NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alex Morales, Wagner
6’6”, 195 lbs.
Gr., G, Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)
Morales picked up right where we left off from his 2020-21 NEC Player of the Year campaign, leading the Seahawks to their first 2-0 start since the 2005-06 season. The graduate student from Paterson, NJ averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while hitting at a 66.7 percent clip from the field and 80.0 percent from the line. He also drained all three of his shots from downtown. Morales opened the season with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists as Wagner rolled to a 77-59 over defending America East champ Hartford at the Spiro Center on Tuesday. Four days later, Morales posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Seahawks’ splashy 58-44 win over a VCU team that has reached the NCAA Tournament in nine of the last 11 seasons. He shot 6-10 from the field, 6-6 from the line and sank both his three-point attempts, including a dagger triple with 2:23 to play that extended Wagner’s lead to double-digits.
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Joe Ostrowsky, CCSU
6’0”, 175 lbs.
Fr., G, Mount Pleasant, MI/Mount Pleasant (Cheshire Academy (CT))
Ostrowsky supplied instant offense off the bench in his first two games in a Blue Devil uniform, averaging 8.5 points on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 60.0 percent from beyond the arc. He added 2.5 rpg and 1.0 apg while playing 19.0 minutes per outing. In his CCSU debut, the Mount Pleasant, MI native converted 4-6 shot attempts, including 2-4 from distance, and scored a team-high 12 points in 21 minutes at UConn. On Sunday, he netted five points on 2-3 shooting, and pulled down four boards at Brown.
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Charles Pride (BRY, Jr, G)
Pride is off to a flying start with 25.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 bpg and 1.0 spg in Bryant’s season-opening split. He shot 50.0 percent from the floor and made 7-14 (.500) from deep. He led all scorers with 25 points, including five shots from distance, at URI on Friday.
Brandon Rush (FDU, Jr, G)
Rush tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points in a setback at Seton Hall on Wednesday. He hit 6-12 from the floor and 7-8 from the line in 22 minutes.
Ty Flowers (LIU, Gr, F)
Flowers led the Sharks with 17.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg on their swing through the Golden State. He finished with a game-high 26 points, added seven rebounds and two steals, and matched a career-best with six three-pointers at Fresno State last Friday.
Jordan Minor (MC, Jr, F)
Minor averaged 13.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.3 bpg, 2.3 spg and shot 50.0 percent from the field in a 2-1 week for the Warriors.
Malik Jefferson (MSM, Sr, F)
Jefferson shot a scorching 73.1 percent from the floor over Mount’s first three outings on his way to averaging a team-high 13.7 ppg. He also paced the Mountaineers with 5.3 rpg.
Tyler Thomas (SHU, Jr, G)
The NEC’s leading scorer last season, Thomas paced the Pioneers with 20.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.3 spg and 1.0 bpg in a 1-2 week. He hit all nine of his shots from the stripe. Thomas collected game scoring honors in SHU’s 86-81 win at La Salle last Tuesday with 24 points, and added 11 boards and five assists as part of his first career double-double.
Michael Cubbage (SFBK, Gr, G)
The transfer from Marist paced the Terriers with 15.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg in SFBK’s games vs. Wisconsin and St. Thomas to tipoff the season. He finished with a team-best 20 points and seven caroms against the Tommies on Saturday.
Ramiir Dixon-Conover (SFU, R-Sr, G)
Dixon-Conover rang up 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in a three-point setback at George Washington on Tuesday.
Mark Flagg (SFU, R-Sr, F)
Flagg comes off a terrific outing in SFU’s near win at GW on Tuesday. The senior big scored 17 points on 7-12 shooting, snared a career-high 17 boards and blocked two shots.
Will Martinez (WC, Gr, G)
Embracing his sixth-man role, Martinez contributed 13.0 ppg on 64.7 percent shooting, and added 5.5 rpg and 4.5 apg. He led all scorers with 18 points to go along with eight boards and five dimes in Wagner’s season-opening 77-59 win over Hartford.
Alex Morales (WC, Gr, G)
Fresh off his NEC Player of the Year campaign, Morales led the NEC preseason favorites to a pair of wins to open the season. He put up 17.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 2.5 apg, while hitting at a 66.7 percent clip from the field. Morales drained all three of his shots from downtown. He posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 58-44 win at VCU.
TOP STORYLINES FROM #NECMBB TIPOFF WEEK
Here’s all you need to know from the opening week of the 2021-22 season...
