NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tony Felder, Stonehill
5’10”, 165 lbs.
So., G, Brockton, MA/Malden Catholic (VMI)
Felder comes off a career-game in a crucial win on Saturday that kept Stonehill alive for the final NEC Tournament berth. The Brockton, MA native finished with a career-high 30 points on 10-19 shooting and a 7-9 mark from the stripe as the Skyhawks turned back Saint Francis U, 72-63, in Easton. He hit three shots from downtown, snared seven boards, dished out three assists and did not commit a turnover in 34 minutes of play. Felder dropped 17 points in the first half to help the Skyhawks build a 20-point lead at the break. It marked his fourth 20+ game of the season and he is one of seven players in the conference to drop 30 or more in an NEC game. The win brought Stonehill within one-half game of SFU in the race for a playoff bid and the Skyhawks control their own destiny entering the final week of play. Felder paces Stonehill with 12.5 ppg, and ranks third in the NEC in made three-pointers (2.25/game) and ninth in assists (2.9).
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Eric Acker, LIU
6’2”, 160 lbs.
Fr., G, East New York, NY/Eagle Academy for Young Men II
It was another terrific offensive showcase last week for Acker, who corralled his third NEC Rookie honor of the season in an LIU split. He supplied the Sharks with 21.5 points per game on an economical 50.0 percent mark from both the field and the three-point arc. Acker added 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In LIU’s 76-64 win over visiting Le Moyne on Thursday, the local product and Brooklyn resident exploded for a career-high 28 points, pulled down seven boards and added five dimes. He scored 22 of those points in the second half and finished the game 12-21 from the floor and 2-3 from downtown. Acker became the only freshman in the nation this season with at least 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a game. He added a team-best 15 points at Wagner on Sunday. The 6’2” combo guard leads all NEC freshmen and ranks ninth overall with 13.2 ppg. He’s also fourth in the league with 3.8 apg.
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Tre Breland (CCSU, Sr, G)
Last week: 17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 2.0 spg, 47.1 3P%
- Set career-highs with 21 points and five three-pointers in Saturday’s comeback win at SHU.
- Has hit 11-21 (.524) from downtown over his last three games.
- Raised his season average to 10.0 ppg and ranks third in the NEC in three-point percentage (.379).
Ansley Almonor (FDU, Jr, F)
Last week: 20.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.5 bpg, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 83.3 FG%
- Dropped a career-high 30 points in Saturday’s 68-58 win at Le Moyne, sinking 6-8 from distance.
- Has recorded a league-leading ten games of 20+ or more points.
- Has hit 26-53 (.491) from outside the arc over his last seven contests and made at least five triples in three of his last five outings.
- Leads the NEC with 3.1 three-pointers per outing and is second in three-point accuracy (.405) and scoring (17.0). He ranks 19th nationally in made 3P/game.
Joe Munden Jr. (FDU, Sr, F)
Last week: 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 spg, 57.1 3P%, 100.0 FG%
- Matched his career-high with 23 points at SHU on Thursday. He drilled 5-10 3P shots.
- Entered the week shooting 24.7 percent from outside the arc, then hit 8-14 from deep.
- Contributes 9.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and ranks fourth on the circuit in FT accuracy (.779)
Eric Acker (LIU, Fr, G)
Last week: 21.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3P%
- Scored 22 of his career-high 22 points after intermission in Thursday’s victory over Le Moyne.
- He hit 12-21 shots in the win, including 2-3 from long distance, and added seven rebounds and five assists.
- Acker leads all NEC freshmen and ranks ninth overall with 13.2 ppg. He’s also fourth in the league with 3.8 apg
Alex Sobel (SHU, Sr, F)
Last week: 14.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 5.0 bpg, 1.5 spg, 65.0 FG%
- Registered five blocks in each game last week, just one off his career-high.
- Leads NEC and ranks sixth nationally with 2.8 bpg. He has posted six games of 5+ blocks on the year.
- Ranks first in the NEC in field goal percentage (.591), fifth in rebounding (7.0) and is the Pios’ second-leading scorer at 11.9 ppg.
Gestin Liberis (SFU, So, F)
Last week: 13.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 61.1 FG%, 100 FT%
- Posted the best two scoring games of his career in league play with 14 points at Merrimack and 12 at Stonehill.
- Recorded his second career double-double, tallying 14 points and 10 rebounds vs. the Warriors on Thursday.
- Shooting 49.1 percent from the field on the year.
