2005-06 MEN’SMEN’SMEN’S BASKETBALLBASKETBALLBASKETBALL NN EWSEWS && NN OTESOTES 200 Cottontail Lane, Vantage Court North, Somerset, NJ 08873 Men’s Basketball Contact: Ron Ratner, Associate Commissioner Phone: 732-469-0440/Fax: 732-469-0744 E-Mail: [email protected] Central Connecticut 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 Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Facts & Figures (Week 3 • December 5, 2005) Last Week’s Results School NEC Pct. Overall Pct. Streak Home Away Neutral 1. Fairleigh Dickinson 1-0 1.000 4-2 .667 W3 2-0 1-1 1-1 Monday, November 28 Saturday, December 3 Yale 72, SACRED HEART 67 CCSU 87, Harvard 79 2. Wagner 0-0 .000 4-1 .800 W2 2-0 2-1 0-0 CCSU 69, Binghamton 66 Loyola (MD) 76, MT. ST. MARY’S 71 Central Connecticut State 0-0 .000 3-2 .600 W2 1-1 2-1 0-0 ROBERT MORRIS 62, Maine 53 Binghamton 64, ST. FRANCIS (NY) 56 Robert Morris 0-0 .000 2-3 .400 L1 2-0 0-3 0-0 WAGNER 73, Yale 69 Tuesday, November 29 #8 Boston College 77, SACRED HEART 66 St. Francis (NY) 0-0 .000 2-3 .400 L2 1-1 1-2 0-0 FDU 76, QUINNIPIAC 70 LONG ISLAND 59, New Hampshire 56 St. Francis (PA) 0-0 .000 2-5 .286 L3 2-0 0-3 0-2 SMU 74, LONG ISLAND 62 St. Bonaventure 69, ST. FRANCIS (PA) 65 Long Island 0-0 .000 1-3 .250 W1 0-1 1-2 0-0 Pittsburgh 79, ST. FRANCIS (NY) 58 Rider 75, MONMOUTH 67 Monmouth 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 L3 0-1 0-1 1-2 Duquesne 73, ROBERT MORRIS 58 Wednesday, November 30 Mount St. Mary's 0-0 .000 1-4 .200 L3 1-1 0-3 0-0 La Salle 73, MT. ST. MARY’S 51 Sacred Heart 0-0 .000 1-5 .167 L4 0-2 1-3 0-0 Columbia 61, SACRED HEART 59 #19 George Washington 85, ST. FRANCIS (PA) 68 Quinnipiac 0-1 .000 3-2 .600 W1 1-0 1-1 1-1 WAGNER 72, Brown 59 Top eight teams qualify for NEC Tournament Friday, December 2 FDU 69, Canisius 65 (2 OT) QUINNIPIAC 55, Cornell 45 Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week Obie Nwadike, Central Connecticut State Jr., F, 6-4, 224 lbs., Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony’s Nwadike’s ability to dominate on the glass helped boost the Blue Devils to a pair of road victories last week, including an 87-79 win over previously unbeaten Harvard on Saturday. For the week, Nwadike averaged 12.0 points and 13.0 rebounds. He tallied eight points and snared 10 boards in a 69-66 triumph at Binghamton on Home Team Underlined Tuesday, then followed with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds (eight offensive) in the win over the Crimson. The 16 caroms were the most by a CCSU player since Corsley Edwards pulled down 19 against Wagner on February Choice Hotels Choice Hotels 15, 2002. Nwadike, who on Saturday posted his first double-double of the season and tenth of his career, currently NEC Player of the Week NEC Rookie of the Week ranks second in the NEC with 10.2 rpg and is 14th with 13.0 ppg. The Jersey City, NJ product is one of just two NEC players averaging a double-double for the season. Nov. 21 Justin Chiera, CCSU Nov. 21 Cameron Tyler, FDU Nov. 28 Durell Vinson, WC Nov. 28 Whitney Coleman, MU Dec. 5 Obie Nwadike, CCSU Dec. 5 Grant Surprenant, SFPA Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week Grant Surprenant, St. Francis (PA) Fr., G, 6-5, 180 lbs., Palatine, IL/Palatine Surprenant, who had scored 17 points all season entering play last week, delivered a breakthrough performance in the Red Flash’s 85-68 setback at #19 George Washington on Wednesday. Surprenant scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as the two teams battled to a 35-35 deadlock at the break and finished 10-19 from the 2006 NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament floor, including 5-10 from outside the arc, and added five boards. On Saturday, he hit 5-9 three-point shots and tallied 15 points in a narrow 69-65 defeat at St. Bonaventure. For the week, the Palatine, IL native averaged 20.5 All games at home of higher seed. Teams will be points, 3.5 rebounds and shot 50.0 percent (15-30) from the field and 52.6 percent (10-19) from long range. reseeded after quarterfinals. Surprenant currently ranks fourth on the Red Flash with 8.3 ppg and is sixth in the NEC with 2.1 three-point field Thursday, March 2 goals per contest. Quarterfinals Times TBA This Week’s Schedule Sunday, March 5 Semifinals Monday, December 5 Wednesday, December 7 Saturday, December 10 CCSU at St. Bonaventure 7:00 pm MT. ST. MARY’S at American 7:30 pm SACRED HEART at ST. FRANCIS (PA)^ 3:00 pm 1:00 pm (CN8), Colgate at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm Lehigh at SACRED HEART 8:00 pm FDU at MT. ST. MARY’S 2:00 pm 4:00 pm (MSG) Army at SACRED HEART 7:00 pm ROBERT MORRIS at QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm Wednesday, March 8 FDU at Seton Hall 7:30 pm Thursday, December 8 Hartford at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm MONMOUTH at Seton Hall 7:30 pm Championship Tuesday, December 6 7:30 pm (ESPN2) * Televised on MSG, Cox Cable (CT/RI) and ROBERT MORRIS at New Hampshire 7:00 pm Friday, December 9 FCS (Atlantic) Columbia at WAGNER 7:00 pm CCSU at ST. FRANCIS (NY)* 7:00 pm ^ Televised on Fox-8 (Western PA) and NEC Website ST. FRANCIS (NY) at Lafayette 7:00 pm Cablevision of Norwalk MONMOUTH at St. Peter’s 7:00 pm For all the latest news, scores, statistics and notes, visit the NEC website at www.northeastconference.org Standings and statistics are updated daily. 2005-06 NEC Men’s Basketball Schedule Schedule Subject To Change. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Central Connecticut State Fairleigh Dickinson Long Island (3-2, 0-0 NEC) (4-2, 1-0 NEC) (1-3, 0-0 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 4:00 pm D 3 at Harvard W 87-79 N 29 QUINNIPIAC W 76-70 D 14 at Harvard 7:00 pm D 5 at St. Bonaventure 7:00 pm D 2 at Canisius W 69-65 (2 OT) D 22 CCNY 7:00 pm D 9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm D 5 at Seton Hall 7:30 pm at College of Charleston Classic D 18 La Salle 12:00 pm D 10 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 2:00 pm D 29 vs. Rider 5:30 pm D 22 Binghamton 7:00 pm D 17 Drexel 7:30 pm D 30 vs. Charleston/Longwood 5:30/7:30 pm D 29 at Delaware 7:30 pm D 22 at St. Peter’s 7:00 pm J 5 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 7 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm D 28 at Louisville 7:00 pm J 7 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 4:00 pm J 9 at SACRED HEART 8:00 pm J 5 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 12 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 12 at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 14 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm J 14 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 1:00 pm J 14 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 1:00 pm J 18 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm J 19 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 20 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 8:00 pm J 23 at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 21 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 23 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm J 26 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm J 26 WAGNER 7:00 pm J 26 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 28 WAGNER 7:00 pm J 28 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 28 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm F 2 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 2 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 2 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 4 at SACRED HEART 2:00 pm F 4 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 4 at WAGNER 2:00 pm 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 7:00 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 F 18 at ESPN Bracket Buster opponent TBA 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 (1-4, 0-0 NEC) (1-4, 0-0 NEC) (3-2, 0-1 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 7:30 pm D 2 at Cornell W 55-45 D 6 at St. Peter’s 7:00 pm D 10 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 2:00 pm D 5 Colgate 7:00 pm D 8 at Seton Hall 7:30 pm at San Juan Shootout D 10 ROBERT MORRIS 4:00 pm D 12 at Lehigh 7:00 pm D 19 vs. Akron 7:00 pm D 19 Dartmouth 7:00 pm D 14 at Princeton 7:30 pm D 20 vs. Mississippi State/Liberty 7/9 pm D 22 at Rhode Island 7:00 pm D 18 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm D21 vs. Clemson/Holy Cross/UT-Chatanooga, PR-Mayaguez TBA D 30 at Connecticut 7:00 pm D 28 at Hartford 7:00 pm D 31 at Penn State 1:00 pm J 5 at WAGNER 7:00 pm D 31 Drexel 4:00 pm J 3 Lafayette 7:00 pm J 7 Brown 4:00 pm J 3 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm J 5 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm J 12 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm J 5 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm J 7 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm J 7 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 14 MONMOUTH 4:00 pm J 12 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm J 12 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm J 19 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm J 14 at QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm J 19 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 21 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 19 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 21 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm J 23 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm J 21 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 26 at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 26 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 26 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm J 28 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm J 28 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm J 28 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm F 2 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm F 2 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm F 4 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 4 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm F 4 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 4:00 pm 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 7:00 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) (2-3, 0-0 NEC) (1-4, 0-0 NEC) (2-3, 0-0 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 Pittsburgh 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 7:00 pm D 3 at #8 Boston College L 66-77 D 6 at Lafayette 7:00 pm D 10 at QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm D 5 Army 7:00 pm D 9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm D 17 Charleston Southern 7:30 pm D 7 Lehigh 8:00 pm D 18 Hartford 2:00 pm D 22 at Iowa 7:05 pm D 10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 3:00 pm D 22 Hofstra 7:00 pm D 29 Medaille 7:30 pm D 18 at MONMOUTH 4:00 pm D 30 at Manhattan 7:00 pm J 2 WAGNER 7:30 pm J 2 at Miami (FL) 7:30 pm J 3 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 5 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 7 WAGNER 4:00 pm J 7 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 4:00 pm J 12 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:30 pm J 9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 8:00 pm J 12 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm J 14 LONG ISLAND 7:30 pm J 12 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm J 14 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 19 at SACRED HEART 7:00 pm J 14 at WAGNER 7:00 pm J 18 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm J 21 at WAGNER 7:00 pm J 19 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm J 20 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm J 24 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:30 pm J 21 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 4:00 pm J 23 at WAGNER 7:30 pm J 26 MONMOUTH 7:30 pm J 23 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm J 28 QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm J 28 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:30 pm J 26 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm F 2 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm F 2 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm F 2 at QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm F 4 at QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm F 4 LONG ISLAND 2:00 pm 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 (2-5, 0-0 NEC) (4-1, 0-0 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 7:00 pm N 30 at #19 George Washington L 68-85 D 17 at Rhode Island 2:00 pm D 3 at St. Bonaventure L 65-69 D 21 at UCLA 7:30 pm D 10 SACRED HEART 3:00 pm D 30 Stony Brook 7:00 pm D 18 at Penn State 2:00 pm J 2 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm D 28 at LaSalle 7:00 pm J 5 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm J 2 American 7:00 pm J 5 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm J 7 at SACRED HEART 4:00 pm J 7 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 14 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm J 10 MOUNT ST. MARY'S 7:00 pm J 19 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm J 12 LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm J 21 ROBERT MORRIS 7:00 pm J 14 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm J 23 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:30 pm J 19 at WAGNER 7:00 pm J 26 at CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm J 21 at SACRED HEART 4:00 pm J 28 at LONG ISLAND 7:00 pm J 24 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm F 4 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 2:00 pm J 26 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm F 6 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm J 28 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm F 9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm F 4 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm 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 FDU’s Timberlake Set To Join NEC Millennium Club NEC Men’s Basketball Notes: The NEC tipped off the 2005-06 season with two returning players already ensconced in the (through games of December 3) 1,000-point club, and a host of others set to join the ranks as the season progresses. A total of four NEC players reached the 1,000-point plateau a year ago to raise membership to 122 League Play Commences since the league began sponsoring basketball in 1981. Mount St. Mary’s boasts the leading With the rest of the conference knee deep in out of conference play, returning scorer in the conference in senior guard Landy Thompson (Germantown, defending NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson and new-look Quin- MD/Archbishop Spalding), who has amassed 1,376 points. Fairleigh Dickinson senior nipiac tipped off the league slate on Tuesday in Teaneck. With the forward Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) (1,210 Knights nursing a 69-68 lead, FDU junior guard John Blackgrove (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) points) is the only other returning 1,000-point scorer. Next in line to reach the milestone is nailed a fadeaway three-pointer and converted the ensuing free throw for a four-point play to push the lead Klaiber’s running mate, senior swingman Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utre- to five with 32 seconds remaining in the contest. FDU would go on to win, 76-70, with four players scoring cht), who is just four points shy with 996. Other players with an opportunity to hit 1,000 this in double digits. Four more NEC contests are on tap this week with St. Francis (NY) hosting CCSU on Friday, season include Sacred Heart’s Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s) (865), followed by Saturday games pitting Sacred Heart at St. Francis (PA), FDU at Mount St. Mary’s and Robert Long Island’s James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) (824), Central Connecticut State’s Morris at Quinnipiac. Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) (816), St. Francis (PA) senior guard Rahsaan Benton (Cleveland Heights, OH/St. Ignatius) (812), Monmouth’s Chris Kenny NEC On The Air (Spring Lake, NJ/CBA) (782) and Mount St. Mary’s teammates Charles Cook (Upper Three games are on tap this week on the NEC Television Network. MSG Network, Fox College Sports (Atlantic) Marlboro, MD/Bishop McNamara) (796) and Kiel Butler (Temple Hills, MD/ and Cox Cable (CT/RI) will televise CCSU at St. Francis (NY) on Friday at 7:00 pm. Dave Popkin (play-by-play), Laurinburg Institute) (731). Terry O’Connor (color) and Amy Lundy (sideline) will provide commentary. On Saturday, WWCP-Fox 8 (Western PA) and Cablevision of Norwalk (CT) will carry a women-men doubleheader as Sacred Heart Red Flash Toy Drive travels to St. Francis (PA). Tip times are 1:00 pm for the women and 3:00 pm for the men. Paul Dottino (play- The St. Francis (PA) men’s and women’s teams will play host to Sacred Heart in their respective by-play), Pam Roecker (color) and Jim Penna (sideline) are in the booth for both contests. This week’s NEC openers on Saturday. Both games will be televised, and local U.S. Marines will be on broadcasts are part of a 25-game package produced this season by the NEC to air on regional cable outlets. campus for a Toys for Tots drive to collect new and unused toys for needy children.

