2005-06 MEN’SMEN’SMEN’S BASKETBALLBASKETBALLBASKETBALL NN EWSEWS && NN OTESOTES 200 Cottontail Lane, Vantage Court North, Somerset, NJ 08873 Men’s Contact: Ron Ratner, Associate Commissioner Phone: 732-469-0440/Fax: 732-469-0744 E-Mail: [email protected] Central State • Fairleigh Dickinson • Long Island • Monmouth • Mount St. Mary’s Quinnipiac • Robert Morris • Sacred Heart • St. Francis (NY) • St. Francis (PA) • Wagner NEC Men’s Basketball Men’s Basketball Facts & Figures (Week 11 • February 6, 2006) Last Week’s Results School NEC Pct. Overall Pct. Streak Home Away Neutral 1. Fairleigh Dickinson 9-2 .818 12-8 .600 W6 6-1 5-6 1-1 Thursday, February 2 FDU 78, LONG ISLAND 65 2. Central Connecticut St. 8-3 .727 12-8 .600 L1 7-3 5-5 0-0 MT. ST. MARY’S 60, ROBERT MORRIS 59 Monmouth 8-3 .727 11-11 .500 W2 4-4 6-5 1-2 QUINNIPIAC 72, SACRED HEART 68 4. Robert Morris 7-4 .636 11-9 .550 L2 9-1 2-8 0-0 CCSU 76, ST. FRANCIS (NY) 68 (OT) Mount St. Mary's 7-4 .636 9-13 .409 W2 4-4 4-7 1-2 Saturday, February 4 6. Sacred Heart 6-6 .500 9-12 .429 L4 6-3 3-9 0-0 FDU 87, WAGNER 72 7. Quinnipiac 5-7 .417 10-11 .476 W2 8-3 1-7 1-1 LONG ISLAND 81, SACRED HEART 65 8. Long Island 4-6 .400 7-12 .368 W1 4-3 3-7 0-2 QUINNIPIAC 73, ST. FRANCIS (NY) 68 9. Wagner 3-7 .300 10-9 .526 L3 7-3 3-6 0-0 MONMOUTH 63, CCSU 48 MT. ST. MARY’S 71, ST. FRANCIS (PA) 56 10. St. Francis (NY) 3-8 .273 6-14 .300 L2 4-5 2-9 0-0 11. St. Francis (PA) 1-11 .083 3-19 .136 L5 2-7 1-10 0-2 Top eight teams qualify for NEC Tournament

Home Team Underlined Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week , Fairleigh Dickinson Choice Hotels Choice Hotels Sr., G, 6-4, 190 lbs., , NY/New Utrecht NEC Player of the Week NEC Rookie of the Week Timberlake collects his second consecutive Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week award after leading the streaking Knights into first Nov. 21 Justin Chiera, CCSU Nov. 21 Cameron Tyler, FDU place with a pair of wins last week. Timberlake averaged 21.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and hit 55.2 percent of his shots from Nov. 28 Durell Vinson, WC Nov. 28 Whitney Coleman, MU Dec. 5 Obie Nwadike, CCSU Dec. 5 Grant Surprenant, SFPA the floor and 80.0 percent from the line as Fairleigh Dickinson stretched its win streak to six and improved to 9-2 in league play. In Dec. 12 Jarrid Frye, SHU Dec. 12 , RMU a 78-65 win over visiting Long Island on Thursday, he tallied 17 points (8-12 FG), eight rebounds and four assists, then erupted Dec. 19 Derek Coleman, RMU Dec. 19 Jeremy Chappell, RMU for a game-high 25 points and snared seven boards in the Knights’ 87-72 conquest of Wagner in on Saturday. With the Jan. 3 Mark Porter, WC Jan. 3 Jeremy Chappell, RMU score deadlocked at 35-35 at intermission, Timberlake poured in 11 of FDU’s first 15 points in the second half to help the Knights Jan. 9 Tony Lee, RMU Jan. 9 Sam Atupem, MSM slowly pull away the Seahawks. The Brooklyn native has averaged 22.0 ppg over his last five outings to raise his season average from Jan. 16 A.J. Jackson, RMU Jan. 16 Whitney Coleman, MU 12.7 ppg to 15.3 ppg, sixth in the conference. He also ranks among the NEC’s top-15 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71:1; sixth), steals Landy Thompson, MSM Jan. 23 Sam Atupem, MSM (1.6 spg; seventh), assists (3.6 apg; seventh), field goal percentage (.480; ninth) and rebounding (5.4 rpg; 12th). In games against Jan. 23 Kibwe Trim, SHU Jan. 30 Jeremy Chappell, RMU Jan. 30 Chad Timberlake, FDU Feb. 6 Joey Butler, MSM NEC competition, Timberlake is second in the conference with 18.2 ppg. Feb. 6 Chad Timberlake, FDU Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week Joey Butler, Mount St. Mary’s Fr., G, 6-2, 170 lbs., Ft. Washington, MD/Massanutten Academy (VA) Butler joins teammate and two-time honoree Sam Atupem as Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week recipients as Mount St. Mary’s won both its games last week to snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 7-4 in NEC play. Butler averaged 6.0 points, 3.0 2006 NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament rebounds, 4.0 assists and shot 46.2 percent from the field in the two victories. His runner with 34 seconds remaining against Robert All games at home of higher seed. Teams will be Morris on Thursday pulled Mount St. Mary’s to within one point of the Colonials in a game the Mount would go on to win, 60-59, on reseeded after quarterfinals. a Mychal Kearse putback with ten seconds to play. Butler finished the game with six points, five rebounds and three assists. In a 71- 56 triumph over St. Francis (PA) on Saturday, the Washington, MD product recorded six points and five assists. Butler also sparkled Thursday, March 2 on the defensive end of the floor, holding his point guard counterparts to 7-22 (.389) shooting while helping force eight turnovers. Quarterfinals Times TBA On the season, he is averaging 5.2 ppg and leads all NEC freshman in assists with 3.0 per game. Sunday, March 5 Semifinals This Week’s Schedule 1:00 pm (CN8), 4:00 pm (MSG) Monday, February 6 Saturday, February 11 Thursday, February 16 MONMOUTH at WAGNER* 7:00 pm MONMOUTH at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm CENTRAL CONN. ST. at WAGNER 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 8 ROBERT MORRIS at FDU 7:00 pm SACRED HEART at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm ROBERT MORRIS at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm Championship MT. ST. MARY’S at FDU 7:30 pm ST. FRANCIS (PA) at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm 7:30 pm (ESPN2) Thursday, February 9 FDU at SACRED HEART* 7:30 pm FDU at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm Sunday, February 12 MT. ST. MARY’S at SACRED HEART^ 7:00 pm QUINNIPIAC at ROBERT MORRIS# 2:00 pm * Televised live on MSG Network, FCS-Atlantic NEC Website WAGNER at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm CENTRAL CONN. ST. at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm ^ Televised live on Comcast-Mid Atlantic For all the latest news, scores, statistics and notes, visit # Televised live on CN8 Friday, February 10 Upcoming Games the NEC website at www.northeastconference.org QUINNIPIAC at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm CENTRAL CONN. ST. at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm Monday, February 13 Standings and statistics are updated daily. LONG ISLAND at MT. ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm WAGNER at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm 2005-06 NEC Men’s Basketball Schedule Schedule Subject To Change. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Central Connecticut State Fairleigh Dickinson Long Island (12-8, 8-3 NEC) (12-8, 9-2 NEC) (7-12, 4-6 NEC) Mohegan Sun Classic at CCSU at Guardians Classic (Morgantown, WV) N 22 Columbia L 63-80 N 18 Birmingham Southern W 76-67 N 12 vs. Wofford L 62-73 N 26 at Penn State L 64-80 N 19 Northeastern L 90-94 N 13 Lousiana Monroe W 74-58 N 29 at SMU L 62-74 N 22 at Florida International L 61-71 N 18 at #24 Maryland L 85-111 D 3 at New Hampshire W 59-56 N 28 at Binghamton W 69-66 N 26 Dowling W 96-50 D 10 Hartford W 85-80 D 3 at Harvard W 87-79 N 29 QUINNIPIAC W 76-70 D 14 at Harvard L 79-91 D 5 at St. Bonaventure L 56-85 D 2 at Canisius W 69-65 (2 OT) D 22 CCNY W 80-39 D 9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 72-61 D 5 at Seton Hall L 57-65 at College of Charleston Classic D 18 La Salle L 106-107 (4 OT) D 10 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 71-68 D 29 vs. Rider L 59-63 D 22 Binghamton W 72-68 D 17 Drexel L 49-54 D 30 vs. Longwood L 69-86 D 29 at Delaware L 73-79 D 22 at St. Peter’s L 77-82 J 5 MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 57-73 J 7 at LONG ISLAND W 83-74 D 28 at #10 Louisville L 66-89 J 7 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 74-83 J 9 at SACRED HEART L 71-74 J 5 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 73-64 J 12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 73-70 (OT) J 12 MONMOUTH L 57-61 J 12 at QUINNIPIAC L 81-102 J 14 at ROBERT MORRIS L 66-70 J 14 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON W 88-74 J 14 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 74-88 J 18 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 67-70 J 19 QUINNIPIAC W 79-69 J 20 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 64-55 J 23 at QUINNIPIAC L 69-82 J 21 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 59-57 (OT) J 23 SACRED HEART W 81-73 J 26 SACRED HEART W 63-60 J 26 WAGNER W 57-40 J 26 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 66-49 J 28 WAGNER W 75-65 J 28 MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 68-58 J 28 at ROBERT MORRIS W 84-83 F 2 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 65-78 F 2 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 76-68 (OT) F 2 LONG ISLAND W 78-65 F 4 at SACRED HEART W 80-65 F 4 at MONMOUTH L 48-63 F 4 at WAGNER W 87-72 F 9 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 10 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm F 6 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm F 11 MONMOUTH 4:00 pm F 12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm F 9 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 13 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F 16 at WAGNER 7:00 pm F 11 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:30 pm F 18 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm F 16 at SACRED HEART 7:30 pm F 16 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm F 22 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F18 at Wisconsin-Green Bay (BracketBuster Pool Game) 8:05 pm F 18 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 4:00 pm F 25 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 1:00 pm F 20 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 22 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 27 at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm F 22 WAGNER 7:00 pm F 24 at WAGNER 7:00 pm NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) F 27 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 27 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm M 2 Quarterfinals NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) M 5 Semifinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 8 Championship M 5 Semifinals M 5 Semifinals M 8 Championship M 8 Championship NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS

Monmouth Mount St. Mary’s Quinnipiac (11-11, 8-3 NEC) (9-13, 7-4 NEC) (10-11, 5-7 NEC)

N 21 at San Francisco L 66-70 N 18 at Virginia Tech L 62-74 at Columbia Tournament at Great Alaska Shootout (Anchorage, AK) N 21 Binghamton W 62-53 N 18 vs. Troy State L 83-94 (OT) N 24 vs. Southern Illinois W 80-68 N 26 at Old Dominion L 57-80 N 19 vs. New Hampshire W 64-62 N 25 vs. South Carolina L 56-62 N 30 at La Salle L 51-73 N 22 Concordia W 106-57 N 26 vs. Oral Roberts L 54-62 D 3 Loyola (MD) L 71-76 N 29 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 70-76 D 3 Rider L 67-75 D 7 at American L 60-80 D 2 at Cornell W 55-45 D 6 at St. Peter’s L 60-73 D 10 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 68-71 D 5 Colgate W 67-59 D 8 at Seton Hall L 45-61 at San Juan Shootout D 10 ROBERT MORRIS L 85-90 D 12 at Lehigh L 57-71 D 19 vs. Akron L 61-74 D 19 Dartmouth W 88-77 D 14 at Princeton W 41-21 D 20 vs. Liberty W 63-59 D 22 at L 72-87 D 18 SACRED HEART W 73-64 D 21 vs. UT-Chatanooga L 74-85 (OT) D 30 at #2 Connecticut L 75-111 D 28 at Hartford W 56-54 D 31 at Penn State L 53-65 J 5 at WAGNER L 63-81 D 31 Drexel L 49-53 J 3 Lafayette L 63-76 J 7 Brown L 60-64 J 3 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 66-59 J 5 at LONG ISLAND W 73-57 J 12 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON W 102-81 J 5 ROBERT MORRIS L 75-87 J 7 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 60-43 J 14 MONMOUTH L 82-85 (OT) J 7 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 55-53 J 10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 84-56 J 12 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE W 61-57 J 12 SACRED HEART W 78-69 J 19 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 69-79 J 14 at QUINNIPIAC W 85-82 (OT) J 19 at MONMOUTH W 64-54 J 21 at MONMOUTH L 74-80 (2 OT) J 19 MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 54--64 J 21 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 57-59 (OT) J 23 LONG ISLAND W 82-69 J 21 QUINNIPIAC W 80-74 (2 OT) J 26 at QUINNIPIAC L 62-68 J 26 MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 68-62 J 26 at ROBERT MORRIS L 65-73 J 28 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 58-68 J 28 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 66-70 J 28 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 74-56 F 2 ROBERT MORRIS W 60-59 F 2 SACRED HEART W 72-68 F 4 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE W 63-48 F 4 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 71-56 F 4 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 73-68 F 6 at WAGNER 7:00 pm F 9 at SACRED HEART 7:00 pm F 10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm F 11 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm F 11 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:30 pm F 12 at ROBERT MORRIS 2:00 pm F 13 WAGNER 7:00 pm F 13 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 18 WAGNER 2:00 pm F 18 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 1:00 pm F 18 MONMOUTH 1:00 pm F 20 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F 20 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 20 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm F 25 at SACRED HEART 4:00 pm F 25 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 25 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm F 27 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 27 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 27 WAGNER 7:00 pm NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) M 2 Quarterfinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 5 Semifinals M 5 Semifinals M 5 Semifinals M 8 Championship M 8 Championship M 8 Championship NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS 2005-06 NEC Men’s Basketball Schedule Schedule Subject To Change. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Robert Morris Sacred Heart St. Francis (NY) (11-9, 7-4 NEC) (9-12, 6-6 NEC) (6-14, 3-8 NEC)

