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Men's Tournament
Quarterfinals
Central Connecticut State 67 Long Island 58
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Staten Island, NY--Senior forward Charron Watson (Waterbury, CT) scored 19 points and freshman forward Corsley Edwards (Baltimore, MD) and junior guard Rick Mickens (Newington, CT) added 14 points apiece to lead #4 Central Connecticut State University to a 67-58 victory over #5 Long Island University in the quarterfinals of the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament Friday evening at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
The Blue Devils, now 18-12, will advance to Sunday's semfinals and play the winner of UMBC, the regular-season champion, and #8 Wagner. Long Island, which closed out its 1998-99 season with a 10-17 overall record, was led by junior forward Richie Parker (New York, NY) with 21 points and 14 rebounds and junior forward Virgil Smiley (New York, NY) added 14 points
Central Connecticut, behind 10 points by Watson in the opening eight minutes of play, jumped out to a 15-5 lead, before Long Island fought back and outscored the Blue Devils, 22-11, in the final 13 minutes of play to take a 27-26 lead at intermission. Parker finished with nine points, five rebounds and two steals in the first-half.
After LIU extended its halftime lead to three, 29-26, with 18:12 left in the second-half on a jump shot by sophomore Karim Smith (Roosevelt, NY), the Blue Devils, behind six points by Edwards, answered with an 18-5 run to take a 44-34 lead with 12:05 remaining.
LIU eventually cut the lead to three, 57-54, with 1:11 left on a layup by Parker, but Mickens and junior forward Victor Payne (Grazettes, Barbados) hit three and four free throws, respectively, in the final minute of play to seal the win. Central Connecticut was 18 of 24 from the free throw line (75.0 percent), including 15-for-19 in the second-half.
The Blackbirds shot only 35.3 percent (24 of 68) from the field and were guilty of 18 turnovers.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director
UMBC 63 Wagner 56
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Staten Island, NY--Sophomore center Kennedy Okafor (Brooklyn, NY) scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to a 63-56 victory over Wagner College in the quarterfinals of the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament Friday evening at the Spiro Sports Center.
UMBC, the number one seed and regular-season champion, improved to 19-8 overall and will play Central Connecticut, a 67-58 winner over Long Island University in the other semifinal tilt, Sunday afternoon at a time to be announced. Wagner, which was led by senior center Frantz Pierre-Louis (Uniondale, NY) with 18 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and five blocks, put the wraps on a 9-18 season.
The Retrievers broke away from a 9-9 tie at the 16:22 mark of the first-half by outscoring the Seahawks 12-2 during an five-minute spurt to take a 21-11 lead with 10:55 remaining. UMBC's largest lead was 15 points in the first-half, 34-19, before settling for a 37-24 margin at intermission. Okafor led the Retrievers with 11 points and Martin added eight points and six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play. Senior forward Bobby Bok (Nutley, NJ) came off the bench and kept the Seahawks within contention by scoring eight points and pulling down four rebounds and Pierre-Louis had six points, four rebounds and three blocks. UMBC shot 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from the field in the first-half while limiting Wagner to only 31 percent (9 of 29). The Seahawks were also guilty of 11 first-half turnovers.
UMBC appeared to have the game in check by going on an 11-4 spurt to start the second-half and extended its lead to 20, 48-28, with 12:05 remaining. Wagner regrouped and answered with a 24-8 spurt over the next nine minutes that eventually cut the lead to four, 56-52, with 2:55 remaining. The Seahawks failed to take advantage by missing four consecutive field goals and UMBC put the game away by hitting six free throws in the final 1:37.
Wagner, which shot 25.0 percent from the field (16 of 64), including 7 of 35 (20.0 percent) in the second-half, received 11 points apiece from Bok and senior guard Frank DeBlasi (Holmdel, NJ). The Seahawks were also a disappointing 19 of 36 (52.8 percent) from the field throw line while UMBC made just 20 of 37 (54.1 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
Pierre-Louis' "double-double" was his 11th of the season. The game was played before a sell-out crowd of 2,610 fans.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports inforatmion director.
St. Francis (NY) 65 Fairleigh Dickinson 58
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Staten Island, NY--Senior guard Ray Minlend (Yaounde, Cameroon), the nation's second-leading scorer, tossed in 23 points and collected seven rebounds to lead #2 St. Francis College of New York to a 65-58 victory over #7 Fairleigh Dickinson University in the quarterfinals of the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
The Terriers, now 20-7, will face the winner of #3 Robert Morris and #6 Mount St. Mary's on Sunday evening at a time to be announced. Fairleigh Dickinson, which received 20 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Jemo King (Hillside, NJ) and 14 points from freshman guard/forward Wim Van de Keere (Blankenberge, Belgium), ended the 1998-99 season with a 12-16 overall record.
