NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Peter Kiss, Bryant
6’5”, 200 lbs.
Sr., G, New York, NY/Notre Dame Prep (Rutgers/Quinnipiac)
A returning All-NEC first teamer and preseason All-NEC pick, Kiss showed off his all-around game in a busy three-game stretch for the Bulldogs. In his first action of the year, he recorded 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while hitting at a 53.4 percent clip from the floor and 40.0 percent from outside the arc. Kiss opened with a game-high 24 points, and chipped in with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals at Clemson on Monday. The senior from New York City closed the week on Sunday by exploding for a career-high 35 points on 14-25 from the field and 4-9 from long range in Bryant’s 78-62 win over Holy Cross in the finale of the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, FL. The 35 points were the second-most in a game in Bryant’s DI history, and he also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for his career playing at Bryant, Rutgers and Quinnipiac. He added five rebounds, three assists and four steals against the Crusaders.
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Ibrahim Wattara, FDU
6’5”, 215 lbs.
Fr., F, Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael Academy
Wattara comes off a pair of impressive outings against high level competition last week for the Knights. Providing a spark off the bench, the Bronx, NY native averaged 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and shot 53.3 percent from the field. Wattara tied for team scoring and rebounding honors with 12 points and five boards in just 16 minutes at Northwestern on Thursday. He drained 5-8 shots from the floor. Two days later, he contributed eight points and three rebounds at St. John’s. Wattara leads all NEC true freshman with 6.7 ppg this season.
NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
Peter Kiss (BRY, Sr, G)
Making his season debut last week, Kiss tallied 24.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.7 apg and 2.0 spg. He converted at a 53.4 percent clip from the floor and 40.0 percent from three point land. Kiss opened with a game-high 24 points at Clemson, then shattered his personal best with 35 points on 14-25 from the field and 4-9 from long range in Bryant’s 78-62 win over Holy Cross on Sunday. He also reached 1,000 career points vs. the Crusaders.
Devon Dunn (FDU, Jr, G)
Dunn led the Knights with 18.0 ppg on 52.3 percent shooting from the floor and 47.1 percent from downtown, where he combined for eight triples in games at Northwestern and St. John’s. He added 2.5 apg and 2.0 spg. Dunn scored a game and career-high 24 points - hitting 6-8 from outside the arc - against the Red Storm on Saturday.
Isaac Kante (LIU, Gr, F)
Kante tied for game-high scoring honors with 17 points and led all players with nine rebounds at UConn on Wednesday. He hit 6-12 shots from the floor.
Jalen Benjamin (MSM, Jr, G)
Benjamin paced all scorers with 19 points to help lead the Mount back from a 17-point second half deficit to upend Robert Morris, 74-70, in OT on Friday. His layup with 51 seconds left gave the Mountaineers a five-point lead, and he iced matters with a pair of free throws with 21 ticks left on the clock. Benjamin also chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and a block. For the week, he averaged 15.0 ppg, 3.0 apg and 1.5 spg.
Aaron Clarke (SHU, Sr, G)
After missing three games with an injury, Clarke returned on Saturday with a game-high 21 points in SHU’s outing against local rival Fairfield at the Pitt Center. He was a perfect 7-7 from the line.
Tyler Thomas (SHU, Jr, G)
Thomas averaged 21.5 ppg, while also contributing 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.0 spg. He hit six shots from distance at a 40.0 percent clip. Thomas drained 3-5 from three-point territory in a 17-point outing vs. Fairfield on Saturday. He paces the NEC early on with 20.6 ppg on the season.
Patrick Emilien (SFBK, Gr, F)
Emilien finished with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds, and added a pair of assists at Penn State on Thursday.
TOP STORYLINES FROM #NECMBB WEEK TWO
MOUNT MOUNT’S COMEBACK, USE LATE GAME HEROICS TO WIN LATEST CHAPTER OF RMU RIVALRY
Despite playing in different conferences now, the Mount St. Mary’s-Robert Morris rivalry is showing no signs of cooling down.
The two programs memorably squared off 11 times in NEC postseason play from 1999 to 2018, with the Mountaineers holding a slight 6-5 advantage. The Mount and RMU met five straight years from 2006-10 and twice in NEC title games (RMU won in 2009 and Mount won in 2014).
