The region’s first postseason games took place in New England, while all four Long Island schools are now even-steven with one game left on the East Coast Conference schedule. Let’s begin our rundown with a pair of NE-10 Tournament first-round contests, beginning with a "saintly" clashing of Knights in Vermont:
ST. MICHAEL’S 68 SAINT ROSE 65
James Cambronne scored all 16 of his points in the second half, including back-to-back 3-pointers to highlight a late 10-0 run that carried St. Michael’s past Saint Rose during its first playoff game at the Ross Sports Center in eight years. In a game featuring a team with no seniors (CSR) and one with five senior starters (SMC), the Purple Knights trailed 57-54 before embarking on the critical spurt that included a go-ahead tip-in by Matt Bonds (11 points, 5-5 FG, six rebounds off the bench) that gave his team its first lead of the second half (58-57) with 5:43 to play. Cambronne’s triples 41 seconds apart extended the advantage to 64-57 at the 4:28 mark before the Golden Knights tallied the next six points to inch within 64-63 following a Jalaun Taylor jumper with 1:59 left. Just over a minute later, Cambronne knocked down a contested fall-away jumper from the right wing that provided a little breathing room at 66-63. St. Mike’s fouled Chris Dorgler with 3.8 ticks remaining and the junior forward sank both tosses to make it a one-point game yet again. The visitors then fouled before the inbounds pass and sent Michael Holton, Jr. to the stripe, where he calmly knocked down both of his attempts. Saint Rose inbounded the ball to Dorgler, who called timeout on the catch just shy of half-court. On the ensuing inbounds play, Taylor (10 points off the bench) got a decent look from the left corner, but his shot from just inside the arc was off the mark, sending the P-Knights to Sunday’s quarterfinals. The hosts had led 29-24 before the Golden Knights closed the half with a 13-1 flourish, topped off by consecutive Dorgler 3-balls (he was 3-5 from deep), to grab a 37-30 lead. It was 47-39 nearly seven minutes into the second stanza when St. Michael’s rattled off eight straight to knot the count, and the game remained tight till the end (six ties and 13 lead changes overall). Holton matched Cambronne for game-high scorer with 16 points and four steals, while Corey Crawford II provided solid depth with 14 points and seven rebounds. Dorgler (four assists, four steals) and Jamaal Greenwood (5-8 from 3, plus five assists) each netted 15 for the youthful and injured Saint Rose club, which also received 10 points from Julian Lipinski in matching the program record for losses with 19 (set in 1975-76). With the win, the Purple Knights clinch a playoff date with Southern Connecticut, the Southwest Division champ whom they swept during the regular season.
MERRIMACK 79 NEW HAVEN 63
Merrimack is in a similar state after dismissing New Haven at Charger Gym for its first postseason win since 2010, shooting 55% and advancing to face Northeast Division champion Southern New Hampshire, whom they swept this winter. Conference scoring leader Gelvis Solano churned out 34 points, seven rebounds and four steals for the streaking Warriors, who sneaked into the playoffs on the last day by virtue of the SNHU tiebreaker and have taken advantage of the opportunity thus far. After five early lead changes, the visitors seized the reins with a 22-2 blitz, transforming a 10-8 deficit into a 30-12 lead that grew to 38-18 by intermission. Solano highlighted the tear with three straight 3-pointers, while Troy Hammel (14 points, 3-5 from afar) punctuated it off with back-to-back trifectas. The Chargers – who were paced by Eric Anderson’s 23 points and seven rebounds in his final game – strung together 12 straight points on four treys (three by Tommy Hunt) to close within 40-32 with 15:51 to go. That’s as close as they would get, though, as JT Strickland (12 points, six boards) converted a traditional 3-point play and drained a jay to trigger an 11-2 surge and push the lead to 51-34 with 11:23 on the clock. The margin remained in double figures, save for an Anderson “And-1”at 3:37 that made it a 67-58 ballgame. Solano threw cold water on the budding rally 24 seconds later, however, touching off a 12-3, game-clinching flurry as Merrimack avenged an ugly 60-39 home loss a month ago. Jemal Mosley registered 19 points and Hunt 11 for New Haven, which was outclassed from beyond the arc (13-29 to 6-22). The neatly-played game featured a mere 13 turnovers.
LIU POST 79 DAEMEN 56
The playoff races are as tight as can be in the East Coast Conference. Co-leaders St. Thomas Aquinas and Bridgeport will determine the regular-season champ after their games are completed Saturday, while the four remaining playoff berths are occupied by a quartet of Long Island schools, all of whom sport identical 10-9 league marks. In Brookville on Friday, Isiah Stokley led a balanced attack with 19 points (7-11 FG) and he was flanked by both Tyuan Williams (18 points, six rebounds) and P.J. Torres (14 points, seven boards, seven assists) in LIU Post’s demolition of Daemen. The Pioneers led from pillar to post in this one, riding a 25-6 wave over the final 7:21 of the half in widening a modest 18-14 lead to 43-20. Eight players scored for the hosts in the run, and the margin grew to 29 (56-27) after a Stokley jumper nearly five minutes into the final frame. A 17-5 Wildcats surge slashed the lead to 61-44 with over eight minutes left, but they would get no closer. Gerald Beverly was the lone bright spot for Daemen with 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, the last one representing his 100th of the season as the senior forward joined Ron Wright (2006) as the lone Wildcats players with consecutive 100-swat seasons. LIU Post was the superior shooting (51%-33%), rebounding (43-30) and assisting (18-10) team, while exhibiting dominance in the paint (46-18), on second chances (23-8) and off mistakes (23-6).
NYIT 79 ROBERTS WESLEYAN 62
A similar story transpired next door at Recreation Hall as New York Institute of Technology faced little resistance against the other Western New York school – Roberts Wesleyan, engineering a 14-2 upswing to begin the second half in widening a 29-28 lead to 43-30 thanks in large part to Darian Hooker, who totaled eight of his 27 points during the run. The Redhawks – who were powered by Tyrel Dixon (16 points, nine rebounds) and Marcus Gooding (15 points off the pine) – were never able to sustain any run after that, as the margin bounced between 11 and 19. Jahleel Felix contributed 14 points (6-8 FG) in a reserve role, while Jon Feiler (12 points, 5-6 FG, eight rebounds) and Khalif Chaplin (10 points) also made their presences felt in the win. NYIT outshot its guests (50%-40%) and fared much better from long distance (11-27 to 4-17), helping offset a 40-35 rebounding disparity. Interestingly, there can be no four-way tie for the three seed as two of the teams in the tangle - Molloy and Dowling - play each other on Saturday in Rockville Centre.