One of Nation’s Oldest Rivalries Renewed Road Devils When Mount St. Mary’s and Loyola (MD) tipped off on Saturday afternoon in Emmitsburg, it marked the 160th CCSU is in the midst of a five-game road stretch and eight of ten away from Detrick Gymnasium. meeting between the two schools. Despite a 76-71 setback to the Greyhounds, the Mount still holds a 93-67 In the five games (within an 18-day span), the Blue Devils will travel a total of 2,258 miles to advantage in a series that dates back to 1909 and is the longest running Division I rivalry in the state of compete at Florida International, Binghamton, Harvard, St. Bonaventure and St. Francis (NY), Maryland. One of the classic games between the two programs was a 99-93 overtime win for the Mountaineers an average trip of 451.6 miles. in the championship game of the Mason-Dixon Conference Tournament on March 5, 1955. That was former head coach Jim Phelan’s first of 49 seasons spent as head coach at the Mount. Quotes of the Week Robert Morris sophomore guard Tony Lee (Boston, MA/Charlestown), on his team’s Seahawks Solve Road Conundrum preparation for Maine, which fell to the Colonials, 62-53, on Monday: Wagner’s 72-59 win at Brown on Wednesday ended an eight-game road losing streak against non-league foes, “Our coaches did a great job of scouting,” said Lee. “We knew what every Maine player while the Seahawks’ 71-67 victory at Yale on Saturday marked the first back-to-back non-conference road could do. We knew them like a book we had read four or five times. That made it easier triumphs for Wagner since winning at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke and at Army in January, 1983. for us to play.” Wagner has now won 15 of its last 18 games dating back to last season and is off to a 4-1 start for the first time since the 1980-81 season when PJ Carlesimo was head coach. Wagner head coach Mike Deane, commenting on the performance of redshirt freshman Jamal Smith, who scored 25 points in a 72-59 victory at Brown on Wednesday: Chiera’s Long Range Plans Central Connecticut State senior guard Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had developed a well- “It was a breakout game for Jamal,” Deane said. “He has that kind of talent. We knew deserved reputation throughout the league the last three years for his quick release and long distance shoot- that when we recruited him. He really showed something tonight. He drove the ball, ing prowess, but has taken his game to the next level early on in 2005-06. The sharpshooter has been made jumpers, scored off rebounds and played great defense. There is nothing more terrorizing opponents with a league-best 25 three-pointers in his first five games and a 50.0 percent success we can ask for except that he keep doing it.” rate from beyond the arc. Chiera, who became the third player in school history to reach 200 trifectas for his career after hitting 7-10 from long range as part of a career-high 27-point effort in the Blue Devils’ 87-79 win St. Francis (PA) head coach Bobby Jones, following the Red Flash’s 69-65 setback at St. over previously unbeaten Harvard on Saturday, currently ranks second in the conference with 18.6 ppg. Of Bonaventure on Saturday: his 29 field goals on the season, 25 - or 86.2 percent - have come from outside the arc. “We’ve had a tough week,” Jones said. “We played in tough games at Ohio and George Scoring Turnover Leads To... Washington. Now we come into another tough environment here at Saint Bonaven- Of the top-10 scorers in the NEC thus far in 2005-06, only one - FDU senior forward Gordon Klaiber ture. We should hold our heads high, because we really played well this week. I really (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy), who ranks ninth with 13.6 ppg - finished in the top- believe this week will pay off for us in January. There isn’t a team left on our schedule 10 a year ago. where we will be in an environment that we’ve been in this week. We are such a young ball club; I’m so proud of our guys. We’ll regroup for next Saturday (vs. Sacred Heart).” ...Scoring Jumps A host of NEC players have taken on greater offensive roles for their respective teams this season, many of FDU To Take Part In Bracket Buster Saturday whom rank among league scoring leaders. The biggest scoring jump thus far in 2005-06 goes to CCSU senior Fairleigh Dickinson will become the first NEC team to compete in ESPN’s Bracket Buster guard Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), whose average has ballooned 11.6 points from 7.0 ppg Saturday, when the Knights travel to an opponent to be determined on February 18. The actual to 18.6 ppg. Below are the top-11 point producers in the conference and their change from a year ago: Bracket Buster pairings - featuring some of the nation’s top mid-major programs - will be announced on January 30. FDU’s opponent will return a home game to the Knights during Player 2005-06 PPG 2004-05 PPG Change the 2006-07 campaign. 1. Kibwe Trim, SHU 19.2 ppg 10.5 ppg +8.7 ppg 2. Justin Chiera, CCSU 18.6 ppg 7.0 ppg +11.6 ppg FDU’s Klaiber Scales NEC Recordbook 3. Rahsaan Benton, SFPA 16.6 ppg 11.4 ppg +5.2 ppg A two-time first team all-NEC selection, Fairleigh Dickinson senior forward Gordon Klaiber 4. A.J. Jackson, RMU 15.0 ppg Sat Out Season (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) will look to put a stamp on his career 5. Christian Brown, SFNY 14.4 ppg 11.4 ppg +3.0 ppg in 2005-06 as he attempts to lead the Knights to back-to-back conference championships. He 6. Dejan Delic, MU 14.2 ppg 8.4 ppg +5.8 ppg entered the season as the NEC’s leading active rebounder and second-leading scorer and 7. Jarrid Frye, SHU 14.0 ppg 8.9 ppg +5.1 ppg currently has recorded 1,210 points and 547 boards in his career. He is just the ninth player 8. Chris Wehye, QU 13.8 ppg Played at Cecil CC in FDU history to amass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds and is on pace to become just the 9. Gordon Klaiber, FDU 13.6 ppg 16.0 ppg -2.4 ppg 23rd player in NEC annals to reach 1,500 points and 500 rebounds and ninth player to hit Durell Vinson, WC 13.6 ppg 7.9 ppg +5.7 ppg 1,500 points and 750 rebounds. 