Tony Felder (STO, So, G)
Last week: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 10-19 FG, vs. SFU
- Popped for 30 points in Saturday’s 72-63 victory over SFU to set a new career-high. He added seven boards, three assists and splashed three shots from downtown.
- Paces Stonehill with 12.5 ppg, and he ranks third in the NEC in made three-pointers (2.25/game) and ninth in assists (2.9).
Melvin Council Jr. (WC, Jr, G)
Last week: 18.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.5 apg, 2.0 spg
- Dropped 25 on LIU in Sunday’s nationally televised win, which marked a season-best in both NEC play and against DI competition.
- Hit 10-19 shots in the win, and added six assists and three steals.
- Played the full 40 minutes in both games last week.
- Ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (15.0), eighth in rebounding (5.5), sixth in assists (3.7), fifth in FT% (.773) and ninth in steals (1.5).
TOP STORYLINES FROM #NECMBB WEEK 16
Here’s all you need to know from the 16th week of the 2023-24 season...
>> THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
With the final week of conference play set to unfold, the playoff picture remains shrouded in uncertainty.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
The drama adds an extra layer of anticipation to this week’s matchups, as teams make their final push for seeding, and for two teams, qualification itself.
There are the four things we know for sure.
1. Tickets Punched
CCSU, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart and Wagner all clinched tournament spots prior to last week’s games.
2. We’re Hosting
Only CCSU and Merrimack have guaranteed themselves a quarterfinal round home game.
3. Seeding Certainty
CCSU and Merrimack are guaranteed a top-two seed and would host semifinal games if they were to advance.
4. Lock It In
LIU is locked into the #7 seed and will play at either Merrimack or CCSU in the first round.
Beyond that, it’s pure speculation, but we live and die by the tiebreaker here, so let’s take a look.
Life At The Top
The battle for the regular season title and top seed in the NEC Tournament could go down to the final day, a fitting end to a yearlong, two-team battle for conference supremacy.
At 12-2, Merrimack remains in the driver’s seat for the #1 seed and the program’s third regular season title in five years, but 11-3 CCSU is right on its heels and in a good position to pounce on any Warrior slip up.
The Warriors can guarantee themselves at least a share of the regular season championship with one win or a CCSU loss this week.
Merrimack’s magic number to clinch the #1 seed is two. The Warriors can definitively snag the top seed with two wins, a split and a CCSU loss or two losses and two CCSU setbacks.
In the least, the schedule would appear to be kinder to CCSU.
The Blue Devils host LIU and Stonehill, while Merrimack hits the road for games at NEC contenders FDU and Sacred Heart.
If the two teams finish tied, it will come down to tiebreakers, and in that respect, the Blue Devils have opportunities to overtake the Warriors.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and the two teams split their regular season meetings. After head-to-head, the next tiebreaker would compare the winning percentage of MC & CCSU vs. the third-place team, or their composite winning percentage against any teams tying for third place. If that doesn’t settle matters, you would do the same against the fourth place team, then fifth place team, etc., until the tie is broken.
Of note, CCSU swept both FDU and Sacred Heart, the teams currently tied for third place. Merrimack is 1-0 against both FDU and SHU, but in order for MC and CCSU to finish tied, the Warriors would need to suffer a loss against at least one of those two teams this week. In MC’s favor is its sweep of Le Moyne, while CCSU was swept by the Dolphins. If Wagner winds up in the mix, CCSU went 2-0 against the Seahawks, while MC split with them.
A CCSU sweep, coupled with one Merrimack setback and one Le Moyne loss would put the Blue Devils in the #1 spot.
The Hosting Blueprint
FDU (8-6) and Sacred Heart (8-6) both control their own destiny to claim a top-four seed.
If both FDU and SHU sweep, the #3 seed would go to the Pioneers based on its sweeps of both Le Moyne and Wagner. In fact, an SHU win over Merrimack would net the Pios the #3 seed unless FDU wins both its games this week.
Sacred Heart needs just one win in its final two games to sew up a top-four seed. There are a number of paths for the Pioneers to host a game if they are swept. One such scenario is if FDU is also swept.
There are a number of scenarios for FDU to guarantee itself a home game, more than can be covered here. A split coupled with Sacred Heart being swept is the most straight forward. A Knights’ win vs. Wagner and at least one Le Moyne loss will get it done, as will a win over Merrimack, along with a Le Moyne victory over Wagner and a Dolphin loss to SFU is another possible way.