Last Friday, the longtime rivals met up in Moon Township with ostensibly less at stake, but still an important game with both teams looking to build their non-conference resume.
In the end, it was Mount St. Mary’s who evened the all-time series at 36-36, with a thrilling, come-from-behind 74-70 overtime win.
The Mountaineers missed 12 of their first 13 shots of the game as the Colonials jumped out to a 35-22 lead at the half, and RMU seemed to be cruising with a 17-point edge early in the second half, but the Mountaineers weren’t about to go down quietly.
Trailing 51-36 with under 13 minutes remaining, the Mount went on a 16-0 run over the next 5:20 to take the lead, sparked by five points from senior forward Mezie Offurum (Germantown, MD/Georgetown Prep (GWU)) and two buckets apiece from senior forward Malik Jefferson (Hopewell, VA/Hopewell) and junior guard Jalen Benjamin (Raleigh, NC/Meadowcreek (GA) (UAB)).
From there it became a back-and-forth affair, one that RMU had a chance to ice with seven seconds to play.
However, former SFBK star Rasheem Dunn missed the second of two free throws, and Offurum alertly caught the Colonials off guard and pushed the ball up quickly in transition. Delivering a one-handed, cross court bounce pass from 15 feet behind the midcourt stripe, the ball found senior guard Deandre Thomas (Inglewood, CA/Millwood School (VA) (Samford)) in stride in the deep corner. Wide open, Thomas coolly sank a triple with 1.2 seconds on the clock to send the game to OT.
With the momentum swung in Mount’s favor, Benjamin helped seal the deal in the extra session, putting his team up 69-64 on a layup with 51 seconds remaining, then hitting two free throws to go up six with 21 ticks left to play.
The 17-point comeback was the fifth biggest in Mount’s DI era (since 1988-89). The last time the Mountaineers overcame a bigger deficit was an 18-point first half hole in a 73-71 win at St. Francis Brooklyn on March 2, 2019. The largest deficit the Mount has overcome in the D1 era was 21 points when trailing LIU, 25-4, in the first half before earning a 61-54 victory on January 17, 2015.
Benjamin paced the Mountaineers with 19 points and four assists, while Offurum rang up 18 points and six boards. Jefferson snared a season-high 14 rebounds and senior forward Nana Opoku (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) registered his first double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Adding to the rivalry nature of the game, it also marked an NEC reunion of sorts with Dunn joined by former Bryant guard Michael Green III in the RMU starting backcourt. While they combined for 29 points, the Mount limited the duo to 9-26 shooting from the field and 1-5 from 3P range, and forced eight turnovers.
ICE ICE BABY! WARRIORS FREEZE LEHIGH IN LAWLER DEBUT
If they can play NHL games at Fenway Park, why not hoops at Merrimack’s Lawler Arena, home of the Warrior ice hockey team?
With some out-of-the-box thinking and planning, the 49-year old hockey venue provided a unique setting on Saturday, and a sellout crowd of 3,000 did not go home disappointed as Merrimack pulled away late to post a 55-45 win over Lehigh and improve to 3-2 on the season.
The Warriors did it with a suffocating defense that limited the Mountain Hawks to 0.73 PPP on 34.0 percent shooting from the floor.
And as usual, Merrimack was causing chaos all over the court, forcing turnovers on 30.6 percent of Lehigh’s possessions and 19 for the night.
With 10 steals and 11 blocks, the Warriors became just the ninth team this season to finish with double-digit totals in both categories against another DI team. In fact, Merrimack became the first NEC team to turn the trick since CCSU finished with 10 rejections and 10 steals in a 64-62 win over Hartford on November 13, 2010.
Offensively, it was senior guard Mikey Watkins (Roselle, NJ/Linden) who made the key play, with a steal and subsequent layup with 1:03 to play to give the Warriors a 52-45 lead.
SHU PACKS THE PITT
The two schools are separated by just over five miles, yet had never met at the William H. Pitt Center.
So when Sacred Heart and Fairfield tangled on Saturday, people took notice. Lots of ‘em.
A record 3,873 packed the Pitt in a game that aired on SNY with Fairfield securing the 71-61 win.
It marked just the eighth meeting in history between the two schools and first since 2016.
FLOWERS CAREER IN PERSPECTIVE
A quick glance at the NEC active leader lists and you’ll notice one name atop every single major category.
