AROUND THE RIM - JANUARY 20 EDITION

By Chris Granozio

Just when you think you’ve seen everything…

For the first time in my 25 years covering the region regularly as a reporter, and to the best of my recollection as a fan since 1982, I’d never seen evidence of a team rallying from a 27-point deficit to win – until Wednesday in Waltham, where New Haven pulled a rabbit out of its hat to stun #11 Bentley.

Then, add these factors to the storyline:

• The team that won was playing on the road
• The team that held the lead had the best record in the East and had won a region-best 12 straight games overall and 22 straight on its home floor
• The team that won only led the contest when the clock hit triple zeroes

In a battle between the two stingiest teams in all of Division 2 when it comes to committing fouls, the host Falcons dominated the first 20 minutes to the tune of 37-12. Mason Webb opened the second-half scoring with a jumper to extend that advantage to 27, and not a soul in the building – including Chargers Head Coach Ted Hotaling – had any inkling about what was to transpire over the final 19 minutes.

“I told my kids at halftime that we were going to treat the second half as we would in practice,” Hotaling said after the game. “We were just going to try and execute one possession at a time, and we'll see where we are at the end.”

New Haven scored on six of its next eight possessions for 14 unanswered points, making it a ballgame at 39-26. The Chargers also switched exclusively to zone after intermission, extending the defense far out beyond the arc, making it even more difficult for the hosts to find easy shots. The run extended to 34-9 when the visitors pulled within 48-46 on a 3-pointer by sophomore transfer guard Justin Hendrick at the 5:48 mark, but Bentley countered with a 9-2 spurt – all the points coming on three Webb triples – to regain a 57-48 upper hand inside of four minutes. It was still a nine-point spread (59-50) with 1:47 to go when the drama really intensified. Hendrick nailed another three (he would finish with a season-high 14 points off the bench), and after a Webb miss from long range, Majur Majak slammed one home to make it 59-55, and the two sides remained scoreless until Hendrick connected on a corner three with seven seconds remaining, sandwiched by two uncharacteristic front-end misses by Player of the Year candidate Zach Laput, the last one coming with just over five seconds left. That’s when heady veteran playmaker Quashawn Lane dribbled upcourt and drained the winning floater from the left baseline as the buzzer sounded.

Until that epic comeback, the largest deficit overcome by a regional team in the past 25 years had been 23 points, as Felician shocked then-Philadelphia University in the CACC Tournament Semifinals on March 5, 2010 at Caldwell. In that one, the Golden Falcons were staring at a 49-26 hole with 17-and-a-half minutes remaining before prevailing, 90-77, in overtime. Antoine Obery cashed in his team’s final 14 points in regulation, including the tying trey with nine seconds to play.

Other particularly noteworthy regional comebacks over the past 25 years include one other from this year: Dominican erasing an 18-point deficit with 4:54 to go at Saint Rose on opening weekend as Joey Merrill drained a 3-ball at the buzzer to win, 87-86; Saint Rose’s miraculous NE10 playoff win at Pace on March 1, 2007 which saw the Golden Knights overcome a 12-point shortfall over the last 1:13 to prevail, 82-81, on a Will Monica three with five seconds left; and Daemen’s eye-popping rally at rival Roberts Wesleyan on January 12, 2016 as Torrence Dyck’s driving lay-up with four seconds showing capped a dizzying, 34-10 blitz over the final six minutes to eradicate a 22-point deficit.

The New Haven-Bentley game was truly a tale of two halves (37-12 BU, followed by 48-22 UNH), but the most wildly divergent example of two opposite periods still has to be the match-up between the Manchester archrivals on November 30, 2013, when host Southern New Hampshire enjoyed a 17-point halftime lead (40-23), only to see St. Anselm win the second half, 65-25 (!) to win going away, 88-65 – a 57-point turnaround that was only outdone by C.W. Post’s 73-point swing at Mercy  on December 10, 2008, flipping a nine-point deficit (21-12) midway through the first half into an eventual 64-lead (101-37). Yes – an 89-16 run!

By sheer coincidence, St. Anselm was visiting Southern New Hampshire yet again on Wednesday (their only meeting this season – a rant on this will be forthcoming in a future column), and a less dramatic version of the same turnaround a decade ago. The Penmen led by as many as 16 (33-17) before taking a 45-36 advantage into the locker room. But the Hawks flew past the home team on the other side of the halftime break, winning the final frame 43-22 in earning a 79-67 triumph, snapping its neighbors’ six-game winning streak in the process.