Le Moyne (7-7) can be seeded as high as #3 in its inaugural NEC Tournament. The most direct route to the #3 seed is with a sweep and if FDU and SHU are both swept. The Dolphins clinch a quarterfinal home game with a sweep, provided FDU loses to Merrimack, or if SHU is swept.
Wagner (7-7) can guarantee itself a game at Spiro with a sweep of Le Moyne and FDU this week. The Seahawks take the #3 seed with a sweep if SHU is swept. Wagner also earns a home game with a split if its win is over FDU, the Knights lose to Merrimack and Le Moyne loses to SFU.
SHU can be seeded no lower than #5, while FDU, Le Moyne and Wagner could drop to as low as #6.
There’s a fascinating scenario where a four-way deadlock for third place could unfold among FDU, SHU, Le Moyne, and Wagner, all with 8-8 records. That particular logjam would shake out with the following tournament seeding: #3 SHU, #4 WC, #5 Le Moyne and #6 FDU.
The last time a .500 team hosted a quarterfinal game was back in 2007 when a 9-9 Robert Morris team hosted 9-9 Mount St. Mary’s. There has never been a year in which a .500 record in league play netted third place outside of the NEC’s first two seasons (1981-82 & 1982-83) when teams were split into North and South divisions.
Last Call
Saint Francis U (3-12) and Stonehill (2-12) will battle it out for the eighth and final postseason invite.
Despite entering the week a half game back, Stonehill controls its own destiny.
The Skyhawks can lock up the final playoff bid with a sweep, or with a win over CCSU and an SFU setback to Le Moyne. Stonehill also claims the #8 seed with a win over SHU and an SFU loss, provided that Wagner finishes ahead of LIU in the standings. If LIU and Wagner finish tied, then the bid will go to the team with the higher NET ranking at the conclusion of the regular season. Currently, Saint Francis U is 349 in the NET and Stonehill is 354.
Tiebreaker Mania
To sort everything out, the NEC will utilize tiebreaker procedures as outlined here:
https://northeastconference.org/sports/2021/2/22/MBB_TiebreakerPolicy_2021.aspx?path=mbball
What’s On Tap
With every team outside of LIU playing to improve their seed or qualify, there will be a tremendous amount at stake this week.
All games will air live on NEC Front Row and the NEC on the Run series of mobile and streaming apps.
Thursday, February 29
LIU at CCSU, 7 pm
Merrimack at FDU, 7 pm
Wagner at Le Moyne, 7 pm
Sacred Heart at Stonehill, 7 pm
Saturday, March 2
Stonehill at CCSU, 1 pm
Merrimack at Sacred Heart, 2 pm
Le Moyne at Saint Francis U, 4 pm
FDU at Wagner, 4:30 pm
Hoop Dreams
It’s all about having a chance to dance, and this year’s NEC Tournament will begin with quarterfinal action on Wednesday, March 6, followed by the semifinals on Saturday, March 9 and the championship in its traditional 7:00 pm time slot on Tuesday, March 12. Teams will be reseeded in between the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
>> FEBRUARY WARRIORS
Talk about playing well when it matters most.
Merrimack is riding high entering the final stretch of the 2023-24 season, carrying a nine-game win streak into its final two outings this week.
The nine-game streak is currently the third-longest in the nation.
Top Current DI Win Streaks
Saint Mary’s 15
South Florida 13
Merrimack 9
James Madison 8
Tarleton State 8
Of those nine wins, six have come during the month of February. Additionally, when considering the program’s 8-0 February record last season and a victory in its final February game back in 2021-22, the Warriors’ streak extends to 15 consecutive wins during this pivotal month. In total, Merrimack has not lost in February since dropping an 85-74 decision at LIU on February 24, 2022.
Over its five years in the NEC, Merrimack has compiled a 31-9 mark in the month of February.
>> CARDIAC KIDS
With a pair of dramatic come-from-behind road wins last week, CCSU has now played eight NEC games this season decided by five points or less and posted a 5-3 record in those outings.
The Blue Devils nipped Wagner, 73-72, on Thursday and scored a 68-67 triumph at Sacred Heart two days later.
CCSU trailed by as many as 20 at Wagner, then fell behind by 13 at SHU.
The Blue Devils’ last eight league games have been decided by an average of 3.5 points.
>> CCSU BY THE NUMBERS
Let’s put CCSU’s season in historical perspective.
