AROUND THE RIM - WHO'S COUNTING?

Posted: Mar 03, 2023

WHO'S COUNTING?

By Chris Granozio

We kick off this week’s column with the story of the year in our region. And it isn’t a pleasant one to report. A colossal, unprecedented mistake took place at the scorer's table Tuesday night in the City of Brotherly Love, one that indisputably cost a team points, and possibly a win and NCAA bid. If you haven’t heard about it by now, let me unpack it for you, before delving into reaction, commentary and the possible ramifications.

The Date: Tuesday, February 28

The Scene: cozy Sorgenti Arena on the gorgeous campus of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia

The Game: one of four CACC quarterfinal crossover contests, featuring the host Griffins (the 2 seed from the South) and visiting Dominican Chargers (3 seed from the North)

The Damage: Here are the key developments via a first-half timeline:

14:08 – redshirt senior guard Wahaad Johnson scores a basket that extends Dominican’s lead to 15-3. The scoreboard reflects this. The live stats do not, as the inputter mistakenly credits the basket to #11 of the home team – a freshman walk-on named Marshall Baker who never sees the court.

12:35 – senior guard Trevonn Pitts scores a lay-up for Chestnut Hill that is reflected on the scoreboard but not in the live stats. This actually corrects the stats computer’s inflated Chestnut Hill total since it offsets the phantom Baker basket 93 seconds earlier, but the official stats are still two points shy for the Chargers.

7:50 – As Dominican’s Joshuel White misfires on a jumper (an attempt that, mysteriously, is also not listed in the play-by-play), two points come off the scoreboard for the visitors, going from 24 to 22. Noticing this, Chargers Assistant Coach Joey Clinton immediately goes to the scorer’s table to question the score change. The game is stopped and the officials come to the table to troubleshoot. Lead official Dennis Allocco checks the play-by-play, as well as the one official book, since Dominican does not have its usual scorekeeper. Both sources are wrong as neither shows the ignored Johnson basket at 14:08, but no one is aware that a field goal is missing. The incorrect score stands. Further complicating matters, it is later revealed that the person in charge of the home book – comparing her misinformation with the correct score on the scoreboard – tells the operator that her book has two fewer points for the visitors. Thinking he is wrong, the scoreboard operator subtracts two legitimate points.

Dominican takes a 31-25 lead into the locker room at intermission, though it should be 33-25 (you get the drift). The game gets tighter when play resumes, and the two teams never separated by more than five points after the home team converts the first basket of the second period. Fast forward to the final minute and the scoreboard shows a 59-59 deadlock until Pitts slams one down off a backdoor cut, giving the Griffins the lead and sending a raucous crowd into a frenzy. The game ends with a posted score of 65-61. Hours after the game’s conclusion, the boxscore is amended to include the missing basket. The next day, it is changed back, since the 65-61 score was the one that was in the official book and was on the scoreboard when the officials left the court (more on that below).

A hot mess, to be sure.

And yet it gets messier. Much messier.

Within the game’s waning seconds, unruly fans begin harassing and taunting each other. The situation escalates, eventually becoming physical. When the final horn sounds, Griffins fans rush the court as their team has won its first playoff game in 12 years - and first at home since joining D2. During this time, the skirmish gets nastier, and some players jump into the fray. Order is eventually restored without any serious incidents, but the residue of this contest has left many indelible marks.

 

Aftermath

Not long after this ill-fated game became final, I was alerted to many of the details and reached out to several individuals involved, in an attempt to make sense of it all. I texted CACC Commissioner Dan Mara, essentially saying that, while I’m not in his position, I suggested that the fair thing to do would be to replay the game from the moment the first score glitch occurred. Mara – who happened to have attended the game – didn’t respond. We caught up two days later, but in between, he did his due diligence, reviewing the game film and conducting an investigation that included phone calls to the NCAA, Chestnut Hill’s athletic director and game-day staff, the assigner of officials and referees, and the conference’s power brokers. He then announced he would contact Dominican Head Coach Joe Clinton the afternoon after the game and relay the information he had gleaned. Through his investigation, the conclusion he came to was that there was no sign of cheating on the part of the home team, calling it “human error.” Thus, the result would stand. Disappointing news, for sure, to the losing team, but for the record, I think Mara made the right call. Here’s how I came to change my mind:

While the investigation was underway, I, too, contacted many of the same people that the commissioner did, including a rules specialist at the NCAA, college athletics’ governing body. After I detailed in writing what had happened, this was the first part of the response I received:

“There is not, to our staff's knowledge, precedent for a situation like this where a game was replayed during a conference tournament. The game came to conclusion, and by rule is deemed complete/official. Given this, the result stands and will be used for NCAA statistical/selections purposes, regardless of how a conference chooses to move forward.”

