Semifinals
#1 Quinnipiac 83, #4 Long Island 78
Hamden, CT -- Junior forward Justin Rutty (Newburgh, N.Y.) compiled his sixth consecutive double-double as top-seeded Quinnipiac defeated No. 4 Long Island, 83-78, in front of a season-high 2,845 in NEC Semifinal action Sunday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center. With the win, the Bobcats will play host to Wednesday’s NEC Tournament Championship, to be aired live nationally on ESPN2. The Bobcats will face the winner of tonight’s other semifinal game between Mount St. Mary’s and Robert Morris.
With the win, the Bobcats established a new program victories record, pushing their record to 23-8. The 2009-10 team passed the 1972-73 and 1979-80 squads, both of which won 22 games. The Blackbirds’ ended their season at 14-17. Quinnipiac also improved to 14-0 at home on the year.
"It seems like the script we’ve been following a lot lately, it seems like we’re more resilient and more tough than we are good," said Quinnipiac Head Coach Tom Moore. "It gets us wins, so I’ll take it. For the most part, I don’t think we played great defense. But I think Jaytornah Wisseh had everything to do with that. When he’s playing that well, they’re the hardest team to guard in the league from a scheme point. The thing I’m most happy with was how we rebounded down the stretch. We made free throws, another offshoot of toughness. We’ll take it and we’ll play on Wednesday and hope to be as tough and resilient as we were the last two games."
Rutty finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, eight each on the offensive and defensive glass. Deontay Twyman (Olney, Md.) chipped in with a career-high 16 points, while James Feldeine (New York, N.Y.) contributed 13 points and Jonathan Cruz (Lawrence, Mass.) added 10 points. James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) had a game-high seven assists.
Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, NY) had a game-high 33 points and seven assists for LIU. Jamal Olasewere (Silver Spring, MD) added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while David Hicks (Mendota Heights, MN) had 11 points.
After the Blackbirds started the game on a 10-0 run, the Bobcats responded with six straight. LIU reestablished an eight-point lead on Kenny Onyechi’s lay-up at the 13:40 mark, before the Bobcats scored 18 of the next 24 points to take a six-point lead with just over seven minutes to go in the half. The Bobcats’ lead swelled to seven points going into the locker room. Rutty and Wisseh led their respective teams with 14 points apiece at the break.
Much like the first half, the Blackbirds began the second with a run. This time, LIU scored 11 of the first 12 points in the stanza to take a three-point advantage. Following seven lead changes and five ties, Quinnipiac took the lead for good on Rutty’s lay-up at the 3:51 mark. The Blackbirds made it interesting down the stretch, however. Despite building a nine-point lead at the free-throw line with 34 seconds left, the Bobcats found themselves up just three points with 13 seconds left after Booker Hucks made a lay-up, followed by three-pointers from David Hicks and Michael Culpo. But four straight Twyman free throws iced the game for QU.
For the game, the Blackbirds outshot the Bobcats, 44.9 percent (31-69) to 44.1 percent (26-59) from the floor. The Bobcats took a 37.5 percent (6-16) to 34.8 percent (8-23) advantage from long range and an 80.6 percent (25-31) to 72.7 percent (8-11) edge from the free-throw line. The Bobcats outrebounded the Blackbirds, 40-34.
Semifinals
#2 Robert Morris 80, #3 Mount St. Mary's 62
Moon Township, PA -- A 13-0 run over the course of seven minutes in the second half helped the Robert Morris University men’s basketball team turn a tight contest into a double-digit advantage en route to an 80-62 win over No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary’s Sunday night in the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament semifinals at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The Colonials advance to their second straight NEC Tournament championship game and ninth overall thanks to the victory and will square off with No. 1 seed Quinnipiac Wednesday, March 10, at the TD Banknorth Sports Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip that will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
RMU improved to 22-11 overall on the 2009-10 campaign with the victory, while the Mountaineers, who had an 11-game winning streak snapped, finished their season with an overall mark of 16-15.
Freshman Raven Barber (Edgewood, MD/Paul VI) pulled Mount St. Mary’s within three at the 16:35 mark of the second half, 51-48, with a layup, but Robert Morris scored the next 13 points to open up a 64-48 edge with 9:19 remaining.
Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) started the surge with a three-pointer as five different Colonials scored during the spurt. Senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) scored four points, including a dunk on a feed from Abraham.
"I thought our guys put together one of their most complete efforts of the season on both ends of the court tonight," RMU head coach Mike Rice said. "When we share the ball we’re a pretty good team. Our flow on offensive was as good as I’ve seen it all year, and on defense we kept moving our feet."
The Mount could never trim their deficit under 12 the rest of the contest, with RMU’s biggest advantage coming with 57 seconds to play when senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) hit a three-pointer to give the Colonials an 80-60 lead.
"I thought our guys just ran out of gas tonight," Mount St. Mary’s head coach Milan Brown said. "It’s tough to swallow when you see that Robert Morris shot 53 percent and scored 80 points, because we hang our hat on defense."
Robert Morris never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 15-5 lead as Robinson and Green each scored four points in the early going while Abraham and junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) each buried three-pointers.
The Mount answered with a 17-7 run to tie the game, 22-22, as senior forward Kelly Beidler (Virginia Beach, VA/Tallwood), scored five points and senior guard Will Holland (Houston, TX/Lamar) hit a three-pointer. Robinson put the Colonials back in front, 24-22, with a layup, but senior guard Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) tied the game for the second time, 24-24, with a layup of his own with 8:22 to go before halftime.
The Colonials responded by recording a 13-6 run to open up a 37-30 advantage and took that seven-point lead into halftime, 47-40. Wallace scored five points during the spurt, including a three-pointer, while Abraham added four.
Abraham paced Robert Morris for the third straight game with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the free-throw line while grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists. He was one of four Colonials to score in double figures, as Robinson added 14, Green 11 and redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) 10.
Goode, in his final collegiate career, capped a stellar career with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field while dishing out three assists. Junior forward Shawn Atupem (Newport News, VA/Woodside) added 12 points for the Mount.
Robert Morris shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the field in the second half and 53.7 percent (29-for-54) overall, while Mount St. Mary’s converted just 34.7 percent (17-for-49) of its shots.