NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nico Galette, Sacred Heart
6’6”, 210 lbs.
Sr., F, Rahway, NJ/Rutgers Prep
Galette was in top form last week in Sacred Heart’s split, and achieved a notable career milestone in the process. The senior from Rahway, NJ was fantastic in the Pios’ 89-75 win over Binghamton, hitting 9-11 shots en route to a game-high tying 21 points to go along with six boards in 28 minutes off the bench. During the win, Galette became the 250th player in NEC history and 18th in SHU’s DI era to reach the 1,000-point career mark. On Sunday, Galette made his first start of the year against a Saint Joseph’s team coming off an OT loss at Kentucky. He once again tied for game-high honors with 16 points, and also contributed six rebounds, two assists and three steals in a competitive 64-55 road setback. For the week, he averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and shot 56.0 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from deep. Galette, a first team All-NEC honoree last season and a 2023-24 preseason All-Conference selection, ranks fifth in the league in scoring (14.0), fourth in rebounding (6.7), and third in steals (2.3) and three-point shooting (.450).
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL CO-ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Eric Acker, LIU
6’2”, 160 lbs.
Fr., G, East New York, NY/Eagle Academy for Young Men II
In catching fire for LIU, Acker has emerged as the Sharks’ top scoring threat, and last week supplied the Sharks with 18.3 points per game over three outings. He shot 51.2 percent from the floor and 35.0 percent from beyond the arc, and added 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Acker, a local product out of East New York, recorded a pair of 20-point efforts as part of the Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Toyota Dealers Thanksgiving Tournament. Notably, he posted a career-high 22 points in LIU’s 83-68 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday. He shot 8-14 from the floor, made 4-8 from three-point land and added a career-best nine boards. The frosh also recorded 20 points at Columbia on Tuesday. During Acker’s recent scoring tear, he has averaged 18.3 ppg over his last four contests. He paces LIU, leads all NEC freshman and ranks fourth in the conference with 14.2 ppg on the year.
Adam “Budd” Clark, Merrimack
5’10”, 155 lbs.
Fr., G, Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic
Clark collected his second NEC Rookie of the Week honor following another stellar all-around week at the Samford MTE. He averaged 15.7 points, 4.7 assists, 3.0 steals, 2.0 rebounds and made 56.3 percent of his shot opportunities. Clark matched his career-high in the MTE opener, scoring 19 points, and added a career-best six dimes and four steals as Merrimack rolled to a 96-73 win over NC A&T. He followed with 16 points, four assists and three steals against Samford. The Philadelphia native leads the NEC with 3.1 spg, and ranks among the NEC top-10 in a host of categories, including scoring (13.6, sixth), assists (3.9, fifth), field goal percentage (.500, 8th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42, sixth).
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Ansley Almonor (FDU, Jr, F)
Last week: 20.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 88.9 FT%
- Scored a career-high 26 points on 11-20 shooting in a 91-90 setback to Jacksonville.
- Has averaged 20.0 ppg over his last five games.
- Leads NEC with 17.4 ppg and 3.1 made three-pointers per game.
Sean Moore (FDU, Sr, F)
Last week: 20.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.7 spg, 61.8 FG%, 58.3 3PFG%, 85.7 FT%
- Broke out last week with 19, 21 and 19-point outings on FDU’s holiday trip.
- Made 8-10 from the floor on his way to 21 points and 10 rebounds at Queens (NC). It marked his first career double-double in an FDU uniform.
- Finished week 7-12 from three-point range.
- Lifted season averages to 12.6 ppg & 7.8 rpg (2nd in NEC).
Eric Acker (LIU, Fr, G)
Last week: 18.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 51.2 FG%
- Posted a pair of 20-point efforts, highlighted by a career-high 22 points in LIU’s 83-68 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday. He shot 8-14 from the floor, drained 4-8 from three-point territory and added a career-best nine boards.
- Scored 20 points at Columbia on Tuesday.
- Leads all NEC freshman and ranks fifth overall in the conference with 14.2 ppg.
- NEC Co-Rookie of the Week.
Tai Strickland (LIU, Gr, G)
Last week: 16.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg, 48.5 FG%
- Poured in a season-high 21 points and added six rebounds, four assists and three steals in LIU’s 15-point victory over Texas A&M-CC on Friday.
- Added game-high 18 points on 7-13 shooting against Horizon League favorite Northern Kentucky the following day.
Mike DePersia (LEM, Gr, G)
Last week: 9.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 5.5 apg, 3.0 spg, 11.0 A/TO, 50.0 FG%
- Set season-high with nine assists and went 6-6 from the line in the final four minutes of an 80-70 win over CSUN, the first for the Dolphins at the DI level.
Recorded 10 points and a career-best 12 boards in a buzzer-beating setback at Pacific on Friday. It marked his first career double-double.
- Finished week with 11 assists against just one turnover in 74 minutes.
- Leads NEC with a 4.71 A/TO ratio, and ranks second in assists (4.7) and third in steals (2.3).
Luke Sutherland (LEM, Gr, F)
Last week: 18.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 92.3 FT%
- Dropped game and season-high 24 points, and added five boards and two assists in 80-70 win at CSUN.
- Shot 6-11 from the field, 3-6 from outside the arc and a perfect 9-9 at the stripe in Dolphins’ first-ever DI win.
- Currently 12th in NEC in scoring at 12.6 ppg.
Adam Clark (MC, Fr, G)
Last week: 15.7 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.0 spg, 56.3 FG%
- 19 points in Wednesday’s victory over NC A&T matched his career-high and led MC.
- Shot at least 50 percent from the field in all three games last week.
- Paces the NEC with 3.1 spg and has three of more steals in six-of-seven games this season.
- Ranks seventh in NEC in scoring at 13.6 ppg.
- NEC Co-Rookie of the Week, his second honor of the season.
Nico Galette (SHU, Sr, F)
Last week: 18.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 56.0 FG%, 40.0 3PFG%
- Tied for game-scoring honors with 21 points off the bench in an 89-75 win over Binghamton. Finished 9-11 from the floor and added six boards.
- Scored his 1,000th career point in the win.
- In making his first start of the year at Saint Joseph’s on Sunday, his 16 points once again tied for game-high honors.
- Leads SHU in scoring (14.0) and steals (2.3), and ranks second in rebounding (6.7).
- NEC Player of the Week.
Cam Gregory (SFU, So, G)
Last week: 16.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg, 50.0 FG%
- Posted career-high 22 points against Niagara on Saturday.
- Scored 10 points in the final eight minutes to spark late rally vs. the Purple Eagles.
- Leads SFU with 11.9 ppg.
Tony Felder (STO, So, G)
Last week: 19.0 ppg, 5.5 apg, 2.0 spg, 48.3 FG%, 42.9 3PFG%
- Tallied a career-high 24 points on 8-13 shooting, including a 4-6 night from downtown, against Texas A&M-Commerce.
- Seven dimes at Quinnipiac on Sunday matched a personal-best.
- Ranks third in the NEC with 4.0 apg.
Melvin Council Jr. (WC, Jr, G)
Last week: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-4 3P in win over NJIT
- Led all scorers coming off the bench vs. the Highlanders.
- 13.2 ppg paces Wagner in scoring.
TOP STORYLINES FROM #NECMBB WEEK THREE
Here’s all you need to know from the third week of the 2023-24 season...
>> SHU’S GALETTE REACHES MILESTONE
A signature game netted a signature moment for Sacred Heart senior forward Nico Galette (Rahway, NJ/Rutgers Prep).
In last Tuesday’s 89-75 win over Binghamton, Galette became the 250th player in NEC history to reach 1,000 career points. He is the 18th SHU player to hit the plateau during its DI era.
Galette is also one of 90 players who hold membership in the league’s 1,000-point, 500-rebound club. With 1,029 points and 544 boards, he is the NEC’s active leader in both categories by a wide margin.