Another major league comeback Wednesday night occurred on Long Island, where Adelphi had its way with Assumption in the opening period, leading by as many as 19 points before settling for a 43-27 upper hand at intermission. It was 48-30 shortly after the restart when the Greyhounds unleashed a 30-5 tear, capped by an Isiah Gaiter hoop with 8:32 to go, in wresting the lead for good, 60-53. The game was a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff game that also saw Assumption come out on top.

Perusing the boxscores, another intriguing stat caught my eye: In Saint Rose’s win over American International at Nolan Gym, two Golden Knights scored at least 30 points: Josh McGettigan (31) and Max Jusianiec (30) – both career highs – as the pair combined to shoot an impressive 24-35 from the field and 7-10 from behind the 3-point line. There haven’t been many such games featuring this feat. The last time it happened in our region was March 1, 2020 as Roberts Wesleyan’s 1-2 punch of Armon Nasseri (35) and Reggie Clark (30) powered the Redhawks past Molloy in Rockville Centre. Just six weeks prior, on January 18, Spencer Foley (31) and Ronnie Silva (30) also turned the trick for Adelphi during a 117-90 loss at St. Anselm. Other recent examples of note are:

• Daquaise Andrews (35) and Chris Walters (31) of Southern New Hampshire in a 107-98 loss to Stonehill on December 9, 2017 (Andrews and Eamonn Joyce of SNHU nearly turned the trick vs. Bentley on February 13, 2019 with 30 and 29, respectively).
• Michael Mallory (42) and Jerry Luckett, Jr. (30) of Southern Connecticut in a 109-98 win vs. Southern New Hampshire in the NCAA Regional at Le Moyne on March 11, 2017
• Desmond Williams (36) and Michael Mallory (33) of Southern Connecticut in a 107-104 overtime loss in the NE10 Tournament to Southern New Hampshire on February 28, 2016 – AND… for an encore:
• Michael Mallory (47) and Desmond Williams (36) of Southern Connecticut in a 113-111 double-OT win at Bentley on January 30, 2016, making Mallory – the NE10’s all-time scoring leader – the ONLY player to be involved in three such events since I began keeping such records in 1998.
• The aforementioned Felician win vs. Philadelphia also included a "30 for 30" (my term - maybe it will catch on!), namely Devon Young (39) and Antoine Obery (32)

The most points combined between two players, each of whom scored at least 30, is a tie, with a total of 84:

• Andre Dabney (50) and Danny Terrell (34) of Bloomfield in a 121-119 double-OT win over Dominican on February 9, 2006
• Michael Sturns (51) and Ryan Lancaster (33) in Holy Family’s 108-75 win at New York Tech on February 2, 2008. In that game, both players shot 7-10 from 3-point land while making 28 of their 42 shot attempts overall.

Individual scoring is down this season, with only three regional players averaging 20 points a game, and just four over 18 ppg.

Games have been tighter than ever in the Northeast-10 this winter, with 24% (17 of 71 games) of the final scores in conference play reflecting a one-possession spread: eight by 1 point, seven by 2 and two by 3. Compared to this time last year, it was less than half as many, with just eight such spreads: five decided by 1 point, one by 2 and two by 3. There have also been six overtime games this year, as opposed to four in 2021-22. And remember, there was another team in the mix with Stonehill, so there were even more games last season.

New Haven’s win over Bentley, coupled with St. Anselm’s victory at Southern New Hampshire, means there’s now a three-way tie atop the NE10 standings at 9-2. Southern Connecticut (fourth place) and SNHU (fifth) are on islands at the moment, with Le Moyne and Pace tied for sixth, a half-a-game ahead of Franklin Pierce. All 13 teams qualify for the postseason.