11. J.R. Enright, SFPA 13.3 ppg 3.7 ppg +9.6 ppg Ironman Azzarelli Goes Down Spreading The Wealth Before sitting out Great Alaska Shootout games against South Carolina and Oral Roberts with Ten different St. Francis (NY) players have started games this season and 11 are averaging at least 14 minutes a foot injury, Monmouth senior guard Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant), who per contest. None are averaging more than 29 minutes per outing. remains sidelined, was on pace to become the first player in the Dave Calloway era to play in every game at the school. Azzarelli had appeared in all 92 games and had strung together 90 consecutive starts. Azzarelli led the Hawks in minutes played in both 2003-04 and 2004-05. Central Connecticut State (3-2, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: CCSU 69, Binghamton 66; CCSU 87, Harvard 79 This Week: at St. Bonaventure (Monday); at St. Francis (NY) (Friday on MSG, Cox Cable (CT/RI) and FCS (Atlantic)) In the midst of a five-game road swing, the Blue Devils won two games away from home last week with victories over Binghamton (69-66) on Monday and previously unbeaten Harvard (87-79) on Saturday...Senior guard Justin Chiera (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) became the third player in CCSU history to reach 200 career three- point field goals when he hit a career-high seven (in ten attempts) and scored a career-best 27 points against Harvard...Junior forward Obie Nwadike (Jersey City, Mohegan Sun Classic at CCSU N18 Birmingham Southern W 76-67 NJ/St. Anthony’s) scored 16 points and snared a career-high 16 rebounds against Harvard. The Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week averaged 12.0 ppg and 13.0 N19 Northeastern L 90-94 rpg...Nwadike’s 16 rebounds were the most by a CCSU player since Corsley Edwards pulled down 19 against Wagner on February 15, 2002...Sophomore guard Tristan N22 at Florida International L 61-71 Blackwood (Toronto, Canada/Eastern Commerce) netted 20 points and sank four three-pointers - both career-highs - after missing the previous two games N28 at Binghamton W 69-66 with an injury. On the week, he averaged 15.5 ppg and shot 61.1 percent from the field...Chiera, who is second in the NEC with 18.6 ppg, leads the conference with 5.0 D3 at Harvard W 87-79 trifectas per contest and ranks fifth in three-point accuracy at 50.0 percent. He has made at least four treys in four of five outings on the year and 25 of his 29 field goals D5 at St. Bonaventure 7:00 pm (86.2 percent) have come from outside the arc...Nwadike stands second on the circuit with 10.2 rpg and is 14th with 13.0 ppg. He is one of just two NEC players averaging D9 at ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:00 pm a double-double for the season...CCSU hit 13-14 from the line against Binghamton...Junior forward Javier Mojica (Auburn, MA/Auburn) averaged 14.0 ppg, D18 La Salle 12:00 pm D22 Binhgamton 7:00 pm including 18 against Binghamton...Five Blue Devils are averaging in double figures...Blackwood is shooting 57.7 percent from the floor and is 8-14 (.571) on his three- D29 at Delaware 7:30 pm point attempts...CCSU leads the NEC with a 44.8 percent success rate from long distance...CCSU closes out its road stretch this week with games at St. Bonaventure on J7 at LONG ISLAND 4:00 pm Monday and St. Francis (NY) in its league opener on Friday in a game televised in parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island on Cox Cable. CCSU has beaten a member of J9 at SACRED HEART 8:00 pm the Atlantic-10 in each of the last three seasons (UMass twice and La Salle). Fairleigh Dickinson (4-2, 1-0 NEC) Last Week: FDU 76, Quinnipiac 70; FDU 69, Canisius 65 (2 OT) This Week: at Seton Hall (Monday); at Mount St. Mary’s (Saturday) FDU has now won three straight games, including a 76-70 conquest of Quinnipiac on Tuesday as the Knights began defense of their league crown. On Saturday, FDU needed two overtimes to overcome Canisius in Buffalo, 69-65...With the Knights nursing a 69-68 lead against the Bobcats, FDU junior guard John Blackgrove (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) nailed a fadeaway three-pointer and converted the ensuing free throw for a four-point play to push the lead to five with 32 seconds remaining in the contest...Trailing by three in the second overtime against Canisius, sophomore guard Bernell Murray (Stillwater, OK/Stillwater) scored eight straight points at Guardians Classic (Morgantown, WV) with two free throws followed by back-to-back three-pointers to give the Knights a 68-64 lead with 1:24 to play...Junior forward Michael Peeples (Detroit, MI/ N12 vs. Wofford L 62-73 N13 Lousiana Monroe W 74-58 Benedictine) scored a game-high 18 points against the Golden Griffins, and added four assists, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals...Senior guard Chad N18 at #24 Maryland L 85-111 Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) is now four points shy of becoming the 26th player in FDU history and 123rd in NEC annals to reach 1,000 in his career. N26 Dowling W 96-50 Last week, he averaged 14.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg and 2.0 spg. He posted a season-high 19 points (8-14 FG) against Canisius and ranks second on the Knights with N29 QUINNIPIAC W 76-70 12.4 ppg...Junior forward Andre Harris (Detroit, MI/Robichaud) continued to excel in a sixth man role, averaging 11.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 1.5 bpg, while shooting D2 at Canisius W 69-65 (2OT) .524 from the floor...Freshman guard Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Cardozo (Notre Dame Prep)) came off the bench to contribute 12 points, five assists and D5 at Seton Hall 7:30 pm two steals in the win over Quinnipiac. It was his third straight game in double digits...Tyler, who hit 10-12 free throws against the Knights, is second in the NEC with 32 D10 at MOUNT ST. MARY’S 2:00 pm makes from the charity stripe and ranks 10th in free throw percentage (.821)....Junior center Andrea Crosariol (Abano T., Italy/Long Island Lutheran) leads D17 Drexel 7:30 pm the conference with 3.0 bpg, while Klaiber is second with 2.4 bpg and third with 2.6 spg. With respect to career numbers, Klaiber is sixth all-time at FDU in rejections D22 at St. Peter’s 7:00 pm (115) and Crosariol is tenth (98)...Klaiber paces the Knights and is ninth in the NEC with 13.6 ppg. He has upped his career totals to 1,210 points and 547 rebounds. D28 at Louisville 7:00 pm Klaiber is the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks...The Knights close out a three-game road swing with games at Seton J5 ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm Hall on Monday and Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday. Long Island (1-3, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: SMU 74, Long Island 62; Long Island 59, New Hampshire 56 This Week: vs. Hartford (Saturday) After a 74-62 loss at SMU on Tuesday, the Blackbirds picked up their first win of the 2005-06 campaign with a 59-56 triumph at New Hampshire on Saturday...Despite hitting just one field goal in the final 8:56, Long Island was able to withstand a New Hampshire rally that trimmed the Blackbirds’ 14 point advantage to just two with 3:41 to play. With LIU nursing a 57-56 lead with three seconds remaining, sophomore forward Paska Morkeliunas (Kaunas, Lithuania/Roanoke (VA) Catholic) N22 Columbia L 63-80 hit two free throws for the final three-point margin...Morkeliunas scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half...Similar to its game with Penn State a week earlier, N26 at Penn State L 64-80 the Blackbirds were tied with SMU (40-40) in the second half, but the Mustangs went on a 15-5 run to take a double-digit advantage with 6:50 remaining in the N29 at SMU L 62-74 D3 at New Hampshire W 59-56 contest...Junior guard James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) scored a season-high 19 points in the setback and averaged 15.0 points and 3.0 assists for the D10 Hartford 4:00 pm week...Sophomore guard Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, FL/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) netted 12 points in each contest and averaged 3.5 assists...Morkeliunas