N 18 at St. Bonaventure L 61-80 N 19 at Rhode Island L 50-56 N 18 Fairfield W 69-64 N 23 at L 59-86 N 21 at Albany W 63-61 N 22 at St. John’s L 50-64 N 26 Lock Haven W 100-64 N 25 Harvard L 72-75 N 26 at Fordham W 66-60 N 28 Maine W 62-53 N 28 at Yale L 67-72 N 29 at Pittsburgh L 58-79 D 3 at Duquesne L 58-73 N 30 Columbia L 59-61 D 3 Binghamton L 56-64 D 6 at New Hampshire L 65-71 D 3 at #8 Boston College L 66-77 D 6 at Lafayette L 81-89 (OT) D 10 at QUINNIPIAC W 90-85 D 5 Army W 76-62 D 9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 61-72 D 17 Charleston Southern W 97-85 D 7 Lehigh W 66-55 D 18 Hartford W 55-45 D 22 at #25 Iowa L 51-73 D 10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 74-72 D 22 Hofstra L 57-73 D 29 Medaille W 109-36 D 18 at MONMOUTH L 64-73 D 30 at Manhattan L 78-89 J 2 WAGNER W 95-90 J 2 at Miami (FL) L 57-63 J 3 MONMOUTH L 59-66 J 5 at MONMOUTH W 87-75 J 7 WAGNER W 61-50 J 7 MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 43-60 J 12 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 73-71 J 9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE W 74-71 J 12 at ROBERT MORRIS L 71-73 J 14 LONG ISLAND W 70-66 J 12 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 69-78 J 14 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 65-56 J 19 at SACRED HEART L 60-73 J 14 at WAGNER W 70-62 J 18 LONG ISLAND W 70-67 J 21 at WAGNER L 69-75 J 19 ROBERT MORRIS W 73-60 J 20 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 55-64 J 24 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 79-67 J 21 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 65-54 J 23 at WAGNER L 58-68 J 26 MONMOUTH W 73-65 J 23 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 73-81 J 28 QUINNIPIAC W 70-66 J 28 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 83-84 J 26 at LONG ISLAND L 60-63 F 2 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 68-76 (OT) F 2 at QUINNIPIAC L 68-72 F 2 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 59-60 F 4 at QUINNIPIAC L 68-73 F 4 LONG ISLAND L 65-80 F 6 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 9 WAGNER 7:00 pm F 9 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F 10 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:30 pm F 11 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm F 11 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm F 12 QUINNIPIAC 2:00 pm F 16 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm F 16 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:30 pm F 16 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 18 ROBERT MORRIS 4:00 pm F 18 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 4:00 pm F 18 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm F 21 at SACRED HEART 7:00 pm F 21 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 8:00 pm F 21 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 25 QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm F 25 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 25 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:30 pm F 27 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) M 2 Quarterfinals NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) M 2 Quarterfinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 5 Semifinals M 5 Semifinals M 8 Championship M 5 Semifinals M 8 Championship M 8 Championship NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS

St. Francis (PA) Wagner (3-19, 1-11 NEC) (10-9, 3-7 NEC)

at Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (at Syracuse) N 19 John Jay W 86-44 N 8 vs. Cornell L 54-75 N 22 American W 75-59 N 9 vs. Bethune-Cookman L 52-63 (OT) N 26 at Vermont L 67-71 N 19 Youngstown State W 71-58 N 29 at Brown W 72-59 N 21 Lock Haven W 74-54 D 3 at Yale W 73-69 N 26 at Ohio L 61-77 D 6 Columbia W 83-71 N 30 at #19 George Washington L 68-85 D 17 at Rhode Island W 63-61 D 3 at St. Bonaventure L 65-69 D 21 at #12 UCLA L 72-74 D 10 SACRED HEART L 72-74 D 30 Stony Brook W 67-54 D 18 at Penn State L 74-88 J 2 at ROBERT MORRIS L 90-95 D 28 at LaSalle L 55-85 J 5 QUINNIPIAC W 81-63 J 2 American L 52-62 J 7 at SACRED HEART L 50-61 J 5 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 64-73 J 7 at MONMOUTH L 53-55 J 14 SACRED HEART L 62-70 J 10 MOUNT ST. MARY'S L 56-84 J 19 ST. FRANCIS (PA) L 61-68 J 12 LONG ISLAND L 70-73 (OT) J 21 ROBERT MORRIS W 75-69 J 14 ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 56-65 J 23 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 68-58 J 19 at WAGNER W 68-61 J 26 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE L 40-57 J 21 at SACRED HEART L 54-65 J 28 at LONG ISLAND L 65-75 J 24 at ROBERT MORRIS L 67-79 F 4 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 72-87 J 26 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 49-66 F 6 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 28 MONMOUTH L 56-74 F 9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 4 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 56-71 F 13 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 10 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm F 16 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 12 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 18 at QUINNIPIAC 2:00 pm F 16 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 22 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 18 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm F 24 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 21 ROBERT MORRIS 8:00 pm F 27 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F 25 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 1:00 pm NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) NEC Tournament (all games at higher seed) M 2 Quarterfinals M 2 Quarterfinals M 5 Semifinals M 5 Semifinals M 8 Championship M 8 Championship NEC Games in CAPS NEC Games in CAPS CCSU’s Dickenman Earns 150th Win NEC Men’s Basketball Notes: Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman recorded the 150th win of his (through games of February 4) career on Thursday as the Blue Devils rallied for a 76-68 overtime victory over St. Francis (NY) in New Britain. Now in his tenth season, Dickenman (150-130) is the second win- FDU Jumps To Head Of Class ningest coach in school history behind Bill Detrick (453 wins). In the last seven seasons After enduring a rocky one month stretch that dropped the team two under Dickenamn, the Blue Devils have averaged 18 wins and advanced to the NEC Tourna- games under .500, preseason NEC favorite Fairleigh Dickinson has ment title game four times, winning the championship twice (2000, 2002). found its footing the last two weeks, reeling off six straight wins to take over first place in the conference with a 9-2 mark. Mount’s Thompson Continues Chart Climb After becoming the 44th player in NEC history to crack the 1,500-point plateau on January The defending champion Knights lost six-of-eight games from mid-December through mid-January until 7th against St. Francis (NY), Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thompson (German- turning things around behind the play of senior guard Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utre- town, MD/Archbishop Spalding) has since raised his career point total to 1,625 points. cht). Timberlake, who has been awarded two straight Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week honors, has Thompson, the league’s leading active point producer, is now 29th on the NEC’s career scor- averaged 21.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and shot 54.8 percent from the floor during the ing chart and needs just 21 more to move into the top-25. He is also five points shy of passing win streak. Timberlake has received help from a variety of sources, including junior center and defensive Mike Tate to move into the top-10 in school history. stopper Andrea Crosariol (Abano T., Italy/Long Island Lutheran), who has averaged 12.5 ppg NEC Career Leaders - Scoring on 71.7 shooting, while blocking 3.7 shots per game over his last six outings. FDU has outscored its oppo- 25. Marcus Gaither Fairleigh Dickinson 1,646 1981-84 sition by 10.9 ppg during the stretch, while limiting foes to a 38.2 percent success rate from the field. 26. Rahshon Turner Fairleigh Dickinson 1,637 1994-98 27. Rahsaan Johnson Monmouth 1,628 1999-02 Despite their terrific play of late, the Knights have only managed a one-game separation between themselves 28. Antawn Dobie Long Island 1,627 1999-03 and second place Central Connecticut State and Monmouth. CCSU had its six-game win streak snapped by 29. Landy Thompson Mount St. Mary’s 1,625 2002-06 Monmouth, 63-48, in a key game on Saturday in West Long Branch. With 8-3 NEC records, the Blue Devils The Number’s Game: FDU’s Gordon Klaiber and Hawks are one game ahead of fourth place Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary’s, both with 7-4 league Fairleigh Dickinson senior forward Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/National Chris- slates. The Colonials and Mountaineers squared off in Emmitsburg on Thursday with Mount St. Mary’s pulling tian Academy) continues to build on his impressive career totals. The two-time first team out a 60-59 triumph on junior guard Mychal Kearse’s (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) putback with all-NEC selection enters play this week with 1,382 points (second among active NEC players) 10 seconds remaining. After winning five-of-six, Sacred Heart has now dropped four straight games to fall to and 619 boards (first among active NEC players). He is just the ninth player in FDU history sixth place at 6-6 in conference play. Seventh place Quinnipiac (5-7) and eighth place Long Island (4-6) have to amass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds and is on pace to become just the 23rd player in played well in recent weeks, with the Bobcats taking four of their last five league games following a 1-6 start, NEC annals to reach 1,500 points and 500 rebounds and possibly the ninth player to hit and the Blackbirds coming out on top in three of their last four NEC outings. 1,500 points and 750 rebounds. As schools begin to position themselves for the eight-team NEC Tournament, the week ahead features a Pioneers Pack One-Two Scoring Punch number of noteworthy matchups, including Robert Morris visiting FDU on Monday, Sacred Heart hosting Sacred Heart currently sports the top-two scorers in the conference in senior center Kibwe Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday (live on Comcast Mid-Atlantic), CCSU competing at Robert Morris on Friday Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s) and junior guard Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/ and Mount St. Mary’s travelling to FDU on Saturday. Martin Luther). Trim is the top point producer on the circuit with 18.8 ppg, followed by Frye’s 16.4 ppg. St. Francis (NY)’s Steven Howard (20.2 ppg) and Richy Dominguez (19.3 FDU Selected To Face Wisconsin-Green Bay In Matchup From "BracketBusters presented ppg) were the last teammates to conclude a season ranked one-two in the NEC in scoring by eBay" Pool when they turned the trick in 2000-01. Fairleigh Dickinson is heading to Wisconsin-Green Bay to face the team on February 18th in a matchup created out of the original pool of 100 men's basketball teams representing 18 conferences NEC On The Air selected to participate in the BracketBusters presented by eBay. After a two week break, the NEC Television Network will resume its package with three games the week of February 6th. On Monday, February 6th, Wagner hosts Monmouth in a game to Of the 100 teams, 26 were selected on Monday by ESPN to participate in the fourth annual BracketBusters air at 7:00 pm on MSG Network and Fox College Sports-Atlantic. Dave Popkin (play-by-play), presented by eBay -- a 13-game televised men’s basketball event matching NCAA tournament hopefuls against Terry O’Connor (color) and Paul Dottino (sideline) will provide commentary. On Thursday, each other on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. Last year’s field included a potential of 64 teams repre- February 9th, Comcast Mid-Atlantic will televise Mount St. Mary’s at Sacred Heart. Tipoff is at senting 13 conferences (vying for 11 BracketBusters games). 7:00 pm with Kevin Connors (play-by-play), O’Connor (color) and Dottino (sideline) in the booth. The game will also air on tape delay on Cablevision of Norwalk (Ch. 84) on Saturday, For the remaining 74 teams in the "pool" that will not take part in televised games, an intra-conference home February 11th at 8:00 pm. To close out the week, a doubleheader between Quinnipiac and and home series was created. Wisconsin-Green Bay (11-13, 5-7 Horizon) will visit Fairleigh Dickinson in Robert Morris in Moon Township will be broadcast on CN8 on Sunday, February 12th. The November or December of 2006. women’s game will tip at noon, followed by the men’s tilt at 2:00 pm. Popkin (play-by-play) and O’Connor (color) will be calling the action. The NEC will televise 25 men’s and women’s St. Francis (PA)’s Benton and CCSU’s Chiera Reach 1,000-Point Plateau basketball games in 2005-06 as part of an extensive regional network package. The league Two NEC players entered the league’s 1,000-point club last week, a fraternity whose membership has swelled will reach the largest coverage area in its history this year with multiple games slated to air on to 127 players since the league began sponsoring basketball in 1981. Central Connecticut State senior guard Network, Fox Sports-, Fox Sports-Pittsburgh, CN8, Com- Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) hit the milestone in a 26-point effort on Thursday in the Blue Devils’ cast SportsNet and Fox College Sports. 76-68 overtime triumph over St. Francis (NY). Chiera, who became the 27th player in school history to crack the 1,000-point mark, finished the week with 1,021 points. St. Francis (PA) senior guard Rahsaan Benton SHU’s Trim Out For Big Man’s Revenge (Cleveland Heights, OH/St. Ignatius) followed suit two days later in the Red Flash’s 71-56 loss at Mount With Sacred Heart senior center Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s) ranked St. Mary’s. Benton, the 37th player in St. Francis (PA) annals to reach the plateau, enters play this week with first in the NEC in scoring by a comfortable margin - his 18.8 ppg is 2.4 ppg higher than 1,004 points. teammate Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/Martin Luther) and Robert Morris’ A.J. Jack- son (Monessen, PA/Monessen) - he has an opportunity to become the rare big man to Mount St. Mary’s boasts the leading active scorer in the conference in senior guard Landy Thompson finish a season as the league’s leading point producer. Not since the 1994-95 has a forward or (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding), who has amassed 1,625 points, while FDU senior for- center paced the NEC in scoring average, a year when Long Island’s ranked first with ward Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) is second with 1,382 points. 25.8 ppg. Trim would also become the second tallest player in NEC annals to top the scoring FDU senior guard Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) (1,210 points), Sacred Heart chart behind 7-4 Marist center (1987-88). If Trim maintains his current output, his senior center Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s) (1,147) and Long Island junior guard single-season average will be the lowest in league history among conference scoring leaders. James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) (1,083) also surpassed the 1,000-point milestone this season. Robert Morris’ Gene Nabors is the current holder of that mark with 19.1 ppg in 1999-00. Other players with an opportunity to hit 1,000 in 2005-06 include Mount St. Mary’s senior forward Charles NEC Scoring Leaders (1994-06) Cook (Upper Marlboro, MD/Bishop McNamara) (934), Monmouth senior guard Chris Kenny 2005-06 Kibwe Trim (SHU) C 6-10 18.3 ppg (Spring Lake, NJ/CBA) (898) and St. Francis (NY) senior guard Christian Brown (New York, NY/ 2004-05 Rob Monroe (QU) G 5-10 22.7 ppg Rice) (866). 2003-04 Maurice Bailey (SHU) G 6-0 20.1 ppg 2002-03 Darshan Luckey (SFPA) G 6-5 21.6 ppg Obie’s Boardroom 2001-02 Antawn Dobie (LIU) G 6-0 21.2 ppg Central Connecticut junior forward Obie Nwadike’s (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony’s) 20 rebounds in 2000-01 Steven Howard (SFNY) G 6-4 20.2 ppg 1999-00 Gene Nabors (RMU) G 6-2 19.1 ppg the Blue Devils’ 76-68 overtime win over St. Francis (NY) on Thursday was the most in an NEC game since 1998-99 Ray Minlend (SFNY) G 6-2 24.3 ppg Wagner’s Nigel Wyatte snared 21 against Quinnipiac on February 2, 2004. Nwadike, who measures just 6’4”, 1997-98 Charles Jones (LIU) G 6-3 29.0 ppg ranks second in the NEC with 9.9 rpg. He stood 27th nationally in the category in the latest NCAA rankings. 1996-97 Charles Jones (LIU) G 6-3 30.1 ppg It also marked the first time a CCSU player recorded 20 rebounds since Ron Robinson grabbed 21 in a win 1995-96 Chris McGuthrie (MSM) G 5-9 22.3 ppg over Mount St. Mary’s on February 5, 2001. 1994-95 Joe Griffin F 6-5 25.8 ppg Central Connecticut State (12-8, 8-3 NEC) Last Week: CCSU 76, St. Francis (NY) 68 (OT); Monmouth 63, CCSU 48 This Week: at Robert Morris (Friday); at St. Francis (PA) (Sunday) The Blue Devils are tied for second place in the NEC after a 1-1 week which saw their six-game winning streak come to an end with a 63-48 loss at Monmouth on Saturday. Two days earlier, CCSU overcame a 10-point deficit with six minutes to play to score a 76-68 overtime over St. Francis (NY) in New Britain...The six consecutive victories marked the longest win streak for the program since the 2001-02 season when CCSU won a school-record 19 straight games...The win over St. Francis (NY) was the Blue Devils’ fifth straight at home...Head coach Howie J12 MONMOUTH L 57-61 Dickenman won his 150th career game on Thursday. Now in his 10th season at his alma mater, Dickenman has amassed a 150-130 record. He is also one win shy of recording his 100th J14 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON W 88-74 career win over an NEC opponent...With 26 points against the Terriers, senior guard Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) reached 1,000 career points and finished the week with 1,021. J19 QUINNIPIAC W 79-69 He is the 27th player in school history to eclipse the milestone...Chiera’s 70 three-point baskets is the fourth best single-season performance in school history and a career-high. He is nine J21 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 59-57 (OT) treys shy of matching the single-season school record...Junior forward Obie Nwadike (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony’s) grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in the win over the Terriers. J26 WAGNER W 57-40 It was the most rebounds in a game for a CCSU player since Ron Robinson pulled down 21 on February 5, 2001 and the most by an NEC competitor since Wagner’s Nigel Wyatte snared 21 J28 MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 68-58 against Quinnipiac on February 2, 2004...Chiera's 26 point effort was his ninth 20-point outing of the season, tying for league high honors. Prior to this season, Chiera had scored 20 or more F2 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 76-68 (OT) points only five times in 81 games. This season he has put together nine 20-point games in 20 outings...CCSU sophomore guard Tristan Blackwood (Toronto, Ontario/Eastern F4 at MONMOUTH L 48-63 Commerce) currently ranks in the NEC top-seven in seven different categories, including first in free throw percentage (.909; ninth nationally), third in assists (4.7 apg), fourth in 3PFG% F10 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm (.405), fifth in three pointers (2.6/game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.73:1), and eighth in scoring (14.2 ppg) and steals (1.4 spg)...Nwadike is the second-leading rebounder on the circuit F12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm with 9.9 per game (27th nationally), and also ranks fourth in double-doubles with seven and 16th in scoring at 12.4 ppg...Chiera leads the NEC with 3.5 three pointers per game and ranked F16 at WAGNER 7:00 pm fifth nationally in the category in the most recent NCAA report. He is also fifth in the conference in 3PFG% (.393), seventh in scoring (14.9 ppg) and 12th in assists (3.1 apg)...The 48 points F18 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm scored against Monmouth was a season-low...CCSU has yielded less than 70 points in six straight games...The Blue Devils play three straight road games and then finish the season playing F22 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm three of their last four at home in New Britain...CCSU will head to western Pennsylvania this week to take on Robert Morris on Friday and St. Francis (PA) on Sunday. Fairleigh Dickinson (12-8, 9-2 NEC) Last Week: FDU 78, Long Island 65; FDU 87, Wagner 72 This Week: vs. Robert Morris (Monday); at Long Island (Thursday); vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Saturday) The Knights have moved into first place with six straight wins heading into play this week. Fairleigh Dickinson (9-2 NEC) rolled to a 78-65 triumph over Long Island on Thursday in Teaneck, then went on the road for an 87-72 victory over Wagner two days later...The Knights have won eight straight games against LIU, the longest current streak of dominance between two teams in the conference...Senior guard Chad Timberlake’s (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) earned his second consecutive Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week honor after averaging 21.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 3.0 apg, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe. He contributed 17 points (8-12 FG), eight rebounds and four assists vs. the J12 at QUINNIPIAC L 81-102 Blackbirds, then tallied 25 points and snared seven caroms against the Seahawks...Timberlake has averaged 22.0 ppg over his last five outings to raise his season average from 12.7 ppg to J14 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. L 74-88 15.3 ppg, sixth in the conference...FDU’s six straight victories is the longest streak for the program since winning seven in a row during the 1999-00 season...With the game deadlocked at J20 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 64-55 35-35 at intermission, Timberlake, senior forward Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) and junior center Andrea Crosariol (Abano T., Italy/ J23 SACRED HEART W 81-73 Long Island Lutheran) combined for 44 of the team’s 57 second half points as the Knights shot 62 percent from the floor...FDU jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Long Island and led 43- J26 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 66-49 J28 at ROBERT MORRIS W 84-83 25 at the break...The Knights shot a season-high 56.1 percent from the floor against Long Island...FDU turned the ball over an NEC single-game season-low seven times vs. Wagner...Klaiber F2 LONG ISLAND W 78-65 averaged 17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg last week...Crosariol hit 9-11 (.818) shots from the floor and blocked seven shots in two games last week...Junior forward Michael F4 at WAGNER W 87-72 Peeples (Detroit, MI/Benedictine) registered his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards against Wagner. He averaged 13.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.5 apg and shot 9- F6 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm 14 (.643) from the field and 8-10 (.800) from the line in the two wins...FDU leads the NEC and ranked 10th nationally in the category through games of last Monday with 6.6 bpg...Klaiber F9 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm pushed his career totals to 1,382 points, 619 rebounds and 134 rejections. He is the leading active NEC rebounder and is second on the scoring chart behind Mount’s Landy Thompson. He F11 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm is also is the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks...Crosariol is the league’s leading shot blocker and 19th in NCAA Division I with 2.8 per game. F16 at SACRED HEART 7:30 pm He is also second on the loop in field goal percentage (.606) and tenth in rebounding (6.1 rpg)...Klaiber is second in the conference with 1.7 bpg and fifth with 1.7 spg...The Knights sandwich F18 at Wisconsin-Green Bay 8:05 pm home games with Robert Morris (Monday) and Mount St. Mary’s (Saturday) around a road tilt at Long Island (Thursday). Long Island (7-12, 4-6 NEC) Last Week: FDU 78, Long Island 65; Long Island 80, Sacred Heart 65 This Week: vs. FDU (Thursday); vs. Monmouth (Saturday) The Blackbirds now hold down the eighth spot in the conference standings after splitting a pair of road games last week...Long Island dropped a 78-65 decision at first place Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday, then picked up a season sweep of Sacred Heart with an 80-65 victory in Fairfield on Saturday...The Blackbirds have now won three of their last four outings...Junior guard James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) averaged 17.0 points and 2.0 assists for the week. He hit 9-21 shots (.429) J12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 73-70 (OT) from outside the arc. Williams, who led the team with 14 against the Knights and 20 vs. the Pioneers, has now paced LIU in scoring in four straight games and 14 times J14 at ROBERT MORRIS L 66-70 this season...Williams matched a season-best with six three-point shots against Sacred Heart. He has hit at least two trifectas in 18-of-19 games this season, including ten J18 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 67-70 straight...The Blackbirds shot just 31.2 percent from the floor against FDU - a team season-low in NEC play - but bounced back to hit 50.0 percent vs. Sacred Heart, the J23 at QUINNIPIAC L 69-82 J26 SACRED HEART W 63-60 team’s best mark against an NEC opponent...Senior guard Aubin Scott (Hempstead, NY/Hempstead) tallied 15 points and eight boards vs. the Pioneers, while J28 WAGNER W 75-65 sophomore forward Kellen Allen (Mansfield, TX/Summit) registered eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds...LIU turned the ball over just 25 times in the F2 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 65-78 two games. The Blackbirds lead the NEC with a 2.05:1 turnover margin...Williams raised his career scoring total to 1,083 points...Williams is ranked in the NEC top-10 F4 at SACRED HEART W 80-65 in five individual categories: scoring (16.3 ppg; fourth), assists (3.2 apg; ninth), free throw percentage (.797; eighth), three-point percentage (.421; third) and made F9 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm three-pointers (3.1; second)...Scott is fourth in the league in field goal percentage, shooting at a 59.0 percent clip, and is eighth in rebounding with 6.5 per game...Sophomore F11 MONMOUTH 4:00 pm guard Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, FL/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) scored 14 off the bench against Sacred Heart, hitting all eight of his free throw attempts. He F13 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F16 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm is 14th in the conference in assists (3.0 apg)...The Blackbirds return home to the brand-new Wellness, Recreation & Athletic Center this week - where they are 2-0 thus F18 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 4:00 pm far - to host FDU in a rematch on Thursday, then welcome Monmouth on Saturday. LIU’s next four conference opponents are a combined 31-13 (.704) in NEC play.

Monmouth (11-11, 8-3 NEC)

Last Week: Monmouth 63, CCSU 48 This Week: at Wagner (Monday on MSG Network & FCS Atlantic); at Long Island (Saturday)