Galette came off the bench to hit 9-11 shots and scored a game-high tying 21 points against the Bearcats.
The preseason All-NEC pick has scored 318 points more than FDU junior Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional (Montvale)), who is next in line with 711 career points.
>> LE MOYNE COLLECTS FIRST DI WIN
In the midst of a four-game, eight-day swing through the Golden State, Le Moyne had its moment.
The Dolphins took down CSUN in impressive fashion on Tuesday for the program’s first-ever DI win, setting the state for a happy Thanksgiving two days later.
“It’s a fun night for sure,” said head coach Nate Champion following the 80-70 victory. “I thought our guys battled, like we played so hard for 40 minutes. It was awesome to see. We asked some guys to play a lot of minutes and they responded really well. Luke Sutherland gave us an unbelievable night, he was so big for us and even guys like Ocypher (Owens) and Darrick (Jones Jr.) when they came in the game in the second half gave us a spark and you know Ocypher with four big blocks in the second half, which came in a crucial moment and then, a lot of credit to our guys to switch into that two-three zone and rebounding out of it.”
The Dolphins were led offensively by a trio of graduate students.
Luke Sutherland (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee (Siena/Bryant)) poured in a season-high 24 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and 3-5 from long distance. Kaiyem Cleary (Manchester, England/Redemption Christian Academy (NY) (Florida Southern/Florida Southwestern/Ball State)) added 14 and Mike DePersia (Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial (IUPUI)) finished with eight points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals. The nine dimes for DePersia tied for his most in a Dolphin uniform.
Le Moyne finished 31-34 from the free throw line. The 31 makes matched a program record and were the most by an NEC team since Merrimack sank 31 against Wagner on December 31, 2022.
Sutherland couldn’t help but be excited about the team’s upside after the landmark win.
“Every single game, getting piece by piece and I really do think we’re getting better every single game and it’s just learning from these games. Today, I feel like we pieced together two halves and as we go forward we need to continue to do that and just trust what we’re doing. And like I said, I have been saying it since the beginning, I think we’re gonna be a lot better than a lot of people think and I’m really excited to see this team go.”
>> #NECINTHEPROS UPDATE: MORALES & ROBERTS MEET
A pair of #NECMBB alums recently squared off in an early season G League outing.
Now in his second year as a member of the Osceola Magic, all-time Wagner great Alex Morales shared the court with the Austin Spurs’ Demetre Roberts, who led FDU on a memorable NEC Tournament run last March after collecting first team All-NEC honors.
Morales, who was the 2021-22 NEC Player of the Year, finished with six points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals, while Roberts came off the bench late in Austin’s 136-119 win and contributed an assist.
Over the first six games of the 2023-24 season, Morales is averaging 6.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.7 spg.
Roberts played two games for the Spurs before being released on November 20. He scored five points against Birmingham in his professional debut on November 10.
>> NEWBIE NOTE
Of the NEC’s top dozen point producers over the first three weeks of the season, seven are newcomers.
CCSU graduate forward Allan Jeanne-Rose (Saint Joseph, Martinique/Saint John Paul II (Fairfield)) leads the way with 15.8 ppg, which ranks second on the circuit.
In a related note...
>> FRESHMEN FIREPOWER
Two freshmen have raced up the NEC scoring chart, a rarity in the conference.
LIU’s Eric Acker (East New York, NY/Eagle Academy for Young Men II) (14.2 ppg) and Merrimack’s Adam “Budd” Clark (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic High School) (13.6 ppg) rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in the league in point production after the first three weeks of competition.
The last time a frosh wrapped the year as a top-10 scorer in the conference was way back in 2014-15 when RMU’s Marcquise Reed (15.1 ppg) and Sacred Heart’s Cane Broome (14.5 ppg) took the league by storm. Reed finished the season seventh on the league’s scoring chart on his way to NEC Rookie of the Year honors and second team All-NEC recognition. Broome, an All-Rookie pick, ended eighth in points per game.