D14 at Harvard 7:00 pm was the only LIU reserve to score against New Hampshire. Against SMU, Blackbird starters accounted for 56 of the team’s 62 points...Junior forward Esa Maki- D22 CCNY 7:00 pm Tulokas (Forssa, Finland/ Forssa Yhteislyseo) missed both games last week and will be out four to six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand...Senior guard at College of Charleston Classic Aubin Scott (Hempstead, NY/Hempstead) posted his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 10 points and 12 rebounds against D29 vs. Rider 5:30 pm D30 vs. Charleston/Longwood 5:30/7:30 pm SMU...Williams leads the NEC in free-throw percentage, converting at a 93.3 percent clip...Sophomore forward Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario/ J5 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 7:00 pm Cheshire Academy) has hit 6-7 from three-point range early on to lead the conference with an 85.7 percent success rate...LIU paces the NEC with a +3.5 turnover J7 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 4:00 pm margin. The Blackbirds are averaging a league-low 12.2 miscues per contest...LIU returns home on Saturday to face Hartford. J12 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 7:00 pm

Monmouth (1-4, 0-0 NEC)

Last Week: Rider 75, Monmouth 67 This Week: at St. Peter’s (Tuesday); at Seton Hall (Thursday)

After a week off since last competing at the Great Alaska Shootout, the Hawks dropped a 75-67 decision to Garden State rival Rider in their home opener on Saturday...Junior forward Marques Alston (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) poured in a season-high 21 points on 9-14 shooting from the field to lead Monmouth...The Hawks were outrebounded by the Broncs, 43-29...Freshman guard Whitney Coleman (Salem, CT/East Lyme (St. Thomas More Prep)), starting in place of injured senior N21 at San Francisco L 66-70 Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant), recorded 11 points, seven assists and three steals. He hit 4-8 shots from the floor and 2-3 from outside the arc...Monmouth at Great Alaska Shootout (Anchorage, AK) was credited with assists on 22 of its 25 field goals on the evening...Despite the loss, the Hawks are 22-6 at Boylan Gymnasium since the start of the 2003-04 season...Azzarelli N24 vs. Southern Illinois W 80-68 N25 vs. South Carolina L 56-62 has now missed three straight games with a foot injury after competing in 92 straight games to begin his career, including 90 consecutive starts...Junior forward Dejan N26 vs. Oral Roberts L 54-62 Delic’s (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy), who had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists vs. the Broncs, is sixth in the conference with D3 Rider L 67-75 14.2 ppg. He also ranks third in the league with 2.4 3PFG/game...Delic passed Jason Krayl for eighth place on Monmouth’s career three-pointer list and now has 95 in D6 at St. Peter’s 7:00 pm two-plus seasons on the team...Coleman is second among league freshman with 9.8 ppg. He is also second in the league in three-point percentage (.636), sixth in field D8 at Seton Hall 7:30 pm goal percentage (.545) and seventh in steals (1.6 spg)...Junior forward Corey Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/Shelburne (Central Michigan)) has D12 at Lehigh 7:00 pm D14 at Princeton 7:30 pm averaged 11.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg over his last three contests...Azzarelli is seven assists (251) shy of eighth place (Jason Krayl, 257) and three steals (142) shy of fifth place D18 SACRED HEART 4:00 pm (Dwayne Byfield, 144) on Monmouth’s career list...The Hawks will play games against teams from New Jersey this year, including two this week with tilts at St. Peter’s on D28 at Hartford 7:00 pm Tuesday and St. Peter’s on Thursday. Rutgers is the only Division I school in New Jersey that Monmouth will not face in 2005-06. D31 Drexel 4:00 pm Mount St. Mary’s (1-4, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: La Salle 73, Mt. St. Mary’s 51; Loyola (MD) 76, Mt. St. Mary’s 71 This Week: at American (Wednesday); vs. FDU (Saturday) Mount St. Mary’s has now dropped three straight after a 73-51 loss at La Salle on Wednesday and a 76-61 setback to visiting Loyola (MD) on Saturday...The Mount shot just 28.1 percent from the floor in the loss at La Salle with senior guard Landy Thompson (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) and junior guard Mychal Kearse (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) scoring 12 points apiece to lead the squad...The Loyola game was the 160th in the series between the schools dating back N18 at Virginia Tech L 62-74 N21 Binghamton W 62-53 to 1909, the longest Division I rivalry in the state of Maryland. Mount St. Mary’s leads the series, 93-67...Senior forward Charles Cook (Upper Marlboro, MD/ N26 at Old Dominion L 57-80 Bishop McNamara) emerged out of a season-long shooting slump, hitting 7-16 from three-point range to finish with a season-high 23 points against the Greyhounds. N30 at La Salle L 51-73 Cook, who is averaging 17.0 points over the past two games, is the first Mount player to top 20 points in a game this season...The Mount scored a season-high 71 points D3 Loyola (MD) L 71-76 vs. Loyola...Offense has been hard to come by for the Mount in the first half of games this season. The Mountaineers’ 29-point effort in the opening stanza against Loyola D7 at American 7:30 pm was a season-best...Kearse has scored in double figures in each of the past four games, averaging 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds during that stretch. Kearse, who was D10 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 2:00 pm at San Juan Shootout 10-11 from the charity stripe in the loss to Loyola, leads the Mount in both scoring (11.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg; sixth in NEC)...Freshman forward Sam Atupem D19 vs. Akron 7:00 pm (Newport News, VA/Woodside), who started the first four games of the year and is averaging 8.3 ppg, injured his knee at La Salle and is expected to miss three D20 vs. Mississippi State/Liberty 7/9 pm weeks...Junior college transfer Kirk Bunn (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Loughlin), a junior forward, made his first start against Loyola and responded with nine points D21 vs. Clemson/H. Cross/UT-Chatanooga, PR-Mayaguez and five boards...Mount St. Mary’s has totaled 18 blocks in five games this season. A year ago, the Mount registered 34 blocks in 27 games...The Mountaineers play at D31 at Penn State 1:00 pm American on Wednesday, then open up NEC play on Saturday, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson. J3 Lafayette 7:00 pm

