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NEC Player of the Week: Malachi Davis, LIU
NEC Rookie of the Week: Paris Papadatos, Saint Francis

Previous NEC Releases: December 1 | November 24 | November 17 | November 10 | Preseason Poll Release
 
NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Malachi Davis, LIU
Guard, Redshirt Senior, 6-4, 175 lbs., Scarborough, Ontario/Central Tech (Arizona State)
Davis doubled his weekly award count to two after he led all NEC players in scoring in LIU’s 1-1 week. The redshirt senior guard averaged 22.0 points on impressive 51.4 shooting from the field while adding 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals during that two-game stretch. Davis was a steady offensive presence for the Sharks, who came up short in overtime to visiting Winthrop by a 94-92 final. Knocking down 50.0 percent of his field goal attempts, he was one of five LIU players — and one of four starters — to notch double figures with 14 points in the hard-fought defeat to the Eagles. Later in the week on Saturday, Davis put together one of his finest outings to date this season. The Canadian sunk 12 shots and went 6-of-8 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with his first-ever 30-point outing. In addition, Davis, who pulled down 10 boards for his first double-double of the year, added season-best numbers in assists (7) and steals (5). He came up clutch in the last five minutes, as he held off the Mountain Hawks by scoring 10 of his team’s final 16 points. Davis is second among fellow Sharks in scoring, assists per game (3.0) and steals per game (1.8).

NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Paris Papadatos, Saint Francis
Guard, Freshman, 6-4, 190 lbs., Alimos, Greece/St. Thomas Aquinas (NJ)
Papadatos, a rookie, was the Red Flash’s top scorer in two of their final three games last week. Eclipsing the 15-point plateau twice during that stretch, the Greece native averaged 12.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field (13-of-26). In his collegiate debut at Xavier on Monday, the 6-foot-4 guard scored two points in four minutes of action. Papadatos hit his groove in his first career start against Penn State Shenango on Wednesday. After missing his first shots of the game, he connected on seven of his next nine attempts, including 3-of-5 from distance, to close out the game with a team-best 19 points. On Sunday, Papadatos went 5-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three for 15 points at Radford. He is the first Saint Francis player to garner NEC Rookie of the Week honors this season.


NEC PRIME PERFORMERS
 
Jay Rodgers, CCSU (G, Sr)
Rodgers, who averaged 10.5 points in a pair of road games at Seton Hall and Northeastern, was an assist-producing machine during that stretch. Dropping eight dimes against the Pirates on Wednesday, the senior guard dished out seven more while committing just one miscue against the Huskies on Sunday.
 
Darin Smith, Jr., CCSU (F, So)
The NEC’s top scorer tacked on two more double-digit scoring games to his count when he followed a 20-point outing at Seton Hall on Wednesday with a 12-point effort at Northeastern on Sunday. The sophomore forward averaged 16.0 points per game and combined to knock down five three-pointers for the Blue Devils during that stretch.
 
Shilo Jackson, LEM (F, Gr)
Jackson recorded 14 points and 10 boards in a 78-63 win at Binghamton on Saturday to extend his double-double streak to four, the longest of any NEC player this season. The graduate forward shot 50.0 percent from the floor (6-of-12) while adding two assists and a steal in the “Battle for the Interstate.”
 
Trent Mosquera, LEM (G, R-Jr)
Mosquera scored 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, a 4-of-6 clip from three and a 5-of-5 effort from the charity stripe to lead Le Moyne past Binghamton by a 78-63 final. Netting 11 of his game-best point total in the first half of the wire-to-wire win, the redshirt junior guard added four boards, four assists and two steals in the “Battle for the Interstate.”
 
Malachi Davis, LIU (G, R-Sr)
Davis led all NEC players with a 22.0 point-per-game average in LIU’s 1-1 week. The redshirt senior guard dropped 14 points in an overtime defeat to Winthrop before he eclipsed the 30-point mark for the first time this season with 30 points in a win over Lehigh on Saturday. Davis was also named the NEC Player of the Week.
 
Jamal Fuller, LIU (G/F, Gr)
Fuller dropped 20 points against both Winthrop and Lehigh last week. Averaging 5.5 boards during that stretch, the graduate guard/forward shot a sizzling 63.2 percent from the field (12-of-19), including a season-best 66.7 percent (6-of-9) in Saturday’s win over the Mountain Hawks.
 
Greg Gordon, LIU (G, Sr)
Behind 58.1 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-31), Gordon averaged 20.5 points while adding 7.0 boards, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals in LIU’s 1-1 week that featured a hard-fought overtime defeat to Winthrop on Tuesday and a win over Lehigh on Saturday. The senior guard shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) and racked up 27 points against the Eagles before he came one board shy of his first double-double of the year with 14 points and nine rebounds against the Mountain Hawks.
 
Bernie Blunt III, MU (G, Gr)
Blunt averaged 20.0 points on 51.7 percent shooting from the field (15-of-29) in a 1-1 week for Mercyhurst. Dropping 17 points at Lafayette on Friday, the graduate guard drilled 4-of-7 shots from distance for 23 points against Bethany in a game that extended his double-digit scoring streak to nine.
 