>> MC SUPERLATIVES
Merrimack established a pair of DI program records in it’s offensive explosion against North Carolina A&T on Wednesday.
The 23-point margin of victory in the Warriors’ 96-73 win over the Aggies as part of the Samford MTE was the largest against a non-conference team in their DI era.
Further, Merrimack’s 96 points were the most scored against a DI opponent in a regulation game.
>> KRIMMEL QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Saint Francis U head coach Rob Krimmel commented on the Red Flash’s rally from a 20-point deficit that came up just short in a setback to Niagara on Saturday.
“The ability to focus when it’s time to compete is extremely important. I thought for the first 20 minutes our focus wasn’t there. We were doing some things defensively that were a little bit out of character and then offensively, we were missing the easy ones and having to rely on some tough ones. But I’ll give these guys credit. I thought that as a group we battled back when our backs were against the wall. The first thing I told them was that I was proud of the way that they battled being down 20 to get the thing to a two-possession game. The kid had a tough corner three that was contested that if we get that stop now all of a sudden, the momentum is on our side.”
>> NEC ANALYTICS ZONE
Longtime NEC Overtime! blogger and NEC on the Run podcast collaborator Ryan Peters (@pioneer_pride) will contribute a series of analytically based tidbits covering NEC hoops throughout the 2023-24 season.
Wagner’s latest decisive victory over NJIT at the Spiro Center was played at the “comfortable” pace of 61 possessions for the contest. For the season, Wagner rates last in KenPom tempo nationally among 362 programs with a 60.4 possessions per game mark. Furthermore, their average offensive possession length of 20.8 seconds per possession ranks 360th in Division I and is on par with Wagner’s tempo numbers from last season, Donald Copeland’s first as head coach. Despite the team’s methodical pace, Copeland’s group has made the most of their transition opportunities in the early going, converting 55.3 percent of their fast break attempts with a paltry 10.9 percent turnover rate. Melvin Council Jr. (Rochester, NY/University Prep (Monroe College)) has been particularly lethal in the open floor - he’s posting a 71.9 eFG percentage in those situations.
Despite coming in as a 17.3 percent underdog, and sinking to a minimum win probability of 11.4 percent after trailing to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi early on Friday, LIU surged out to 15-point victory. The result was the Sharks’ first Division I triumph this season and earned LIU a Bart Torvik Game Score of 58, the highest score recorded in the brief Rod Strickland era. The high ranking was mainly due to LIU’s efficiency on the offensive end – five players scored at least 1.00 PPP led by off-the-bench spark plug Ahmed Essahaty (Wellington, New Zealand/Onslow College) at 1.833 ppp. In his 21 minutes, Essahaty scored 11 points due to making a trio of open catch-and-shoot 3s to go along with a bucket near the rim.
New Jersey native Mike DePersia (Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial (IUPUI)) is off to a fast start this season as a graduate senior for Le Moyne. He’s in KenPom’s top 100 in assist rate (30.6 percent) and steal rate (4.5 percent) while posting an elite offensive rating mark of 119.2. Of his 31 assists on the young season, 74 percent of those helpers have resulted in a made three from a Dolphin teammate. According to Synergy, Depersia rates as “excellent’ in its possession + assists metric, placing the New Jersey native in top 99 percentile in all of college basketball. A splendid assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.71 is a major reason for DePersia’s emergence as an elite facilitator for Nate Champion’s squad. In Le Moyne’s first two victories as a Division I program, DePersia had 13 assists to 0 turnovers.
FDU freshman Jameel Morris (Willingboro, NJ/Trenton Catholic) has made the most of his limited playing time out of the gate, as evident from his recent performance at Robert Morris. In Sunday’s contest at Moon Township, Morris scored 10 points on five shots, draining two shots from three and two at the rim. Despite playing just 14 percent of the team’s minutes, Morris has posted a team high offensive rating of 170.
