It was a surprise-free Saturday across the three conference tournaments, with one game going right down to the wire... and beyond.
ST. ANSELM 65 NEW HAVEN 63 (OT)
Most Outstanding Player Chris Paul recorded seven of his 27 points in overtime, while adding 11 rebounds and never taking a break as St. Anselm shaded New Haven in Manchester, earning the program's record ninth league tournament championship and denying the fifth-seeded Chargers their first NE10 title, as well as a chance to become the first conference team to win four road playoff games. The visitors appeared poised to make such history, using a 13-2 run in opening up a 31-18 lead before the Hawks countered with a 22-7 surge spanning the halves, edging in front, 40-38, on a lay-up by Tyler Arbuckle (18 points in 44 minutes, 8-13 FG) with 14:24 to play. New Haven tallied the next 12 points to reclaim the lead at 50-40 following a Derrick Rowland 3-pointer just past the nine-minute mark. But the offensive well went dry after that as the hosts closed out regulation with a 14-4 flourish, tying things up on Paul's lay-up with five ticks remaining, seven seconds after Elijah Bailey came up empty on the front end of a one-and-one, giving St. A's late life. Quashawn Lane - who finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals while playing all 45 minutes - couldn't convert on a long ball at the buzzer, ensuring that his team would play a record sixth overtime period this postseason. The Hawks would never trail in that extra session, with Paul scoring other hoop in the paint at the 1:03 mark that gave St. Anselm a 65-61 advantage. Two Elijah Bailey free throws with 46 seconds to go halved the deficit, but that would be the final scoring play of the ballgame as Bailey missed a well-defended fadeaway for the tie as time expired. Danny Evans pitched in with 11 points for the victors, who won for the region-best 11th straight time and saw all their scoring come from the starting five. Rowland topped the New Haven scoresheet with 25 points (10-16 FG) in 42 minutes of action, while Bailey closed out his career with 11 in 43 (on 3-of-17 shooting). Both teams struggled from long range (SAC 4-20, UNH 5-19) and finished with identical 7/10 assist-turnover ratios. The Chargers won the glass (42-33) but fell to 0-3 in NE10 championship games, including the last two. St. Anselm earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 91 DAEMEN 78
The other two leagues offered semifinal action, but the only competitive game was the last one of the night as #18 St. Thomas Aquinas upended Daemen in the nation's capital. A 13-2 upswing snapped a 20-20 tie and put the Spartans in front to stay at 33-22 after an Osbel Caraballo basket with 6:22 to play in the half. The Wildcats - who were piloted by Andrew Sischo's D2-best 22nd double-double of 23 points (9-12 FG) and 17 rebounds - were within 44-38 just over a minute into the final frame when STAC unleashed a 19-6 spree to open up a 63-44 lead after a Grant Singleton lay-up with 12:38 on the clock. Daemen whittled the lead down to nine points twice down the stretch; the last occurrence at 86-77 after two Sischo foul shots with 1:35 left, but Louis Griffith, Jr. delivered a dagger triple to beat the shot clock, and it was curtains for the Cats, who fell in the semis for a fourth straight season. Caraballo paced the Spartans with 29 points (11-16 FG) and six rebounds, followed by Singleton (20 points, 7-10 FG, 4-6 from 3, five assists), Demetre Roberts (14 points, eight helpers) and Sekou Cisse (13, 5). Sischo racked up his 1,800th point and 900th rebound - both good for fourth in place in program history (and still with another year to go). The redshirt junior also reached 773 points this season, besting the program record established by Ron Robinson in 1990-91. Jay Sarkis (13 points), Breon Harris (11) and Joey Wallace (11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) also played well in defeat for Daemen, which was the better rebounding team (32-26) but was outclassed from the field (60%-50%), from beyond the arc (8-16 to 7-22), in the paint (50-30) and off mistakes (25-10). Aquinas - which advances to Sunday's championship game vs. top-seeded Bridgeport - also boasted the stronger assist-turnover line (25/12 to 18/18). The Wildcats now await an almost certain NCAA at-large bid.