Quinnipiac (3-2, 0-1 NEC) Last Week: FDU 76, Quinnipiac 70; Quinnipiac 55, Cornell 45 This Week: vs. Colgate (Monday); vs. Robert Morris (Saturday) Quinnipiac began its league slate on Tuesday with a 76-70 setback at defending NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson, but bounced back with a 55-45 triumph at Cornell on Friday to move back over .500 with a 3-2 record...The Bobcats cut a 14-point FDU second half lead to one in the final minute of the game, but could not overcome a rare four-point play by the Knights with 32 ticks left on the clock...Junior forward Chris Wehye (Brooklyn, NY/Cecil CC), who averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds at Columbia Tournament and shot 5-10 from three-point range for the week, compiled his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 boards - both career-highs - against the Knights...The N18 vs. Troy State L 83-94 (OT) 45 points allowed against Cornell is the fewest since limiting Division III Manhattanville to 34 points on December 7, 2002 and is the second fewest allowed in the Joe N19 vs. New Hampshire W 64-62 N22 Concordia (NY) W 106-57 DeSantis era...Weyhe was also a terrific contributor on the defensive front, helping limit FDU all-star Gordon Klaiber to 15 points and Cornell’s second leading scorer N29 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON L 70-76 Lenny Collins to just seven... Junior guard Adam Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Cecil CC) scored a career-high 18 points against FDU, including 11-12 from the charity D2 at Cornell W 55-45 stripe. He also had eight rebounds and five assists...Wehye, Gonzalez and junior center Victor Akinyanju (Ardmore, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt (Cecil CC)), all D5 Colgate 7:00 pm of whom played a year ago at Cecil CC in Maryland, continue to pace the new-look Bobcats. The trio is combining for 31.5 ppg, 15.8 rpg and 6.3 apg...Weyhe is eighth D10 ROBERT MORRIS 4:00 pm in the NEC in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg), and ninth in field goal percentage (.528)...Sophomore center Karl Anderson (Chester, NY/Don Bosco D19 Dartmouth 7:00 pm D22 at Rhode Island 7:00 pm Prep) paces the conference in field goal shooting (.650), while Akinyanju is second (.645)...Quinnipiac, which ranked seventh in the NEC in rebound margin (-1.6 D30 at Connecticut 7:00 pm rpg) a year ago, now leads the league with +6.8 rpg...Quinnipiac returns home for a pair of games against non-conference foe Colgate on Monday and vs. Robert Morris J5 at WAGNER 7:00 pm on Saturday. J7 Brown 4:00 pm

Robert Morris (2-3, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: Robert Morris 62, Maine 53; Duquesne 73, Robert Morris 58 This Week: at New Hampshire (Tuesday); at Quinnipiac (Saturday) Robert Morris, which came away with a split last week, moved to 2-0 at home with a 62-53 win over Maine on Monday, but fell to 0-3 on the road with a 73-58 loss at crosstown rival Duquesne on Saturday...Junior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, PA/Monessen) averaged 13.5 points and 12.5 rebounds, including his second straight double-double with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the victory over the Black Bears. Jackson, held scoreless in the first half vs. Duquesne, missed N18 at St. Bonaventure L 61-80 out on his third consecutive double-double by a point, finishing with nine points and a game-high 11 boards...Sophomore guard Tony Lee (Boston, MA/Charles- N23 at Pittsburgh L 59-86 town) paced the Colonials against the Dukes with 13 points, and added five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Lee tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, three N26 Lock Haven W 100-64 assists and a career-high five steals against Maine. In the two games last week, Lee averaged 12.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.5 spg and 3.0 apg...Freshman guard Jeremy Chappell N28 Maine W 62-53 (Cincinnati, OH/Northwest) averaged 11.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg, including 13 points against Maine and a career-high seven rebounds at Duquesne...Chappell leads all D3 at Duquesne L 58-73 D6 at New Hampshire 7:00 pm NEC freshman with 11.0 ppg...Junior center Freddie Harris (Decatur, AL/Lawson State CC) contributed 11 points in the first half vs. the Dukes before going down D10 at QUINNIPIAC 4:00 pm with an ankle injury. On the week, Harris shot 54.5 percent (6-11) from the field...Junior guard Derek Coleman (Dorchester, MA/Charlestown) averaged just D17 Charleston Southern 7:30 pm 4.5 ppg last week, but excelled in his role as a distributor with 5.0 apg...Coleman is second in the conference with 5.6 apg and is averaging 7.0 apg in three road games D22 at Iowa 7:05 pm this season...Jackson is fourth in the NEC in scoring (15.0 ppg) and leads the circuit with 10.5 rpg. He is one of only two players in the conference currently averaging D29 Medaille 7:30 pm a double-double...As a team, the Colonials have struggled shooting early in the 2005-06 campaign, failing to shoot 40 percent from the field in four of their first five tilts...The J2 WAGNER 7:30 pm loss against Duquesne marked the 17th consecutive non-conference road loss for Robert Morris...The Colonials will look to snap their road woes this week when they J5 at MONMOUTH 7:00 pm travel to New Hampshire on Tuesday before opening NEC play at Quinnipiac on Saturday. J12 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7:30 pm

Sacred Heart (1-5, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: Yale 72, Sacred Heart 67; Columbia 61, Sacred Heart 59; #8 Boston College 77, Sacred Heart 66 This Week: vs. Army (Monday); vs. Lehigh (Wednesday); at St. Francis (PA) (Saturday on Cablevision of Norwalk, Fox-8 (Western PA))

Sacred Heart fell to 1-5 on the year with road setbacks at Yale (72-67) and #8 Boston College (77-66), sandwiched around a home loss to Columbia (61-59) last week...The Pioneers have now lost four straight. Prior to the 11-point defeat to Boston College, Sacred Heart had dropped its first four games by a combined total of 16 points and none by more than six points...After senior center Kibwe Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary's) gave the Pioneers a 67-66 lead with 12.7 seconds to play against Yale, the Bulldogs’ Caleb Holmes scooped up an offensive rebound and hit a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining for the decisive points...With the score N19 at Rhode Island L 50-56 tied at 59-59 in the waning moments vs. Columbia, the Lions’ Justin Armstrong converted a fadeaway jumper in the lane with six seconds remaining for the win...Trim N21 at Albany W 63-61 recorded his first double-double of the season against Boston College with 16 points and 10 rebounds, three days after recording 26 points (8-12 FG) and six boards N25 Harvard L 72-75 vs. Columbia. For the week, Trim averaged 20.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and shot 56.1 percent from the floor...Head coach Dave Bike only utilized eight players last week...Junior N28 at Yale L 67-72 guard Jarrid Frye (Maspeth, NY/Mt. Luther) continues to post impressive all-around numbers. Last week, he averaged 13.