When Mara and I eventually spoke yesterday, he implied to me that as commissioner, he did have the power to call for a replayed game, but he explained that due to the conference’s bylaws which state the basketball championship is a “single-elimination tournament,” it was not a question of it being a feasible alternative. It was, in fact, an impossible one. The rest of the NCAA statement backs this up:

“A conference determines how it wants to conduct tournament play within its league rules, and the NCAA basketball rules. If a conference determines that it will change its tournament administration/structure for this reason, it is up to the conference to decide how its automatic qualifier into NCAA tournament is determined. The Division II Men's Basketball Committee and national office staff should be notified if there are any changes to how a conference determines its AQ.”

So in short, the CACC was not in position to vote and change its bylaws on the fly. The commissioner went on to express how bad he felt about what happened to Dominican, but, using diplomacy, he qualified his statement by saying that Chestnut Hill might have won the game anyway.

We will never know.

 

Ramifications

There is a clear victim here. Obviously, Dominican would have coached and played the game a lot differently had it been confirmed what the team already knew to be true: namely, that it had two more points that were never acknowledged. To be fair, the Griffins would have also coached and played differently, but two lost points are two lost points. Disadvantage: Dominican.

On the other side, The person responsible for the mistakes in the live stats is someone I’ve known for a long time and is a person of integrity. He admitted to me and everyone else that he messed up. I believe with all my heart there was no cheating involved. That being said, actions have consequences and the difference between intent and impact is often a wide chasm.

Chestnut Hill Athletic Director Jesse Balcer had a similar take. “(He) made a mistake and owned it… human error was all it was. It was an amazing basketball game between two great teams. I am really disappointed that it happened. I understand why Dominican is upset, but cheating is the furthest thing from what it was.”

The officials have also been exonerated, since they had no idea the book and computer contained wrong information. Mike Chesney, Supervisor of Officials for the CACC, as well as the ECC, gave us the following statement, which Mara backed: “The game officials assigned to this contest followed the NCAA guidelines in verifying the score during this game.”

The CACC, unlike the other two leagues in the region, does not employ a fourth official at the table during playoff games. Whether or not an alternate would have caught these discrepancies, though, is anyone’s guess.

Joe Clinton – who happens to be Dominican’s athletic director as well as the men’s basketball coach – was understandably upset in the aftermath of this debacle but took the high road in his statement to D2Easthoops.org: “Congratulations and best of luck to Chestnut Hill in the CACC semis. J.J. Butler is an up-and-coming coach, who has a great future in this game. Mistakes happen, and we have moved on in our preparation for a potential at-large bid to the East Regional.”

The loss – Dominican’s seventh in 13 games after a 15-1 start – has landed the Chargers on the bubble for any potential at-large NCAA berth. The team occupies seventh in the most recent regional rankings (listed below) and would be bumped if someone other than sixth-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas wins the ECC Tournament this weekend, because the CACC Tournament winner is assured of a spot as the automatic qualifier (how ironic that Dominican is forced to root for its neighbor and archrival to win two games, just to save its own season). Even if STAC defends home court, Daemen – which has moved into the eighth spot regionally – could possibly jump the Chargers. It will all be sorted out Sunday, at the latest.

And what about Wahaad Johnson, whose basket was taken away? He finished with a game-high 25 points (well, 27 in reality), but what if that were his last collegiate contest? The Brooklyn native is hoping to sign with a professional team overseas, but if he doesn’t play in the NCAA Tournament, does that hurt his chance at a contract?

So much unnecessary ambiguity.

 

Precedents

There have reportedly been five NCAA college basketball games that took place during this regular season in which there was a scoring error. In four of the cases, there was only one book at the table. The fifth instance occurred in our region on February 5 in Buffalo. With his team up five, Staten Island's Bryce Waterman converts a flop-technical free throw with nine seconds left in the first half, but prior to the start of the second stanza, the CSI staff was told that the shot was not made. The video is inconclisive due to a wide angle, but the Dolphins' announcer mentions the shot as good. CSI goes on to wn anyway, 79-75.