>> THIS & THAT
CCSU junior forward Jayden Brown (Providence, RI/Tilton School) scored a team-leading and season-high 15 points, including 12 in the second half, at UMass on Wednesday. He was 6-of-7 from the foul line and added three rebounds. Classmate Abdul Momoh (Carteret, NJ/The Patrick School) matched a career-best with 11 points and blocked a pair of shots in 19 minutes off the bench.
FDU has scored 80 or more points in six-of-eight games this season and has averaged at least 1.07 PPP in seven-of-eight contests. The Knights pace the NEC in scoring (88.6 ppg), adjusted efficiency (104.6), tempo (74.7) and field goal percentage (.465).
Competing at RMU’s Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic on Saturday, FDU overcame a 16-point deficit with under eight minutes to play and took the lead against Jacksonville at the 1:55 mark before falling, 91-90. The following afternoon, the Knights sliced a 20-point RMU lead with 7:25 remaining down to five with 2:31 to go in an eventual 97-86 loss to their formal NEC rival.
After averaging 8.0 points over his first five games, FDU senior forward Sean Moore (Columbus, OH/Reynoldsburg (St. Thomas Aquinas)) has found his groove, contributing 20.0 ppg in the last three contests.
Le Moyne graduate student guard Kaiyem Cleary (Manchester, England/Redemption Christian Academy (NY) (Florida Southern/Florida Southwestern/Ball State)) provided the Dolphins with 16.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 2.0 spg in a split. He tallied 14 points and five rebounds in Le Moyne’s first DI win against CSUN.
LIU junior swingman Tana Kopa (Perth, Australia/Grace Baptist Academy) made nine shots from long range last week at a 40.9 percent clip. He produced 13.7 ppg over three games.
Merrimack sophomore forward Bryan Etumnu (Sugar Land, TX/Kempner) nearly averaged a double-double with 9.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg and 3.3 bpg over three outings. He shot 64.7 percent for the week and finished with nine points and ten boards at Samford on Saturday. Etumnu paces the conference in field goal accuracy at 68.4 percent.
Sacred Heart graduate forward Alex Sobel (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) blocked eight shots in the Pioneers’ split last week and now leads the league with 2.7 per game. He’s also the NEC’s top rebounder (7.9). Sobel averaged 12.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg last week.
Sacred Heart ranks 12th nationally in steals (11.1/game) and 13th in steal percentage (14.1).
Saint Francis U head coach Rob Krimmel coached his 150th game at DeGol Arena on Saturday. The 12th-year head coach and dean of the NEC coaching group has won 60.0 percent of the games the Red Flash has played in Loretto, holding a 90-60 record.
The 107 points Saint Francis U scored in its win over Franciscan marked the 12th time the Red Flash reached 100 under head Rob Krimmel and was the eighth-highest total scored at DeGol Arena in the history of the building.
Saint Francis U freshman guard Ace Talbert (Wyandanch, NY/ Scotland Campus (PA)) averaged 14.3 ppg and shot 64.3 percent from the floor over three games last week. He also hit 4-5 from distance. Talbert made 8-9 shots and scored a career-high 19 points in the Red Flash’s win over Franciscan on Wednesday.
Stonehill senior guard Jackson Benigni (East Hampton, CT/Xavier (Hamden Hall Country Day)) posted 15.5 ppg last week and has now reached double digits five times this season. He hit 4-5 from deep in an 18-point showing at Quinnipiac on Sunday. Benigni’s 40.0 percent mark from downtown ranks eighth in the NEC.
Wagner limited NJIT to 32.6 percent shooting from the field and 19.0 percent (4-19) from outside the arc in its 64-51 win over NJIT on Saturday. The Seahawks limited the Highlanders to 0.84 PPP.
In games against DI competition, Wagner has scored 38.8 percent of its shots from three-point range this season, a notable departure from recent years. The Seahawks rank 21st nationally in percentage of points scored on triples, compared to 209th last season, 352nd in 2021-22 and 314th in 2020-21.