Skylar Wicks, SFU (G/F, R-Sr)
Combining to shoot 43.3 percent from the floor (13-of-30), Wicks averaged 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in a pair of games against Xavier and Radford. The redshirt senior posted 19 points and eight boards against the Musketeers for his third game of at least 18 points against a power conference squad on Monday before he netted 14 points against the Highlanders on Sunday.
 
Davante Hackett, STO (G, Jr)
Hackett registered twin figures in scoring for the fourth-straight outing on Tuesday at Bryant. The junior guard shot 53.8 percent from the floor (7-of-13) for 16 points while adding six boards and a season-best five steals.
 
Nick Jones, WAG (G, Jr)
Jones put up double figures for the sixth time in seven games on Tuesday when he led all Seahawks with 16 points against Big 10 opponent Maryland. Pacing Wagner in scoring while ranking fourth in the league this season with 16.6 points per game, the junior guard added a block and a pair of steals to his count.


#NECMBB BY THE NUMBERS

4 - Wagner's Nick Jones is one of four players nationwide with at least 35 points, six rebounds and six points in a game this year as he turned the trick last week against Manhattan.

30 - LIU guard Malachi Davis became the first NEC player since 2022 to register a double-double fueled by a 30-point outing (30p, 10r) vs. Lehigh.

5 - Le Moyne forward Shilo Jackson’s six double-doubles this season are good for fifth-most among all players in the nation.


#NECMBB FAST BREAK

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: The Blue Devils led three teams listed inside the NET Rankings’ top-200 with a 151 rating in the first release of the ratings.

CHICAGO STATE: Just one other NEC player has gone to the line more than Marcus Tankersley, who has made 44 trips for Chicago State.

FDU: FDU has drilled 88 three-pointers this season and leads the circuit with 9.8 long-range makes per game.

LE MOYNE: Le Moyne’s combined 48.9 field goal percentage leads all NEC squads this season.

LIU: LIU’s win over Lehigh on Saturday marked the program’s first against the Mountain Hawks since 2004. 

MERCYHURST: Graduate guard Bernie Blunt III has netted double figures in each of his last nine games.

NEW HAVEN: New Haven led for the game’s first 30:42, but came up short in a hard-fought battle at Boston College by a 64-62 final on Saturday.

SAINT FRANCIS: Skylar Wicks’ 18.4 point-per-game average is the highest for a Red Flash player since Josh Cohen netted 21.8 ppg in 2022-23.

STONEHILL: Sophomore Hermann Koffi ranks 23rd in the nation in three-pointers (32) and is 34th in three-pointers per game (3.2).

WAGNER: Wagner combined to shoot 30-of-36 from the charity stripe in two games last week for a .833 clip in that stretch.


#NECMBB NEWS & NOTES

WHAT’S ON TAP?
With final exams on the horizon, the sixth week of the 2025-26 season is a light one. Eight of 10 teams are set to hit the hardwood, with Central Connecticut and Le Moyne being the lone two idle squads.

FDU kicks off the stretch on Wednesday when it crosses the Hudson River and heads to the Bronx to take on Fordham. New Haven is also in action on Hump Day as it heads to NJIT looking to remain perfect against America East squads this season.

This week’s eight-game slate concludes on Sunday with a matchup between two Windy City squads. Chicago State heads to crosstown foe Loyola Chicago looking to follow in the footsteps of league member Mercyhurst, which knocked off the Ramblers by a 73-65 final last month.

DIRTY 30
LIU redshirt senior guard Malachi Davis (Scarborough, Ontario/Central Tech (Arizona State)) became the NEC’s first 30-point scorer to achieve a double-double this season. Dropping 30 on Lehigh in Saturday’s 87-82 win, he pulled down 10 boards for his first double-double of the season.

Davis’ 30/10 double-double marked the NEC’s first since Bryant’s Charles Pride had 44 points and 12 rebounds against Saint Francis on Feb. 3, 2022.

LE MOYNE CLAIMS BATTLE FOR THE INTERSTATE
Le Moyne took the 75-mile drive down I-81 and came out of the Parlor City with a 78-63 win over America East opponent Binghamton in a game that has been coined the “Battle for the Interstate” on Saturday.

Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera (Boston, MA/Belmont Hill School) tallied 21 points, with 11 of his game-high scoring total coming in a first half that saw the Dolphins jump out to a 13-0 lead in the wire-to-wire win.

Le Moyne had a hot hand, turning in a season-best 54.7 percent effort from the floor, including a season-high 61.5 percent clip from behind the arc (8-of-13).

The win was the Dolphins’ first in the rivalry series, as the Bearcats took the first two games in 2023-24 and 2024-25 by respective 91-79 and 72-62 finals.

ROAD WARRIORS
LIU’s four true road wins tie the Sharks with Northern Colorado for the most in the nation this season.

The Sharks have knocked off IU Indy, Air Force, Missouri State and Lehigh on the road in 2025-26.