Monmouth won its lone game of the week, a 63-48 victory over CCSU in front of a season-high 2,096 fans at Boylan Gymnasium on Saturday...The Hawks have won the last six meetings between the two schools...The 48 points allowed was the lowest by a Monmouth opponent since Princeton managed an NCAA single-game season low 21 on December 14...The Hawks are now tied with CCSU for second place in the NEC with an 8-3 league record...Monmouth held CCSU to 29.2 percent shooting from the floor, the lowest mark by a Hawk opponent in NEC play this season...Junior guard Dejan Delic (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy) led the team with 13 points, including 2-3 from beyond the arc...Sophomore center Corey J7 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 55-53 Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/Shelburne) had a nice all-around game with eight points (4-6 FG), six rebounds and four blocks in 20 minutes of work...Senior guard Chris Kenny J12 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. W 61-57 (Spring Lake, NJ/CBA) hit both his three-point shot opportunities and has now drilled 8-16 shots from long range over the last five games...Junior center John Bunch (Randallstown, J14 at QUINNIPIAC W 85-82 (OT) MD/Randallstown) rejected four CCSU shots and is now averaging 2.8 bpg this season. He moved into fifth place on Monmouth’s single-season list with 42 blocks and needs 16 more J19 MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 54-64 to equal Steve Wriedt’s school record of 58 established in 1991-92...With 160 steals, senior guard Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant) needs nine more to move into third place on J21 QUINNIPIAC W 80-74 (2 OT) the school’s career list...Head coach now has 93 regular season NEC wins for his career, eighth-best in the history of the league. He needs two more victories to equal Paul J26 at ROBERT MORRIS L 65-73 Lizzo’s tally of 95 for seventh place...Kenny played in his 112th game on Saturday, ninth-best in Monmouth annals. If he plays in the remainder of the Hawks’ regular-season contests, he would J28 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 74-56 tie Blake Hamilton for second place (and trailing only Jason Krayl’s 121) with 119...Azzarelli started in his 99th game on Saturday. With his next start, he will become sixth player in school F4 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. W 63-48 Division I history to make 100 starts. Calloway owns the school record with 113...Kenny’s 173 career three pointers leaves him eight shy of fifth place on the school’s career chart...Freshman F6 at WAGNER 7:00 pm guard Whitney Coleman (Salem, CT/East Lynne (St. Thomas More Prep)) leads the Hawks with 683 minutes played. He could become the first freshman to pace the Hawks F11 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm in minutes since Alpha Bangura in 1998-99...Kenny has logged 2,927 minutes played. With 73 more, he will become the 14th player to log 3,000 minutes since the Hawks moved to Division F13 WAGNER 7:00 pm I...Monmouth leads the NEC in scoring defense with 63.0 ppg...Delic paces the team and is 14th in the conference with 12.8 ppg. He is also seventh with 2.4 3PFG/game...Junior forward F18 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 1:00 pm Marques Alston (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) is second on the squad with 10.9 ppg and ranks first with 5.2 rpg...Coleman is seventh on the circuit in field goal percentage at 51.1 percent...The F20 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm Hawks travel to Wagner on Monday in a game to air on MSG Network and FCS Atlantic, then play at Long Island on Saturday. Mount St. Mary’s (9-13, 7-4 NEC) Last Week: Mt. St. Mary’s 60, Robert Morris 59; Mt. St. Mary’s 71, St. Francis (PA) 56 This Week: at Sacred Heart (Thursday on Comcast Mid-Atlantic); at FDU (Saturday) Mount St. Mary’s won both its games last week to snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 7-4 in NEC play and 9-13 overall...The Mount has now surpassed last year’s season (seven) and league (five) win totals...Junior guard Mychal Kearse’s (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) putback with 10 seconds left gave the Mount a 60-59 victory over Robert Morris on Thursday. Kearse recorded his eighth career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the contest. His eight career double-doubles are the sixth most by a Mountaineer since the J10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 84-56 school moved to Division I in 1988-89...Senior guard Landy Thompson (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) had 22 points, five rebounds and four steals in the Mount’s 71-56 J12 SACRED HEART W 78-69 victory over St. Francis (PA) on Saturday...In two games vs. the Red Flash this season, Thompson averaged 23.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and shot 18-29 (62.1 percent) from the field and 10-16 (62.5 J19 at MONMOUTH W 64-54 percent) from three-point range. In eight career games vs. St. Francis (PA), Thompson has poured in 158 points (19.8 ppg)...Freshman guard Joey Butler (Ft. Washington, MD/ J21 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. L 57-59 (OT) Massanutten Academy (VA)) averaged 6.0 ppg, 4.0 apg and 3.0 rpg last week to capture Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week accolades for the first time...Defense has been the J26 at QUINNIPIAC L 62-68 key to Mount St. Mary’s resurgence. The Mountaineers have held the past ten opponents to under 70 points, the longest such streak for the program since 1949. In seven of those contests, J28 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. L 58-68 the Mount has limited its opponent to under 60 points...Mount St. Mary’s leads the NEC in scoring defense (60.0) and 3PFG% defense (.295), while forcing a league-best 16.0 turnovers in F2 ROBERT MORRIS W 60-59 NEC play...The Mount is allowing 66.1 ppg overall this season, its lowest scoring defense average in 26 years. The 1980-81 team also allowed 66.1 ppg...Thompson’s 22-points vs. St. Francis F4 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 71-56 (PA) gave him 1,625 in his career. He moved past Steve Rossignoli (1977-81) into 11th place on the Mount’s all-time scoring list and needs just five more to move ahead of Mike Tate and F9 at SACRED HEART 7:00 pm reach the top-10. Thompson is also 29th on the NEC’s career scoring chart...The Mount’s 7-4 start in conference play is the team’s best 11-game start in since the 1995-96 team posted a F11 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm 9-2 record after 11 games. That team went on to a 16-2 record in NEC action, the finest in school history...The Mount’s sweep of St. Francis (PA) is its first since taking both games from F13 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm the Red Flash in 1997. Mount St. Mary’s has now won its past three games vs. St. Francis...Thompson is tenth in the league in scoring at 13.8 ppg and sixth with 2.6 3PFG/game...Kearse, F18 MONMOUTH 1:00 pm who averaged 14.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg last week, ranks fifth in the NEC with 7.2 rpg and is now just five boards shy of 500 for his career...After a two-game road trip this week to Sacred Heart F20 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm (Thursday on Comcast Mid-Atlantic) and first place Fairleigh Dickinson (Saturday), the Mount plays four of its final five regular season games at . Quinnipiac (10-11, 5-7 NEC) Last Week: Quinnipiac 72, Sacred Heart 68; Quinnipiac 73, St. Francis (NY) 68 This Week: at St. Francis (PA) (Friday); at Robert Morris (Sunday on CN8) The Bobcats enjoyed their best week in NEC play this season with a pair of home wins. Quinnipiac held off Sacred Heart, 72-68, on Thursday, then stopped St. Francis (NY), 73-68, on Saturday...The Bobcats have now won four of their last five to move into seventh place in the NEC with a 5-7 record...Quinnipiac is 8-3 at Burt Kahn Court - including three straight wins and four of its last five - but just 1-7 on the road...Junior guard Adam Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Cecil CC) continued his strong play of late, averaging 17.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and 2.5 spg. He shot 55.6 percent from the field. He notched career-highs with 18 points and five steals, and added six J12 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON W 102-81 rebounds and four assists against Sacred Heart, then came back with 16 points (4-5 FG) and four assists vs. St. Francis (NY)...Five Quinnipiac players reached double J14 MONMOUTH L 82-85 (OT) figures in the win over the Terriers, including senior forward Kevin Jolley (Cheverly, MD/Fairmont Heights (Hutchinson CC)), who came off the bench to J19 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. L 69-79 J21 at MONMOUTH L 74-80 (2 OT) score 16 points (7-9 FG) and grab nine boards in just 22 minutes of play...Four Bobcats averaged at least 12.0 ppg for the week...Senior guard Craig Benson J23 LONG ISLAND W 82-69 (Hamden, CT/Hamden), who had hit just 1-7 from three-point range, drilled a trifecta with 1:12 to play against the Pioneers to give Quinnipiac the lead for good at J26 MOUNT ST. MARY’S W 68-62 68-66...Jolley shot 10-12 (.833) for the week, while sophomore center Karl Anderson (Chester, NY/Don Bosco Prep) was 5-6 (.833) from the floor...After St. J28 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 66-70 Francis (NY) scored the first bucket of the game on Saturday, the Bobcats took off on a 19-1 run over the next 8:49 to take a 19-3 lead...Junior guard John Winchester F2 SACRED HEART W 72-68 (Stamford, CT/Milford Academy) leads Quinnipiac and is 15th in the NEC with 12.7 ppg...The Bobcats lead the NEC in scoring offense (75.0 ppg), free throw F4 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 73-68 percentage (.731) and assists (15.5 apg)...Gonzalez, along with junior forwards Chris Wehye (Brooklyn, NY/John Jay (Cecil CC)) and Victor Akinyanju F10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm (Ardmore, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt (Cecil CC)) - all teammates the past two seasons at Cecil CC in Maryland - have combined to average 30.1 ppg and 16.0 F12 at ROBERT MORRIS 2:00 pm rpg...Jolley is third in the conference with a 59.6 percent success rate from the field and fifth with four double-doubles...Gonzalez is sixth in the NEC in assists (4.0 apg), F18 WAGNER 2:00 pm seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.66:1) and ninth in free throw percentage (.797)...Wehye is sixth in rebounding (6.7 rpg)...The Bobcats will open the week at St. F20 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm Francis (NY) on Friday, then travel to Robert Morris for a CN8 televised tilt on Sunday. Robert Morris (11-9, 7-4 NEC) Last Week: Mt. St. Mary’s 60, Robert Morris 59 This Week: at FDU (Monday); vs. CCSU (Friday); vs. Quinnipiac (Sunday on CN8) Robert Morris dropped a 60-59 decision at Mount St. Mary's on Thursday in its only game last week...The loss was the second straight for the Colonials by a single point. Robert Morris has dropped its last three games by a total of eight points...It marked just the second time in the program's 30-year Division I history the club had back-to-back games decided by a point...Sophomore forward Colson Sénat (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) and sophomore guard Tony Lee (Boston, MA/Charlestown) paced the Colonials with 13 points each, with Sénat establishing a new career-high. He hit 5-8 shots from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc. In his last three games, Senat is shooting 66.7 percent (8-12) from J12 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 73-71 long range...Junior guard Derek Coleman (Dorchester, MA/Charlestown) added 12 points against the Mount, while freshman guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, OH/ J14 LONG ISLAND W 70-66 Northwest) had 11...Junior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, PA/Monessen) was held to eight points, but grabbed 12 rebounds for his fifth straight double-digit rebounding J19 at SACRED HEART L 60-73 effort...Robert Morris held the Mountaineers to a 37.7 percent shooting percentage, but could convert only 39.3 percent of its own shots, a season-low against an NEC opponent...The Colonials J21 at WAGNER L 69-75 have either held a double-digit lead or faced a double-digit deficit in nine of their 11 league games this season...Since converting 50.8 percent of its shots from the floor - a season high against J24 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 79-67 NEC rivals - in a 79-67 win over in-state rival St. Francis (PA) on January 24, the Colonials have hit at a 40.5 percent clip in the last three contests...Coleman has played the full 40 minutes J26 MONMOUTH W 73-65 in each of the team's last five games, while Jackson has played the entire game in four straight outings and Lee the last two...Lee has been the Colonials’ most consistent player away from J28 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 83-84 the Charles L. Sewall Center, averaging 14.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg on the road, including 17.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg in NEC road tilts...Jackson the lone NEC player averaging a double-double with a F2 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 59-60 league-leading 10.5 rpg (13th nationally), as well ranking third with 16.4 ppg...Chappell leads all NEC freshman with 12.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.8 spg and a 36.9 percent success rate from long range...Coleman ranks first in the conference and 27th in the nation in 3PFG% (.438), and stands third on the circuit in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.96:1), fourth in assists (4.7 apg) and 3PFG F6 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm made (2.7/game), and sixth in free throw percentage (.820)...Lee is second in the league with 2.2 spg and is eighth with 6.5 rpg and 11th with 3.1 apg...The Colonials are first in the NEC F10 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:30 pm and 15th in NCAA Division I in 3PFG/game (8.9). They also pace the conference in 3PFG% (.382), scoring margin (+3.4 ppg) and steals (7.9 spg)...The Colonials’ 16 three pointers against F12 QUINNIPIAC 2:00 pm FDU on January 28th is the ninth-best single-game mark in the NCAA this season...Robert Morris closes out a brief two-game road trip Monday at Fairleigh Dickinson before coming home F16 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm to host CCSU on Friday and Quinnipiac on Sunday in a game to air live on CN8. The Colonials will be looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the 2005-06 campaign, as the F18 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm team has dropped back-to-back games a total of four times this season. Sacred Heart (9-12, 6-6 NEC)

Last Week: Quinnipiac 72, Sacred Heart 68; Long Island 80, Sacred Heart 65 This Week: vs. Mt. St. Mary’s (Thursday on Comcast Mid-Atlantic; tape delay on Sat. at 8:00 pm on Cablevision-Norwalk); at St. Francis (NY) (Saturday)

After winning five out of six, the Pioneers have now dropped four straight games to fall to 6-6 in conference play. Sacred Heart fell at in-state rival Quinnipiac, 72-68, on Thursday, then lost at home to Long Island, 80-65...The loss to Long Island snapped a six-game home winning streak, the longest such streak for the program since the move to Division I in 1999...The four consecutive losses is the longest streak of the season for the team...Senior center Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s) averaged 24.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg and shot 62.5 percent from J9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. W 74-71 the field. He tallied his 11th double-double of the season with 23 points (9-12 FG) and 11 boards vs. the Bobcats, then added 25 points (11-20 FG) and five caroms vs. the Blackbirds...Trim J12 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 69-78 leads the NEC in scoring (18.8 ppg) and field goal percentage (.613), and ranks second in double-doubles (11) and fourth in rebounding (8.2 rpg). He is hitting 67.2 percent of his shots J14 at WAGNER W 70-62 in league play, best on the circuit.. Junior guard Tavio Hobson (Seattle, WA/Seattle Prep) leads the NEC with 2.4 steals per game (26th nationally), and is also fifth in the conference J19 ROBERT MORRIS W 73-60 with 4.6 apg and eighth with a 1.57:1 assist-to-turnover ratio...Trim increased his career totals to 1,147 points and 557 rebounds. His rebounding total is a Division I record at Sacred Heart, J21 ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 65-54 while his point total is second best behind Maurice Bailey's 1,422...Junior swingman Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/Martin Luther), who had 23 points and seven rebounds against J23 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 73-81 Quinnipiac, is third in the conference in scoring (16.4 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (6.7 rpg)...Turnovers have plagued the Pioneers during the losing skid. Sacred Heart committed 39 miscues J26 at LONG ISLAND L 60-63 F2 at QUINNIPIAC L 68-72 in the two games last week and has averaged 18.5 over the last four contests. The Pioneers have also shot just 61.8 percent from the line in the four losses...Sacred Heart is a perfect 6-0 F4 LONG ISLAND L 65-80 in games when it has a halftime lead...The Pioneers have played six doubleheaders with the women's team this season and are a perfect 6-0 in those games...Sacred Heart is just three wins F9 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm away from tying the school Division I record of 12 wins established during the 2003-04 campaign. The Pioneers also need three victories to break program record of eight league wins, F11 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm also set in 2003-04...Sophomore forward Brice Brooks (Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap) registered a career-high ten rebounds against LIU...Junior forward Joey Henley (Kent, F16 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:30 pm WA/Kentride), a preseason all-NEC selection, is out with an injury suffered during football season and has not played in 2005-06...Sacred Heart looks to break back into the win column on F18 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. 4:00 pm Thursday, hosting Mount St. Mary’s in a game to air via tape delay on Cablevision of Norwalk (Ch. 84) on Saturday at 8:00 pm. The Pioneers also visit St. Francis (NY) on Saturday. St. Francis (NY) (6-14, 3-8 NEC) Last Week: CCSU 76, St. Francis (NY) 68 (OT); Quinnipiac 73, St. Francis (NY) 68 This Week: vs. Wagner (Thursday); vs. Sacred Heart (Saturday) The Terriers dropped to 3-8 against NEC competition with a 76-68 overtime loss at CCSU on Thursday, followed by a 73-68 setback at Quinnipiac on Saturday...After scoring a total of eight points in his first nine appearances of the season, sophomore center James St. Robert (Copiague, NY/Copiague) has tallied at least eight points in each of the last eight games. Last week, he established back-to-back season highs with 16 points against CCSU and then 17 vs. Quinnipiac. He was the team's leading scorer in both games and averaged 16.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg J7 MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 43-60 and shot 16-22 (.727) from the floor...The loss to Quinnipiac broke a three-game streak in which the Terriers led at halftime, and also snapped a stretch of six straight games in which St. J12 at ROBERT MORRIS L 71-73 Francis (NY) was outscored in the second half. The Terriers have yet to outscore an opponent in both halves this season...Senior forward Devon Neckles (Brooklyn, NY/Canarsie) J14 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) W 65-56 saw his first game action since December 30, scoring four points in six minutes...Senior guard Sean Dantzler’s (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus) last 21 points have come on J18 LONG ISLAND W 70-67 three pointers, including all 15 of his points last week when he shot 5-7 (.714) from beyond the arc. For the season, 75 of his 96 points have come via the trifecta (78.1 percent)...St. Francis J20 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 55-64 (NY) is 0-9 when its opponent scores at least 68 points in a game...Senior guard Christian Brown (New York, NY/Rice) averaged 10.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.5 spg last J23 at WAGNER L 58-68 J28 QUINNIPIAC W 70-66 week...Sophomore forward Allan Sheppard (New York, NY/A. Philip Randolph) shot at a 56.3 percent clip from the field last week, while averaging 10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg F2 at CENTRAL CONN. ST. L 68-76 (OT) and 1.5 bpg in the two losses...Brown (12.1 ppg) and Sheppard (11.0 ppg) are the only two St. Francis (NY) players averaging in double digits. No other Terrier is scoring more than 6.2 F4 at QUINNIPIAC L 68-73 ppg (St. Robert)...St. Robert is hitting 59.7 percent of his field goal attempts in conference play, sixth in the NEC...Eleven different St. Francis players have started games this season and 11 F9 WAGNER 7:00 pm are averaging at least 12 minutes per contest. Only senior guard Christian Brown (New York, NY/Rice) averages more than 30 minutes per outing...Brown leads the Terriers in scoring F11 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm (12.1 ppg; 17th in NEC), rebounding (5.6 rpg; 11th in NEC), steals (1.3 spg; 11th in NEC), three pointers (2.0/game; ninth in NEC) and three-point percentage (.382; seventh in NEC)...With F16 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm 866 points, Brown has a chance to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career...Ten St. Francis players hail from one of the five boroughs and 12 of the 14 on the roster are from the New York F18 ROBERT MORRIS 4:00 pm Metro area...Looking to make a playoff push, the Terriers open a four-game homestand with tilts against Wagner on Thursday and Sacred Heart on Saturday.

St. Francis (PA) (3-19, 1-11 NEC) Last Week: Mt. St. Mary’s 71, St. Francis (PA) 56 This Week: vs. Quinnipiac (Friday); vs. CCSU (Sunday) St. Francis (PA) suffered a 71-56 defeat at Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday in its only game of the week...The Red Flash have lost five straight contests...Senior guard Rahsaan Benton (Cleveland Heights, OH/St. Ignatius) became the 37th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points in the setback, finishing the night with 1,004...Freshman guard Marquis Ford (St. Petersburg, FL/St. Petersburg) led the Red Flash with 11 points, and added five rebounds, four assists and a J10 MOUNT ST. MARY'S L 56-84 steal...Freshman guard Grant Surprenant (Palatine, IL/Palatine) hit three shots from downtown against the Mount and now has three or more trifectas in a game J12 LONG ISLAND L 70-73 (OT) ten times this season...Senior forward Winston Robinson (Knoxville, TN/Bearden) returned after missing five games with an injury. He scored seven points and J14 ST. FRANCIS (NY) L 56-65 pulled down four boards in 22 minutes...Freshman forward T.J. Lundy (Tobyhanna, PA/Pocono Mountain West) reached double digits for the second time J19 at WAGNER W 68-61 in his career with 10 points on Saturday. He also grabbed six rebounds...Junior center J.R. Enright (Omaha, NE/Burke), who averages 11.9 ppg and 7.3 rpg, has J21 at SACRED HEART L 54-65 J24 at ROBERT MORRIS L 67-79 missed 11 straight games with a broken foot...After 49 straight starts, senior guard Garrett Farha (Concordia, KS/Concordia) came off the bench for the first time J26 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 49-66 in his Red Flash career on Saturday...Surprenant is second among NEC freshman with 9.5 ppg and ranks eighth overall and first among freshman players with 2.2 3PFG/ J28 MONMOUTH L 56-74 game...Benton is second in the conference and 13th nationally with a 90.3 percent success rate from the stripe. He also ranks third in the league with 2.8 3PFG/game, F4 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S L 56-71 his 37.1 success rate from outside the arc stands eighth on the circuit and his 14.0 ppg places him ninth...Farha needs one assist for 300 in his career. He relinquished F10 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm the NEC assist lead and now ranks second with 4.8 apg. He also stands second with a 2.14:1 assist-to-turnover ratio...Lawrence is fourth in the conference with 1.1 F12 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F16 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm bpg...After posting an 10-1 record at home in 2003-04 and an 11-2 mark in 2004-05, the Red Flash are just 2-7 at the Stokes Center this season, including seven straight F18 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm setbacks entering play this week. St. Francis (PA) will look to stop that streak when it hosts Quinnipiac on Friday and CCSU on Sunday. Wagner (10-9, 3-7 NEC) Last Week: FDU 87, Wagner 72 This Week: vs. Monmouth (Monday on MSG Network & FCS-Atlantic); at St. Francis (NY) (Thursday) Wagner’s struggles continued with an 87-72 home setback to league leader Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday...The Seahawks have lost three straight to fall to 3-7 in conference play after posting a 7-2 record out of conference...Junior forward Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/St. Augustine’s Prep) has been a consistent force for Wagner all season. On Saturday, he registered 23 points and 15 rebounds in his tenth double-double effort of the season and ninth in his last 11 games. Over the J7 at SACRED HEART L 50-61 11-game stretch, Vinson is averaging 18.1 ppg and 11.9 rpg...Vinson has shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor in 14 out of 19 games this season...Against FDU, the J14 SACRED HEART L 62-70 Seahawks placed four players in double figures for the first time in nine games...Senior guard DeEarnest McLemore (Cary, NC/Cary) has 17 assists and just two J19 ST. FRANCIS (PA) L 61-68 turnovers over the last two games, but at the same time is just 1-14 from the field...McLemore handed out his 300th career assist against the Knights and now paces the J21 ROBERT MORRIS W 75-69 NEC with 4.9 apg and a 2.21:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In league play, he has dished out an NEC-best 6.2 apg...Over the last four seasons, Wagner is 20-3 at home in J23 ST. FRANCIS (NY) W 68-58 J26 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. L 40-57 the regular season after February 1...Freshman guard Jamal Smith (, MD/Towson Catholic) scored 13 points and added six rebounds against the J28 at LONG ISLAND L 65-75 Knights...Vinson is averaging 18.6 ppg, 11.4 rpg and shooting 63.5 percent at home this year...FDU has more wins (six) at the than any other F4 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 72-87 opponent...Vinson is third in the conference in rebounding (9.8 rpg; 27th nationally), double-doubles (ten) and blocks (1.3 bpg), and is fifth in scoring (15.6 ppg) F6 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm and sixth in field goal percentage (.572)...Wagner has outrebounded ten of its last 12 opponents and leads the conference with a +5.2 margin. Under head F9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm coach , Wagner has won the battle of the boards in 42-of-51 (.824) games against NEC teams...Sophomore guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/St. F13 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F16 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. 7:00 pm Augustine’s Prep) is 18th in the league in scoring (12.1 ppg), fifth in FT% (.854), eighth in assists (3.4 apg), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49:1) and 14th in blocks F18 at QUINNIPIAC 2:00 pm (0.6 bpg)...Wagner hosts Monmouth in an MSG Network/FCS-Atlantic televised game on Monday, then visits St. Francis (NY) on Thursday. NEC Men’s Basketball 2006 NEC Basketball Tournament Facts/Figures Schedule

NEC In RPI Rankings College Insider Mid-Major Poll 2006 NEC (through games of 2/4) (December 22) Men’s Basketball Tournament School Rank Change School Record all games to be held at home of higher seed teams will be reseeded following quarterfinals CCSU 159 Even TBA Gonzaga (31) 7-2 Fairleigh Dickinson 156 +28 2. Creighton 7-0 Long Island 295 +14 3. East Tennessee State 7-2 Thursday, March 2 Sunday, March 5 Wednesday, March 8 Monmouth 190 +25 4. Wichita State 7-2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Mount St. Mary’s 249 Even 5. Southern Illinois 7-1 Times TBA 1:00 pm (CN8) 7:30 pm (ESPN2) Quinnipiac 262 +10 The Northeast Conference began a year-long 6. College of Charleston 6-1 4:00 pm (MSG) Robert Morris 216 -6 celebration of its 25th Anniversary in Septem- 7. Illinois-Chicago 9-2 Sacred Heart 234 -46 ber with the unveiling of its Silver Anniversary 8. Utah State 5-1 St. Francis (NY) 271 -6 logo and the announcement of promotions, 9. Murray State 8-1 St. Francis (PA) 327 -2 web-based activities and flashbacks through- 2006 NEC Tournament Men’s Championship Bracket Wagner 235 -34 out10. the Bradley 2005-06 campaign as the league 7-3 pays tribute to its history. March 2 March 5 March 8 NEC 27 Even TBA (#1 vs. #8) Highest Remaining Seed

TBA Close Games Double-Doubles TBA Lowest Remaining Seed (five points or less) (top-10) (#2 vs. #7)

Teams will 7:30 PM School Rec. Player Total be reseeded for semifinals (ESPN2) NCAA Central Connecticut State 3-4 A.J. Jackson, RMU 12 Tournament TBA Fairleigh Dickinson 3-2 Kibwe Trim, SHU 11 Automatic Bid (#3 vs. #6) 2nd Highest Remaining Seed Long Island 4-3 Durell Vinson, WC 10 Monmouth 4-2 Obie Nwadike, CCSU 7 TBA Kevin Jolley, QU 4 Mount St. Mary’s 2-3 TBA 3rd Highest Remaining Seed Jarrid Frye, SHU 3 (#4 vs. #5) Quinnipiac 3-4 Mychal Kearse, MSM 3 Robert Morris 4-2 Chris Wehye, QU 3 Sacred Heart 3-5 Victor Akinyanju, QU 2 St. Francis (NY) 3-2 J.R. Enright, SFPA 2 St. Francis (PA) 0-4 Gordon Klaiber, FDU 2 NEC Men’s Basketball Wagner 2-3 Tony Lee, RMU 2 vs. the competition Aubin Scott, LIU 2 NEC vs...