In a nod to his longevity in the league and his remarkable all-around skill set, LIU graduate student Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (UMass)) has accumulated some remarkable career numbers, so much so, that he has few peers on a national level.
Flowers, who began his career at UMass, is now in his fourth season at LIU. In his time with the Sharks, he has compiled 1,252 points, 691 rebounds, 200 assists, 118 steals, 125 blocks and 170 three-pointers. He ranks first among active NEC players in all six categories.
Throw in his numbers from UMass and those numbers balloon to 1,401 points, 776 rebounds, 224 assists, 127 steals, 140 blocks and 203 three pointers.
Rounding things off, let’s look at the list of players across the nation who have amassed at least 1,400 points, 750 rebounds, 200 assists, 125 steals, 140 blocks and 200 3P over the course of their careers since the start of the 1992-93 season.
It’s quite the short list.
Ty Flowers (LIU/UMass): 1,401p, 776r, 224a, 127s, 140b, 203 3P
Shane Battier (Duke): 1,966p, 842r, 239a, 266s, 254b and 246 3P.
That's some pretty good company for the Waterbury, CT native.
Interestingly, a pair of former NEC greats were among a select number of players nationwide who even approached these numbers.
CCSU’s Ken Horton (2008-12) finished his Blue Devil career with 1,966 points, 842 rebounds, 182 assists, 139 steals, 195 blocks and 158 3P.
FDU’s Gordon Klaiber (2003-06) wrapped his time in Hackensack with 1,589 points, 698 rebounds, 142 assists, 141 steals, 143 blocks and 159 3P.
SEE YOU SOON
After impressive season opening wins over Hartford and VCU, NEC preseason favorite Wagner was sidelined last week due to multiple positive Covid-19 tests among the Seahawks’ Tier 1 personnel.
Wagner’s games against Saint Peter’s and NJIT were postponed.
The status of future games will be determined at a later date.
ELISIAS HOSTS BLOCK PARTY, SETS PROGRAM MARK
After just a little more than two seasons in Smithfield, Bryant’s man in the middle has risen to the top of the recordbook.
On Sunday, Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South (New Mexico JC)), a 6’8” grad student out of Valley Stream, NY, became the Bulldogs’ all-time shots blocks leader in the school’s DI era. Needing two rejections to set the record, he finished with six in Bryant’s 78-62 win over Holy Cross to life his career total to 152. He broke Dan Garvin’s mark of 148 set from 2013-17.
Elisias, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds to go along with the six blocks, leads the NEC and ranks fifth nationally with 4.0 bpg this season.
GRAND DAY FOR KISS
On his way to a career-high 35-point outing vs. Holy Cross on Sunday, Bryant redshirt senior guard Peter Kiss (New York, NY/Notre Dame Prep (Rutgers/Quinnipiac)) reached a significant career milestone as well.
With a layup at the 13:22 mark of the first half, the New York City native reached 1,000 career points. He wrapped the 78-62 win with 1,031 points. Kiss has scored 439 of those points over the last two seasons at Bryant, after scoring 413 at Quinnipiac in 2016-17 and 179 at Rutgers in 2018-19.
The 35 points tied for the second-most by a Bryant player in DI program history, matching the 35-point effort by Dyami Starks vs. Delaware on December 21, 2013 at Madison Square Garden.
MOUNT MILESTONE TRACKING
Mount St. Mary’s senior forward Nana Opoku’s (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) three blocks at RMU gave him 152 for his career, good for third all-time at the school.
Classmate Malik Jefferson (Hopewell, VA/Hopewell) pulled down 14 boards to push his career total to 628 and tie him for fourth with Pat Atangana (2000-04) in the Mount’s DI era.
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.
According to KenPom’s Win Probability metric, Mount St. Mary’s posted the 21st best comeback of the young season when it overcame a 17-point second half deficit to defeat former NEC rival Robert Morris in Moon Township. The Mountaineers had a 3.7 percent chance to win after Robert Morris took a 51-36 lead with just under 13 minutes to play in the second half. Dan Engelstad’s group then embarked on a critical 16-0 run to eventually push the contest into overtime and earn its first DI victory of the 2021-22 season.