BRIDGEPORT 119 MOLLOY 88
Bridgeport punched its ticket to the final after knocking out Molloy, avenging its only league loss two weeks ago on Long Island and gaining another measure of revenge against the team that ended its playoff run on its home court last year in the title game. A whopping 27 players scored in the wire-to-wire win, including all 14 for the 14th-ranked Purple Knights, fronted by Juan Coffi's career-high 25 points in 23 bench minutes (8-12 FG). Bakary Camara chimed in with 23 points (9-13 FG, 2-2 from downtown Washington), seven rebounds and six assists, while Hashem Abbas (14 points, six boards) and D'Vonne Trumbo (22 points, 9-12 FG, eight assists) also turned in strong performances in the win. The P-Knights jumped out to leads of 20-8 and 31-14 en route to a 66-41 halftime chasm, then never allowed the Lions to come within 24 over the final 20 minutes; the margin cresting at 108-74 on a Camara slam at the 3:48 mark. Thirteen of 14 Lions reached the score column, paced by Nick Corbett's 16 points and four assists in his final collegiate contest. Steven Torre logged 13 and four, respectively, while James Montgomery tossed in 12. Bridgeport was the more accurate shooting club (62%-49%) and dominated both in the paint (62-36) as well as on the break (26-13). Both teams submitted positive assist-turnover ratios (UB 28/13. MC 22/18).
JEFFERSON 100 WILMINGTON 61
Josh Bradanese exploded for 28 of his career-high 38 points before halftime as Jefferson destroyed Wilmington in CACC Tournament action at Morgan Arena, advancing to its eighth championship game in the circuit. The senior guard - who shot 15-of-22 from the floor and 7-for-11 from downtown Philly - added six rebounds and career-best eight assists for the #12 Rams, who led from pillar to post, racing out to eye-popping leads of 18-0 and 30-4 before settling for a 55-22 halftime cushion. The divide never dipped below 31 after play resumed, and peaked at 90-45 after a free throw by Prince Hickson (13 points) with 7:54 remaining. Devaughn Mallory (13 rebounds, five assists) and Deondre Bourne (5-7 from 3, four helpers) both totaled 20 points for Jefferson, which soundly outshot (61%-32%), outrebounded (45-29) and out-assisted (28-5) the Wildcats, faring much better from long distance (12-22 to 9-29). Jermaine Head closed out a terrific career for Wilmington as the program's all-time highest scorer (1,871) along with 450 assists and 206 steals as he registered 20 points in 39 minutes of court time, while being supported by Danny Walsh (18 points, 4-6 from deep) and Taalib Holloman (10 points). Jefferson - which captured the South Division Crown - will take on North Division champ Dominican in Sunday's title tilt.
DOMINNICAN 70 BLOOMFIELD 51
Dominican is one win away from defending its conference championship after winning its blowout rubber game vs. Bloomfield, avenging a 90-72 home loss just 18 days ago after handing the Bears their worst-ever home loss by 41 points earlier in the season. Jason Copman compiled 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Chargers, who trailed only once (2-0) before reeling off 12 unanswered, then seizing control with a 14-2 run over the last 4:13 of the half in expanding a modest 25-21 lead to 39-23. Bloomfield - which shot a frosty 29% from the field - never came closer than 11 points after intermission, as the lead maxed out at 67-41 on a Jonathan Garcia lay-up with 3:34 to go as his team all but assured itself of a spot at the NCAA table. D,J. Rodwell produced 18 points and seven assists for Dominincan, which also landed Garcia (13 points, nine renounds, four assists) and Tedrick Wilcox (10 points, seven caroms) in double figures. Isaiah Sparks (six rebounds) and Safee Abdus-Sabur (12) each managed 10 points for the Bears (the latter in his final outing), whose only statistical advantage came on turnover points (21-9). The Chargers - who take a five-game winning streak into the title game with Jefferson - converted 45% of their shots, were more formidable from beyond the arc (6-17 to 2-26), accounted for 21 of the game's 26 assists and outmuscled Bloomfield in the paint (42-26), offsetting poor 6-of-16 foul shooting.