NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Eral Penn, LIU
6’7”, 210 lbs.
R-Sr., F, Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Academy (MD)
Penn was firing on all cylinders in earning the second NEC Player of the Week honor of his career. The Brooklyn native scored a season-high 23 points on 8-13 shooting and matched a career-best with four three-pointers as the Sharks caught fire from downtown in a dominant 90-65 home win over Army on Sunday to close out non-conference play. Penn, who went 4-6 from distance, contributed to LIU’s NEC single-game season-high 16 three-pointers. He also added five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal in 21 minutes. Penn is third in the NEC in scoring (15.2), ninth in rebounding (6.2), eighth in blocks (0.9) and ninth in made three-pointers (1.9).

NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jaylin Gibson, Mount St. Mary’s
6’3”, 190 lbs.
Fr., G, Evanston, IL/Legacy of Sport Sciences (TX)
Gibson provided an offensive spark off the bench in the Mount’s 74-60 win over Morgan State at Knott Arena on Saturday. He hit 3-4 shots from outside the arc and 4-5 overall to finish one off his career-high with 13 points in 15 minutes. Gibson, who hails from Evanston, IL, drained a pair of triples during a 13-2 second half run that extended the Mount’s lead to 59-47 with 8:39 to play. He is shooting 41.2 percent from long range on the year.

NEC PRIME PERFORMERS

Nigel Scantlebury (CCSU, Jr, G)
Scantlebury paced the Blue Devils with 17.5 ppg, 5.0 apg and 1.5 spg in a 1-1 week. He tallied 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists at Stony Brook, then went for 18 points, six assists and a pair of steals in Saturday’s home win over Hartford. The junior point guard ranks 12th in the NEC in scoring (12.7) and sixth in assists (3.3).

Ty Flowers (LIU, Gr, F)
Flowers averaged a double-double with 20.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.5 spg and 1.0 bpg in a 2-0 week for the Sharks. He tallied 17 points and nine boards in LIU’s easy win over Army on Sunday. Flowers ranks in the NEC top-10 in scoring (15.0, fourth), rebounding (6.6, fifth), assists (2.7, ninth), steals (1.5, tenth), blocks (1.7, fourth) and made three-pointers (2.8, second).

Eral Penn (LIU, R-Sr, F)
Penn rang up a season-high 23 points, hit 4-6 shots from outside the arc and snared five boards as LIU rolled over Army, 90-65, in Brooklyn on Sunday. The four triples equaled his career-high and he converted 8-13 from the field. Penn checks in this week as the NEC’s third-leading scorer (15.2) and ninth-leading rebounder (6.2).

Jalen Benjamin (MSM, Jr, G)
Benjamin registered 17 points and eight assists in the Mount’s 14-point win over Morgan State on Saturday. The junior guard was 5-11 from the field and 3-6 from three-point land. Benjamin leads the NEC with 4.4 apg, and ranks 10th in the league with 13.4 ppg.

Nico Galette (SHU, So, F)
Galette scored 18 points on 8-13 shooting and hit 2-3 from long range in Monday’s 10-point win at Columbia. For the week, the NJ native averaged 15.5 ppg on 56.5 percent shooting overall and 5-8 from three, and added 6.5 rpg and 1.5 spg. Galette paces the NEC with 8.8 rpg and contributes 9.7 ppg.

Tyler Thomas (SHU, Jr, G)
Thomas led the Pios with 19 points on 9-13 shooting, and pitched in with five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in Monday’s 79-69 road win at Columbia. For the week, he contributed 16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.0 bpg in a SHU split.

Ronell Giles, Jr. (SFU, So, G)
Giles averaged 16.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg and 2.0 spg in SFU’s 1-1 week. He shot at a 50.0 percent clip from the field and 81.8 percent from the line. In Tuesday’s 81-66 victory at Hartford, he hit 7-9 shots and finished with a team-high 17 points, and added four dimes and three steals. The sophomore from Brandywine, MD is the ninth-leading point producer in the conference with 13.6 ppg.
 
TOP STORYLINES FROM #NECMBB WEEK SIX

MILLENNIUM CLUB TO GROW IN 2022
 
The NEC tipped off the 2021-22 season with just one returning player already ensconced in the 1,000-point club, but he’ll have plenty of company by season’s end.
 
LIU graduate student Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart HS (UMass)) entered the campaign with 1,213 points over three seasons in Brooklyn, and has since upped that total to 1,363 points.
 
It’s a 428 point gap between Flowers and the next in line.
 
Sacred Heart senior Aaron Clarke (Parsippany, NJ/Pope John) will likely be the next to reach the 1,000-point plateau, as he enters play this week with 935 points.
 
