Brooklyn, NY -- Long Island took the next step toward their first Northeast Conference men’s basketball title since 1997 by outlasting No. 4 seed Central Connecticut, 69-67, in a semifinal round contest at the Well, Recreation, and Athletic Center in Downtown Brooklyn.
The Blackbirds held off a late charge from the Blue Devils by hitting a crucial three-pointer and going 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final 1:36 to advance to their first NEC final since two-time NCAA scoring champion Charles Jones played in Brooklyn. LIU improved to 26-5 on the year, while CCSU finishes with a 19-12 record.
Sophomore Jamal Olasewere opened a spurt of nine straight points with two foul shots to make it 50-49 with 7:13 to play. A three-pointer by junior Michael Culpo was followed by sophomore Julian Boyd scoring his first four points of the game to make it 57-49. After two foul shots Culpo made it 59-51 with 3:49 to play, Central Connecticut State got hot.
CCSU, which opened the game 1-of-11 from three-point range, followed with a three-pointer from Shemik Thompson and after two foul shots by Boyd, Robby Ptacek hit consecutive treys to get CCSU within 61-60 with 1:56 to play.
Freshman Jason Brickman, who scored a career-high 16 points, hit a critical three-pointer on the next possession to stem the momentum and put LIU ahead 64-60 with 1:36 to play. The teams traded two-point possessions before Ptacek hit his third straight three-pointer to get CCSU within 66-65 with 22 seconds to play. Brickman answered with two foul shots and a missed three-pointer by the Blue Devils was corralled by Culpo who hit 1-of-2 at the line to seal the victory. Ken Horton hit a layup at the buzzer for the final margin.
Brickman finished the game with 16 points and hit 4-of-6 from the arc. Sophomore Jamal Olasewere added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Blackbirds, while Culpo finished with 10 points.
Long Island shot 43.5 percent from the field and went 19-of-26 (.731) from the foul line, while Central Connecticut shot 40.8 percent and was just 4-of-6 at the foul line. LIU held a narrow, 39-36, rebounding margin.
Ptacek scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, while Horton added 13 points. Terrell Allen chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Shemik Thompson had 11 points, nine assists and four steals for the Blue Devils.
Central Connecticut used an 11-2 spurt in the opening minutes to race out to a 15-4 lead following a three-pointer by Horton with 12:43 left in the first half. Long Island trailed 24-17 at the 6:03 mark before a Brickman trifecta opened a 13-2 run to give the home team the lead.
A Brickman layup was followed by an Olasewere layup to make it 26-25 before Brickman hit another three-pointer and sophomore Kenny Onyechi hit a layup to close a run of nine straight points to make it 30-26. Following a Thompson layup, Culpo hit a jumper as time expired to make it 32-28 at the intermission.
LIU will host Robert Morris at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9. The conference championship will be televised live on ESPN2.
Notes: Long Island advances to the Northeast Conference championship for the first time since 1998… Since losing at Northwestern on Dec. 13, Long Island has gone 20-1… The 12-game win streak is LIU's longest since winning 14 straight in 1997-98… Long Island won for the first time in 2010-11 when scoring fewer than 70 points (1-3)… The 26 wins are the program's most since the 1936-37 squad went 28-3… Long Island is 13-2 at home in 2010-11.
#3 Robert Morris 64, #2 Quinnipiac 62
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Hamden, CT -- Redshirt sophomore guard Velton Jones' (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic) running jumper with 4.3 seconds to play helped lift the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to a 64-62 victory over Quinnipiac Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2011 Northeast Conference Tournament at TD Bank Sports Center.
James Johnson's last second three-pointer attempt from just outside the arc fell short, helping the Colonials extend their winning streak both overall and in NEC Tournament contests to eight games.
RMU improves to 18-13 overall on the 2010-11 campaign and will face No. 1 seed Long Island Wednesday, March 9, for the 2011 NEC Tournament championship at the Wellness Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tip time is 7:00 p.m., and the tilt will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
In a game that featured 12 ties and 22 lead changes, Robert Morris owned a 61-57 lead with 1:58 to play after a layup from redshirt sophomore forward Russell Johnson (Chester, PA/Chester). Deontay Twyman pulled the Bobcats to within one, 61-60, with a three-pointer 22 seconds later, and a pair of free throws by Dave Johnson with 57 seconds left pushed Quinnipiac back in front, 62-61.
Johnson would knot the game for the 12th time, 62-62, by hitting the front end of a pair of free throws with 41 seconds to go after a foul by Lance Brown, but on the missed free throw attempt the ball went out of bounds after a number of players tried to coral the rebound. The officials awarded the ball to the Colonials with 39 seconds remaining.
RMU drained the clock to 13 seconds and took a timeout, and out of the break Jones hit a running jumper reminiscent of a shot he buried late in RMU's 52-50 victory over the Bobcats on the same floor in the 2010 NEC Tournament championship game.
"Obviously that was a fantastic basketball game," Robert Morris head coach Andrew Toole said. "The effort out on that floor, the heart out on that floor, by both teams, is something that should be applauded. It was a fantastic game in a fantastic atmosphere."
Jones was one of four Colonials to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points while adding eight assists and three steals. Redshirt freshman guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, VA/Christchurch School) led the RMU with 15 points, converting six of his eight shots from the floor, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Neither team led by more than seven points, with the Bobcats taking a 31-24 edge at the 1:24 mark of the first half after a layup from Dominique Langston. Robert Morris closed to within 33-29 at halftime thanks to a three-pointer from Johnson and a layup from sophomore forward Lijah Thompson (Phialdelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner).
RMU opened the second half on a 10-2 spurt to take a 39-35 edge as Williams hit a three-pointer and Thompson scored three points, but layups from James Johnson and Justin Rutty helped the Bobcats tie the game, 39-39, with 14 minutes to play. From that point, neither team led by more than four.
Thompson and Johnson each scored 14 points for Robert Morris, while the Bobcats, who finished their season with an overall record of 22-9, were led by Twyman's 14 points. James Johnson finished with 13 points, while Dave Johnson recorded 10 points and nine assists. Rutty posted 10 rebounds but was held to nine points, including just two after halftime.