Random notes on a D2 Hoops season
By Chris Granozio
In my 40 years of following D2 basketball, I have witnessed many unusual team achievements. But something occurred yesterday that may have pushed to the top of the list. One of the programs in our region actually earned two victories in one day, including one before even suiting up.
On the court, St. Michael’s rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to stun Stonehill on the road for the first time since February 8, 2014. But off the court, the Northeast 10 Conference, earlier in the day, rendered a decision on the February 5 postponement between the Purple Knights and Bentley Falcons in Vermont, the result of which was that the Bentley men’s team had opted not to travel on that day. Here’s the official wording from the NE10:
“Per conference action, Saint Michael’s has been awarded a conference win and Bentley has been awarded a conference loss.”
Neither head coach – Jay Lawson and Eric Eaton – wished to comment publicly on the matter.
To further clarify the ramifications of the ruling, this action only reflects league standings and not overall records, as NE10 Commissioner Julie Ruppert made it clear that there was no intention to affect a team’s NCAA resume. In a league that had never recorded a forfeit in men’s basketball, this ruling effectively serves as a forfeiture, though it will not be classified as such and there will be no 2-0 final score. With all that explained, we are left with a very rare scenario during which a team (Bentley) has more conference losses (4) than overall losses (3).
I commend the NE10 for getting this one right, as both teams “accepted the decision.” This was a regrettable and unprecedented conflict that should not happen between members of any league and hopefully will never happen again.
With that mess taken care of, all the postponed league games across all three conferences have now either been played or rescheduled later this month. Kudos to all the schools for working together, even though the make-up games have resulted in heavy workloads for certain programs, as well as some rare home-and-homes, including St. Thomas Aquinas’ back-to-back doubles with Molloy and Queens. Saint Rose and American International are also slated to play on consecutive days to close out the regular season.
“Serenity now!”
The first OFFICIAL Regional Rankings have been released, and here are the Top 10, through the games of last Sunday:
- Bentley
- St. Anselm
- Adelphi
- Franklin Pierce
- Daemen
- Dominican
- Southern New Hampshire
- Pace
- New Haven
- St. Thomas Aquinas
The NABC Top 25 Coaches’ Poll – NOT official – has Bentley moving up to #17, Daemen checking in at #24 and three other regional teams receiving votes: Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas and Adelphi.
Is it me or are more players stepping out of bounds this season?
There are some very interesting races in the three conferences, but few are as intriguing as the three-way tango atop the Southwest Division of the NE10, which sees Pace holding a half-game lead over New Haven and one-game edge on Adelphi. Matt Healing’s Setters – despite suffering a couple of brutal, head-scratching losses – have done a terrific job steadying the ship and are poised to win their first division title (Le Moyne and Southern Connecticut are the only two teams that could make that claim prior to this season) as they hold the tiebreakers against both their closest pursuers by virtue of impressive season sweeps. And they’ve done it with defense, outscoring their last four opponents by an average of 74-53 while allowing 33% shooting (71-214) and 26% from beyond the arc (26-100).
New Haven is also on a hot streak defensively, ranking among the nation’s elite in scoring defense (6th at 62.7) and field goal percentage defense (8th at 39.5). Over the course of their last four games, Ted Hotaling’s Chargers have outscored their opponents by an average of 79-54, allowing 32% shooting (87-274) and 18% from deep (19-103). 7-1 center Majur Majak has been the linchpin of the defensive effort, swatting away a career-high nine shots vs. Southern Connecticut last night to take over the NCAA lead at 3.22 per game. The St. Peter’s transfer racked up 12 points, 16 rebounds and three rejections at Franklin Pierce in a game that saw New Haven race out to a 30-8 lead and never look back. And the offense hasn’t been too shabby of late, either. In a recent win vs. Saint Rose, the Chargers dished out 26 assists – their most since joining the NE10 in 2008.
New Haven is scheduled to square off vs. Adelphi Saturday in a huge game with serious ramifications for both clubs. The Panthers had won seven straight before dropping their last two. Big man Aristotelis Sotiriou has been coming on of late, having tossed in a career-high 15 points and five assists in a recent win vs. Le Moyne – Adelphi’s first season sweep of the Dolphins in a decade.