NEC Coaching Records America East 11-3 Mid-American 0-2 ACC 0-3 Mid-Con 0-1 Year Conf. Games Overall Record Atlantic Sun 0-0 MEAC 0-1 Missouri Valley 1-0 Coach (School) Hired Rec. Pct. Rec. Pct. Atlantic 10 2-10 Big East 0-8 Mountain West 0-0 Tom Green (FDU) 1984 239-152 .611 370-288 .562 Big Sky 0-0 NAIA 0-0 Dave Calloway (MU) 1998 93-60 .608 121-117 .508 Big South 3-0 Ohio Valley 0-0 Howie Dickenman (CCSU) 1997 96-63 .604 150-130 .536 Big Ten 0-4 Pac 10 0-1 Mark Schmidt (RMU) 2001 46-39 .541 61-74 .452 Big-12 0-0 Patriot 4-4 Mike Deane (WC) 2003 23-23 .500 379-262 .591 Big West 0-0 SEC 0-1 (MSM) 2003 20-27 .426 26-52 .333 Colonial 0-6 Southern 0-2 Southland 1-0 Bobby Jones (SFPA) 1999 52-72 .419 70-118 .372 Conference USA 0-1 Division II 4-0 SWAC 0-0 Joe DeSantis (QU) 1998 57-87 .396 102-168 .378 Division III 3-0 Sun Belt 0-2 (LIU) 2002 25-39 .391 142-84 .628 Horizon 1-0 WCC 0-1 Dave Bike (SHU) 1999 38-86 .306 425-382 .527 Independent 0-1 WAC 0-0 Brian Nash (SFNY) 2005 3-8 .273 6-14 .300 Ivy 7-7 Overall 40-64 MAAC 2-6 NEC Past Champions NEC Men’s Basketball 2005 Fairleigh Dickinson 1997 Long Island 1989 Robert Morris Streaks vs. NEC Opponents 2004 Monmouth 1996 Monmouth 1988 FDU 2003 Wagner 1995 Mount St. Mary's 1987 Marist 2002 Central Connecticut St. 1994 Rider 1986 Marist Winner Loser Streak Winner Loser Streak 2001 Monmouth 1993 Rider 1985 Fairleigh Dickinson FDU Long Island 8 FDU Mount St. Mary’s 5 CCSU Long Island 7 Mount St. Mary’s Sacred Heart 5 2000 Central Connecticut St. 1992 Robert Morris 1984 Long Island Monmouth CCSU 6 Monmouth St. Francis (NY) 4 1999 Mount St. Mary’s 1991 St. Francis (PA) St. Francis (NY) Sacred Heart 5 Robert Morris Sacred Heart 4 1998 Fairleigh Dickinson 1990 Robert Morris NEC Men’s Basketball 2005-06 NEC Basketball Preseason Poll/All-Conference Teams Composite Schedule Of Men’s Television Broadcasts

Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll The Northeast Conference will televise 18 men’s basketball games in 2005- 06 as part of an extensive regional network package. The league will reach 1. Fairleigh Dickinson (8) 7. Quinnipiac the largest coverage area in its history this year with multiple games slated 2. Monmouth (1) 8. Mount St. Mary’s to air on Madison Square Garden Network, Fox Sports-New York, Fox Sports- Wagner 9. St. Francis (PA) Pittsburgh, CN8, Comcast SportsNet and Fox College Sports this coming 4. Long Island (1) 10. Robert Morris season. The 2005-06 package, which guarantees each men’s team two 5. Central Connecticut State 11. Sacred Heart appearances, includes 11 prime time contests and two NEC Tournament St. Francis (NY) games. In total, over 50 million homes will be able to view NEC basketball this season.

Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team Date Matchup Carrier Time Nov. 22 Columbia at LIU FSN-NY, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm Name School Pos. Class Dec. 9 CCSU at St. Francis (NY) MSG, FCS-Atlantic, Cox 7:00 pm Joey Henley Sacred Heart F Jr Dec. 10 Sacred Heart at St. Francis (PA) WWCP, CV-Norwalk 3:00 pm Gordon Klaiber Fairleigh Dickinson F Jr Jan. 14 FDU at CCSU CN8 1:00 pm Landy Thompson Mount St. Mary’s G Jr Jan. 20 St. Francis (NY) at FDU FSN-NY, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm Chad Timberlake Fairleigh Dickinson G Sr Jan. 23 LIU at Quinnipiac MSG, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm James Williams Long Island G Jr Jan. 24 St. Francis (PA) at Robert Morris FSN-Pitt, FCS-Atlantic 7:30 pm Feb. 6 Monmouth at Wagner MSG, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm NEC Men’s Basketball Feb. 9 Mt. St. Mary’s at Sacred Heart Comcast SportsNet, CV-Norwalk 7:00 pm Foreign Born Players Feb. 12 Quinnipiac at Robert Morris CN8 2:00 pm Feb. 16 FDU at Sacred Heart MSG, FCS-Atlantic 7:30 pm Name School Cl Hometown, Country Feb. 18 Wagner at Quinnipiac MSG, FCS-Atlantic 2:00 pm Alex Nunner Monmouth Fr Leibnitz, Austria Feb. 18 Monmouth at Mt. St. Mary’s CN8 (men only),WJAL 1:00 pm Nicola Traykov St. Francis (NY) So Sofia, Bulgaria Feb. 20 FDU at Monmouth MSG, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm Tristan Blackwood CCSU So Toronto, Ontario, Canada Feb. 21 Robert Morris at St. Francis (PA) FSN-Pitt, FCS-Atlantic 8:00 pm Jemino Sobers CCSU Jr Scarborough, Ontaio, Canada Feb. 24 LIU at Wagner FSN-NY, FCS-Atlantic 7:00 pm Eugene Kotorobai Long Island Jr Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada Feb. 25 St. Francis (PA) at CCSU CN8, WWCP 1:00 pm Tyrone Mattison Long Island Fr Toronto, Ontario, Canada Feb. 27 St. Francis (NY) at LIU FSN-NY 7:00 pm Corey Hallett Monmouth Jr Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada Mar. 5 Men’s Tournament semifinal CN8 1:00 pm Colson Senat Robert Morris So Montreal, Quebec, Canada Mar. 5 Men’s Tournament semifinal MSG, FCS-Atlantic 4:00 pm Esa Maki-Tulokas Long Island Jr Forrsa, Finland Sami Pekkola St. Francis (NY) So Lahti, Finland Carrier Region Andrea Crosariol FDU Jr Abano T., Italy MSG MSG Network Three states in NY metro area Deki Delic Monmouth Jr Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro FSN-New York Fox Sports Net-New York Three states in NY metro area Kibwe Trim Sacred Heart Sr San Juan, Trinindad FSN-Pittsburgh Fox Sports Net-Pittsburgh Western PA, portions of West Virginia FCS-Atlantic Fox College Sports-Atlantic Eastern U.S. Network on digital cable systems 13 players representing seven countries. CN8 CN8, The Comcast Network Eight states from Maine to Maryland Comcast SportsNet Comcast SportsNet-Mid Atlantic Portions of five states, plus Washington D.C. Cox Cox Cable Connecticut & Rhode Island NEC Men’s Basketball WWCP WWCP-Fox 8 Local Fox affiliate in western PA, MD, WV 2004-05 Standings WJAL WJAL-Family TV 68 Local affiliate in MD, PA, VA, WV CV-Norwalk Cablevision of Norwalk Fairfield County, CT School NEC Pct. Overall Pct. 1. Monmouth* 14-4 .778 16-13 .552 2. Fairleigh Dickinson*^ 13-5 .722 20-13 .606 NEC Men’s Basketball Broadcast Team 3. Robert Morris* 11-7 .611 14-15 .483 4. St. Francis (PA)* 10-8 .556 15-13 .536 Dave Popkin Play-By-Play 6th year Long Island* 10-8 .556 14-15 .483 Tim Capstraw Color 7th year Wagner* 10-8 .556 13-17 .433 Terry O’Connor Color 4th year 7. St. Francis (NY)* 9-9 .500 13-15 .464 Paul Dottino Play-By-Play, Sideline 7th year 8. Central Connecticut State* 8-10 .444 12-16 .429 9. Quinnipiac 6-12 .333 10-17 .370 Amy Lundy Sideline 4th year 10. Mount St. Mary's 5-13 .278 7-20 .259 Pam Roecker Color 4th year 11. Sacred Heart 3-15 .167 4-23 .148 Kevin Connors Play-By-Play, Sideline 1st year