Here are some more notes from around the NE10:

• Seven of the 13 teams in the circuit boast double-digit win totals and the conference’s non-league mark is a robust 60-31 with just one such game left in the regular season: Southern Connecticut hosting Georgian Court on January 31.
• Prior to New Haven’s win at Bentley, the Chargers ended crosstown rival Southern Connecticut’s nine-game win streak. Majur Majak – who ranks third in the nation in blocked shots – swatted away a D2 season-best 11 in that one. He had nine in their previous meeting, a season ago. The Owls snatched 24 offensive rebounds to stay close most of the way, but 5-38 shooting in the first half proved too difficult to overcome.
• Sean James matched a season high with 29 points as Southern got back on the winning track vs. Le Moyne on Wednesday, 73-71. Transfer point guard Marty Silvera is tied for second in the U.S. with 2.7 steals per game.
• Le Moyne is among the nation’s best in blocked shots (#14) and turnover margin (#27), with Mike DePersia ranked #11 nationally in steals and tops on the Dolphins with 13 charges drawn (13), despite missing four games to injury.
• Dayshaun Walton – a candidate for Freshman of the Year – drilled the winning 3-pointer from the right arc with six seconds remaining to lift Adelphi past American International, 70-68, in a game the Panthers had trailed most of the way.
• Darrell Yepdo has rewarded St. Michael's Head Coach Eric Eaton for his confidence, coming up aces in two games since having been inserted into the starting lineup. The rookie guard busted out for 23 points (5-6 from deep) in a hard-fought loss against Bentley. Heading into that game, he had only scored 49 points as a collegian and buried just four trifectas. Next game at Pace, Yepdo procured a game-clinching steal with 1.1 remaining, as the Purple Knights improved to 2-3 in one-point games this year (2-2 in league play, representing 50% of the circuit’s one-point games on the season). Manhattan transfer (see what I did there?) Romar Reid provided a career-high 22 points in the win as St. Mike’s used a 17-2 power run in transforming a 57-47 deficit at the 7:24 mark into a 64-59 advantage it would never relinquish.
• Pace – one of the best defensive teams in the nation – has played more than its share of tight contests, and have gone 3-0 in overtime affairs – half the league’s OT output. Six of the Setters’ last eight games have been decided by one possession, including those three bonus-period games. Transfer playmaker Lyron Bennett is averaging 39.1 minutes per game – most in the country at all levels!
• Prior to St. Anselm’s big league win at SNHU, the Hawks earned a huge crossover victory at St. Thomas Aquinas in a rematch of the 2019 regional championship game. St. A’s stumbled out of the gate against the ECC leaders, 27-12, but climbed back into it. The result was very much up for grabs with the Hawks ahead 71-70 at the 1:12 juncture when Tyler Arbuckle splashed a 3-pointer that triggered an 8-2 spurt and essentially settled matters at 79-72 with 17 ticks to go. The Hawks – who out-assisted their hosts, 15-4 – now lead the all-time series, 8-1.
• Despite receiving the most attention of perhaps any shooter in the league, SNHU’s Matt Becht is hitting at a sizzling 51% clip from beyond the arc (#3 in D2) and also ranks in the Top 10 in 3s per game (#10).
• Bentley is among the national leaders in shooting (#14), free throw percentage (#7) and rebound margin (#9).
• Watch out for Assumption, which is finding its identity in the midst of a brutal schedule that saw the Greyhounds play three games in five days in three different cities, thanks to a make-up game that was shoehorned in vs. Daemen in Buffalo. Gaiter is on fire (63 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists over his last three games), while Njavan Stewart is coming into his own as a serious threat both off the dribble, as well as beyond the arc (42 points, 9-17 from 3, 11 rebounds over his last two).

Two fun divisional races are heating up in the CACC, where Dominican and Caldwell share the North lead at 7-2 and Chestnut Hill, Georgian Court and Jefferson are embroiled in a three-way tango down south, each going 1-1 against the other two in head-to-head competition.