A huge win yesterday for Franklin Pierce over Granite State foe St. Anselm in Manchester, earning a series sweep for the first time since 2012-13. The contest was pretty streaky down the stretch as the Hawks tallied 11 straight to force a 63-63 tie inside of the final five minutes, only to see the Ravens rattle off the next 13 to seize control with 1:07 to go. Star senior guard Isaiah Moore tossed in another 30 for the winners. The regional scoring leader also registered his 1,000th point with 29 vs. St. Michael’s last week. Also in that contest, St. Mike’s Nic Button netted a career-high 19 points, though his team fell by four – one of six P-Knights losses this season within a two-possession spread.
Patrick Gardner's 54 blocked shots this season are the most by a P-Knight since Michel Bonebo set the school record with 116 in 1989-90.
Saint Rose remains one of the most schizophrenic teams in the circuit. After a four-game win streak that featured three straight road triumphs, the Golden Knights have dropped four straight by an average margin of 21 points. Tray Alexander did notch a personal-best 23 points, however, against New Haven, while Shane O'Dell posted a sensational 30-point, 10-rebound performance vs. Franklin Pierce.
Assumption hasn’t won back-to-back games since November, when the Greyhounds managed to do so twice.
Also struggling of late has been American International, which has dropped 12 straight for the first time since starting 0-16 during the 1960-61 season. In a recent home game vs. Le Moyne, the Yellow Jackets and Dolphins both landed five in double figures, though only one player managed more than 13. Playing in the murderously tough NE10, AIC is notably better than its record, having a solid win vs. New Haven and a 92-89 near-win at region-elite Bentley.
I want a body like AIC's Xion Golding.
In the East Coast Conference, D’Youville may not have many wins this season, but the Saints win the Road Warrior Award as they will actually wrap up their last provisional D2 season with games on three consecutive days in three different cities- Queens on February 24, Bridgeport on the 25th and Molloy on the 26th.
Roberts Wesleyan hosted games on successive evenings against both CUNY schools – Queens on Wednesday and Staten Island on Thursday. In the first matchup, The Redhawks feasted at the foul line (26-34 to 5-9). In the latter, a CSI player nailed a corner triple but taunted the Roberts bench on his way back upcourt, resulting in two successful technical free throws for a net of plus-one. Just two weeks earlier, Staten Island clipped Roberts, spoiling a personal-best 29 points for super freshman Ja'Kair Sanchez.
Molloy used a 25-6 burst out of the halftime break to flip a 32-31 deficit to a 56-38 lead in a win at Bridgeport – the Lions’ third victory in four at Hubbell Gym after winning just once there over the previous two decades.
One game before that, it was Bridgeport that dramatically turned the tables, eradicating a 21-point second-half deficit to visiting Staten Island. The Purple Knights had trailed 55-34 just over four minutes into the final period before scoring 16 unanswered to kick-start a 36-6 avalanche that saw the hosts emerge on the other side ahead 70-61 with 4:04 remaining. The Dolphins narrowed the gap to 74-71 with 1:38 left before Malcolm Moye (18 points) and D’andre Collins (also 18, a career high) both converted lay-ups to secure the comeback win.
Kudos to Mercy’s Garrett Kirkland, who poured in a career-best 24 points vs. Molloy in the Mavericks’ first sweep of the Lions since 2004-05. The game before that saw the Mavs construct a 31-9 lead at Queens three minutes before halftime as the Knights shot a frigid 6-34 from the field and missed all eight of its attempts from long distance to that point.
Daemen - winners of 12 straight since December 20 (11 by double figures) - will be coming off an eight-day break when it squares off against St. Thomas Aquinas in the ECC's marquee game on Friday. The clash is a crucial one for the Spartans, whose resume is achingly short of quality wins. A Wildcats win clinches the regular-season title and top seed in the league tournament, which means the semifinals and championship game would be played in Buffalo. Sean Fasoyiro eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in the latest massacre of crosstown rival D'Youville, while Andrew Sischo amassed 13 points and 21 rebounds, adding to his D2-leading total.
