#1 Bryant 73, #9 CCSU 59
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Smithfield, RI -- The top-seeded Bryant men's basketball teamdefeated ninth-seeded Central Connecticut, 73-59, in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Northeast Conference Tournament in front of a sold out Chace Athletic Center on Wednesday night. With the win, Bryant improves to a 20-9 overall, marking the most in the program's Division I history.

The No. 1 seed Bulldogs will move on to the NEC Semifinals to face No. 4 Mount St. Marys in Smithfield, R.I. on Saturday at 6 pm.

"I think our guys responded in the second half, we held them to 32% from the field 4-13 from 3," said Bryant head coach Jared Grasso. "We really talked about rubbing them off the 3-point line. And Charles and Pete gave us a lift offensively. Survive and advance this time of year, which is about finding a way to win, which we did, and we get to move onto Saturday now."

Senior guard Peter Kiss and junior guard Charles Pride, the nation's highest-scoring duo, each scored 24 points to lead the Black and Gold. Kiss had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Pride had 24 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Graduate forward Greg Calixte chipped in 11 points and nine boards.

Pride woke up the Chace early on Wednesday, hitting a trifecta from the left wing to open the scoring before Kiss went off for 10-straight points to make it a 13-2 lead with 15:04 to go in the first half. A Calixte layup would make it 27-11 with 7:19 to go, but the Blue Devils answered with an 11-0 run to slash the deficit to five with 3:45 left before halftime. The margin would remain at five (34-29) at the break.

CCSU cut the deficit to three at the start of the second half, but Eleeda hit a transition three to help fight off the rally. Pride then hit a turnaround in the lane to make it 49-38 with 9:10 remaining. The Bulldogs would push back ahead by 14 on a three-point play from Kiss  with 7:12 left. CCSU attempted a comeback down the stretch, but was unable to pull within single digits after Pride answered with a huge offensive putback and three-point play to push the Bryant lead back to 13.

Bryant, which scored 44 points in the paint, finished 29-of-59 (49.2 percent) from the field, 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) from three and 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the line.

The Bulldogs improved to 12-1 at home this year and are now 22-2 in Smithfield over the past two seasons. The announced crowd of 2,650 was a sellout. It is the second-straight game the Chace has sold out.?


#2 Wagner 82, #7 Saint Francis U 53
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Staten Island, NY -- Graduate student Alex Morales recorded the first Wagner triple-double in the 21st century and sophomore DeLonnie Hunt added a career-high 24 points as the Wagner College men's basketball team earned a dominant 82-53 victory over No. 7 Saint Francis U in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
 
In front of an excited crowd at the Spiro Sports Center, Morales tallied 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to record the 12th triple-double in the NEC since 1997. The last know triple-double in NEC Tournament action dates back to 1983, when LIU's Carey Scurry recorded 12 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks in the ECAC quarterfinals on March 9, 1983.

"I want to shout out the school, the student body," said Wagner head coach Bashir Mason. "It was probably one of the best crowds we’ve played in front of all year. It helped. It energized us and our guys were pumped up. I’m hoping we can get that same crowd on Saturday when we play. A great game from top to bottom, defensively, offensively while multiple guys contributed. Five was the number for us. We felt five threes was good enough for us and we made 13."

With two more rebounds, the reigning NEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year will become the 13th player in NEC history to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists.

Hunt's career day came on 9-10 accuracy from the field, including four three-pointers. As a team, the Seahawks combined for a season-high 13 three-pointers on 13-24 (54.2%) accuracy.
 
The Seahawks quickly jumped out to a 16-3 lead, as a Hunt three-pointer four minutes into the game forced the Red Flash to call an early timeout. From there, multiple highlight-reel plays by redshirt-senior Raekwon Rogers and nine first half three-pointers gave the Seahawks a 50-28 halftime advantage.

Wagner further extended its lead in the second half, as a three by graduate student Nigel. Jackson, who returned from injury in the victory, made it 80-40 with 3:59 to play en route to earning the victory.

The Seahawks will now take on No. 3 LIU on Saturday at 8:00 pm at the Spiro Sports Center. 