* NEC Tournament participants ^ NEC Tournament champion Shooting Stars: Mount’s Thompson & CCSU’s Chiera NEC Men’s Basketball A pair of NEC sharpshooters continue to work their way up the NEC all-time three NCAA Statistics pointers chart. Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thompson (German- town, MD/Archbishop Spalding) drained six shots from downtown last week to raise his career total to 251 and leapfrog former St. Francis (PA) bomber John NEC In NCAA Statistics Hilvert into seventh place on the league’s all-time list. CCSU senior guard Justin (Top-30 - through games of January 30) Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), who ranks fifth nationally in made three point- ers this season, hit three trifectas last week and is now tied with Hilvert for eighth place with 247 shots from downtown. Ind. Category Rank Player School Statistics Rebounds 13th A.J. Jackson RMU 10.4 rpg NEC Career Leaders - Three-Pointers Made 27st Obie Nwaike CCSU 9.6 rpg 1. Chris McGuthrie Mount St. Mary's 300 1993-96 2. Angel Santana St. Francis (NY) 294 1996-00 27th Durell Vinson WC 9.6 rpg 3. Dedrick Dye Wagner 270 1999-03 Blocks 19th Andrea Crosariol FDU 2.8 bpg 4. Kevin Booth Mount St. Mary's 265 1989-93 Steals 26th Tavio Hobson SHU 2.6 spg 5. Dave Calloway Monmouth 260 1987-91 FG% 15th Kibwe Trim SHU .611 6. Rob Monroe Quinnipiac 253 2001-05 FT% 9th Tristan Blackwood CCSU .909 7. Landy Thompson Mt. St. Mary’s 251 2002-06 8. Justin Chiera CCSU 247 2002-06 13th Rahsaan Benton SFPA .903 John Hilvert St. Francis (PA) 247 1987-91 20th Lenny Jefferson CCSU .884 10. Danny Basile Marist 239 1992-96 3PFG/Game 5th Justin Chiera CCSU 3.7/game 3PFG% 27th Derek Coleman RMU .436 Defense Turns Season Around For Mount Defense has been the key to Mount St. Mary’s resurgence this season. The fourth place Mountaineers have held their past ten opponents to under 70 points, the Team Category Rank School Statistics longest such streak for the program since 1949. In seven of those contests, the 3PFG 15th Robert Morris 8.9/game Mount has limited its opponent to under 60 points. Additionally, Mount St. Mary’s Blocks 10th FDU 6.6 bpg leads the NEC in scoring defense (60.0) and 3PFG% defense (.295), while forcing a league-best 16.0 turnovers in NEC play. The Mount is allowing 66.1 ppg overall this Ind. Game Highs Rank Player School Statistics season, its lowest scoring defense average in 26 years. FG% 20th Kibwe Trim SHU .833 (10-12) vs. CCSU (1/9/06) FT% 1st Dejan Delic MU 1.000 (14-14) vs. Quinnipiac (1/21/06) Tales From The Road At 6-5, Monmouth is the only NEC team with a winning mark on the road. Likewise, 1st Chris Wehye QU 1.000 (10-10) vs. Monmouth (1/21/06) the Hawks are the lone conference member that has posted a higher winning per- 3PFG% 21st Justin Chiera CCSU .700 (7-10) vs. Harvard (12/3/05) centage away from home. this season As noted, the Hawks are 6-5 on the road, but 21st Derek Coleman RMU .700 (7-10) vs. Wagner (1/2/06) just 4-4 at Boylan Gymnasium. 21st Luke Granato SHU .700 (7-10) vs. St. Francis (PA) (1/21/06) 21st Landy Thompson MSM .700 (7-10) vs. St. Francis (PA) (1/10/06) On the other hand, Robert Morris and Quinnipiac have fared quite well at home, but have struggled mightily outside their own arenas. The Colonials are a near-perfect Team Game Highs Rank Team Statistics 9-1 at the Sewall Center, but have posted a 2-8 road mark. The Bobcats have built 3PFG 9th Robert Morris 16 vs. FDU (1/28/06) an 8-3 home record, but are 1-7 away from Burt Kahn Court. Winning Streak 16th CCSU 5 Quotes of the Week Quinnipiac head coach Joe DeSantis commenting on the Bobcats’ 72-68 win over Sacred Heart on Thursday: contest. If Jackson were to finish the year as the league leader in both categories, he would be the “How good did we play to get that 13 point lead?” asked DeSantis. “How good was our defense early? first to turn the trick since Long Island’s Joe Griffin, who tallied 25.8 ppg and 8.2 rpg en-route to We broke down for a couple minutes, so what? We won. That’s a top level team. They’ve got a lot of good NEC Player of the Year honors in 1994-95. players. That’s a tremendous win for us.” Stat Central Monmouth senior guard Chris Kenny (Spring Lake, NJ/CBA) following the Hawks’ 63-48 win over Below is a listing of NEC players who have turned in 20 and 30- point efforts thus far in 2005- CCSU on Saturday that snapped the Blue Devils’ six-game win streak: 06. Sacred Heart junior swingman Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/Martin Luther) and CCSU “This was the first time since Southern Illinois (a win at the Great Alaska Shootout in November) senior guard Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), who rank second and seventh in the I think Monmouth basketball put 40 minutes together,” said Kenny. league, respectively, in scoring, have posted a league-high nine 20+ point outings this season. Mount St. Mary’s junior guard Mychal Kearse’s (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) thoughts on the 30+ Point Games Mount snapping a three-game losing skid with two wins last week: 1 Derek Coleman (RMU), Chad Timberlake (FDU) 20+ Point Games “They are confidence builders, momentum builders for us,” said Kearse. “We are kind of back on 9 Justin Chiera (CCSU), Jarrid Frye (SHU) track from the way we started off in the conference. Now, we got a little winning streak. We can do 8 Kibwe Trim (SHU) something again.” 7 Durell Vinson (WC) 6 A.J. Jackson (RMU) Long Island Debuts Wellness, Recreation & Athletic Center 5 James Williams (LIU) After spending 42 years playing in the Schwartz Athletic Center - formerly known as the world famous 4 Rahsaan Benton (SFPA), Tristan Blackwood (CCSU), Landy Thompson (MSM), Chad Tim- Brooklyn Paramount Theater - Long Island celebrated the move into its new digs on January 26th with a 63- berlake (FDU) 60 win over Sacred Heart. The Blackbirds made it 2-0 in the new surroundings with a 75-65 triumph over 3 Derek Coleman (RMU), Deki Delic (MU), John Winchester (QU) Wagner two days later. The $40 million, 100,000 square-foot Wellness, Recreation & Athletic Center is the 2 Christian Brown (SFNY), Jeremy Chappell (RMU), Charles Cook (MSM), Andrea Crosa- largest building project in the campus’ 78-year history, the centerpiece of which is a 3,000-seat basketball arena. riol (FDU), Jason Hickenbottom (CCSU), Lenny Jefferson (CCSU), Tony Lee (RMU), Mark CCSU’s Blackwood Raises Profile On Hardwood Porter (WC), Allan Sheppard (SFNY), 1 Victor Akinyanju (QU), Marcus Alston (MU), Tyler Azzarelli (MU), Craig Benson (QU), CCSU sophomore guard Tristan Blackwood (Toronto, Ontario/Eastern Commerce) has quietly John Bunch (MU), Garrett Farha (SFPA), Luke Granato (SHU), Corey Hallett (MU), Andre put together one of the top campaigns - statistically speaking - in the NEC. Blackwood currently ranks in the Harris (FDU), Gordon Klaiber (FDU), DeEarnest McLemore (WC), (CCSU), Joey NEC top-seven in seven different categories, including first in free throw percentage (.909; ninth nationally), Mundweiler (WC), Aubin Scott (LIU), Jamal Smith (WC), Grant Surprenant (SFPA) third in assists (4.7 apg), fourth in 3PFG% (.405), fifth in three pointers (2.6/game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.73:1), and eighth in scoring (14.2 ppg) and steals (1.4 spg). Ball Hawks Utilizing its trademark matchup-zone, Monmouth perennially ranks among the league leaders RMU’s Jackson Shooting For Rare NEC Double in scoring defense. In fact, Monmouth has led the NEC in the category in 12 of the last 17 years, Robert Morris junior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, PA/Monessen), a transfer from East Tennes- including the last three in a row and five out of the last six. The same rings true in 2005-06 as see State, has stood out as a dominant figure in the NEC this season and one of the reasons the Colonials are the Hawks once again rank first in the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 63.0 ppg. On tied for fourth place in the conference at 7-4. The 6’ 6”, 230 lb. Jackson, who leads the conference with 12 December 14, in the lowest scoring Division I game since the introduction of the three-point line double-doubles, is third in the league in scoring at 16.4 ppg and ranks first in rebounding with 10.5 per for the 1986-87 season, Monmouth held Princeton to just 21 points in a 41-21 victory. Scoring Turnover Reunion For LIU’s Ferry, St. Francis (NY)’s Nash Of the top-10 scorers in the NEC thus far in 2005-06, only two - Long Island senior guard James When St. Francis (NY) secured a 70-67 win over neighborhood rival Long Island on January 18th, Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) and Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thompson (Ger- it served as a reunion of sorts for respective head coaches Jim Ferry (LIU) and Brian Nash (SFNY). mantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) - finished in the top-10 a year ago. Ferry and Nash grew up in neighboring towns in Long Island, then were college roommates at Keene State in New Hampshire. After graduating in 1990, Ferry coached one season at his alma mater, while Standing Tall On The Glass Nash finished up his studies in 1992. While rebounding is an area often dominated by the big man, the NEC features a host of players 6-4 and under who rank among the top glass sweepers in the conference. CCSU junior forward Obie Streak Busters Nwadike (Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony’s), who measures 6-4, leads the Blue Devils and is Mount St. Mary’s has broken long road losing streaks to three different teams this season. On January currently second in the NEC with 9.9 rebounds per contest. He ranks third among active NEC players 7, the Mount earned a 60-43 victory at St. Francis (NY ), the first at the Pope Center since 1997, a span with 519 boards over the course of his career. Sacred Heart’s Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/Martin of nine years. The Mountaineers also broke a nine-year losing streak at St. Francis (PA) with an 84- Luther) is a 6-4 guard who hits the boards with tenacity. He paces the Pioneers and stands sixth in 56 victory on January 10. The Mount had lost eight straight in Loretto since 1997. With a 64-54 the league with 6.7 rpg. Mount St. Mary’s junior guard Mychal Kearse (Charlotte, NC/Provi- triumph at Monmouth on January 19, Mount St. Mary’s picked up its first win at Boylan Gym in six dence Day) has topped the Mount in rebounding the last two seasons and currently ranks fifth on years. The Mount had dropped four straight to the Hawks since 2000. The longest current road the circuit with 7.2 per game. At 6-4, Kearse has upped his career total to 495, fourth on the NEC’s losing streak for the program is at Robert Morris. Mt. St. Mary’s hasn’t won at the Sewall Center since active list. Long Island junior guard Aubin Scott (Hempstead, NY/Hempstead) leads the Jan. 18, 1999, a span of seven years. Blackbirds and is the eighth-best glass sweeper in the league with 6.5 rpg despite measuring just 6- 2. The smallest of the bunch is Robert Morris sophomore Tony Lee (Dorchester, MA/Charles- Knights Reign Supreme town), a 6-0 guard who led all NEC freshman in rebounding a year ago and is ninth in the conference With Fairleigh Dickinson off to a 9-2 start in NEC play, it serves as a reminder of the success the with 6.5 rpg in 2005-06. Other top-20 rebounders whose prowess on the boards belies their actual program has enjoyed against the remainder of the conference over the last 25 years. The Knights own size include CCSU junior guard Javier Mojica (Auburn, MA/Auburn) (6-3; 4.8 rpg), Mon- the second-highest winning percentage against NEC competitors in league history, capturing 61.9 mouth junior forward Marques Alston (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) (6-4; 5.2 rpg) and Robert percent of their contests (260-160). Only Rider - a five-year member of the conference from 1992- Morris freshman guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, OH/Northwest) (6-3, 5.3 rpg). 97 - can boast of a better mark, winning at a 70.0 percent clip (63-27). FDU is ahead in the all-time series against all but one team in the NEC (Sacred Heart, tied at 5-5). The Knights maintain the advan- NEC Announces 2006-07 Early Signees tage against CCSU (13-8), Long Island (45-37), Monmouth (30-24), Mount St. Mary's (22-13), The Northeast Conference has announced the men's basketball signees of its 11 member institutions. Quinnipiac (13-5), Robert Morris (27-25), St. Francis (NY) (49-27), St. Francis (PA) (35-32) and Twenty student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period in November, Wagner (46-35), though many of those series date back prior to the inception of the NEC in 1981. including five at Mount St. Mary's, along with four at St. Francis (NY), three at Quinnipiac, two each at Monmouth, Sacred Heart and St. Francis (PA) and one apiece at Central Connecticut State and Wagner. IMDB Profile: CCSU Hoops Over the last seven seasons, Central Connecticut State has had an affinity for the bright lights, specifically Central Connecticut State when featured as part of the NEC’s Television Network package. Despite suffering a pair of televised Jeremy Myers G 6-1 180 Fort Washington, MD/Bullis School losses to Monmouth last year, the Blue Devils have posted a 19-3 mark in league produced games since the 1998-99 season, including an 88-74 triumph over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday. From Fairleigh Dickinson January, 1999 to February, 2003, CCSU won 12 straight televised games, excluding any locally pro- None duced or national broadcasts. The Blue Devils’ average margin of victory over their last 22 televised outings: +9.5 ppg. Long Island None CCSU On NEC-TV (1998-06) CCSU 88, FDU 74 1/14/05 Monmouth Monmouth 54, CCSU 53 3/3/05 (NEC Tournament Quarterfinals) Rickie Crews F 6-7 195 Deptford, NJ/Deptford CCSU 75, Quinnipiac 70 2/21/05 Adam Dobriansky C 6-10 225 Winnipeg, Manitoba/MBCI CCSU 78, Sacred Heart 68 2/11/05 Monmouth 70, CCSU 53 1/24/05 Mount St. Mary’s CCSU 86, Robert Morris 79 1/15/05 Kelly Beidler F 6-6 Virginia Beach, VA/Tallwood CCSU 95, Sacred Heart 83 2/21/04 Jean Cajou G 6-3 Fairfax, VA/Paul VI CCSU 84, Quinnipiac 58 2/16/04 Jeremy Goode G 5-9 Charlotte, NC/Providence Day CCSU 80, Mount St. Mary’s 68 1/12/04 Will Holland G/F 6-4 Houston, TX/Lamar Quinnipiac 68, CCSU 66 2/24/03 Tayvon Jackson F/C 6-8 Indian Head, MD/Lackey CCSU 80, Mount St. Mary’s 66 2/8/03 CCSU 58, St. Francis (NY) 54 3/2/02 (NEC Tournament Semifinals) Quinnipiac CCSU 63, Monmouth 62 (OT) 2/9/02 Casey Cosgrove G 5-8 Andover, MA/Andover CCSU 76, UMBC 58 1/19/02 James Feldeine G 6-3 New York, NY/Cardinal Hayes CCSU 76, Sacred Heart 47 1/12/02 Etienne Labrecque G/F 6-5 Montreal, Quebec/Montmorency College CCSU 79, Quinnipiac 68 2/11/01 CCSU 86, FDU 80 1/21/01 Robert Morris CCSU 65, UMBC 58 3/3/00 (NEC Tournament Quarterfinals) None CCSU 88, FDU 84 (OT) 1/29/00 CCSU 88, Long Island 58 1/15/00 Sacred Heart CCSU 82, UMBC 72 2/28/99 (NEC Tournament Semifinals) Chauncey Hardy G 6-0 Xavier/Middletown, CT CCSU 81, Wagner 69 1/30/99 Ryan Litke G 6-3 Windsor/Windsor, CT NEC Announces 25th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Team St. Francis (NY) As part of its year long Silver Anniversary celebration, the Northeast Conference 25th Anniversary David Burton G/F 6-6 , PA/Philadelphia Lutheran Men’s Basketball Team was announced on Thursday. The ten-member team was voted on by a blue Robert Hines F 6-4 Trenton, NJ/Arizona Western CC Rain Rickards G 6-5 Corona, NY/Florida Prep ribbon panel consisting of current and former NEC coaches, administrators and media members. Bass Yessoufou C 6-8 Ivory Coast/Palm Beach CC Long Island and St. Francis (PA) had two players selected to the team, with one honoree apiece from Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth, Wagner and former NEC members Loyola St. Francis (PA) (MD) and Marist. The NEC’s 25th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Team, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Kurt Hoffman F 6-5 205 Johnstown, PA/Greater Johnstown Chris McFarland G 6-0 180 Largo, MD/Riverdale Baptist Player School Years Hometown Joe Anderson St. Francis (PA) 1987-91 Alexandria, VA Wagner Wagner 1983-87 Trenton, NJ TJ Czeski G 6-3 190 Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam Alex Blackwell Monmouth 1989-92 Toms River, NJ CCSU 1998-02 Baltimore, MD Bombs Away St. Francis (PA) 1989-91 Altoona, PA Charles Jones Long Island 1996-98 Brooklyn, NY Robert Morris set a Sewall Center record by a Colonial team with 16 three-pointers and 29 three-point Mike Morrison Loyola (MD) 1985-89 Takoma Park, MD attempts in an 84-83 setback to Fairleigh Dickinson on January 28th. The 16 trifectas were the most Long Island 1982-85 Brooklyn, NY in an NEC game since Wagner netted 16 in an 89-73 triumph over the Colonials on January 5, 2002. Rik Smits Marist 1984-88 Eindhoven, Holland The league mark for three pointers in a contest is 19, co-owned by Monmouth (vs. Long Island on Fairleigh Dickinson 1988-91 Glen Cove, NY February 21, 1998) and St. Francis (PA) (vs. Long Island on February 25, 1989). Record Setting Non-Conference Season For Wagner Monmouth Holds Princeton To NCAA Record Low 21 Points In Lowest Scoring With a 67-54 win over Stony Brook on December 30, Wagner finished the regular season with a 7- Game In Three-Point Era 2 mark in non-league play. Excluding possible postseason competition, Wagner’s .778 winning per- In the lowest scoring Division I game since the introduction of the three-point line for the 1986-87 centage against out-of-conference opponents matches the best mark in league history. Marist also season, Monmouth went on the road to defeat Princeton, 41-21, on December 14th to snap a six-game compiled a 7-2 record in non-conference outings back in 1995-96. Monmouth (1991-92) and St. losing streak. The previous record for fewest combined points since 1987 was 67, which happened Francis (PA) (1990-91) hold the NEC record for non-league victories with nine apiece. Wagner’s twice. SMU beat Texas-Arlington, 36-31, on December 16, 1989, and Wisconsin-Green Bay defeated seven wins outside the conference also equals the most ever for the Seahawks in 29 years of the Northern Michigan, 46-21, on November 22, 1996. Princeton’s 21 points tied the NCAA record for Division I era. The Seahawks previously went 7-4 during the 1991-92 and 1986-87 seasons. the lowest team point total in the three-point era. Georgia Southern also finished with 21 in a 61-21 loss to Coastal Carolina on January 2, 1997. Likewise, it was the fewest points allowed to a Division 25 Best Non-Conference Records In NEC History I opponent by Monmouth since the Hawks elevated to Division I in 1983-84. Monmouth limited Wagner 7-2 2005-06 Division III Medgar Evers to 17 points in a 75-17 win in 1988-89. For Princeton, it marked the Marist 7-2 1995-96 program’s lowest point total since a 44-21 loss to Penn in 1935-36. Monmouth held the Tigers to 22.0 Monmouth 9-3 1991-92 percent shooting from the floor (9-41), including 10.0 percent (2-20) from three-point range and Monmouth 8-3 1990-91 induced 19 turnovers. Princeton was held scoreless for a 14:52 span in the second half as the Hawks Long Island 8-3 1986-87 stretched a five-point lead to 21 with 2:39 to play. CCSU 7-3 1999-00 Won NEC Title St. Francis (PA) 7-3 1997-98 Ironman Azzarelli Goes Down Quinnipiac 6-3 2002-03 Before sitting out Great Alaska Shootout games against South Carolina and Oral Roberts with a foot CCSU 6-3 1998-99 injury, Monmouth senior guard Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant), who remains side- Robert Morris 8-4 1989-90 Won NEC Title lined, was on pace to become the first player in the Dave Calloway era to play in every game at the school. Fairleigh Dickinson 8-4 1987-88 Won NEC Title Azzarelli had appeared in all 92 games and had strung together 90 consecutive starts. Azzarelli led the St. Francis (PA) 9-5 1990-91 Won NEC Title Fairleigh Dickinson 7-4 1997-98 Won NEC Title Hawks in minutes played in both 2003-04 and 2004-05. St. Francis (PA) 7-4 1991-92 Wagner 7-4 1991-92 New York State of Mind Fairleigh Dickinson 7-4 1989-90 Ten St. Francis (NY) players hail from one of the five boroughs and 12 of the 14 on the roster are from Marist 7-4 1989-90 the New York Metro area. St. Francis (PA) 7-4 1989-90 Fairleigh Dickinson 7-4 1986-87 One of Nation’s Oldest Rivalries Renewed Wagner 7-4 1986-87 When Mount St. Mary’s and Loyola (MD) tipped off on December 3rd in Emmitsburg, it marked the 160th Fairleigh Dickinson 7-4 1985-86 meeting between the two schools. Despite a 76-71 setback to the Greyhounds, the Mount still holds a 93- Siena 7-4 1983-84 67 advantage in a series that dates back to 1909 and is the longest running Division I rivalry in the state Quinnipiac 6-4 1999-00 of Maryland. One of the classic games between the two programs was a 99-93 overtime win for the Robert Morris 6-4 1986-87 Mountaineers in the championship game of the Mason-Dixon Conference Tournament on March 5, Marist 6-4 1982-83 1955. That was former head coach Jim Phelan’s first of 49 seasons spent as head coach at the Mount.

Hawk Heave Shocks Red Flash Monmouth Finishes Fourth At Great Alaska Shootout Monmouth freshman guard Mike Shipman (Middletown, DE/Middletown), who checked Monmouth spent its Thanksgiving holiday in Anchorage, Alaska taking fourth place at the Great Alaska in for a disqualified Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant) with 4.9 seconds remaining, Shootout from November 24-26. The first NEC team to compete in the Shootout, the Hawks opened connected on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to lift Monmouth to a 55-53 win over St. Francis (PA) on with an 80-68 win over a Southern Illinois team that has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each January 7th in West Long Branch. With 4.9 seconds showing on the clock, St. Francis (PA) freshman of the last four years, including a second round appearance in 2005, and is ranked #16 in the College guard Grant Surprenant (Palatine, IL/Palatine) missed the front end of a one-and-one and Insider Mid-Major poll. Senior guard Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant) led Monmouth Monmouth senior guard Chris Kenny (Spring Lake, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) and was named the Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game with 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and secured the defensive carom and fed Shipman along the right wing. Monmouth, on a night in which three steals, but suffered a foot injury and missed the next two games. In the semifinals the following it celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its 1996 NCAA Tournament Team that featured its own miracle evening, the Hawks led South Carolina, 42-25, with 16 minutes left to play, but the Gamecocks fought shot - a Mustafa Barksdale four-point play in the waning seconds gave the Hawks a 57-56 win over Marist their way back with an 18-2 run and pulled out a 62-56 win despite junior forward Dejan Delic’s in the NEC semifinals - found some more magic as the freshman drained the 45-footer as time ran out. (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy) 17 points. Monmouth took on Oral Roberts in the third place game , and despite trimming a 16-point second half deficit to five on a number Wagner Takes #12 UCLA To Wire In Two-Point Loss of occasions, suffered a 64-56 setback. Junior forward Corey Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/ After traveling 3,000 miles and finding itself trailing by just two points with 14 seconds remaining on Shelburne (Central Michigan)) scored a career-high 20 points in the loss. the clock at #12 UCLA, Wagner head coach Mike Deane’s plan was to go for the win. A play designed to go to sharpshooter Matt Vitale (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmunds) for a potential game-winning That’s Why You Play The Game three-pointer went array when the Bruins swarmed point guard DeEarnest McLemore (Cary, Sacred Heart’s 63-61 road win over Albany on November 21 may have seemed unlikely to anyone NC/Cary) as he brought the ball up the court and the upset-minded Seahawks were unable to get a who takes stock in preseason coaches polls. The Pioneers were picked to finish 11th in the NEC, while shot off in time, resulting in a 74-72 setback on December 21. Albany was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the American East title. Sacred Heart, which led “To be in position to win this game, that's a good statement,” said Deane after the game. “We were equal by 13 points midway through the second half and withstood at late charge by the Great Danes, was led with UCLA tonight. For us as a program to compete at UCLA, it's a testament of how far our team has by senior center Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s), who established a new career- come as a program.” high with 29 points (10-17 FG, 9-11 FT). “I'm glad we got that win,” said UCLA head coach Ben Howland. “That's a tough, hard-nosed team that Preseason All-NEC Team came in determined to beat us on our home court. We were fortunate to come away with a victory.” Three returning all-stars from a year ago landed a spot on the 2005-06 NEC Preseason All-Confer- Sophomore guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/St. Augustine’s Prep) led the Seahawks ence team as voted by league head coaches. Fairleigh Dickinson senior forward Gordon Klaiber with 19 points - including 3-3 from beyond the arc - and five assists. Four Wagner players scored in (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) is a two-time first team selection, while Long double figures as the Seahawks shot 53.8 percent from the floor and hit a scorching 10-16 from three- Island junior guard James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) and Sacred Heart junior forward point range, a 62.5 percent success rate. Joey Henley (Kent, WA/Kentride) were both picked to the second team in 2004-05. Joining them on the preseason team were Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thompson (German- One For The Ages: CCSU & La Salle Take It To 4 OT town, MD/Archbishop Spalding) and Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard Chad Timberlake In what is believed to be longest game in the history of both programs, LaSalle hit a pair of free-throws (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht). with no time remaining in the fourth overtime to give the Explorers a 107-106 victory over Central Connecticut State in New Britain on December 18. The Blue Devils had a shot to win the game at the NEC Preseason Poll end of regulation play and in each of the first three overtimes, but each attempt came up short and With three returning starters, including preseason all-NEC picks Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, would force an additional overtime. Trailing by one with five seconds remaining in the fourth extra MD/National Christian Academy) and Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht), session, LaSalle got the ball to Darnell Harris, who was then fouled on a three-point attempt as time defending tournament champion Fairleigh Dickinson has been chosen as the 2005-06 NEC men’s expired. After reviewing the replay, the officials declared that time had expired with the foul and Harris basketball preseason favorite, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches taken prior to the had three attempts to win the game. After missing the first free-throw, Harris hit the final two to give the league’s 25th anniversary season. Looking to become the first league team since Rider in 1993 and Explorers the one-point victory. The game, which lasted just under three hours, saw a combined 213 1994 to repeat as NEC champion, Fairleigh Dickinson earned nine of a possible ten first place votes points, 156 shots, 94 rebounds and only 33 turnovers. It was the longest game involving an NEC team from league head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. Monmouth, last year’s since Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Sacred Heart, 133-130, in four overtimes on December 1, 2001. NEC regular season champion, finished tied for second in the poll with Wagner, which reached the 2005 NEC title game. The Seahawks received one first place vote, as did Long Island, which was picked Long Island Wins NEC’s Most Improved Award fourth. CCSU and St. Francis (NY) finished tied for fifth in the poll, followed by Quinnipiac, Mount St. Long Island was the big winner in the Most Improved sweepstakes a year ago, going from eight wins Mary’s, St. Francis (PA), Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. in 2003-04 to 14 wins in 2004-05. The Blackbirds’ six-game improvement was the biggest year-to- year jump for the program since a 12-game leap from nine victories in 1995-96 to 21 in 1996-97. 1. Fairleigh Dickinson (9) Below are the greatest improvements in the NEC from one season to the next over the last five years: 2. Monmouth Wagner (1) NEC Most Improved Teams From 2000-05 4. Long Island (1) +13 CCSU 2001-02 14 wins to 27 wins 5. Central Connecticut St. +11 Fairleigh Dickinson 2002-03 4 wins to 15 wins St. Francis (NY) +9 Monmouth 2000-01 12 wins to 21 wins 7. Quinnipiac +8 St. Francis (PA) 2002-03 6 wins to 14 wins 8. Mount St. Mary’s +8 Mount St. Mary’s 2002-03 3 wins to 11 wins 9. St. Francis (PA) 10. Robert Morris +8 Quinnipiac 2001-02 6 wins to 14 wins 11. Sacred Heart Mount’s Thompson Climbs NEC Scoring Chart With 1,321 career points in his first three seasons, Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thomp- Monmouth’s Golden Era Of Hoops son (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) is the NEC’s leading active scorer entering Monmouth’s 91 wins over the last five seasons (2000-05) is not only the best in the NEC, but also a play in 2005-06. If Thompson were to average 16.7 points over the course of a 27-game regular program-high for a five-year period. The previous best at the school was 87 victories from 1987-88 season, he would vault from 62nd place on the NEC career chart all the way into the top-ten. As a to 1991-92. The league record for a five-year stretch is held by Fairleigh Dickinson, which went 102- junior, Thompson averaged 14.4 ppg to lead the Mount in scoring for a third consecutive season. 47 from 1984-89. The Knights are the only NEC program in league history to average 20 wins over a five-year span. Consistency Lands St. Francis (NY) In NEC Recordbook St. Francis (NY) has finished at or above .500 in NEC play eight straight seasons, the longest active Long Island To Debut New Athletic Facility; Construction Continues At Quinnipiac streak in the conference and tied with Fairleigh Dickinson (1981-89) and Marist (1982-90) for the After spending 42 years playing in the Schwartz Athletic Center - formerly known as the world famous longest stretch in league history. The Terriers finished 9-9 against conference competition in 2004- Brooklyn Paramount Theater - Long Island moves into its new digs this winter. The $40 million, 05 and qualified for the NEC Tournament for the 15th consecutive season (second to FDU’s league 100,000 square-foot Athletic, Recreation & Wellness Center is the largest building project in the record 18 from 1984-01). campus’ 78-year history, the centerpiece of which will be a 3,000-seat basketball arena. Long Island will debut the facility for the public in January. Long Island is not the only NEC school with a new athletic facility in the works. Quinnipiac broke ground on its new Athletic Center a year ago, and is slated to open the building in January, 2007. The new Athletic Center will consist of a 157,000 square foot facility containing a basketball arena and a hockey arena joined by a common lobby area for concession stands and ticket sales.

Crashing The Party Below is a look at each of the 11 NEC school’s success rate in reaching the conference tournament over the last five years. Qualified For NEC Tournament • Last Five Years (2001-05) All 5 Years: CCSU, Monmouth, St. Francis (NY), Wagner 4 Years: Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner 3 Years: Long Island, Robert Morris, St. Francis (PA) 2 Years: Quinnipiac 1 Year: Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart (ineligible one year)

Knights Rule Garden State Fairleigh Dickinson not only stood tall as NEC champion last season, but also carried the banner for the entire state of . The Knights were the only one of the seven Division I teams (FDU, Monmouth, Princeton, Rider, Rutgers, St. Peter’s and Seton Hall) in the Garden State to qualify for the postseason in 2004-05. FDU also finished as the only 20-win team in the state.

Red Hot Red Flash Shooters In 2004-05, St. Francis (PA) nearly became the first team in NEC history to lead the conference in all three team shooting categories. The Red Flash led the circuit in field goal percentage (.474) and three- point field goal percentage (.388), and despite finishing 27th nationally in free throw percentage (.737), finished second behind Monmouth (.771) in the league. St. Francis (PA)’s 47.4 percent success rate from the floor was the highest in the NEC since Monmouth hit 47.7 percent in 1996-97, and the 38.8 percent mark from beyond the arc was the best in the conference since Robert Morris drained 39.2 percent, also in 1996-97.

The Comforts Of Home Over the last three seasons (2002-05), St. Francis (PA), Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth and St. Francis (NY) were the league’s most dominant programs on their respective home courts. St. Francis (PA) led the pack with a 30-7 mark (.811) since the start of the 2002-03 season. Fairleigh Dickinson, the defend- ing NEC champion, is right on St. Francis (PA)’s tail with a 33-8 (.805) record at the during the same time frame. St. Francis (NY) went 24-9 (.727) over the last three years, while Monmouth stood at 28-11 (.718), including a 15-game win streak that was snapped last December. St. Francis (PA) was also a league-best 21-3 (.875) at home the last two seasons, while Monmouth is 22-5 (.815) and Fairleigh Dickinson were 22-6 (.786). St. Francis (NY) has traditionally been the NEC’s toughest team at home, having amassed a 71-22 (.763) record at the Pope Center since 1997-98.

Top Returning Scoring Duos The NEC will feature three schools with duos that combined to score at least 25.0 ppg last season. Topping the list is the FDU tandem of Gordon Klaiber and Chad Timberlake. The duo, led by Klaiber’s 16.0 ppg, combined for 29.1 points per contest in 2004-05. School Player PPG Player PPG Total PPG FDU Gordon Klaiber 16.0 Chad Timberlake 13.1 29.1 MSM Landy Thompson 14.4 Charles Cook 12.2 26.6 LIU James Williams 16.3 Randy Jones 9.4 25.7