If Sischo weren’t in the picture, Demetre Roberts of STAC would be MVP of the ECC. There isn’t a more surehanded ball-handler, fearless floor leader and clutch shooter in the region. Big fan here for years. His 36-point outing vs. Molloy in part one of their home-and-home was a career high. Steven Torre (27 points) and Darren Fergus (26, plus five assists) also had career days in the region's most accurate shooting game of the season as the Spartans hit for 61% and the Lions 59%.
Also want to give props to Molloy public address announcer Howard Kaplan. Accurate, professional and a very pleasing voice.
Notes from the Central Atlantic: With its blowout revenge win vs. Chestnut Hill at the Gallagher Center, Jefferson wrapped up its third straight South Division Crown and ninth overall, matching Bloomfield – which has won nine North titles in the conference’s 14 years of divisional play – for the most in league history. Herb Magee surely is very proud of his troops as he hopes for a big finish in his final year of coaching. The Rams have been somewhat Jeckyl & Hyde recently, shooting 60% vs. Post in a one-sided battle of divisional leaders, snapping the Eagles’ 10-game win streak. Next outing, Jefferson lost at home to Goldey-Beacom before cruising past the Griffins.
Is there a better overall player in the CACC than Lightning guard Nazim Derry? The sophomore came through with 25 in the upset of Jefferson, while frontcourt teammate Juran Ligonde hit the icing free throw, clinching a playoff spot for his team in the process.
Chestnut Hill fell into a 29-8 hole at Caldwell a game earlier, but rallied to prevail, making it a bittersweet day for Cougars Coach Mark Corino, who was the center of attention in a VIP-packed pregame ceremony commemorating his achievement of becoming New Jersey’s all-time winningest NCAA coach. A banner was raised at the Newman Center during the festivities as well. Congrats again, Mark!
Just up the road, Bloomfield’s Josh Morris’ personal-best 24-point outing fueled the Bears’ win over Goldey-Beacom. The Bears' win at Chestnut Hill was their 17th in 17 all-time meetings – the region’s most lopsided head-to-head series in which one team has not won a game.
Nyack - fighting Bloomfield for the final playoff berth in the North - earned a hard-fought, 76-75 non-league triumph over Staten Island in its last “home” game at New Jersey City University. The game was a statistical hodgepodge, with the Dolphins earning massive advantages in shooting (50%-40%) and 3-point shooting (13-26 to 4-15), while the Warriors countered with more foul shots (14-15 to 2-5) and far fewer turnovers (4-17). Nyack also held a huge edge at the stripe in another one-point win 10 days earlier, vs. Sciences (22-31 to 1-7), during which Joel Bailey joined the 1,000-point club.
Felician junior guard Jaylen Colon exploded for a career-high 36 points at Caldwell while playing the entire game.
Kharon Randolph was key down the stretch, accounting for 13 of Holy Family's final 17 points as the Tigers closed wih a 17-7 flourish in Lakewood to avenge a home loss to Georgian Court.
Sean Simon's 3-pointer with 33 seconds to play proved the game-winner in USciences' 73-70 win at Wilmington. Two of the Devils' three victories on the season are against the Wildcats, and each of their last five setbacks have been by five points or fewer.
Dominican’s Wahaad Johnson also reached a new milestone with 31 off the bench vs. Chestnut Hill, shooting 13-19 from the floor. Next outing, the #24 Chargers suffered an upset loss at the hands of Wilmington. It was the Wildcats’ second win vs. a Top 25 team in the NCAA era. The other – also at the Complex – came on November 22, 2017 vs. #19 Shippensburg (PA). The common denominator in both games was Danny Walsh, who was a freshman in the first one and hit the game-winning shot. In the more recent win, the lefty guard posted a game-high 20 points, while also reaching a new personal high with 29 (12-17 FG, 4-6 from afar) in a loss at Felician one game earlier. The other notable win in Wilmington's history came on January 14, 2010 – an upset of unranked but regional power UMass-Lowell at the old Pratt Center. The River Hawks were 11-3 at the time.
Until next time, Happy hooping to all!