bryant has now won nine weekly rookie honors, and is the first school in league history to have three different players win the award at least two times in a season. Benson List is a three-time winner and Michael Green III has won it twice. Pride averaged 8.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. His week began on Thursday with eight points and a game-high 11 boards in a last-second, 74-72 setback at Fairleigh Dickinson. He came back on Saturday with eight points, a game-best 10 rebounds and three assists as Bryant secured the #7 seed in the NEC Tournament with an 80-59 win at Wagner. Pride paces all NEC freshman with 5.1 rpg and the Syracuse, NY native is fourth on the Bulldogs with 8.3 ppg.

NEC PRIME PERFORMERS

Adam Grant (BRY, Sr, G)
Grant finished the week 9-16 from three-point range and upped his season total to an NEC-best 99 triples, which also established a new single-season school record. At the same time, he pushed his career three-point total to 303, which ranks third in conference annals. He hit 7-10 from distance, scored a game-best 29 in Saturday’s win at Wagner and averaged 22.5 ppg on the week. Grant is fourth on the circuit with 16.4 ppg.

Xzavier Malone-Key (FDU, R-Jr, G)
Malone-Key caught fire last week, averaging 20.0 ppg on 63.6 percent shooting from the floor and a 5-6 mark (.833) from distance. In FDU’s win at Mount on Saturday, he made 9-12 shots and all three of his shots from three-point territory in a game-high 24-point effort.

Juvaris Hayes (MC, Sr, G)
In Merrimack’s NEC regular season title-clinching win over CCSU on Thursday, it was Hayes that once again led the charge. He finished with 19 points on 6-9 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and added to his NCAA career record with five more steals. The senior guard is the national leader with 3.9 spg and also paces the NEC with 6.4 apg. He is tied for third on the league’s single season steals list with 121 and has 457 for his career.

Josh Williams (RMU, R-Sr, G)
Williams came up clutch in the biggest game of the year in the NEC, contributing 23 points, seven boards, three assists, two blocks and a steal in a 78-68 win over SFU that clinched the #1 seed for the Colonials. He hit 4-9 from three-point range to up his season total to 97 and his career total to 200, becoming the 10th student-athlete in program history to reach the milestone.

E.J. Anosike (SHU, Jr, F)
SHU’s double-double machine added two more to resume, boosting his NEC-leading total to 17 on the year. He averaged 19.5 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 3.5 apg and 1.5 spg in two home wins for the Pioneers. Anosike put up 20 points, 17 rebounds and six steals in Saturday’s victory over LIU. He is the NEC’s leading board man (11.6) and ranks in the NCAA top-10 in both rebounding and double-doubles.

Chauncey Hawkins (SFBK, Jr, G)
Hawkins heads into the postseason on a high note. He averaged 27.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.5 spg and shot 23-24 (.958) from the line in a 1-1 week for the Terriers. Hawkins racked up a career-high 38 points in Saturday’s win over CCSU, hitting 19-20 from the stripe. The 19 makes tied the SFBK single-game record and ranks third all-time in the conference. The 38 points were the most scored in a league game in more than three years. Hawkins has averaged 25.8 points over his last four outings to boost his season average to 14.9 ppg, the eighth-best mark in the NEC.

Isaiah Blackmon (SFU, R-Sr, G)
Blackmon had another strong week with 21.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg and 2.5 spg. He dropped 22 points, eight boards and five assists in Thursday’s win over the Mount, and added 21 more in a setback at RMU on Saturday. The senior guard ranks second in the NEC with 19.2 ppg and is second in the league in three-point accuracy at 42.8 percent.

Keith Braxton (SFU, Sr, G)
Braxton did it all last week for the Red Flash, averaging a double-double with 22.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.5 spg. He amassed 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals in Thursday’s victory against the Mount. On Saturday, Braxton became the first player in NEC history to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for his career. The senior ranks in the NEC top-10 in scoring (17.2, third), rebounding (7.5, ninth), assists (3.7, sixth), free throw percentage (.817, sixth) and steals (1.3, ninth).

MILESTONE ALERT!!

Congratulations to Saint Francis U's Keith Braxton (Glassboro, NJ/Delsea (Lawrenceville School))  & LIU's Raiquan Clark (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse) for reaching career milestones.

Both players hit 2,000 career points on Saturday, becoming the seventh and eighth players in conference annals to reach the plateau.

And in doing so, Braxton become the first player in the NEC's 39-year history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

Braxton has racked up 2,003 points and 1,029 rebounds, while Clark enters the postseason with 2,002 points and 819 boards.