Others on target to hit the milestone are CCSU junior guard Ian Krishnan (Gaithersburg, MD/Proctor Academy (NH)) (869), Mount senior forward Malik Jefferson (Hopewell, VA/Hopewell) (836), Saint Francis U senior forward Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) (829), Saint Francis U senior forward Myles Thompson (Camden, NJ/Camden) (826), Mount redshirt senior center Nana Opoku (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) (821), Wagner graduate student Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)) (797), Sacred Heart junior guard Tyler Thomas (New Haven, CT/Amity Regional (Williston)) (749) and Bryant junior guard Charles Pride (Syracuse, NY/Liverpool (Putnam Science (CT)) (696).
 
There have been 239 players in the 40+ year history of the NEC who have reached 1,000 career points.
 
3P SHARK ATTACK
 
After entering the week shooting 28.5 percent and making 7.4 three-pointers per outing, LIU turned those numbers around in a big way.
 
Over two wins, the Sharks made 28-66 from three-point land, at a 42.4 clip.
 
Of note, LIU made an NEC single-game season-high 16 triples in 36 attempts in Sunday’s 90-65 rout of Army to wrap non-league play. The 16 threes were the most for the program since draining 16 against SFBK on January 30, 2021.
 
NEC Player of the Week Eral Penn (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Academy (MD)) and Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart HS (UMass)) made four apiece, while redshirt junior guard Alex Rivera (Lowell, MA/Lowell (UMass Lowell)) sank three from distance.
 
ANALYTICS ACCOLADES
 
Now six weeks into the 2021-22 season, let’s take a peek at a trio of players whose value may be somewhat lost in the traditional boxscore, but spikes when digging a bit deeper.
 
Wagner redshirt senior forward Raekwon Rogers (Little Rock, AR/Little Rock Central (Henderson State)) is a seasoned big with a feathery touch who has delivered in a big way for the Seahawks since transferring from Henderson State. Rogers has been an efficient scorer for Wagner both inside and mid-range, converting at a 62.5 percent clip at the rim along with 63.2 percent of his two-point jumpers. His 118.7 offensive rating is fourth in the conference among players who have played at least 40 percent of their team’s minutes and he ranks third in offensive rebound percentage. He averages 8.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 1.0 bpg on the year.
 
Following a promising freshman campaign a year ago, Fairleigh Dickinson forward John Square Jr. (North Bethesda, MD/St. John’s College) has continued to make strides for a youthful Knights team that has played the 32nd toughest schedule in the nation according to KenPom. Square has made 55.6 percent of his shots at the rim, which account for 75 percent of his attempts. He too has found success at the mid-range level, draining 60.0 percent of his opportunities. Square is also fourth on the circuit in offensive rebound percentage. The North Bethesda, MD native has contributed 6.9 ppg and 4.3 rpg over his 10 starts.
 
Bryant graduate student forward Greg Calixte (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon (George Mason)) has been a productive option off the bench for the Bulldogs. The George Mason transfer is averaging 5.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg while seeing the court for just over 16 minutes per outing. A nimble post player with a nice touch around the rim, Calixte has hit 74.3 percent of his shots from two-point range, possesses a robust 111.9 offensive rating, and is averaging 14.0 ppg and 10.8 rpg per 40 minutes.

PREVIEWING NEC/MAAC SHOWDOWN & SFU/RMU RIVALRY RENEWAL
 
There are a host of intriguing matchups as the NEC wraps non-league play this week, including a battle of two teams trending up heading into the new year and a pair of old rivals going head-to-head.
 
Preseason favorite Wagner, which leads the NEC in both the NET (58) and KenPom (134) ranking, heads north to take on a surging Fairfield squad on Thursday. At 8-4 on the year, the Stags had their five-game win streak snapped on Sunday in an OT loss at UMass. Fairfield ranks third in the MAAC in both the NET (114) and KenPom (155).
 
The game will be a battle of two teams that lead their respective conferences in scoring margin, field goal percentage and rebound margin.
 
Subplot to watch: Facing a Wagner team that is forcing 16.2 turnovers and 9.8 steals per game, and ranks 18th nationally in steal percentage and 26th in turnover rate, Fairfield is one of the best nationally at taking care of the rock. The Stags cough the ball up just 11.0 times per game to rank 49th in the country. The starting backcourt of Taj Benning and Caleb Green have produced a combined 3.17 assist-to-turnover ratio and turned the ball over just 24 times over 12 games.
 
One day earlier, Keystone State rivals Saint Francis U and Robert Morris renew their acquaintance in Loretto.
 
The Red Flash had won nine straight in the series against their former NEC rival until the Colonials clipped them in the final game of the 2019-20 regular season and then again in the 2020 NEC title game.
 
SFU is 2-0 at home this season and 3-3 in its last six outings, while RMU is 0-7 on the road and still looking for its first DI win of the season. The Colonials fell in OT to Mount St. Mary’s back on November 19 in Moon Township.
 
RMU features two former NEC talents in Michael Green III (Bryant) and Rasheem Dunn (SFBK).
 
Matchup to keep an eye on: The SFU big man tandem of Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) and Josh Cohen (Lincroft, NJ/CBA) will go head-to-head with RMU senior forward Kahliel Spear. Spear leads the Colonials in scoring (12.8), rebounding (8.1) and blocks (1.2), while Flagg and Cohen combine to average 17.2 ppg, 12.0 rpg and are shooting 57.7 percent from the field.
 
“It’s another opportunity for us to play at home,” said SFU head coach Rob Krimmel on the upcoming game with RMU. “Regardless of the opponent you have to protect your home court and defend DeGol. Obviously, there is a little different element when you play Robert Morris and a rivalry that goes back along time. Its our last non-conference game and for us it’s a chance to build a little bit of momentum going into conference play. For that rivalry game, it’s a game that we played a lot as a member of the Northeast Conference and we hope to continue to play throughout the years. Its another opportunity to compete at DeGol and looking forward to competing with these guys.”
 
FLOWERS STAT SUPERLATIVES
 
There’s little LIU graduate student forward Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (UMass)) can't do on the hardwood.
 
In fact, Flowers is currently the lone player in the NEC ranked in the top-10 in each of the five major statistical categories.
 
He ranks fourth in scoring (15.0), fifth in rebounding (6.6), ninth in assists (2.7), tenth in steals (1.5) and fourth in blocks (1.7). If he finishes the year in the top-10 in each category, he will become the first to do so in the conference since...Flowers turned the trick last season. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to the 1998-99 season when Quinnipiac’s Nate Pondexter ended the year tenth in scoring (14.4), second in rebounding (8.6) and assists (5.3), eighth in steals (2.0) and tenth in blocks (0.6).
 
Likewise, Flowers is one of just two players in the nation this season averaging at least 15.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg. The other is Furman senior forward Jalen Slawson. In fact, over the last decade, only three players have ended a season reaching each of those statistical thresholds: Coppin State’s Anthony Tarke in 2020-21, Cal Northridge’s Lamine Diane in 2019-20 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Rashawn Thomas in 2016-17.
 
RDC FILLS IT UP IN ROAD WIN
 
SFU redshirt senior guard Ramiir Dixon-Conover (Newark, NJ/South Kent (Southeastern CC)) established a new career-high with six steals last Tuesday, the highlight of a unique stat line in the Red Flash’s 81-66 road conquest of Hartford.
 
Dixon-Conover finished the night with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, to go along with the six steals. In doing so, he became just the sixth player across the nation this season with at least 13/5/5/6 in a game vs. a DI opponent.
 
The Newark, NJ native has hit double digits in eight of nine games this season, and is the league’s seventh-leading scorer in the league with 13.9 ppg. He is also the NEC steals leader with 2.3 per game and his 4.0 apg ranks fourth.
 
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.
 
Culminating with a decisive victory over Army on Sunday, LIU has now registered a KenPom offensive rating of 119 or greater in each of its three victories at home this season. In those wins, the Sharks have made 42=of-104 from long distance, driving a splendid effective field goal percentage of 58.1 percent. If you count the 2020-21 season, LIU is 7-1 when posting an effective field goal percentage of 50 percent or better in a contest.
 
Sacred Heart sophomore Nico Galette (Rahway, NJ/Rutgers Prep)  has improved his analytics profile over the past two games, scoring 31 points in a 1-1 week. Despite getting off to a slow start from behind the arc, the persistent Galette has gone 5-of-8 from deep over the last two with all five of those makes in the catch-and-shoot variety. Additionally, Galette continues to stable the Pioneers on the defensive boards, grabbing an opponent’s missed shot 22.4 percent of time, good for 149th nationally among all DI players.
 
Rob Krimmel has done well to forge an offensive identity by embracing his slashers and strong frontcourt. Saint Francis has run plenty of ball screens, mainly with Ronell Giles, Jr. (Brandywine, MD/Charles Herbert Flowers) and Ramiir Dixon-Conover (Newark, NJ/South Kent (Southeastern CC)) as the ball handler, that end with a shot on 21 percent of the Red Flash’s possessions (72nd nationally), while posting up its bigs 12 percent of the time (33rd). The efficient offensive approach has also been aided by an offensive turnover rate of 15.6 percent, the 28th best mark in DI.
 
Ian Krishnan (Gaithersburg, MD/Proctor Academy (MD)), the four-year guard for CCSU, had a game on Saturday draining all four of his triples in a terrific 21-point effort. The excellent shooting from deep was long overdue - per Shot Quality, Krishnan has had quality looks from deep all season long. Shot Quality considers Krishnan to be in the top 99th percentile when it comes to shot quality points per game (SQ PPP), registering a 1.18 SQ PPP on off-the-dribble three-point attempts and a 1.27 SQ PPP on catch-and-shoot three-point attempts. It was only a matter of time before the smooth shooting senior would start draining them.
 
Sixth man of the year? If the NEC ever issued such a yearly award, one of the favorites would be Wagner’s Will Martinez (Bronx, NY/Wings Academy (Monroe College)), who continues to thrive coming off the bench for Bashir Mason’s deep squad. Per Hoop Explorer, the Seahawks are significantly better offensively when the 6-foot-5 wing is on the floor, with Wagner scoring 29 more points per 100 possessions (adjusted based on schedule) this season. While much of what Martinez has done is terrific, perhaps most noteworthy is that Martinez has made 12 of his 14 near-the-rim shots (85.7 percent), per Hoop Math.
 
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S RED FLASH (NOT MUCH OF A) VACATION
 
Like a number of NEC teams this season, Saint Francis U has taken on a road warrior attitude this season...literally.
 
The Red Flash has bused to each of their eight away games in non-conference play. The team has covered 2,395 miles driving to each location and 4,790 miles round trip.
 
With SFU head coach Rob Krimmel being a fan of Clark Griswold and the National Lampoon Vacation movies, an apt comparison to the miles the Flash have travelled on the season would be if the Griswold’s travelled 2,408 miles from Chicago to a closed up Wally World.
 
In the past week alone, SFU covered 1,914 miles by bus round trip to Hartford and Illinois.
 
TALES FROM THE ROAD
 
Road wins are hard to come by, much less decisive ones.
 
Over the first six weeks of the non-conference season, NEC teams have combined for seven double-digit road wins.

NEC Double-Digit Road Wins
Sacred Heart 79, Lafayette 69
St. Francis Brooklyn 71, Saint Peter’s 60
St. Francis Brooklyn 75, Delaware St. 61
Saint Francis U 79, Lehigh 68
Saint Francis U 81, Hartford 66
Wagner 58, VCU 44
Wagner 78, Stony Brook 49
 
STOCKING STUFFERS
 
CCSU junior guard Ian Krishnan (Gaithersburg, MD/Proctor Academy (NH)) posted a season-high 21 points that included a 4-4 mark from three-point range in Saturday’s 75-65 win over Hartford.
 
CCSU finished with four double-digit scorers in back-to-back games last week, including Sunday’s win over Hartford when the Blue Devils hit a season-high 10 three-pointers in 19 attempts (.526).
 
Mount St. Mary’s redshirt senior forward Nana Opoku (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) set a season-high with five rejections in the Mount’s win over Morgan State on Sunday. It marked the sixth time in his career with five or more blocks. Opoku set a career-high with nine blocks against SFU back on February 2, 2019.
 
Sacred Heart freshman forward Tanner Thomas (Springfield, MA/ Williston Northampton), the younger brother of NEC leading scorer Tyler Thomas (New Haven, CT/Amity Regional (Williston)), recorded five points on 2-2 shooting, to go along with four boards and a steal in 12 minutes during the Pioneers’ win at Columbia last Monday.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn freshman forward Max Egner (Woodside, NY/Brewster Academy) exploded for 19 points and 14 rebounds in the first double-double of his young career in the Terriers’ win over Medgar Evers on Tuesday. He made 6-8 shots, hit 7-8 from the stripe and blocked two shots.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn junior guard Tedrick Wilcox Jr. (Pawtucket, RI/William E. Tolman (Dominican)) made 4-5 from three-point land to match his season-high of 19 points vs. Medgar Evers.

Saint Francis defeated Hartford, 81-66, in the inaugural Jack Phelan Classic on Wednesday. Phelan played for the Red Flash from 1973-77 and still holds the DeGol Arena record with 42 points a game in overtime win against Duquesne in 1977. Phelan went on to coach at Hartford for over 10 years and was elected into the Hartford Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Saint Francis Hall of Fame 10 years later. He died in July 2020. The two teams are slated to meet against next season in Loretto.
 
Wagner graduate student guard Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)) did a little of everything in a 21-minute cameo during Wagner’s win over Immaculata on Thursday. He racked up 16 points, five rebound, five assists, three steals and a block, while hitting 7-9 from the field. The reigning NEC Player of the Year ranks in the NEC top-10 in scoring (16.2), rebounding (6.2), field goal percentage (.660), assists (4.2), free throw percentage (.789) and steals (1.8).