There was another incident in this region that proved costly, though it wasn’t nearly as impactful as Tuesday's playoff game. It happened in an East Coast Conference contest at Dowling on January 7, 2012. In that game, District of Columbia won in overtime after having trailed 63-62 at the end of regulation. Yes, you read that right. The Firebirds – then coached by former NBA star Jeff Ruland – actually trailed, 63-62 but the scoreboard read 62-62 because the operator only credited two points on one of his own player’s 3-pointers midway through the second half and NO ONE picked up on it. Thus, they played a superfluous extra five minutes, and the team with the fewest points at the end of regulation actually prevailed.

There was also a women’s NCAA Tournament game at Syracuse on March 18, 2016, during which Albany was shortchanged a free throw but managed to defeat Florida anyway, 61-59. Imagine the outcry if that one point had been pivotal in overturing a game of that magnitude.

In summary, this sad event, not to mention the extra-curricular skirmish, marred what was a terrific postseason basketball game, and this should never happen again. The person who worked the book has been relieved of that duty but it’s unclear whether there will be any further discipline meted out or new policies administered. It doesn’t affect the outcome of this game anyway. There is no perfect safeguard against human error, so this probably won’t be the last game to be adversely affected. Especially considering the reality that road teams rarely bring a scorebook along these days. We can only hope this was an outlier. Perhaps leagues could amend their bylaws to allow for the possibility of replayed games. Would such a bold move ever be embraced? With this game, the opportunity of setting a precedent never came to pass.

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There was plenty of other action, albeit free from controversy, over the past week. Let’s begin the recap with the expected: the three league tournaments began with the chalk prevailing in the region’s first 13 postseason games! That string was snapped when New Haven – the #4 seed in the NE10 Championships – knocked off top-seeded Southern New Hampshire, 59-42, avenging its most lopsided loss of the season (80-52) on January 10 at the same Spirou Fieldhouse. In that first meeting vs. their old NECC rival, the Penmen shot 47% from the field against the East’s stingiest defense, and even better from beyond the arc at 18-34 (53%) – one triple shy of the program record. In the more recent encounter, it was the complete opposite, as the hosts converted a miserable 26% overall and 13% from long range (3-13). It was the Chargers’ third playoff win in six days after outclassing American International and crosstown rival Southern Connecticut at home in the first two rounds. The result – which marked the Penmen’s lowest point total in 13 years (a 50-42 loss vs. Stonehill on February 20, 2010) – snapped SNHU’s 10-game win streak, as the team has fared better on the road (7-0) than at home (9-3) since December 10, though both are marks any team would envy. In another eye-popping stat, the Penmen committed a mere nine turnovers combined vs. the Chargers in the two match-ups this season.

New Haven’s victory – which saw the victors whistled for an amazing zero defensive fouls in the first half (one on the offensive end) – sets up yet another trip to Manchester. This will be the second time UNH will be making back-to-back trips to the Queen City this winter – for a rematch of the 2020 NE10 Championship Game at the same Stoutenburgh Gym (the first one was won by the host Hawks, 65-63 in overtime). Note that the game time has been adjusted to Saturday night at 6 pm as a snowstorm is expected to move out of the area by then. The two teams split their season series, with the road team prevailing in both. The clubs also squared off in last year’s NCAA first-round, with New Haven emerging victorious at Bentley. St. A’s punched its ticket to an unprecedented 15th NE10 title game by exacting revenge on Pace – a team that had hammered the Hawks twice by a combined 48 points over the course of the campaign – outscoring the Setters 10-0 over the last 3:24 to win in the quarterfinals, 78-70. Miles Tention capped the flourish with four free throws (two on a technical) at the two-second juncture as he and the other four starters all reached double figures in scoring.

In a thrilling semifinal, the second-seeded Hawks withstood a late rally from Bentley to eke out a 71-70 victory. St. Anselm – which trailed by as many as 13 points late in the first half – battled back to construct a 71-63 advantage with 4:40 to play before the Falcons rattled off seven in a row to make it close. Neither side managed a point over the final 1:58 as the Hawks earned a ninth straight postseason home win. Two men were responsible for 57 of the 71 points for the winners: Matt Becker (career-high 32) and Tyler Arbuckle (25, 20 of which came before intermission to keep the hosts in the game). Bentley, which held off Le Moyne in the quarters, saw Player of the Year Zach Laput reach the 1,000-point mark in the setback, as he contributed 50 points in the two weekend games.

