Championship Central
No. 6, 7, and 9 prevail as 2025 Championship tips-off.
No. 6 SCSU 85, No. 11 Franklin Pierce 76 Box Score
Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball defeated 11th seeded Franklin Pierce, 85-76, to advance to the NE10 Quarterfinals and improve to 17-10 overall on the season. The Owls move on to the Quarters for the third-straight year and will travel to No. 3-seeded Bentley on Sunday, March 2.
Albert Vargas had a game-high 32 points, including 28 in the second half, as well as eight assists and seven rebounds with a pair of steals. Antonio Chandler had his third consecutive double-double with 24 points and 15 rebounds as well as three blocks. Christian McClease had 11 points while Cherif Diarra finished with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. The Owls will advance to the Quarterfinals for the third straight year.
Vargas was lights-out in the second half as he hit 9-of-11 from the floor including 4-of-6 from three-point range while also going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Chandler was 10-for-12 from the floor the game while eight of his 15 rebounds came on the offensive end.
Southern Connecticut opened the game with a 17-6 run with Cherif Diarra leading the way with seven points, while Christian McClease had six. Franklin Pierce chipped away, eventually outscoring the Owls, 20-10, over an eight-minute stretch to pull within a point, 27-26, with four minutes to go in the half. Southern outscored Franklin Pierce, 8-5, in the closing minutes of the half to give Southern a 35-31 lead at the break.
Southern came out firing on all cylinders in the second half as they converted on five of its first six shots from the floor as they outscored Franklin Pierce, 12-9, to take a 47-40 lead with 15 to play. Franklin Pierce answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 49-49 just two minutes later.
As the game went back-and-forth, Franklin Pierce refused to go away as they pulled with a point, 59-58, with eight minutes to play. Vargas and Chandler continued to do the damage for the Owls, both scoring five points each in the 10-10 stretch. With Diarra on the bench in foul trouble, Chandler had a double-double with eight to play. After Franklin Pierce took a 62-61 lead, Vargas converted on a pair of free throws before knocking down a three-pointer to give Southern a 66-62 lead with 6:14 to go.
Franklin Pierce's Demariontay Hall then scored five-straight points to give the Ravens a 67-66 lead with 5:15 to play. Coming out of a timeout, Chandler made a save on a ball going out of bounds to Vargas who found McClease at the top of the key for a wide-open three-point, but Franklin Pierce responded on the other end of the floor.
Down the stretch, Vargas scored 11 points in the closing minutes to lead the Owls on a 19-9 run to close the game and give the Owls the nine-point win.
- Recap Courtesy of SCSU Athletics -
No. 7 Saint Anselm 84, No. 10 American International 53 Box Score
After a back and forth 10-10 start, AIC went on a 9-2 run to take a 19-12 lead. The Hawks however would answer with the offensive fire power of Josh Morissette. The junior had a strong balance of distributing for assists as well as hitting multiple jump shots before the nine minute mark of the first half. Jadon Archer and Sean McCarthy were solid companions on the court as they attacked the glass and drove to the hoop for multiple layups. The Hawks ended the half on a 29-11 run taking a 41-30 lead into the half.
The Yellow Jackets struggled shooting from the field with just a 34.2% field goal percentage. Meanwhile Saint Anselm made only three first half three pointers, but still shot 56% from the field.
The second half began with more of the same. Saint Anselm went on a 8-2 run before the first media timeout. The Hawks shooting did not slow down, while the AIC shooting did not pick up. At the ten minute mark of the second half Saint Anselm led 62-40 and never looked back. Multiple jump shots by Erik Oliver-Bush made it 78-44 with six minutes to go, as both teams emptied their benches.
Saint Anselm cruised to a 31 point win and a date with the No. 2 seeded SNHU Penmen was official. The Hawks had four double digit scorers in Morissette, Oliver-Bush, Sean McCarthy, and Juju Ramirez. McCarthy added ten rebounds for a double-double, while Ramirez led the team with seven assists. The Yellow Jackets had three double digit scorers led by Coleman Hopson's 17 points while shooting 7-11 from the field.
The Saint Anselm offensive firepower was led by an outstanding 56 points in the paint and 20 fast break points, leading them back to the NE10 Championship Quarterfinals.
No. 9 Saint Michael's 66, No. 9 New Haven 58 Box Score
The ninth-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team wiped out a nine-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to secure a 66-58 victory against eighth-seeded University of New Haven during the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Friday in the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletics Center.
The Purple Knights advanced to face No. 1 Adelphi University, the 17th-ranked team in the latest D2 CSC national poll, for a quarterfinal on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
RECORDS
- Saint Michael's (9-20), New Haven (12-17)
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 6-for-14 field goals, 4-for-5 free throws
- Senior Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 11 points, 6-for-6 free throws
- Senior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 9 points, 3-for-5 three-pointers
- Junior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 2-for-3 field goals, 4-for-4 free throws
- Redshirt first-year Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), 8 points
- Redshirt first-year Marcus Meeks (Prairie Village, Kan./Brewster Academy), 6 rebounds
OPPONENT LEADERS
- First-year Najimi George, 23 points, 9-for-15 field goals
- Sophomore Jah'Likai King, 21 points, 4 assists, 9-for-16 field goals
- Graduate student Syrus Grisby, 8 rebounds
GAME FACTS
- The Purple Knights held edges in rebounding (34-30) and shooting (42.0%-40.4%) while going 17-of-19 on free throws to the Chargers' 6-of-7 effort.
- Saint Michael's defeated New Haven for the fifth time in seven tries after also downing the Chargers during its regular-season finale last Saturday.
- Crews has hit 85 three-pointers this season, good for fifth in program history.
- The Purple Knights are now 1-1 in the postseason against New Haven, having previously lost in the 2014 NE10 quarterfinals in West Haven.
- Saint Michael's picked up its first postseason road win in nearly a decade to the day of its last victory, an 81-79 triumph on March 1, 2015, in an NE10 quarterfinal down the road at Southern Connecticut State University.
- The Purple and Gold now has four postseason wins in the past two seasons, matching the program's total from the prior 24 years.
THE ACTION
- Grisby scored the game's first four points before consecutive baskets by George extended the New Haven lead to 10-5 by 15:15 of the opening period.
- That proved to be the largest advantage for either team until late in the half, as the lead swung five times during the stanza.
- Duniver's three-pointer at 3:22 put the Purple Knights in front, 24-21, and Crews' triple at 1:29 made it 31-25.
- After Saint Michael's was up four at halftime, first-year Rico Byrd's (East Moline, Ill./The Kiski School) putback pushed the lead back to six 27 seconds into the second half.
- George netted 10 points in an 18-3 response, giving New Haven a game-high 45-36 advantage by 13:01.
- Still down nine with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Purple Knights scored the next 10 points. Kenney tallied half of the points, including the go-ahead lay-up at 6:26 (52-51).
- King hit a go-ahead jumper 29 seconds later, but Crews' driving lay-in at 4:45 gave Saint Michael's the lead for good, sparking a 6-0 run.
- King buried a three at 2:34, but Marold's lay-up with 1:10 left created a 60-56 buffer. Duniver pulled the board of an ensuing Charger miss, and Brzezinski hit two free throws at 29 seconds.
- New Haven never came closer than four points from there, as the visitors shot 6-of-6 on freebies in the closing stretch.
- Recap Courtesy of Saint Michael's Athletics -
2025 NE10 Men's Basketball Championship
|
|
NE10 |
| 1. |
Adelphi |
17-3 |
| 2. |
Southern New Hampshire * |
14-6 |
| 3. |
Bentley * |
14-6 |
| 4. |
Assumption * |
14-6 |
| 5. |
Pace * |
14-6 |
| 6. |
Southern Connecticut |
12-8 |
| 7. |
Saint Anselm |
9-11 |
| 8. |
New Haven |
7-13 |
| 9. |
Saint Michael’s |
4-16 |
| 10. |
American International |
3-17 |
| 11. |
Franklin Pierce |
2-18 |
* Within the mini-conference, Bentley & SNHU finished 4-2 and Assumption & Pace finished 2-4. Bentley and SNHU were 1-1 vs. each other during the regular season. When comparing results vs. teams occupying the highest position in the standings, SNHU earned the #2 seed based on their 1-1 regular season record vs. Adelphi (Bentley was 0-2 vs. Adelphi). Assumption earned the #4 seed based on their 2-0 record vs. Pace during the regular season.
First Round – Friday, February 28th:
Game 1: #9 Saint Michael’s 66, #8 New Haven 58
Game 2: #7 Saint Anselm 84, #10 American International 53
Game 3: #6 SCSU 85, #11 Franklin Pierce 76
Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 2nd:
Game 4: #9 Saint Michael's at #1 Adelphi – 1:30 PM
Game 5: #7 Saint Anselm at #2 SNHU – 4:00 PM
Game 6: #6 SCSU at #3 Bentley – 3:30 PM
Game 7: #5 Pace at #4 Assumption – 3:00 PM
Semifinals – Wednesday, March 5th (at highest remaining seeds):
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 7 winner (at highest remaining seed)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (at highest remaining seed)
Championship – Saturday, March 8th (at highest remaining seed):
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner (at highest remaining seed)
ABOUT THE NE10
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Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
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