#3 LIU 82, #6 Sacred Heart 75
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Brooklyn, NY -- The No. 3 seeded LIU men's basketball team had a big win in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament Wednesday night, beating No. 6 seed Sacred Heart, 82-75 in the Steinberg Wellness Center. With the win, the Sharks advance to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament. LIU will take on No. 2 seed Wagner on Staten Island, Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m.

"I think this league is best it has been since I've been here Teams are clawing and fighting," said LIU head coach Derek Kellogg. "So, anyone who comes away with a championship in the regular season or the conference tournament, I think is a job definitely well done… Our team is ready. I think it'll just be trying to get prepared for Wagner, who beat us here and beat us pretty good at their place. So, hopefully our guys remember that second game and come out like I know they will be ready to play." 
 
Five different LIU players scored in double digits in the win, led by senior Ty Flowers, who had 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. LIU also had double digit efforts from Isaac Kante (15 points, 8 rebounds), Alex Rivera (15 points), Tre Wood (12 points), and Kyndall Davis (11 points), while senior Eral Penn added nine points and eight rebounds.

The game was close to start out, with Sacred Heart taking the lead, 13-9 at 14:04. But the Sharks went on a 12-2 run, to retake the edge, 21-15 at 10:36. The Pioneers scored seven unanswered points to go up, 22-2, but LIU outscored the visitors, 13-5 in the final six minutes of the half, taking a 37-29 lead into the break.

SHU kept it close, cutting the lead to just three points, 52-49 with 10:20 to play. But at 8:37, Flower hit a step back three that sparked a momentum shift for the Sharks and the home crowd. Rivera would add a huge step back three two minutes later, and Flowers added a fast break dunk at 6:17 to cap a 7-2 run, and put LIU on top, 60-53. Rivera would hit another three with 1:26 on the clock to widen LIU's lead to 72-61, and that made the difference.

In the final minute of play, Sacred Heart would score eight points from the field, including a late three, but the Sharks went 10-for-13 from the free throw line in that span to seal the win without another made field goal.

LIU (16-13) heads across the Verrazano for a semifinal rematch with Wagner, Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m.


#4 Mount St. Mary's 78, #5 St. Francis Brooklyn 48
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Emmitsburg, MD -- Fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's rolled to a 78-48 win over fifth-seeded St. Francis Brooklyn in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals in what also turned into an historic night at Knott Arena. The Mount's list of milestones included redshirt senior forward Nana Opoku and junior guard Jalen Benjamin each recording their 1,000th career point, seniro forward Malik Jefferson becoming the program's NCAA Division I leader in rebounds, and head coach Dan Engelstad posting his 150th career win. 

The Mount's 30-point win was the team's second largest in an NEC Tournament game since joining the league in 1988-89.

Benjamin paced a balanced offense for the Mountaineers (14-15) with a game-high 16 points while Mezie Offurum and Opoku chipped in 15 points apiece. Jefferson just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in the victory. The Mount shot 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the field in the game, including 6-of-13 (.462) from three-point range. The top defensive team in the NEC, the Mountaineers held St. Francis Brooklyn to 20-of-57 (.351) shooting overall and 7-of-25 (.280) from beyond the three-point arc.

The Mount started quickly, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the opening two and a half minutes. The Terriers hung tough, cutting the deficit to 21-18 with 8:39 left in the opening half on a Larry Moreno bucket. Leading 26-21, the Mount used a 10-3 run to push its advantage to 12 points with just under two minutes left, and would take a 39-30 advantage into the break.  

St. Francis threatened to make it a game by scoring the first four points of the second half, but the Mountaineers responded with a 12-2 run to grab a 15-point lead with 12:32 left in the game. From there, the Mountaineers were able to cruise to the 30-point victory.

Mount St. Mary's advances to the NEC semifinals to face top-seeded Bryant on Saturday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center. The game will be a rematch of the Mount's 73-68 victory over the Bulldogs in the NEC Championship game at Bryant last season. The Mountaineers are 8-7 all-time in the NEC Tournament semifinals and have defeated the top seed on the road in the NEC semifinals on three occasions (at Wagner in 2021, at Robert Morris in 2013 and at Robert Morris in 2008).