Along with Chestnut Hill, the other CACC teams advancing to the semifinals at Jefferson are Bloomfield, which had little trouble with Georgian Court, Caldwell, which pulled away late from Wilmington and the aforementioned host Rams, who defeated Post for the sixth time in as many playoff meetings – all first-round clashes at the Gallagher Center. Jefferson got off to a 32-16 head start and made 71% of its first-half shots, extending the lead to 62-41 with 14:21 remaining before the Eagles twice slashed the deficit to six – the final time at 74-68 with 2:41 left. That’s when Player of the Year Erik Timko drained a huge 3-pointer, kick-starting a game-deciding 8-0 spurt. Jefferson – which has made at least half its shot attempts in each of its last four outings – has now won 11 straight first-round CACC Tournament games. Ahmed Barba-Bey topped the scorecard with a career-high 24 points (7-10 FG, 3-4 from 3) for the winners. Timko was held to just a dozen points, one game after posting 27 on 10-14 shooting and 5-6 from deep in a smackdown of crosstown foe Holy Family in the regular-season finale.

Post had locked up the fourth and final playoff berth in the stacked North Division by blasting undermanned Felician in a historic drubbing at the Drubner Center. The Eagles soared from the opening tip, racing out to a 29-4 lead that ballooned to 67-28 by halftime and peaked at 91-42 before the team settled for 112 points by the final horn – a total that was surpassed by just three NBA teams that Saturday and was the highest for the hosts since a 119-89 thumping of now-closed Green Mountain on December 8, 2003. Post shattered the program record and CACC mark with 24 threes (in 41 attempts, no less), with half of them coming from the fiery fingertips of senior D.J. Frechette (12-16 from downtown Waterbury), accounting for all of his career-high 36 points on the afternoon. The 12 trifectas are the most by an individual player in the region since Bridgeport’s Floyd Prieto knocked down 15 in 22 attempts vs. LIU Post on February 20, 2019. In their two games vs. the Golden Falcons this year, the Eagles shot a blistering 41-69 (59%) from long distance. The team’s previous single-game record had been 18 during a 100-87 triumph over Holy Family on December 5, 2019.

The hottest team in the region right now is Bloomfield, which has pocketed seven straight and 10 of 11, crushing its opponents by a whopping 20.4 points-per-game average during the win streak, which includes impressive road triumphs vs. Post, Dominican and Caldwell (more on this later). That last game was over before halftime as the Bears embarked on a 38-6 rampage to flip an early 10-8 deficit into a 46-16 runaway against a Cougars team that had already sewn up the league’s #1 playoff seed. Josh Morris (24 points, 5-9 from 3) and rising young star Edward Ngene (13 rebounds, personal-best 10 blocked shots off the bench) flexed their muscle in the Bears’ revenge win vs. Caldwell, while Wes Robinson erupted for a career-high 32 points in just 27 minutes, converting 13 of 17 shots in the playoff win vs. Georgian Court as the hosts made 68% of their shot attempts in a dominant first half. It was the Lions’ 11th loss to the Bears in as many lifetime meetings – the first time in postseason play.

Caldwell shook off its senior day slaughter by earning an impressive playoff win vs. Wilmington on the same Mark Corino Court. Freshly-minted Freshman of the Year Darnell Evans put on a show with a personal-best 34 points (16-18 FT), but his sensational block of Skip Burton from behind to snuff out a breakaway lay-up was worth the price of admission. The game was still very much in doubt at the time (69-64 at 5:26), making it even more of a statement play. I’ve been trying to hold off making the following comparison, because it’s a nearly impossible one for any player to live up to, but Evans has more than just a little Andre Dabney in him; that is to say that he makes dazzling plays almost routine, much like the CACC Hall of Famer and Super 75 standout from Bloomfield. Randy Rickards closed out his career with a bang for the Wildcats, compiling 26 points and eight rebounds.

In the East Coast Conference, Roberts Wesleyan joined New Haven as just the second road team to earn a playoff win this season, bursting out of the gate with a stunning 32-9 lead vs. Molloy and weathering a second-half run to prevail for a second straight season in a double-digit road opener (RWC downed Queens by 18 points last year). The Lions closed to within 49-44 midway through the second half, but Rian Carter came through with driving lay-ups in consecutive possessions and scored 13 of his game-high 22 points during a key 7:26 stretch for Roberts that proved the difference. Player of the Year favorite Darren Fergus totaled 21 points in a losing cause. The two teams, strangely, had played both ends of their season series within seven days back in December. Roberts earns another opportunity vs. fellow Western New York rival Daemen in the semifinals at top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas Saturday, though the Redhawks – amazingly – have dropped 26 of their last 27 head-to-head meetings.

In the other first-round game, District of Columbia made history by winning its first-ever conference playoff game (the Firebirds had been a D2 independent until joining the ECC in 2010), spoiling Staten Island’s maiden D2 postseason voyage in the nation’s capital. Like Roberts, UDC led from wire to wire, bolting out to leads of 26-9 and 58-35, but the Dolphins rallied to make things interesting, outscoring their hosts 30-11 in creeping within 69-65 on a Chris Velazquez trey with 9:26 to go. They drew within a deuce (75-73) on a Messiah Mallory tip-in with 2:39 on the clock but would get no closer, as just 19 seconds later, Juanye Colon (22 points off the bench) banged a huge 3-pointer – his sixth in nine attempts – kicking off a critical 6-0 spurt, and then the Firebirds made just enough foul shots (5-8) over the final 58 seconds to keep CSI within arm’s length for the landmark win. Micah Campbell amassed 15 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, while Hartnel Haye flirted with a triple-double, racking up 16 points, 11 caroms and seven assists for the victors. James Chestnut paced the Dolphins with 28 points, 12 rebounds and five helpers.

UDC has won five straight for the first time in four years and hopes the third time is the charm this year vs. top-seeded STAC, which closed out the regular season in style, landing six in double figures and rolling past Molloy at Quealy Gym, 94-70. Luis Risquez topped the balanced score sheet with 17 points in 15 bench minutes, while DeVante Jamison notched 13 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. Three-point shooting was the most telling stat in this one (STAC 14-30, MC 2-25).

 

Other noteworthy items:

  • Adelphi’s Ronnie Silva – whose stellar career came to an end during a first-round loss at Pace – finishes as the Panthers’ all-time scoring leader with 2,048 points. Adelphi has now lost six straight postseason games and has bowed out in its last five playoff openers. The last win was a 101-91 shootout vs. Bentley in Garden City on February 24, 2017.
  • American International dropped 16 of its last 17 games, though half of the setbacks were by 10 or fewer points. In a conference that historically punishes youth, progress can’t always be qualified by wins and losses.
  • Dominican closed out the regular season with a loss at Alliance, getting swept by the former Rockland County rival Nyack for the very first time since the CACC jumped from NAIA to NCAA in 2002.
  • Speaking of the old school name of Nyack, Alliance honored its four seniors with framed Nyack jerseys prior to its season finale vs. Dominican. All four recorded double-figure scoring totals in the win, including Isayas Aris, whose 14 points and 11 rebounds kept him tied for the D2 lead with 16 double-doubles. Unless our regional champ wins the national title, Alliance will enter next season with the region’s longest active win streak of four games as the former Warriors’ late rush to secure a playoff berth fell a game short.
  • Bloomfield became the sixth team in the 15-year history of the CACC’s North-South format to sweep all its divisional road games. The Bears (then Deacons) turned the trick in 2013-14, while Jefferson also did it twice (07-08, 19-20). The other two schools earned their sweeps during the 2014-15 campaign: Dominican and University of the Sciences.
  • Taalib Holloman was the star of the show, registering 27 points for Wilmington vs. inner-city rival Goldey-Beacom at the Complex in a winner-take-all, play-in game on the last day of the regular season. Fab freshman Zayon Marsh contributed another double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) for the Lightning in a losing effort.
  • Georgian Court outscored Chestnut Hill 38-22 in the second half during its playoff tune-up on the road, avenging a home loss a month earlier. Clint Wright, Jr. (25 points, 5-8 from 3, seven boards) and Cameron Edmonds (17 bench points, including a huge late jumper and 4-4 foul shooting over the last 21 seconds) were the standouts for the Lions, who reached eight conference victories for the first time in the program’s young history. The Griffins shot an arctic 1-25 from beyond the arc and just 27% overall but had already locked up the home playoff berth.
  • Queens received a little ray of sunshine in its season-ending game vs. Mercy as Sunnie Diamond exploded for a career-high 34 points (7-9 from distance) and Tyler Carey closed out his career with 18 points and three blocks, finishing in a tie with Kevin Tassey for most in Knights history (128). The game saw 11 ties and 16 lead changes before the hosts rode a 33-14 wave to provide sufficient separation at 94-77.
  • Surging junior forward Justin Hemphill notched a personal-high 24 points (10-14 FG) in 23 reserve minutes while snatching nine rebounds and rejecting six shots in leading Daemen past fellow Buffalo rival D’Youville at Lumsden Gym for its seventh straight win and 16th in 18 games. They also improved to 11-0 in the all-time series. Willie Kondrat boasted 32 points and 13 boards for the Saints, closing out his career on a high note by averaging 29.8 points over his last five games, much of the output coming from the stripe (44-51 for 86%). This is the last season for D’Youville as a provisional program.

 

And now… a word from the soapbox.

Earlier this season, I advocated for New Haven center Majur Majak to be considered for Player of the Year. Due to New Haven falling from first to fourth, I tempered my enthusiasm for that top honor and ultimately came to recognize the award winner – Zach Laput of Bentley – as the best selection. That being said, the fact that Majak – by FAR the most impactful player in the league – was not even an all-NE10 selection only shows that the coaches’ voting method is antiquated and short-sighted. All the top scorers were named to the three various teams, but a child could have handled that exercise without even watching one game. It takes vision beyond simple offensive numbers to recognize the Sudanese Swatter changed the way EVERY opposing coach had to strategize and players had to execute their offense. That HAS to stand for something. Majak led the league in rebounds and blocked shots and was third in all of Division II in both categories. His sheer presence forced opponents to shoot far more 3-pointers because there simply weren’t enough open looks anywhere near the paint. For comparison, there was a player named to the second team who has had a sensational career and is one of the most affable kids I’ve ever met in the league. But to be perfectly honest, this was his worst season by far (as well as his team’s), and as smart as he is, I know he’d be the first to agree. The numbers don’t lie:

Freshman Year: 47% FG, 47% 3FG, 15.1 ppg, 103/70 ass/to, 6 single-digit scoring games

Sophomore Year: 44% FG, 37% 3FG, 21.6 ppg, 147/89 ass/to, 1 single-digit scoring game

Junior Year: 44% FG, 39% 3FG, 20.4.1 ppg, 87/61 ass/to, 2 single-digit scoring games

Senior Year: 40% FG, 31% 3FG, 15.4 ppg, 70/80 ass/to, 7 single-digit scoring games

I spoke with a few coaches, and they admitted he didn’t have a great season but that they wanted to honor him for his entire career output. I’m sorry, but the all-conference teams shouldn’t be a Hall of Fame induction or popularity contest. Again, the point here is not to single out a player who has had a spectacular career. But the season this extremely talented had simply did not warrant inclusion among the best of the best. It’s a matter of merit vs. reputation. Majak only got better his senior year, and so did his team. New Haven ranks second in the nation with a .391 defensive field-goal percentage, but it’s even more staggering from inside the arc at .292. That ludicrous number is attributed mostly to Majak’s lurking presence in the paint. If that’s not good enough for him to be included among the Top 15 players in the conference, the system needs a serious overhaul.

From a rankings standpoint, St. Thomas Aquinas climbs three spots to #20 in the last NABC Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, while. Bentley re-entered at #24 prior to its NE10 Tournament loss. Southern New Hampshire and Daemen are receiving votes. Nova Southeastern (FL) – the lone undefeated team in D2 – is still #1.

Much more importantly, here are the penultimate regional rankings, through last Sunday’s games:

  1. Bentley
  2. St. Anselm
  3. Southern New Hampshire
  4. New Haven
  5. Pace
  6. St. Thomas Aquinas
  7. Dominican
  8. Daemen
  9. Franklin Pierce
  10. Southern Connecticut

The RAC will submit its recommendations for the NCAA field to the National Committee after this weekend’s championship games are concluded. The NCAA East Regional will commence the following Saturday, March 11 – most likely at Bentley or St. Anselm. Stay tuned to see how that plays out.

If the top five remain that way in some order, it will be the first time in the region’s history that the top five will have all come from the same conference – namely, the NE10 in this instance. Very incestuous, I know, but that’s how the chips fall this time around.

I welcome all comments, questions and suggestions:  chrisgranozio@gmail.com. Please follow us on Twitter for updates, live action photos and more. And please consider becoming a Patreon partner at: https://www.patreon.com/D2easthoops. Until next time, stay safe and Happy Hooping to All!