SEAHAWKS SCORE STATEMENT WIN
It was a celebration that spoke volumes.
The normally reserved Bashir Mason was feeling it in the aftermath of Wagner’s convincing 58-44 win at A10 power and perennial NCAA participant VCU on Saturday night, tearing his shirt off in a moment of sheer joy and camaraderie with his players that was captured on camera.
The celebration was an homage to Mason’s signature moment as a player at Drexel, when he tossed in a left-handed, three-point runner at the buzzer to win at VCU back in 2005, after which he jumped on the scorer's table and tore his shirt off to earn #SCTop10 Play of the Day honors.
It was a déjà vu moment that fit the magnitude of the win, a fact not lost on hoops pundits.
Zach Braziller @NYPost_Brazille
Best win of the early season for a local goes to @WagnerAthletics. Beats VCU going away on the road. Alex Morales with 20 and 11. Potential to be Bashir Mason’s best team.
Adam Zagoria @AdamZagoria
Big time win for @Wagner_MBB And coach Bashir Mason Saturday at VCU. Alex Morales with 20 and 11
Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
Incredible win for Wagner’s Bashir Mason, who has consistently kept this Staten Island program atop the NEC after taking over for Dan Hurley.
Ryan Peters @pioneer_pride
Wagner is pretty good, you guys! Seahawks were +18 on the glass against an A10 school in their 14-point upset. I believe Wagner lead for the entire 2nd half too. A wonderful effort at VCU and a great start to the season.
Dave Popkin @DavePopkin
Big win tonight for the NEC favorites. Wagner goes to VCU and holds the Rams to 44 points. Took care of biz at the line. This veteran team is dangerous.
Nelson Castillo @NelCastNY
Wagner upsets VCU 58-44, it is #NECMBB second win over a A10 team this week. Wagner pulls away late. Another outstanding game for them especially defensively. Wagner now 2-0 and clearly looks like the best team in the conference so far in the early going.
So how did the Seahawks pull off the dub against a VCU team that entered with a 19-game non-conference win streak at the Siegel Center?
It started on the boards.
Wagner rolled up a 42-24 advantage on the glass, including a 17-4 edge in offensive rebounding. The Seahawks limited the Rams to just two second chance points.
Then there was the suffocating defensive effort.
Wagner held VCU to its lowest point total in nearly 16 years when the Rams fell to UNC Wilmington, 60-40, on December 4, 2005. The Seahawks limited VCU to 0.72 PPP and forced 15 turnovers.
And when they needed to come up big, the Seahawks shut the door.
Ahead by three points at the under-4 timeout, Wagner ended the game on a 13-2 run, punctuated by an Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)) three-pointer that pushed the lead to double digits with 2:23 on the clock.
Morales finished with 20 points and 11 boards - both game-highs - and shot 6-10 from the floor and 2-2 from downtown in a performance that served notice to VCU fans that they were watching the NEC Player of the Year.
Fellow All-NEC first teamer Elijah Ford (Newark, NJ/Weequahic (Barton CC)) added 14 points and six caroms as Wagner overcame a poor shooting night from long range (3-for-17) to win going away.
Coupled with a convincing 77-59 win over defending America East champion Hartford in its season opener, Wagner has started to build its non-conference resume, but there are many more challenges ahead, beginning with a tilt against MAAC contender Saint Peter’s this Wednesday at the Spiro Center.
CLARKE’S CLUTCH SHOT PROPELS LATINA TO 100TH CAREER WIN
Sacred Heart made sure Anthony Latina’s 100th career head coaching win was a memorable one.
The Pioneers rallied from six down on the road in the final two minutes of regulation to take down La Salle, 86-81, in overtime on Tuesday.
And it was SHU’s most seasoned player who provided the heroics
Hobbled with an injury that kept him out most of the second half, SHU senior guard Aaron Clarke (Parsippany, NJ/Pope John) returned to the court for the final possession with the Pios down by three. Following a Tyler Thomas (New Haven, CT/Amity Regional (Williston)) miss from downtown, sophomore Nico Galette (Rahway, NJ/Rutgers Prep) tracked down the rebound and kicked it out to Clarke, who drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to OT. It was his lone bucket of the contest.
In the extra session, Clarke assisted on Bryce Johnson’s (Stockton, CA/St. Mary’s (Pomfret)) triple that gave SHU an 80-75 lead with 1:30 to play. The Pioneers hit 6-6 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
WARRIOR LOCKDOWN
Merrimack’s morphing zone was back at it on Saturday.