FDU, behind eight points by King, took an early 20-8 lead in the opening 11 minutes of play before the Terriers closed out the half by going on a 24-9 run to take a 32-29 lead at intermission. Minlend had 15 points on five of eight shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play. The teams combined to commit 25 personal fouls in the first-half.
The game was tied four times in the second-half, the last coming at the 6:10 mark. The Terriers went on a 9-2 run, sparked by a 3-pointer by junior forward Angel Santana (Las Palmas, Canary Island) and aided by four points by sophomore forward Henry LaLane (Vista, VA), to take a 61-52 lead with 1:09 remaining. LaLane finished with 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.
St. Francis of New York posted its first 20-win season since 1955-56. Fairleigh Dickinson, which also received 11 points from senior guard Damian Ware (Pedricktown, NJ), was guilty of 27 turnovers and shot only 42.2 percent from the field, including only 38.1 percent (8 of 21) in the second-half.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director.
Mount St. Mary's 80 Robert Morris 63
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Staten Island, NY--Junior guard Gregory Harris (Washington, DC) scored 19 points and freshman center Melvin Whitaker (Raleigh, NC) had 16 points and blocked seven shots to lead #6 Mount St. Mary's College to an 80-63 victory over #3 Robert Morris College in the quarterfinals of the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
The Mountaineers, now 13-14, will advance and meet St. Francis of New York, a 65-58 winner over Fairleigh Dickinson in the other quarterfinal tilt, Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. Robert Morris, which ended its 1998-99 season with a 15-12 record, was led by junior gaurd Gene Nabors (Beckley, WV) with a game-high 27 points and junior guard Brandon Welsch (Muscatine, IA) added 11 points.
Mount St. Mary's shot a sizzling 64.5 percent (20 of 31) from the field, including 57.1 percent (8 of 14) from beyond the 3-point arc, to take a 49-32 lead at intermission. The Mountaineers broke away from a 26-22 lead with 8:14 remaining by going on a 23-10 run to finish the first-half. Harris scored 16 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Nabors kept the Colonials within striking distance by scoring 17 first-half points.
In the second-half, RMC opened the first seven minutes with a 14-9 spurt to cut the Mountaineer margin to 12, 58-46, with 12:44 remaining. Mount St. Mary's countered by scoring eight straight points, including 3-pointers by Jerry Lloyd (Whitehall, PA) and Terrence Wilson (Suffolk, VA) to push its lead back up to 20 points, 66-46, with 11:18 left. Robert Morris never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Mount St. Mary's nailed 13 3-point field goals, one shy of the NEC tournament record of 14, which was set by Long Island University on February 29, 1996, against St. Francis of New York. The Colonials have now lost 12 straight games to Mount St. Mary's dating back to 1994.
Junior forward Rob Balgac (New Belgrade, Yugoslavia) added 11 points for the Mount, which shot 53.6 percent (30 of 56) for the game and 48.1 percent (13 of 27) from beyond the arc. RMC shot only 35.2 percent (19 of 54) from the field and was guilty 18 turnovers.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director.
Semifinals
Central Connecticut State 82 UMBC 72
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Staten Island, NY--Freshman center Corsley Edwards (Baltimore, MD) scored 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and junior guard Rick Mickens (Newington, CT) had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead #4 Central Connecticut State University to an 82-72 victory over #1 and regular-season champion University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Sunday evening at the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
The Blue Devils, now 19-12, will face the winner of #2 St. Francis of New York-#6 Mount St. Mary's on Monday evening at 9:30 p.m., which will be televised nationally by ESPN 2. UMBC, which ended its 1998-99 season with a 19-8 record, was led by sophomore guard Terence Ward (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) with a game-high 24 points and guards Rich Giddens (Huntington Station, NY) and Tim Hyland (Staten Island, NY) added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Central Connecticut, 4-22 a year ago, took control of the game midway through the first-half and used a 24-15 rebounding advantage to build a 39-30 lead at intermission. Junior forward Victor Payne (Grazettes, Barbados), who finished with 13 points and seven rebuonds, came off the bench to score nine points and Edwards had eight points and six rebounds. Ward kept the Retrievers within contention with eight first-half points.
The Blue Devils opened up a 15-point margin, 53-38, by outscoring UMBC 14-8 in the first five minutes of the second-half. Central's largest lead came at the 12:09 mark when junior guard Bryan Finley (Saugus, CA) hit a jump shot to put the Blue Devils up 17, 59-42. The final score was the closed UMBC got in the second-half.
Central Connecticut, which out-rebounded UMBC 47-31, shot 48.1 percent from the field (26 of 54) and connected on 27 of 37 free throw attempts (73.0 percent). UMBC, which received 10 points and eight rebounds from sophomore forward Kennedy Okafor (Brooklyn, NY), shot only 40 percent from the field and was guilty of 17 turnovers.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director.
Mount St. Mary's 68 St. Francis (NY) 66
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Staten Island, NY—Senior forward Tony Hayden (Gladwyne, PA) scored 14 points and senior guard Eric Bethel (Ft. Washington, MD) and freshman forward Terrence Wilson (Suffolk, VA) added 13 points apiece to lead #6 Mount St. Mary’s College to a 68-66 victory over #2 St. Francis College of New York in the semifinals of the Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament Sunday evening at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
The Mountaineers, now 14-14, will face #4 Central Connecticut State University, an 82-72 winner over #1 University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the other semifinal, on Monday evening at 9:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. St. Francis of New York, now 20-8, was led by senior guard Ray Minlend (Yaounde, Cameroon) with a game-high 16 points and sophomore forward Henry LaLane (Vista, CA) had 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. The Terriers also received 13 points and five rebounds from sophomore guard Richy Dominguez (Choco, Colombia) and 10 points from sophomore guard Greg Nunn (Inwood, NY).
LaLane, who had 11 first-half points, sparked the Terriers to an early 19-8 lead by scoring six points off the bench in the opening eight minutes of play. Bethel, who finished with nine first-half points, helped the Mountaineers cut the margin to two at halftime, 37-35.
The second-half featured eight lead changes, including five in the final three minutes of play. With 1:23 left, the game was tied for its final time when Hayden made two free throws, 64-64. After Wilson gave MSM a one-point lead, 65-64, with a free throw at the 0:59 mark, the Terriers regained the lead with 0:42 left on a layup by Minlend.
With 0:28 left, Bethel put the Mountaineers up for good with a driving baseline jump shot. With time running out, Terrier junior forward Angel Santana (Las Palmas, Canary Island) missed a 3-pointer and freshman center Melvin Whitaker (Raleigh, NC) got the rebound and was fouled.
Whitaker hit one of two free throws with less than a second remaining to set the final score.
Mount St. Mary’s, which out-rebounded the Terriers, 39-34, shot 43.6 percent from the field (24 of 55),while St. Francis of New York was 23 of 58 (39.7 percent) from the field.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director.
Championship
Mount St. Mary's 72 Central Connecticut State 56
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Staten Island, NY--Veteran head coach Jim Phelan picked up career win number 800 as Mount St. Mary's, behind 20 points by senior guard Greg Harris (Washington, DC) and 16 from senior guard Eric Bethel (Ft. Washington, MD), defeated Central Connecticut State University, 72-56, in the championship game of the 1999 Neutrogena T/Gel Northeast Conference Tournament Monday evening at the Spiro Sports Center on the campus of Wagner College.
Phelan, in his 45th season at Mount St. Mary's, becomes the fourth coach in NCAA history to win 800-or-more game. The Mountaineers, seeded sixth, improved to 15-14 overall and will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Fourth-seeded Central Connecticut, which ended its 1998-99 season with a 19-13 record, received a game-high 21 points from senior forward Charron Watson (Waterbury, CT) and 12 points and eight rebounds from freshman center Corsley Edwards (Baltimore, MD).
The Mount, bolstered by back-to-back 3-point field goals by Bethel during a 10-0 run, led by nine, 23-14, with 8:29 remaining in the first-half. Watson then scored seven points during a 15-2 run that regained the lead for the Blue Devils, 29-26, with 3:14 left to play, before a free throw by the Mount's Newtown Gayle (Mt. Vernon, NY) and five straight points by freshman forward Terrence Wilson (Suffolk, VA) to give the Mountaineers a 31-29 lead at intermission.
The game was tied twice in the second-half, the last time coming with 11:12 remaining. The Mountaineers broke the game open by going on a 11-2 run, keyed by a 3-pointer and a dunk by Harris, during a five-minute span that turned a 52-51 lead into a 63-53 advantage with 1:37 left. With less than a minute remaining, Bethel hit four free throws and a layup to seal the win.
Junior guard Rick Mickens (Newington, CT) added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Central Connecticut, which suffered through a 20-for-68 shooting effort (29.4 percent) from the field. Mount St. Mary's, which received 10 points and eight blocks from freshman center Melvin Whitaker (Raleigh, NC), canned 17 of 20 free throws (85.0 percent).
Harris was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The all-tournament team consisted of Whitaker, Watson and Edwards of Central Connecticut, UMBC's Terence Ward (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) and Ray Minlend (Yaounde, Cameroon) of St. Francis of New York.
Report by Kevin Southard, St. Francis College (PA) sports information director.
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