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 3.0 apg. He totaled N30 Columbia L 59-61 20 points and nine boards against Yale and came close to a triple double with eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists vs. Boston College...In his return to Chestnut D3 at #8 Boston College L 66-77 Hill, junior guard Tavio Hobson (Seattle, WA/Seattle Prep) recorded a career-high 14 points, six assists and three steals against his former team. Hobson was D5 Army 7:00 pm a walk-on player at BC for two seasons before transferring to Sacred Heart...Hobson leads the NEC with 3.2 steals per game and is third with 5.2 assists per outing...Trim, D7 Lehigh 8:00 pm who averaged 10.5 ppg in 2004-05, has upped that number to an NEC-best 19.2 ppg this season. He is also fifth in field goal percentage (6.0 rpg) and 10th in rebounding D10 at ST. FRANCIS (PA) 3:00 pm (6.0 rpg)...Frye is fifth with 7.3 rpg and eighth with 3.7 apg...Sophomore guard Drew Shubik (Stoystown, PA/North Star) posted a career-high 14 points against D18 at MONMOUTH 4:00 pm Columbia and hit a triple with 40 seconds left against Yale to give Sacred Heart a one-point lead...The Pioneers turned the ball over a season-low 12 times vs. BC...The J2 at Miami (FL) 7:30 pm game against BC was the first-ever for Sacred Heart against an ACC opponent. The Pioneers will also travel to Miami on January 2...Junior forward Joey Henley (Kent, J7 WAGNER 4:00 pm WA/Kentride), a preseason all-NEC selection, is out with an injury suffered during football season and has yet to play in 2005-06...The Pioneers must tackle another J9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 8:00 pm three-game week with home contests against Army on Monday and Lehigh on Wednesday, followed by their NEC opener at St. Francis (PA) on Saturday in a game to air in the Southern Connecticut area on Cablevision of Norwalk. St. Francis (NY) (2-3, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: Pittsburgh 79, St. Francis (NY) 58; Binghamton 54, St. Francis (NY) 46 This Week: at Lafayette (Tuesday); vs. CCSU (Friday on MSG, Cox Cable (CT/RI) and FCS (Atlantic)) The Terriers went 0-2 last week, falling at Pittsburgh, 79-58, on Tuesday, and at home to Binghamton, 54-46, on Saturday...St. Francis trailed Pittsburgh by just three at halftime (35-32), and was within 49-44 with 11:39 to play when the Panthers staged a 9-0 run to go up 14 with 9:16 remaining...Senior guard Christian Brown (New York, NY/Rice) led the Terriers with 20 points, including 7-7 from the line...The Terriers outrebounded Binghamton, 47-31, but shot a season-low 31.0 percent from N18 Fairfield W 69-64 N22 at St. John’s L 50-64 the field and committed a season-high 24 turnovers. St. Francis was also held without a field goal in the first 8:31 of the second half...With the Bearcats holding a N26 at Fordham W 66-60 commanding 53-35 edge with 4:59 left on the clock, St. Francis responded with a 15-2 run over the next 2:10 to slice the lead to 55-50, but could draw no closer as N29 at Pittsburgh L 58-79 Binghamton hit five free throws in the final 1:11...Senior guard Sean Dantzler (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus) came off the bench to hit 4-7 shots from D3 Binghamton L 46-54 beyond the arc and score a team-high 15 points vs. Binghamton...Freshman forward John Gooden (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Hayes) snared seven boards in a 17- D6 at Lafayette 7:00 pm minute stint against the Bearcats...Ten different St. Francis players have started games this season and 11 are averaging at least 14 minutes per contest. None are averaging D9 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 7:00 pm D18 Hartford 2:00 pm more than 29 minutes per outing...Brown leads the Terriers and is fifth in the NEC with 14.4 ppg. He is also fifth in the conference in three-pointers (2.2/game), eighth D22 Hofstra 7:00 pm in three-point percentage (.458) and ninth in free throw percentage (.826)...Junior swingman Allan Sheppard (New York, NY/A. Phillip Randolph), who had D30 at Manhattan 7:00 pm 12 points and eight boards against Binghamton, leads the team with 5.2 rpg and is second in scoring with 11.4 ppg...The Terriers travel to Lafayette on Tuesday, then host J3 MONMOUTH 7:00 pm CCSU on Friday in a game set to air on MSG Network in the New York metro area. J7 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 4:00 pm J12 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm

St. Francis (PA) (2-5, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: #19 George Washington 85, St. Francis (PA) 68; St. Bonaventure 69, St. Francis (PA) 65 This Week: vs. Sacred Heart (Saturday on Fox-8 (Western PA), Cablevision of Norwalk) The Red Flash dropped a pair of road games last week, falling at #19 George Washington, 85-68, on Wednesday, then followed with a narrow 69-65 loss at St. Bonaventure on Saturday...St. Francis (PA) ended its three-game road swing with an 0-3 record, but two of the losses (Ohio and George Washington) came against teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season...Freshman guard Grant Surprenant (Palatine, IL/Palatine), who had scored 17 points all season coming into the contest, scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as the Red Flash played GWU to a 35-35 tie. The Red Flash led, 44-42, with 15:12 to play in the contest, but the Colonials at Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (at Syracuse) slowly pulled away...Surprenant, the Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week, finished 10-19 from the floor, including 5-10 from outside the arc, and added five boards. N8 vs. Cornell L 54-75 He hit 5-9 three-point shots against the Bonnies and finished with 15 points. For the week, Surprenant averaged 20.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and shot 52.6 percent (10-19) from N9 vs. Bethune-Cookman L 52-63 (OT) long range...Senior guard Rahsaan Benton (Cleveland Heights, OH/St. Ignatius) averaged 16.5 ppg and was a perfect 13-13 from the line in his customary N19 Youngstown State W 71-58 N21 Lock Haven W 74-54 sixth man role last week. He hit for 16 and added three steals against GWU and tallied 17 points and four rebounds vs. St. Bonaventure...Junior forward Jelani N26 at Ohio L 61-77 Lawrence (Richmond, VA/Blue Ridge) recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds against the Bonnies...The Red Flash went 7-20 N30 at #19 George Washington L 68-85 from downtown vs. GWU, while the Colonials hit just 1-8 three-point attempts. The pattern would continue against St. Bonaventure, as the Bonnies converted just 2-17 D3 at St. Bonaventure L 65-69 long distance shots compared to 9-21 for St. Francis....Junior center J.R. Enright (Burke, NE/Burke) averaged a double-double for the week with 11.5 ppg and D10 SACRED HEART 3:00 pm 10.0 rpg. He posted 11 points and 13 boards against St. Bonaventure for his second double-double of the year...Senior guard Garrett Farha (Concordia, KS/ D18 at Penn State 2:00 pm Concordia) averaged 10.0 apg last week, including a career-high tying and NEC season-high 12 vs. GWU. He paces the league with 6.1 apg...Benton is third in the NEC D28 at LaSalle 7:00 pm with 16.6 ppg, and ranks second with 3.3 3PFG/game...Enright averages 13.3 ppg and is third on the circuit with 9.3 rpg...Benton has raised his career scoring total to J2 American 7:00 pm 812 points...St. Francis (PA) players have recorded three double-doubles this season after posting just five in all of 2004-05...The Red Flash are off until Saturday when J5 at FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 7:00 pm they host Sacred Heart in a game to air locally on Fox-8. Wagner (4-1, 0-0 NEC) Last Week: Wagner 72, Brown 59; Wagner 73, Yale 69 This Week: vs. Columbia (Tuesday) The Seahawks improved to 4-1 for the first time since 1980-81 (PJ Carlesimo was head coach at that time) with road wins at Brown (72-59) on Wednesday and Yale (73-69) on Saturday...The win at Brown ended an eight-game road losing streak against non-league foes, while the win at Yale marked the first back-to-back non- conference road wins for Wagner since January, 1983 when they won at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke and at Army...Wagner has now won 15 of its last 18 games N19 John Jay W 86-44 dating back to last season...Redshirt freshman guard Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/Towson Catholic) comes off a big week that began with a career-high 25-point N22 American W 75-59 performance at Brown. The 25 points were the most scored by a Seahawk player since Teoine Carroll put 31 on the board against Sacred Heart on March 1, 2004. For N26 at Vermont L 67-71 the week, Smith averaged 18.