SEEING DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Le Moyne graduate forward Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, IN/North Central/Vincennes (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)) enters the week riding a four-game double-double streak. His current double-double spree is the longest by an NEC player since Merrimack’s Jordan Minor, the 2023 Co-Player of the Year, registered four-in-a-row against Hartford (Feb. 16), Sacred Heart (Feb. 18), Central Connecticut (Feb. 23) and LIU (Feb. 25) in the 2022-23 campaign.

He enters the week with six total double-doubles, which are tied for fifth-most in the nation.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES, PART II
Le Moyne’s Shilo Jackson’s (Indianapolis, IN/North Central/Vincennes (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)) current four-game double-double rally is tied with St. Bonaventure’s Frank Mitchell for the nation’s longest active streak.

Longest Double-Double Streaks in 2025-26
9: Delrecco Gillespie - Kent State
6: Michael Ajayi - Butler
5: Thomas Dowd - Troy
4: Mohammad Habhab - Eastern Michigan
4: Shilo Jackson - Le Moyne
4: Charles Johnston - Furman
4: Frank Mitchell - St. Bonaventure
4: Caleb Wilson - UNC

THE THREE MUSKETEERS
LIU’s offense packs a potent punch with the trio of redshirt senior Malachi Davis (Scarborough, Ontario/Central Tech (Arizona State)), graduate guard/forward Jamal Fuller (Toronto, Ontario/Central Technical/Academy of Art) and senior guard Greg Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park (UAB)).

Combining for 394 points, the threesome accounts for 57.1 percent of the Sharks’ scoring this season.

All three players are ranked inside the league’s top-11 in scoring, led by Fuller, who is fifth with 15.6 ppg. LIU is the lone squad to have three scorers ranked inside the NEC’s top 11 this year.

FAST BREAK BUCKETS
Nearly a quarter of LIU’s 176 points last week in a 94-92 overtime defeat to Winthrop and an 87-82 win at Lehigh were marked as fastbreak buckets. The Sharks’ 19.5 fastbreak point average marked the 26th-most in the nation last week.

GRAND THEFT AUTO
LIU forced 15 miscues in Saturday’s 87-82 win at Lehigh, marking the most by an NEC squad against a Division I opponent this season. Those turnovers translated into 26 points on the other end for the Sharks, including a pair of buckets inside the final 1:34 that stretched the lead to eight behind two fast break dunks. 

NET RANKINGS
The first NET Rankings of the 2025-26 campaign were announced last week and the NEC received some high grades in the report. Three squads were ranked inside the top-200.

Owning wins over ACC member Boston College and Big 10 foe Rutgers, Central Connecticut led the pack with a 151 ranking. LIU checked in at 187 behind the strength of wins over Air Force and James Madison, while Wagner rounded out the league’s top squads with a NET Ranking of 198.

SHARP-SHOOTING SHILO
Le Moyne graduate forward Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, IN/North Central/Vincennes (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) has torched the nets this season.

Hitting at least 50.0 percent of his shots from the field in each of his 10 games in a Dolphins’ uniform — including a 90.0 percent clip (9-of-10) in last month’s overtime win vs. Monmouth — the Hoosier State product is converting at a 67.9 percent clip. That percentage ranks him first in the conference and 11th nationally in field goal accuracy.

Jackson also leads the NEC and is 30th in the nation in rebounds per game (9.3), while his 2.2 blocks per game and five double-doubles are also conference-best marks.

35/6/6
Wagner junior guard Nick Jones (Edgewood, MD/Parkville (Harcum College)) stuffed the stat sheet in Wagner’s 103-101 overtime win at Manhattan last month (Nov. 26). Dropping a game- and career-high 35 points, the Edgewood, MD product added six dimes and six assists in the Seahawks’ thrilling triumph.

To date, Jones is one of four players nationwide with at least 35 points, six rebounds and six assists in a game this year.

Nick Jones (Wagner) at Manhattan (Nov. 26):
35 points, 6 rebounds 6 assists

Brycen Blaine (Charleston Southern) at The Citadel (Nov. 10):
42 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assist

PJ Haggerty (Kansas State) at Mississippi State (Nov. 20):
37 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists

Nick Boyd (Wisconsin) vs. Providence (Nov. 27):
36 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists

For Jones, it also marked just the fourth 35/6/6 game by an NEC player in the last 15 years. 

Nick Jones (Wagner) at Manhattan (11/26/25)
35 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Malachi Davis (LIU) vs. Chicago State (3/5/25)
35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists

Cane Broome (SHU) at FDU (2/20/16)
39 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Quincy McKnight (SHU) at Bryant (1/14/17)
44 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists


2025-26 NEC MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nov. 10: Greg Gordon (LIU)
Nov. 17: Darin Smith, Jr. (Central Connecticut) & Malachi Davis (LIU) 
Nov. 24: Jay Rodgers (CCSU)
Dec. 1: Darin Smith, Jr. (Central Connecticut) & Nick Jones (Wagner)
Dec. 8: Malachi Davis (LIU)
Dec. 15: 

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Nov. 10: David Jevtic (FDU)
Nov. 17: Elijah Parker (Central Connecticut)
Nov. 24: Tristan Burth (New Haven)
Dec. 1: Ashton Reynolds (Central Connecticut)
Dec. 8: Paris Papadatos (Saint Francis)
Dec. 15: