Notes on a D2 Hoops Season
By Chris Granozio
It was a wild week of action across the three conferences, and we begin the recap with some heavyweight matchups.
In the CACC, Post continues its best season to date, dominating #24 Dominican at the Hennessy Center in the first of their two North Division clashes. Marc Kuntz’s Eagles are 10-0 in league play for the first time ever, and their 10-game win streak headed into their Saturday showdown with South leader Jefferson is also a new program standard. Among the stellar performers this week were junior guard David Jasson (25 points vs. Nyack, 18 points and 10 rebounds at Dominican), senior forward Abdul-Basit Ajia (15 points, 16 boards, four blocked shots vs. DC) and Player of the Year candidate, senior swingman Devonte McCall (16 points, nine rebounds, five blocks vs. NC/17, 11 and four at DC). Thanks largely to these efforts, Post has put itself in great position to win the division, and who saw that in his or her preseason crystal ball?
Divisional leaders locked horns in the NE10 on Wednesday as Adelphi shaded #18 Bentley on Long Island. The game also showcased two of the leading candidates for Player of the Year in Jordan Mello-Klein of the Falcons and Ronnie Silva of the Panthers, who erupted for 33 points and eight 3-pointers on the night. The second half was a taffy pull, with neither squad able to craft more than a one-possession difference over the final 9:34. In the end, it came down to foul shooting as Chris Coalmon’s two tosses with 1.8 seconds to play proved the difference. Just 10 seconds earlier, Bentley’s Colton Lawrence missed a pair (he actually missed four straight freebies over the last three minutes, going 1-6 at the line as opposed to a strong 6-9 from the field). Bentley has now lost two games since Thanksgiving week – both by one point.
Speaking of late-game free throws, in a Monday make-up game in Syracuse, Austin Gilbertson authored a night to remember. With Pace trailing Le Moyne 67-63 and 18 seconds on the clock, the senior guard hit a contorting 3-pointer. Then, after a front-end miss by the home team, Gilbertson was fouled on a similar attempt and hit the decisive foul shots with 1.2 seconds left, giving him five points in the last 18 seconds, a season-high 17 for the game and, for good measure, he eclipsed the 1,000-point threshold.
Pace carried that momentum into its next contest vs. New Haven, throttling the Chargers, 77-48 to complete a one-sided season sweep (the November affair was a 69-45 triumph in West Haven). In a statistical oddity, New Haven shot just 3-16 from inside the arc, and in both meetings combined, the team shot 30-98. The Setters have held the Chargers under 50 points in each of their last three meetings, and their head-to-head win streak has extended to four.
The records may be unsightly, but there’s a heated battle underway for the fourth and final playoff berth in the CACC South between Wilmington, Georgian Court, University of the Sciences and Holy Family, all of whom were separated by just one game in the win column headed into this weekend. Here are some snapshots from the “contenders”:
It took most of the season before junior forward Olisa Ngonadi of Georgian Court hit the court. But boy, what a splash the Robert Morris transfer has made, recording double figures in scoring each of his six games, shooting a collective 60% (41-68) while averaging 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds. His most noteworthy performance came Tuesday vs. USciences, when he collected 23 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Wilmington has its first win streak of the season, albeit a modest two-game flurry that snaped a seven-game dry spell. Caleb Matthews’ career-high 26-point outing was instrumental in the Wildcats’ upset of Chestnut Hill as the big sophomore guard shot 6-9 from downtown while the Cats were an incendiary 71% from the floor in the first half, setting the tone.
Holy Family may be the most schizophrenic team in the region, capable of beating contending clubs like Franklin Pierce and losing at home to a Georgian Court team that featured fill-ins from the lacrosse team. Give this to the Tigers, however: they lead the region in defensive field goal percentage at 40.3%.
USciences has been a hard-luck story all winter, currently mired in a 10-game losing streak despite remaining competitive in almost every outing. Among the bright spots in the Devils’ final season: Jordan Davidson’s career-best 26-point game (10-14 FG, 5-5 from 3) in a close loss at Caldwell.
Sciences’ Austin Kennedy – one of my personal favorite players to watch because he goes 100% all game and does so many things well – is in the unique position - perhaps the only player in NCAA history - to have suited up for not one but two programs that will have been absorbed by a merger. Prior to his arrival in University City, the grad student from Medford, NJ was a member of the LIU Post Pioneers, who played their final game three years ago.
The only other team as sizzling hot as Post these days is Daemen, which has taken 10 straight overall and is a program-best 12-0 in league play – its longest ECC win streak since ending its inaugural campaign with 16 straight Ws in 2013-14. The Wildcats have shot 50% or better in six of their last seven contests after crushing Western New York rival Roberts Wesleyan in Rochester, improving to 31-2 over the Redhawks dating back to their old NAIA days in 2007-08. The headliner for the Cats continues to be All-American super-stud Andrew Sischo, who recently became the highest-scoring player in New York State NCAA history (he now has 2,696 points), having surpassed Scott Fitch of Division 3 SUNY-Geneseo (1990-94). Sischo’s accomplishments are almost yawn-inducing these days as he is literally a man among boys in the low blocks, having racked up an NCAA-best 18 double-doubles already, giving him an astounding 78 for his historic career. He’s also ripped down 1,382 rebounds for good measure. But as with any successful team, it can’t just be one man carrying the load. Lost in the Sischo headlines lately is the fact that sophomore guard Andrew Mason is shooting 50.5% from beyond the 3-point line, good for #2 nationally. The Wildcats are also distributing the ball very effectively, having dished out 27 assists at Roberts – their most in any game during the program’s NCAA era.
Roberts Wesleyan boasts one of the nation’s most potent offenses, ranking #17 at 85.7 points per game. The only regional team with a higher average is ECC rival St. Thomas Aquinas at #13 with 86.5 points a night. Those two clubs matched up this week at the Voller Center and STAC hung on for an 86-81 victory.
As usual, the East Region is always more than well represented among the nation’s individual rebound leaders, having won that honor several years. As things currently stand, the TOP THREE boardsmen are all from our precincts. Sischo leads the pack at 13.4, followed by Antonin Kemkeng of Jefferson (12.4) and Omar El-Sheikh of Assumption (11.8).
Here are some other representatives on the national charts: New Haven’s Majur Majak is #2 with 2.94 blocked shots per game, while Caldwell’s Jarmel Rancy is right behind him at 2.89. St. Michael’s Patrick Gardner also lands at #9 (2.67). Le Moyne doesn’t have anyone in the Top 10, but as a unit, the Dolphins rank #3 in rejections per game (5.5).
Tray Alexander of Saint Rose (6.3 per game) and Isaiah Moore of Franklin Pierce (6.0) rank eighth and 10th, respectively, in the assist department.
Ronnie Silva is #2 with 4.19 threes per game, while Goldey-Beacom’s Nazim Derry is #5 with 3.84 and Southern New Hampshire’s Matt Becht is #7 at 3.71.
We also lay claim to two of the Top 10 in free-throw accuracy: Jefferson’s Erik Timko is #3 at 92.8% and Georgian Court’s Clint Wright, Jr. is #6 at 92.1.
And how about Bloomfield’s Tariq McKenith, who sports an NCAA-best 5.70 assist-to-turnover ratio?!
The NE10 continues to dominate the regional landscape, improving to 51-25 non-conference after two crossover wins this past week. Here are some more news and notes from that circuit:
Saint Rose has won three straight NE10 road games for the first time since the 2017-18 season after prevailing at Le Moyne for the first time since 2012.
The Golden Knights’ Shane O’Dell and Bentley’s Zach Laput are two of the first-year NE10 stars to watch, along with Aaron Gray of Southern New Hampshire, Kevin Constant and Christian Davis of Le Moyne and a host of others (yes, I know O’Dell played a handful of games last year).