The Warriors held Rutgers to just 48 points and 0.80 PPP on 31.3 percent shooting from the floor, and forced 13 turnovers.
Merrimack led 23-16 at the half and were ahead with under 10 minutes to play before going cold, mustering just six points over the final 13:18 in a 48-35 setback at the RAC.
Merrimack leads the NEC in scoring defense (50.0 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.321), defensive PPP (0.97), turnover margin (+9.3), turnovers forced (20.0/gm) and steals (12.0/game).
FLAGG STARS AS FLASH RALLY FALLS JUST SHORT IN D.C.
A year after knocking off Pitt on the road in its season opener, Saint Francis U headed to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday looking for a repeat performance against a George Washington team led by former Mount St. Mary’s head coach Jamion Christian.
While the Red Flash came up just short in a 75-72 loss, they went down fighting.
Trailing 71-58 with 5:38 to play, SFU went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 73-72 on a Ronell Giles, Jr. (Brandwine, MD/Charles Herbert Flowers) bucket with 46 seconds to play.
After a stop, the Red Flash had two chances to take the lead in the final seconds, including a good look under the hoop following a terrifically designed out-of-bounds play under the GW basket, but could not get it to fall.
It was a career night for redshirt senior center Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury). The Fairless Hills, PA native scored 17 points, pulled down a career-high 17 boards and blocked a pair of shots. He hit 7-12 from the floor.
It was Flagg’s fourth career double-double and fifth 10+ rebound performance. With the 17-point effort, he reached exactly 800 points for his career. He also moved into fourth place on the program’s all-time blocks chart with 105.
“He was tremendous down there, both offensively and defensively,” said SFU head coach Rob Krimmel. “There are some big guys over there (George Washington). I thought he did a great job. To have a guy get the ball on the block and score some easy baskets for us was huge.”
NEC ANALYTICS ZONE WITH RYAN PETERS
Each week throughout the 2021-22 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.
Through the opening week, Wagner’s tenacity on the glass among the NEC programs has been unmatched. The Seahawks have grabbed an offensive rebound on 39 percent of their misses, good for 37th nationally. They’ve been just as efficient on the defensive glass, posting a defensive rebounding rate of 78.8 percent, the 59th best mark in college basketball.
Wagner grad students Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)) and Will Martinez (Bronx, NY/Wings Academy (Monroe College)) have combined to score 61 points through two games. While that’s impressive, it’s the duo’s efficiency that’s been most eye popping, illustrated by a splendid 72.9 percent effective field goal percentage.
After posting the fifth best defensive efficiency in the conference last season, Bashir Mason has returned Wagner back to its defensive roots in the early going, holding Hartford and VCU to a combined 0.80 points per possession and forcing them into 33 turnovers for a 25.7 percent turnover rate. Wagner has scored 34 points off of these opponent miscues.
On its New Jersey road trip to NJIT and Rutgers, Merrimack showcased its league leading defense, holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 37.6 percent, which is 14th nationally. Much of that poor percentage was due to driving opponents off the 3-point line and forcing them into difficult 2s. Per Shot Quality, NJIT and Merrimack had a “rim and 3 rate” of 67 percent, which is eighth best in college basketball.
In addition to contesting shots, Merrimack is also generating a steal on 15 percent of its opponents’ possessions. Sophomore guard Malik Edmead (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) and junior forward Jordan Minor (Kingston, MA/Brimmer & May) combined to generate nine thefts on the Jersey road trip.
After grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds in Saint Francis U’s near upset at George Washington, redshirt senior forward Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) possesses the fourth best defensive rebounding rate among DI players. He grabbed a defensive rebound on 41 percent of GWU’s misses when he was on the floor, per KenPom.
PLAYING WITH PRIDE
The bigger the stage, the more Bryant junior guard Charles Pride (Syracuse, NY/Putnam Science (CT)) seems to raise his game.
Pride dropped a game-high 25 points in the Bulldogs' tilt at URI on Friday, which shouldn't come as a surprise to the fans of the Black & Gold.
In just his second career game, the Syracuse native scored 22 points against Rutgers back in 2019, and that was just the start.
He finished with 15 points on 5-8 shooting and added seven boards in Bryant’s near upset of Syracuse in last year’s season opener, then posted a double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals as the Bulldogs knocked off UMass on the road last December.
Pride saved his biggest game for the 2021 NEC final when he dropped a career-high 33 points against Mount St. Mary’s.
