The last day of February produced a pair of playoff games in both the ECC and NE10. Let’s commence the recap with the semifinals in the latter conference, and a matchup of regionally-ranked teams in Syracuse:
Le MOYNE 83 MERRIMACK 55
Isaiah Eisendorf collected a career-high 29 points (13-17 FG, 2-2 from deep) and nine rebounds, while Russell Sangster totaled 20 (9-13 FG) and six, respectively, as Le Moyne ran away from Merrimack at the Henninger Athletic Center to clinch its first tournament championship appearance since 2009. The game was tight throughout the first half, with seven ties, five lead changes and no more than a five-point separation over the initial 17 minutes. The Dolphins were ahead 41-37 more than seven minutes into the second period before launching a game-clinching 42-14 blitz over a nearly 12-minute span, stretching their advantage to 83-51 within the last minute of play. Robert Jones III recorded 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots for the winners, who also received 10 bench points from Tanner Hyland. Le Moyne – which will host its first-ever conference championship game Saturday vs. St. Anselm – was the vastly superior shooting team (55%-35%) and made twice as many triples (6-17 to 3-21) while winning the glass, 42-30. Ryan Boulter dropped a dozen for the Warriors, who also landed Tawayne Anderson, Jr. in double figures with 10. Juvaris Hayes compiled six points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals, giving him a D2-best 115, shattering Donnie Walls’ NE10 season record, which the Assumption guard had held since 1992. Merrimack now awaits word on its NCAA fate.
ST. ANSELM 87 BENTLEY 80
The other semifinal was a lot closer as St. Anselm held off Bentley in Manchester thanks to a brilliant, all-around effort by newly-named NE10 Player of the Year Tim Guers. The junior guard nearly pulled off a triple-double, amassing 36 points (13-22 FG, 4-7 from 3), nine rebounds and nine assists while Taylor Fortin added 23 points and nine helpers in powering the Hawks; the two becoming the first pair of St. A’s teammates in 11 years to record at least eight assists apiece (Jeff Dickson dished out 10 and Chris Vetrano eight vs. Concordia on December 19, 2007). The game’s recurring theme was the hosts opening up 10, 11 or 12-point leads and the Falcons coming back, although never within a single possession after halftime. This scenario played out no fewer than nine times over the last 20 minutes, with Bentley coming as close as 77-73 at the 4:35 mark before Gustav Suhr-Jessen drilled a huge 3-ball that seemed to take the wind out of the visitors’ sails as they never came closer than six points the rest of the way. Ryan Richmond cranked out 35 points (14-24 FG) to pace Bentley, finishing the season with a 23.6 points-per-game average, eclipsing Ray Anderson’s school-record of 22.8 that he established in 1969. Chris Hudson added 13 points for the Falcons, who also received 10 points and seven rebounds from Brandon Wheeler in his collegiate finale as his team saw its four-game win streak come to an end. Both teams shot it well (SAC 51%, BU 49%) but St. Anselm cashed in twice as many threes (10-23 to 5-21) and outmuscled its guests on the boards, 41-30, resulting in a 14-5 edge in second-chance scoring. Both sides finished with more assists than turnovers (SAC 22/10, BU 10/6), with the Hawks claiming 10 of the game’s 11 mistake points.
MOLLOY 71 LIU POST 66
The first-round ECC match-ups wound up being nail-biters. At the Pratt Center, Molloy became the only lower seed to prevail on the evening, using a 14-6 game-ending flourish to clip LIU Post and punch its ticket to Saturday’s semifinals in Rochester. The Lions got off to a brutal start, falling into a 20-4 hole seven minutes into the contest after back-to-back 3-pointers by Aary Bibens (16 points, 4-7 from long range, 13 rebounds). The visitors slowly chiseled the deficit down, eventually knotting the count at 46, 49 and 51 before grabbing their first lead – 54-51 – on a Nick Corbett trifecta with 7:35 left. The Pioneers countered with a 9-3 spurt to reclaim a 60-57 advantage following a lay-up by Jared Rivers (13 points) with 3:27 remaining, leading to the final flurry, with Mike Torre delivering the dagger free throws with four ticks to go after a Bibens triple had brought the hosts within 69-66 three seconds earlier. Torre produced 20 points (12-13 FT) and 11 rebounds for Molloy, which also saw Corbett and Curtis Jenkins toss in 16 points each, though the trio struggled from the floor, combining to shoot a frosty 29.5% (13-for-44). Kyle McLeggan mustered 13 points in his final game for LIU Post, which was the better shooting (36%-32%), rebounding (44-40) and assisting (10-7) team but was outworked at the stripe (25-32 to 14-19), allowed far more second-chance points (21-5) and was punished 20-5 off turnovers. Molloy will play top-seeded Bridgeport at Roberts Wesleyan in the first semi on Saturday.
DAEMEN 75 ROBERTS WESLEYAN 69
Roberts Wesleyan narrowly missed playing on its home floor in the semis, falling to longtime Western New York rival Daemen in Buffalo – its first postseason appearance since joining the NCAA ranks four years ago. Jay Sarkis tallied 18 points (6-8 FG, 4-6 from distance) and provided many of the clutch scoring plays for the Wildcats, including a jumper near the midway mark of the second half that sparked a 14-5 charge and stretched a modest 53-52 lead to 67-57 with 5:02 to play. The Redhawks – who were spearheaded by Isaiah Lewis’ 20-point outing – crept within 71-67 after the sophomore guard’s lay-up with 1:19 left. Again, Sarkis came to the rescue, knocking down a pair of foul shots with 18 seconds remaining to close out the scoring as Daemen won its eighth in a row overall and 15th straight in the series (3-0 this season). Breon Harris (16 points, five steals), Darius Garvin (12 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and Aleks Miljenovic (10 points vs. his old club) provided quality depth for the victors, who will take on two-time ECC champion and defending regional champ St. Thomas Aquinas at the Voller Center on Saturday night. Manny Lewis contributed 15 points and six rebounds in his final collegiate game for Roberts, which closed out its turnaround season with a disappointing eighth straight setback despite owning the glass (45-34) and the paint (46-28). The Wildcats made up the difference beyond the arc (8-23 to 3-22) and at the stripe (13-18 to 6-10).
THE RANKINGS
Here are the latest rankings from the East Regional Committee, showing very little movement. The Top 10 is based on results through last weekend’s games, with last week’s rankings in parentheses:
- Le Moyne (1)
- Bridgeport (2)
- St. Thomas Aquinas (3)
- Saint Rose (4)
- St. Anselm (6)
- Bloomfield (5)
- Merrimack (9)
- Daemen (8)
- New Haven (10)
- Dominican (7)
OUT-"STAN"-DING
One of the most accomplished coaches, not only in our region but in all of college basketball, called it a career on Wednesday. Two weeks before his birthday, Southern New Hampshire Head Coach Stan Spirou officially announced his retirement after a distinguished 33-year career at the university he has called home since 1985. An emotional Spirou mentioned a desire to spend more time with his family as the major reason behind his decision. His legacy on the court includes a spectacular 640-342 record (.652 winning percentage), 18 NCAA appearances, 17 20-win seasons, five regional championships and two Final Fours. There will be more detailed and personal reaction about this story during the next "Around the Rim" later this postseason. Until then, we simply wish our longtime friend nothing but blessings and bliss both for him and his family. He will be dearly missed.