In St. Michael’s win at American International Tuesday, Patrick Gardner exploded for 30 of his career-high 37 points after halftime, including the tiebreaking foul shots with 1:27 to go that sparked a 7-0, game-ending flourish – all the points coming from the stripe. The 37-point outing was the best by a Purple Knight in a regulation road game since Monroe Blakes poured in 39 on January 11, 1992 – also at Butova Gym! What makes the feat even more fascinating is that the transfer from Nassau Community College had suffered through his worst game of the campaign right before that, having shot 1-12 for two points vs. Franklin Pierce after sustaining a minor injury early in that contest. AIC – which has seen 23 of its last 25 games in the series decided by 10 or fewer points – has dropped nine straight, but ironically, their closest call during the rough patch was a 92-89 loss at nationally-ranked Bentley, during which the Yellow Jackets made a whopping 57% of their shots.
St. Anselm rallied from 11 down in the second half to nip Assumption at Stoutenburgh Gym, thanks to Gustav Suhr-Jessen’s “And-1” with 22.4 seconds remaining. The Greyhounds had three shots to answer, none of which fell. That gives the Hawks a 3-2 record this season in games decided by a solitary possession.
Don’t look now, but Southern New Hampshire have silently assembled a pretty strong NCAA resume. The Penmen – who have the toughest schedule remaining in the region – have won five in a row… none more impressive than their 101-81 stunner at Pace without the services of three starters and a key reserve. Matt Becht (35 points) and Corry Long (25) turned in career performances in the triumph, while Derrick Grant, Brandon Choate and LIU Post survivor Jackson Jordan also stepped up in a huge way for SNHU. One veteran coach described the Penmen win to me as “one of those special games that makes you so proud as a coach.” The 101 points were the most scored by the Penmen in a regulation road game in their 22-year history in the league. Their previous high had been a 104-55 massacre at Bridgeport back in the final year of the NECC – on January 6, 2000.
Southern Connecticut’s overtime victory vs. Bloomfield was its first home OT success since December 22, 2013 against crosstown rival New Haven. It was the Bears’ first game at Moore Field House since they topped New Haven and lost to St. Anselm during the 2014 NCAA East Regional.
On the ECC bulletin board, kudos to District of Columbia’s Jahmir Marable-Williams, who joined Dominican’s Jalen Burgess as the second regional player to record a triple-double this season, compiling 16 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists vs. Molloy on Wednesday. The Firebirds played their best game of the campaign in that one, busting out of the gate with a 31-4 lead at the 8:15 mark of the first half.
Bridgeport big man Nemaja Zubac turned in a career-high 20 points and nine rebounds in a win vs. Mercy.
Fellow frontcourt force Messiah Mallory of Staten Island hung a pair of 17s on D’Youville as the Dolphins swept the inaugural series between the two league newcomers.
Queens avenged an early-season home loss to its longtime CUNY rival, winning at Staten Island, with junior point guard William Ellis commandeered the Knights on that night with 23 points and personal-best 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Dion Herrington notched a career-high 23 points in a loss at Molloy earlier in the week – a game in which Steven Torre snatched a career-best 11 rebounds to go with his 17 points.
In the CACC, Nyack has seven conference games remaining – ALL on the road.
Caldwell’s Anthony Cooper went 15-18 at the line as part of a 21-point, seven-rebound, six-assist performance vs. USciences. Next game vs. Adelphi, he reached the 1,000-point plateau!
Jefferson rookie sharpshooter Erik Timko has accumulated 34 points on the dot three times this season. His Rams, by the way, are the first regional team to have clinched a playoff berth.
Felician's junior wing Etnik Peci recorded a season-high 25 points in a game vs. Nyack that tipped off in Jersey City at 8:55 pm.
Chestnut Hill’s James Rider IV netted a career-high 31 points in the Griffins’ easy win at Goldey-Beacom, wrapping up a 1-1 “road trip” to Delaware. In that game, Nazim Derry managed to outscore his teammates, 36-35. He also pumped in 34 the previous game at Dominican as the host Chargers erased a 50-35 second-half deficit with a 34-12, game-closing blitz.
That’s it for now. Until next time, Happy hooping to all!