- The program’s 11 NEC wins are the most since going 11-7 in 2010-11.
- CCSU will be hosting an NEC playoff game for the first time since that same 2010-11 season, when the Blue Devils edged SFBK, 64-62, in the quarterfinals. That also marked the program’s last playoff victory.
- CCSU will finish with its highest win percentage in conference play since posting a 16-2 record on its way to both the NEC regular season and tournament titles in 2006-07.
- The Blue Devils will enter the NEC Tournament with its highest seed - either #1 or #2 - since that same 2006-07 campaign.
>> NEC-TV - PLAYOFF EDITION
The NEC will enjoy some expanded TV coverage around its footprint during this year’s conference tournament.
While the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 6 will air exclusively on NEC Front Row, things will kick into high gear come the semis on Saturday, March 9.
Both semifinal games will air live on ESPN+, YES Network, NESN+ and NEC Front Row. Tipoff times are slated for 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm. That evening, SportsNet Pittsburgh Plus will air replays of both semis in prime time at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm.
The NEC final will be carried by ESPN2 for the 37th straight year on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00 pm. The game will air concurrently on ESPN+.
>> 5 YEAR FACTS
As we get ready to put a wrap on the regular season, let’s look backward on which programs have done the best job in sustaining success over the last half decade.
Merrimack leads the pack with a 57-27 (.679) slate, with Wagner’s 48-36 (.573) mark coming in second since the start of the 2019-20 season.
School 5-Year NEC Record Win Percentage
MC 57-27 .679
WC 48-36 .573
SHU 43-39 .524
FDU 40-44 .476
LIU 37-48 .435
SFU 35-50 .412
CCSU 31-53 .369
STO 12-19 (2 years) .387
LEM 7-7 (1 year) .500
>> MILESTONE ALERT
Sacred Heart senior forward Alex Sobel (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville (Middlebury)) added another notch to his already spectacular career resume last week.
The Setauket, NY native pulled down his 1,000th career rebound, the last 196 of which have come in an SHU uniform.
Sobel pulled down 814 boards during a decorated four-year career at D3 Middlebury College culminated in being crowned the D3hoops.com National Player of the Year last season.
In his five years of college ball, Sobel has accumulated 1,559 points, 1,010 rebounds and 337 blocks.
>> CHICAGO STATE WRAPS SEASON WITH WIN
Life as a nomadic indy has come to an end for our new friends from Chicago State.
Next stop, NEC hoops.
The Cougars, who will be joining the NEC as a full member in 2024-25, wrapped their season last Monday with a 93-70 win over IU Northwest.
The win was the 12th of the season for CSU, the most for the program since winning 13 games back in 2013-14.
The Cougars gained notoriety back in December with a 75-73 win over Big Ten foe and local rival Northwestern. The Quad 1 win came against a Wildcat team ranked 43rd in KenPom, 53rd in the NET rankings and projected to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament next month.
CSU also picked road wins at Valparaiso and a Stetson team challenging for the ASUN regular season title.
The Cougars received an early taste of NEC ball back in January when they edged FDU, 75-74, in Hackensack.
CSU was led by the talented junior backcourt tandem of Wesley Cardet, Jr. and Jahsean Corbett. Cardet led the Cougars with 18.1 ppg and racked up 30 points in the win at Northwestern. Corbett ended the year on a tear, with seven 20+ point outings over his final 11 games to raise his season average to 15.4 ppg.
Led by third-year head coach Gerald Gillion, the Cougars did not have a single senior on the roster this season and will bring an experienced unit into NEC play in 2024-25.
>> ADOPTING AN ANALYTICS APPROACH
This one’s for all the analytics folks out there.
Mirroring NBA trends over the last decade, there’s been a notable surge in the college game prioritizing 3-point shooting and attacking the rim, while devaluing mid-range jumpers and long 2s, all in pursuit of enhancing offensive efficiency.
After coming across a chart last week illustrating the DI teams that take the highest percentage of shots from outside the arc and at the rim (dunks, layups and tipins), we decided to delve into how the nine NEC squads fare per Synergy analytics data.
The numbers reveal that Stonehill (84.7 percent) and Merrimack (84.6 percent) eschew the mid-range the most, opting for nearly 85 percent of their shots from 3 and around the hoop.
