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An upset-minded squad and a famililar face will comprise the field for the Northeast Conference (NEC) Men's Basketball Championship Game on Tuesday evening. For just the second time in the past 11 runnings of the NEC Championship, the top seeded team will not partake in the finals, as No. 6 Wagner pulled off another postseason upset by eliminating top-seeded Central Connecticut on its home court with a 66-56 win. In the first of two semifinal matchups on Saturday, No. 2 Merrimack dug itself out of an early deficit and punched a ticket to the title game for the second-straight season by way of a 61-51 victory over No. 4 Le Moyne. The Warriors look to run it back and punch their first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament, while the Seahawks, who will be appearing in their seventh final, seek the program's first league title and March Madness berth since 2003.
The final can be seen live at 7:00 pm on ESPN2 and ESPN+ with Doug Sherman and Tim Welsh on the call.
#1 CCSU 66, #6 Wagner 56
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New Britain, CT — Wagner (15-15, 7-9 NEC) continues to ride the upset train.
Just three days after they upended Sacred Heart, the third seed, on the road on Wednesday, the Seahawks pulled off the improbable and took down top-seeded Central Connecticut (20-11, 13-3 NEC) by a 66-56 final inside Detrick Gymnasium in semifinal action of the Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday.
Punching a ticket to the tournament’s final for the second time in the past three years, the Seahawks, look to become just the second No. 6 seed to win it all since Mount St. Mary’s accomplished the feat in 1999. Wagner was the last team to advance to the title game back in 2005, falling to FDU by a 58-52 final.
Julian Brown led the Seahawks with 20 points, while
Melvin Council Jr. and
Keyontae-Lewis added 12 points apiece.
Scoring 10 of his 12 points in the game’s first six minutes, Lewis helped Wagner get off to a fast start and ultimately take a 28-23 lead into the break.
The Blue Devils tied up the game at 39-all with 9:06 left to play but never took the lead, as back-to-back buckets by Council put the Seahawks back in control with a 52-45 edge with less than three minutes left. Down the stretch, Wagner, which was left with five dressed players due to Lewis and Council fouling out, sealed the game and earned the win from the free-throw line.
Jordan Jones led Central Connecticut with 15 points.
#2 Merrimack 61, #4 Le Moyne 51
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North Andover, MA — No. 2 Merrimack (21-11, 13-3 NEC) men’s basketball rode the coattails of 2024 NEC Rookie of the Year
Adam “Budd” Clark and punched its ticket to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Basketball Final for the second straight season with a 61-51 semifinal win over No. 4 Le Moyne (15-17, 9-7 NEC) on Saturday afternoon.
The rookie sensation coupled an 8-of-13 effort from the field with a perfect 8-for-8 clip from the charity stripe to lead all scorers with 24 points. Clark was the only Warrior to net double figures in the victory, as graduate student
Jacob O’Connell was next in line with a trio of triples on 75.0 percent shooting for nine points.
Le Moyne, which was led by a 20-point effort by Luke Sutherland, ran out to a 13-4 lead less than five minutes in thanks to a
Kaiyem Cleary triple, seven-straight points from Sutherland and a three-pointer by
Darrick Jones, Jr. That advantage was short-lived, though, as Merrimack used three consecutive threes, two of which came from O’Connell, to combat that rally with a 13-4 spurt of its own and tie things up at 17-all midway through the half. For the remainder of the stanza, the Warriors clamped down to hold the Dolphins to just three free throws to take a 28-20 advantage into the break.
In the second half, Le Moyne trimmed an 11-point deficit down to a single possession four times, but wouldn’t come any closer.