• Dominican – ranked #21 in this week's NABC Top 25 – is likely to slip out of the poll after having fallen back to the pack with consecutive losses to Chestnut Hill and longtime foe Alliance (although the rivalry has lost some of its juice with the name change and defection from the sleepy Rockland County town of Nyack). The top 3-point shooting team in the region, Dominican has struggled from long range (11-31 during the mini-funk) and has now lost to the Warriors twice in the last three meetings at the Hennessy Center. Wahaad Johnson has returned to form, though, exploding for a personal-best 33 points (14-17 FT) in the loss to the Griffins.
• Alliance’s upswing has come at just the right time (they were on the verge of falling out of the playoff picture), with back-to-back triumphs over Wilmington at home (AU trailed 48-35 early in the second half) and vs. Dominican on the road – its second-ever Top 25 upset… the other one being at then-#19 Dominican two years earlier. Isayas Aris continues to do yeoman’s work down low, though undersized for a “big” as he is generously listed at 6-6. The senior ranks fourth in D2 in rebounding and paces the nation in double-doubles with 11… the only player in the East to be averaging one! Aris notched two more with 16 and 15 vs. WilmU, plus 24 and 12 at Dominican. Joel Bailey was also instrumental with 25 and 19 points, respectively.
• Caldwell has pulled into a tie for first thanks to freshman phenom Darnell Evans (27 points at Georgian Court) and fellow rookie guard Kirk Parsons (personal-best 17 at Bloomfield). Mark Heber has been terrific (15.9 points, team-best 94 rebounds and 43 three-pointers, 92%FT shooting – good for eighth in D2) while Jarnel Rancy continues to be a human flyswatter with 71 blocks as he leads the nation in that category.  
• The other two North Jersey squads – Bloomfield and Felician – are struggling at the moment, though six Bears reached double figures in a somewhat controversial loss at Jefferson, while the roster-challenged Golden Falcons are trying to remain competitive, though they are still the only team in the region without a conference win.
• The Connecticut clubs remain in lock-step as they battle for third place, half a game up on Bloomfield at the moment. For the Purple Knights, Matt Turner tallied a season-high 28 points in a gritty win at Goldey-Beacom, while Post was buoyed by sharpshooters David Jasson (27 points off the bench, 7-10 from long distance) and DJ Frechette (24 points, 6-6 from 3), both of whom recorded career scoring bests at Felician. The Eagles shot a torrid 17-31 from downtown Rutherford in that one, one triple shy of a program record, while the hosts shot an icy 5-25 by contrast.
• Jefferson has had a Jeckyll and Hyde season, and the past seven days was a microcosm as the Rams outgunned Bloomfield, 97-87, to remain perfect at the Gallagher Center (JU and New Haven now have the longest active regional home court win streaks with seven apiece), then lost a 64-63 heartbreaker at crosstown rival Holy Family. In the win, regional scoring leader (and #8 leader nationally) Erik Timko poured in 31 points – his East-leading sixth 30-point outing, while Bismark Nsiah amassed 22 points, 13 boards and three blocked shots.
• Veteran lefty Eric Esposito was instrumental in Holy Family’s win over Jefferson as the forward notched half his 10 points during a pivotal 35-second stretch that flipped a 61-59 deficit into a 64-61 lead that endured, as Nsiah’s potential winning shot was off the mark.
• Chestnut Hill continues to grind out victories – make it eight out of 10 – as J.J. Butler’s Griffins are the only team that has knocked off both vaunted Chargers teams (New Haven and Dominican). In the latter encounter, Amir Warrick paced five in double figures with 24 points (8-12 FG, 8-9 FT), while Tuesday’s triumph at Georgian Court was arguably more important as it was a divisional road win. The Griffs led from start to finish in that one, though the Lions held tough most of the way. Warrick again was high man with 25. And this surge has developed without arguably the team’s best player in MJ Iraldi, who has been limited to eight games this year due to injury. I’m going to put myself out on a limb here: if any team other than Dominican wins the CACC Tournament for the AQ, my bet is that it will be Chestnut Hill. This team is dangerous.
• Georgian Court has dropped two straight but is still part of that three-way tug-of-war atop the South Division. Jamaal Waters equaled his career high of 27 points and grabbed a personal-best 15 rebounds in the Lions’ loss to Caldwell.
• The Delaware schools squared off for the first time, with Wilmington edging host Goldey-Beacom this time around. Randy Rickards’ steal of an inbounds pass that led to Taalib Holloman’s lay-up with 14 seconds to play put the Wildcats on top for keeps. Caleb Matthews tacked on a free throw 11 seconds later for a 59-57 final in a game that saw nothing more than a one-possession separation over the final 13:04!
• Goldey-Beacom has struggled, especially on the defensive end, this season, but Zayon Marsh has been a bright spot with eight double-doubles, tied for fourth in all of D2.

Despite a less than stellar strength of schedule or eye-popping resume, St. Thomas Aquinas is still the beast of the East Coast Conference as the Spartans boast the region’s best record at 16-3 and are still the only team yet to suffer a league loss. STAC paces the East in offensive rebounding (16.3), a tick ahead of Bridgeport, and is a plus-89 in turnovers, its bread and butter. Here’s more from the ECC precincts:

• St. Thomas Aquinas rebounded from its second non-league home loss to NE10 power St. Anselm by running away from Queens in Flushing. Antonio Vendola offered 22 points (7-11 FG, 4-5 from deep) and eight rebounds to lead the way, while Luis Risquez produced 16 points in 16 ultra-productive bench minutes (7-7 FG, 2-2 from 3).
• Molloy – which still has two games left with STAC – may be the only team that can realistically catch the leaders. Point guard Darren Fergus has been playing like a true leader, busting out for a career-high 38 points (15-18 FT) in a home win vs. Mercy and then filling the stat sheet in a loss at Staten Island with 14 points, eight rebounds, career-best nine assists and six steals. The circuit’s leading scorer at 20.3 ppg ranks second in all of D2 with 155 free throw attempts. In the Mercy game, the Lions trailed 45-36 before embarking on a 41-14 spree to take control at 77-59 with 8:29 on the clock.
• The CSI Dolphins continue to swim in the middle of the ECC pack, with possible league MVP Messiah Mallory totaling 23 points (11-15 FG), nine boards and five blocks in the loss to Molloy.
• Daemen is the hottest team in the region right now with six straight victories. But #6 was a low-scoring nail-biter vs. crosstown rival D’Youville as the Wildcats saw a 52-42 lead with four-and-a-half minutes remaining dwindle to a single point (54-53) after a 3-ball by Nelson St. Louis with four seconds to go. Coach’s son Nick MacDonald closed out the scoring by sinking two foul shots two seconds later and Daemen had its first win without a 3-pointer (0-10) since the 2012-13 season – its last under NAIA affiliation – for a span of 295 games. The Wildcats are still the D2 kings of Buffalo, improving to 10-0 all-time vs. the Saints.
• D’Youville – which is still in transitional mode to D2 – landed six in double figures in its prior 94-80 loss at Roberts Wesleyan. The odd thing about that stat is that those six players were the ONLY ONES TO SCORE! The other five players shot a combined 0-5 in 33 minutes of court time.
• Roberts – which produces outstanding postgame highlight packages – continues to pace the region in steals (#10 in the country) and enjoyed a career day from rookie guard Ryan Garwood, whose 22-point effort vs. D’Youville doubled his previous best, while adding eight rebounds to his stat line. The Redhawks nearly made it two straight in Rochester as they erased a 15-point second-half deficit to District of Columbia, edging in front, 75-74 on a Rian Carter freebie at 1:13 to cap a 22-6 run. But it was all Firebirds after that as Jahmir Marable-Williams delivered two free throws four seconds later and then fed Nick Kenton on a backdoor cut for a key hoop before Juanye Colon slammed the door shut with two more tosses at the stripe.
• Marable-Williams – the region’s assist leader at 6.1 per game – became the latest regional player to ascend the 1,000-point threshold in a home win vs. Queens. Michael Aiken – one of the best stories this season as he has gone from last-minute walk-on to possible first-team all-conference player – topped the UDC scoresheet with 24 points. Another cool footnote is that this was one of the very rare games that featured players on both sides who have authored triple-doubles: Marable-Williams and the oft-injured stud Sunnie Diamond of Queens.
• The injury-plagued Knights have had a rough season, but Tyler Carey has been worth the price of a ticket. The forward is averaging 10.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while shooting 51% from the floor. Our region features three of the top four shot-blockers with Rancy #1, Majak #3 and Carey #4.
• Mercy may be sporting the longest losing streak in the region at nine, but the Mavericks have not exactly been pushovers, threatening numerous upsets (Pace, St. Michael’s, Roberts Wesleyan, Molloy). And how about junior center Jayden Dewaal, who ranks fifth in the nation with 3.8 O-Boards a game?!

More big games are on the way this weekend and beyond as we continue the push toward the playoffs. Only Southern New Hampshire and Dominican have the weekend off, but there's plenty for us to keep tabs on. So stay tuned, hoops fans!

Any comments are welcome at: 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!