Over the first two games of the 2021-22 campaign, Pride leads the NEC with 25.0 ppg and has grabbed 8.0 rpg. He’s made 7-14 shots from outside the arc and is also shooting 50.0 percent from the field.
NEC NEWCOMERS OF NOTE
A host of NEC newcomers made good first impressions last week. Here are some of the notable debuts:
Tyler Brelsford (BRY, Fr, G)
In his first collegiate outing, Brelsford earned a start and posted a double-double with 21 points, 11 assists and five rebounds in a win over Fisher. He is the only player in the country this year with at least 20 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in a game, and the first in the NEC to do so since CCSU’s Tyler Kohl recorded a triple-double with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists vs. FDU on January 10, 2019.
Adham Eleeda (BRY, Gr, G)
The Northern Kentucky transfer averaged 11.0 points and hit six three-pointers over his first two games in a Bulldog uniform, including an 11-point outing at URI on Friday.
Joe Ostrowsky (CCSU, Fr, G)
Ostrowsky led all NEC true freshman with 8.5 ppg on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 60.0 percent from beyond the arc over two games.
Sebastien Lamaute (FDU, So, G)
Lamaute finished with eight points and five rebounds at Seton Hall last Wednesday.
Isaac Kante (LIU, Gr, F)
Kante, a Hofstra transfer, averaged 7.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg in games at San Francisco and Fresno State.
Jalen Benjamin (MSM, Jr, G)
Taking over starting duties at the point for the defending NEC champs, Benjamin contributed 11.0 ppg, 5.0 apg and shot 43.8 percent from the field over three contests.
Joey Reilly (SHU, Jr, G)
The Holy Cross transfer tallied 9.0 ppg, 2.7 apg and shot 7-13 (.538) from outside the arc in three games for the Pioneers.
Michael Cubbage (SFBK, Gr, G)
Cubbage led the Terriers with 15.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg over his first two games after transferring from Marist. He rang up 20 points and seven boards - both team-highs - in Saturday’s game vs. St. Thomas.
Patrick Emilien (SFBK, Gr, F)
A transfer from Western Michigan, Emilien paid immediate dividends, registering 11.5 ppg on 55.6 percent shooting, 5.5 rpg and 2.0 spg. He finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-11 from the floor in SFBK’s season opener at Wisconsin.
Raekwon Rogers (WC, R-Sr, F)
The Henderson State transfer stepped into Wagner’s starting lineup and averaged 8.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.0 bpg. He shot 70.0 percent from the floor, including a 4-4 outing in the Green & White’s win over Hartford in their season opener on Tuesday.
MOUNT WIN BY THE NUMBERS
Mount St. Mary’s had a record-breaking night in the 117-62 win over Washington (MD) last Thursday.
The 117 points scored were the most by a Mount team since the school’s move to DI in 1988-89, besting the previous mark of 113 set in a 22-point win over Marist on February 24, 1991. It was the first time the Mountaineers surpassed the 100-point mark at Knott Arena since a 103-86 win over LIU on January 14, 1995, and the first time overall that the Mount has scored 100 since a 103-84 victory over Norfolk State on January 3, 2014.
The Mount’s 55-point margin of victory was the biggest in a game since the Mount moved to DI as well. The last time the Mountaineers won by more points was a 116-50 drubbing of UMBC on February 28, 1986.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Saint Francis U head coach Rob Krimmel couldn’t have been happier playing in front of crowds for the first time since March of 2020 when his team visited GW in last Tuesday’s season opener.
“Absolutely loved it. It felt so good to hear the roar of the crowd, and even though it wasn’t really for us, we had a great contingency of Saint Francis people. This is a great area for us. We have a lot of proud alums. Families were able to come down. That is what I love the most. These kids didn’t get to play in front of their family last year and for them to be able to do that, I am so excited for our guys to be able to play in front of people again.”
VETERAN PLAYERS DOMINATE NEC SCORING CHART
Of the NEC’s top 25 scorers after the first week of play, just three are underclassmen.
Bryant super frosh Tyler Brelsford (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Saint Joseph (GWU)) checks in at No. 14 with 12.5 ppg. LIU sophomore guard Kyndall Davis (Chicago, IL/Bogan) ranks 22nd with 10.5 ppg and Mount St. Mary’s sophomore guard Dakota Leffew (Hampton, GA/Jonesboro) is tied for 25th with 9.3 ppg.