3PA/FGA Shots at Rim/FGA (3PA+Shots at Rim)/FGA
CCSU 35.5% 45.2% 80.8%
FDU 40.8% 38.7% 79.5%
LEM 47.5% 34.1% 81.6%
LIU 30.8% 36.5% 67.4%
MC 41.8% 42.8% 84.6%
SHU 34.8% 43.5% 78.3%
SFU 34.3% 45.1% 79.5%
STO 46.8% 37.4% 84.2%
WC 39.2% 32.4% 71.6%
>> NEC NUGGETS
CCSU junior guard Davonte Sweatman (Boston, MA/Lawrence Academy) did not miss a shot on his way to logging a season-high 15 points in Thursday’s 73-72 win at Wagner. He went 4-4 from the field and was 3-3 from outside the arc. He also was a perfect 4-4 from the line. Sweatman added a season-best six boards and dished for three assists.
FDU senior forward Sean Moore (Columbus, OH/Reynoldsburg (STAC)) averaged a double-double with 11.0 ppg and 10.5 rpg last week. He recorded 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in his sixth double-double performance of the season in Thursday’s game at SHU. Moore remained the NEC leader with 7.8 rpg.
With 176 career three-point makes, FDU junior forward Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional (Montvale)) is now three behind former All-NEC guard Jahlil Jenkins for fourth on FDU’s all-time list. The FDU career record is held by fellow all-star Darnell Edge, who compiled 201 triples from 2015-19.
Le Moyne sophomore guard Trent Mosquera (Brookline, MA/Belmont Hill School) posted a season-high 15 points against FDU on Saturday. He sank 4-7 shots from three-point territory.
Merrimack has registered double-digit steals in eight out of 14 conference games this season. The Warriors accumulated 14 swipes and forced 20 turnovers in Thursday’s win over SFU.
Merrimack junior guard Devon Savage (Washington, D.C./Riverdale Baptist (James Madison)) scored his 500th career point as a member of the Warriors in Thursday’s conquest of SFU. He enters play this week with 508 points at Merrimack and 539 overall when counting his time at JMU.
Merrimack grad student forward Samba Diallo (Rufisque, Senegal/Pope John XXIII (Manhattan)) posted his best scoring output in an NEC game last Thursday, dropping 14 points on 4-8 shooting and a 5-5 mark from the stripe in the Warriors’ win over SFU. He added six rebounds and three steals.
Sacred Heart had six players score in double-digits in running up 99 points during an eight-point triumph against FDU on Thursday. The 99 points were the most scored in a conference game this season.
Sacred Heart senior guard Kyle McGee (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary’s of the Assumption (West Chester)) was a perfect 4-4 from downtown and 8-11 from the floor during a 21-point effort vs. FDU. McGee is now 18-34 (.529) from three-point land over his last eight games.
Sacred Heart grad student guard Joey Reilly (Cromwell, CT/East Catholic (Holy Cross)) notched his fifth 20+ scoring game in NEC play with 21 points vs. FDU. He drilled 5-7 from deep.
Saint Francis U freshman forward Eli Wilborn (Middletown, CT/Middletown) ranks in the NEC top-five in four categories. He’s the league leader with eight double-doubles, and ranks third in rebounding (7.6) and blocks (1.7), and fourth in field goal percentage (.526). Last week he averaged 12.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
Saint Francis U freshman forward Bobby Rosenberger III (Quakertown, PA/Perkiomen School) notched the first 10 rebound game of his career and finished with seven points at Stonehill on Saturday. It was the eighth time he has hauled in at least seven boards in a game this season.
Stonehill junior forward Nate Marquardt (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) came off the bench to score a career-high seven points in the Skyhawks’ win over SFU on Saturday. He shot 3-4 from the field in 13 minutes of action.
Wagner sophomore forward Keyontae Lewis (Chesterfield, VA/Lloyd C. Bird) scored a season-high 15 points against CCSU on Thursday, then added 10 points, six boards and three blocks in Sunday’s 72-57 win against LIU. Lewis averaged 12.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 2.0 bpg for the week. He has reached double-digits in each of his last four contests. He has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 12-of-14 NEC games this season and ranks first in the league in field goal accuracy in conference play at 61.6 percent.
Wagner held LIU to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor on Sunday, a season-best defensive mark for the Seahawks in league play. The Sharks were limited to just one made three-pointer (in 10 attempts), the lowest total in an NEC game this season.
>> NEC NUMBERS BY CLASS
With the regular season winding down to its conclusion, these players have emerged as the NEC’s class leaders in the three major statistical categories.