Central Connecticut super senior Stephane Ayangma (Yaounde, Cameroon/Picayune Memorial (Hinds CC (MS))) has picked up where he left off after a strong finish to his 2020-21 season. Through five games, the bouncy big man has produced a KenPom offensive rating of 108.4, buoyed by microscopic turnover rate (6.9 percent) and a solid effective field goal percentage of 50.0 percent. He’s also attacking the offensive glass with ferocity, averaging 2.0 offensive rebounds per game while posting the 226th best offensive rebounding rate (11.1 percent) in the country.
Two NEC teams are currently posting an adjusted defensive efficiency in the top half of college basketball with Merrimack (96.4, 99th) and Wagner (99.9, 171st) illustrating their excellence in stopping opponents from scoring. The Seahawks (2-0) are one of 59 undefeated teams in college basketball at the moment, whereas when the Warriors have been victorious (Emerson, NJIT and Lehigh), they’ve held those opponents to a paltry 0.71 points per possession.
Sacred Heart’s Cantavio Dutreil (Gonaives, Haiti/Trinity Catholic (North Alabama/Harcum College)) turned in an impressive performance in a losing effort to in-town rival Fairfield, registering six points, nine rebounds and four blocks in 27 minutes on Saturday night. In the second half, Dutreil’s athleticism shined through as the senior registered four blocks in 24 Fairfield possessions, posting a splendid block rate of 16.7 percent for the period. In the young season, Dutreil has impressively grabbed a defensive rebound on 33.8 percent of the opponent’s misses when he’s on the floor.
Coming off a loss on Saturday, Bryant senior guard Peter Kiss (New York, NY/Notre Dame Prep (Rutgers/Quinnipiac)) wasn’t going to let his team lose to Holy Cross the following day. In scoring a career-high 35 points in Bryant’s comfortable win, the senior accounted for 45 percent of the Bulldog’s points, and converted 5-of-7 shots when he took defenders off the dribble and finished near the rim, according to Shot Quality. Thus far this season, Kiss has made 68.8 percent of his near-the-rim shots when attacking off the bounce.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
A young core of talent seems to be developing at CCSU. After classmate Joe Ostrowsky (Mount Pleasant, MI/Cheshire Academy (CT)) earned the first NEC Rookie of the Week honor of the season last Monday, CCSU freshman guard Trenton McLaughlin (Chandler, AZ/Basha) scored in double figures twice last week. He dropped 13 points on 5-8 from the field and 3-6 from downtown at NC State on Tuesday, and added 11 more, including a 3-5 mark from distance, at Quinnipiac on Saturday. For the week, he averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg.
FDU junior guard Devon Dunn (Washington, D.C./St. John’s College) had himself a game at St. John’s on Saturday, draining 6-8 from three-point range and 8-10 overall to lead all scorers with a career-high 24 points. Dunn’s three shots from downtown sparked a 23-10 run that cut a 22-point Red Storm lead down to nine with 4:14 to play.
FDU sophomore forward John Square Jr., (North Bethesda, MD/St. John’s College) has yet to commit a turnover in 54 minutes of action this season.
After missing three games with an injury, Sacred Heart senior guard Aaron Clarke (Parsippany, NJ/Pope John) returned to the lineup with a game-high 21 points against Fairfield on Saturday.
Sacred Heart’s 60-point margin of victory over NAIA Fisher was the largest in the school’s DI era.
St. Francis Brooklyn junior guard Rob Higgins (Middletown, NJ/Middletown North) matched his career-high with five steals at Penn State on Thursday.
Saint Francis U sophomore guard Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, OH/Archbishop Moeller) posted a career-high 19 points along with seven rebounds against Franciscan on Monday.
Saint Francis U senior forward Marlon Hargis (Mays Landing, NJ/St. Augustine Prep (Holy Cross)) came off the bench to drain 5-6 shots and 2-3 from distance in a game-high 15-point outing at Virginia Tech on Thursday.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We go back to the well with Saint Francis U head coach Rob Krimmel after the Red Flash beat Franciscan last Monday.
“When you have a chance to tell a story with your games, we jump on those opportunities and what better way to tell a story than a rivalry that goes back well before I was born. To share that experience on a basketball court. You can bring two basketball teams together that share the same mission and vision. There are not many basketball games that end with a prayer. Two teams coming together and sharing a moment. It’s a pretty special event, a pretty special game that I hope we can continue.”