Scoring Rebounds Assists
Freshman Eric Acker, LIU (13.9) Eli Wilborn, SFU (7.6) Budd Clark, MC (3.9)
Sophomore Jordan Derkack, MC (17.1). R.J. Greene, LIU (7.5) Jordan Derkack, MC (3.7)
Junior Ansley Almonor, FDU (17.0) Melvin Council Jr.,WC (5.5) Javier Ezquerra, WC (4.5)
Senior Nico Galette, SHU (13.5) Sean Moore, FDU (7.8) Jordan Jones, CCSU (3.6)
Graduate/5th Kaiyem Cleary, LEM (15.7) Alex Sobel, SHU (7.0) Brendan McGuire, SHU (3.8)
>> NEC ANALYTICS ZONE WITH RYAN PETERS
Each week throughout the 2023-24 season, 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.
Stonehill played one of its most complete games last Saturday, when they defeated Saint Francis U to earn its second conference win of the season. According to Bart Torvik’s Game Score metric, the Skyhawks earned a 50 for the win, their third highest Game Score mark of the season behind only their Army victory in November and narrow Rutgers defeat in December. Chris Kraus’ group - thanks to a 13-1 run early in the contest - never had a win probability of lower than 94.9 percent in the second half. Beginning with that 13-1 run, Stonehill scored in 19-of-25 straight first half possessions, registering 1.60 points per possession during that stretch. Overall, Saturday’s win was the team’s best offensive efficiency output per KenPom.
At the moment, four of KenPom’s top five players on the “all-KenPom team” are on the two teams atop the NEC standings, Merrimack and CCSU. Jordan Derkack (Colonia, NJ/Colonia (Spire Academy)) and Adam “Budd” Clark (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic) are representing the Warriors on the all-KenPom team whereas Jordan Jones (Florence, SC/Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School (Coker)) and Allan Jeanne-Rose (Saint Joseph, Martinique/Saint John Paul II (Fairfield)) are fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Blue Devils. The last time four players from two teams finished in KenPom’s top-5 was at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season when St. Francis Brooklyn had Jalen Cannon and Brent Jones, and Robert Morris had Rodney Pryor and Marcquise Reed. Not coincidentally, St. Francis Brooklyn and Robert Morris finished one and two in the NEC regular season, with the Colonials defeating the Terriers in the NEC tournament final.
From an offensive efficiency standpoint, Sacred Heart’s Raheem Solomon (Hartford, CT/Sacred Heart High School (Niagara)) had his best week as a Pioneer over the past weekend. The graduate senior registered 31 points on 18 shots while committing just a single turnover in the Pioneers’ split against FDU and CCSU. Eight of Solomon’s 10 buckets over the past week came in the final 12 minutes of each contest. Against FDU his five second half buckets were all at the rim - two offensive putbacks, one slam after a baseline cut and two layups in transition - whereas versus CCSU he drained two critical catch-and-shoot 3s down the stretch to give Sacred Heart the opportunity to knock off the Blue Devils in the tightly contest in-state battle.
FDU’s Ansley Almonor (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional (Montvale)) had a game on Saturday, pumping in 30 points on 9-14 shooting in the Knights’ important victory at Le Moyne. For the season, the sharpshooting junior rates as “excellent” in Synergy as a catch-and-shoot weapon - he’s made 41.5 percent of his 3s when they are taken after receiving a pass from a teammate. Furthermore, he rates in the top 11 percentile in points per shot (1.03) when taking a mid-range jumper from 17 feet to the inside of the three-point line. Almonor’s continued excellence as a jump shooter is a big reason why the Spring Valley, NY native is second in KenPom offensive rating (112.4) among all NEC players who have a possession rate north of 20 percent. Only Sacred Heart’s Alex Sobel (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville (Middlebury)) , another fellow 5-man, betters Almonor in that mark.
>> NEC IN NATIONAL LEADERS (TOP-25)
Team Category Rank Value
LEM 3P 17th 9.82
MC Steals 8th 10.25
TO Forced 10th 16.64
SHU Blocks 23rd 5.07
WC Scoring Defense 9th 63.0
3P% Defense 23rd .300
Individual Category Rank Value
Ansley Almonor, FDU Made 3P 23rd 3.07
Mike DePersia, LEM A/TO Ratio 4th 3.67
Adam “Budd” Clark, MC Steals 8th 2.57
Alex Sobel, SHU Blocks 5th 2.82