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg and shot 60.9 percent (14-23) from the floor and 80.0 percent (4-5) from three-point range...Sophomore guard Mark N30 at Brown W 72-59 Porter (Atlantic City, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) shot a perfect 11-11 from the foul line last week to extend his streak to 24 consecutive free throws made, including D3 at Yale W 73-69 a 16-16 performance during the last five minutes of games. On the year, he is 28-31 (.903) from the charity stripe to rank second in the conference...Porter, who has D6 Columbia 7:00 pm scored in double figures in all five games this season, is 12th in the NEC with 13.2 ppg...Junior forward Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) made D17 at Rhode Island 2:00 pm D21 at UCLA 7:30 pm it four straight double digit games with 14 at Brown and 10 at Yale, including the go-ahead basket with 49 seconds left against the Bulldogs. Vinson also had three blocks D30 Stony Brook 7:00 pm in each game and swatted away a tying field goal attempt by Yale with 10 seconds left...Vinson is all over the NEC individual leaders, ranking ninth in scoring (13.6 ppg) J2 at ROBERT MORRIS 7:30 pm and fourth in rebounding (8.8 rpg), field goal percentage (.556) and blocks (1.8 bpg)...Junior forward Matt Vitale (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmonds Prep) added J5 QUINNIPIAC 7:00 pm his third double figure game of the year off the bench with 10 points at Yale. For the season, Vitale is shooting 50.0 percent (9-18) from three point territory (fifth in NEC) J7 at SACRED HEART 4:00 pm with nine of his 11 field goals coming from beyond the arc...The Seahawks pace the league in scoring margin (+14.2 ppg), scoring defense (60.2 ppg) and field goal J14 SACRED HEART 7:00 pm percentage (.487)...Wagner looks to make it three straight wins against Ivy League foes on Tuesday, hosting Columbia in its only game of the week. 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 12/4) (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 75 TBA Gonzaga (31) 7-2 Fairleigh Dickinson 215 2. Creighton 7-0 Long Island 241 3. East Tennessee State 7-2 Thursday, March 2 Sunday, March 5 Wednesday, March 8 Monmouth 278 4. Wichita State 7-2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Mount St. Mary’s 160 5. Southern Illinois 7-1 Times TBA 1:00 pm (CN8) 7:30 pm (ESPN2) Quinnipiac 245 The Northeast Conference began a year-long 6. College of Charleston 6-1 4:00 pm (MSG) Robert Morris 311 celebration of its 25th Anniversary in Septem- 7. Illinois-Chicago 9-2 Sacred Heart 151 ber with the unveiling of its Silver Anniversary St. Francis (NY) 219 logo8. and Utah the State announcement of promotions, 5-1 9. Murray State 8-1 St. Francis (PA) 290 web-based activities and flashbacks through- 2006 NEC Tournament Men’s Championship Bracket Wagner 128 out10. the Bradley 2005-06 campaign as the league 7-3 pays tribute to its history. March 2 March 5 March 8 NEC 26 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 1-1 J.R. Enright, SFPA 2 Tournament TBA A.J. Jackson, RMU 2 Automatic Bid Fairleigh Dickinson 1-0 (#3 vs. #6) 2nd Highest Remaining Seed Long Island 1-0 Andrea Crosariol, FDU 1 Monmouth 0-1 Kevin Jolley, QU 1 TBA Jelani Lawrence, SFPA 1 Mount St. Mary’s 0-1 TBA 3rd Highest Remaining Seed Obie Nwadike, CCSU 1 (#4 vs. #5) Quinnipiac 1-0 Aubin Scott, LIU 1 Robert Morris 0-0 Kibwe Trim, SHU 1 Sacred Heart 1-3 Durell Vinson, WC 1 St. Francis (NY) 1-0 Chris Wehye, QU 1 St. Francis (PA) 0-1 NEC Men’s Basketball Wagner 1-1 vs. the competition NEC vs...

NEC Coaching Records America East 6-2 Mid-American 0-1 ACC 0-2 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 1-6 Big East 0-4 Mountain West 0-0 Tom Green (FDU) 1984 231-150 .606 362-282 .562 Big Sky 0-0 NAIA 0-0 Dave Calloway (MU) 1998 85-57 .599 112-111 .502 Big South 1-0 Ohio Valley 0-0 Howie Dickenman (CCSU) 1997 88-60 .595 141-124 .532 Big Ten 0-1 Pac 10 0-0 Mike Deane (WC) 2003 20-16 .556 373-254 .595 Big-12 0-0 Patriot 1-0 Mark Schmidt (RMU) 2001 39-35 .527 52-68 .433 Big West 0-0 SEC 0-1 Bobby Jones (SFPA) 1999 51-61 .455 69-104 .399 Colonial 0-2 Southern 0-1 Southland 1-0 Joe DeSantis (QU) 1998 52-81 .391 95-159 .374 Conference USA 0-1 Division II 4-0 SWAC 0-0 Milan Brown (MSM) 2003 13-23 .361 18-43 .295 Division III 1-0 Sun Belt 0-2 Jim Ferry (LIU) 2002 21-33 .339 136-75 .645 Horizon 1-0 WCC 0-1 Dave Bike (SHU) 1999 32-80 .286 417-375 .527 Independent 0-0 WAC 0-0 Brian Nash (SFNY) 2005 0-0 .000 2-3 .400 Ivy 4-5 Overall 23-33 MAAC 2-2 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 7 FDU Mount St. Mary’s 4 CCSU Long Island 6 Monmouth CCSU 4 2000 Central Connecticut St. 1992 Robert Morris 1984 Long Island Monmouth Robert Morris 5 Monmouth St. Francis (NY) 4 1999 Mount St. Mary’s 1991 St. Francis (PA) St. Francis (NY) Sacred Heart 5 Mount St. Mary’s Sacred Heart 4 1998 Fairleigh Dickinson 1990 Robert Morris Wagner CCSU 5 Robert Morris Sacred Heart 4 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 Mar. 5 Men’s Tournament semifinal CN8 1:00 pm Corey Hallett Monmouth Jr Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada Mar. 5 Men’s Tournament semifinal MSG, FCS-Atlantic 4:00 pm Colson Senat Robert Morris So Montreal, Quebec, Canada Esa Maki-Tulokas Long Island Jr Forrsa, Finland Carrier Region Sami Pekkola St. Francis (NY) So Lahti, Finland MSG MSG Network Three states in NY metro area Andrea Crosariol FDU Jr Abano T., Italy FSN-New York Fox Sports Net-New York Three states in NY metro area Deki Delic Monmouth Jr Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro FSN-Pittsburgh Fox Sports Net-Pittsburgh Western PA, portions of West Virginia Kibwe Trim Sacred Heart Sr San Juan, Trinindad FCS-Atlantic Fox College Sports-Atlantic Eastern U.S. Network on digital cable systems CN8 CN8, The Comcast Network Eight states from Maine to Maryland 13 players representing seven countries. 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 Enright’s Evolution NEC Men’s Basketball St. Francis (PA) junior center J.R. Enright (Burke, NE/Burke) could be one NCAA Statistics of the league’s most improved players this season. After averaging 3.6 ppg and 1.7 rpg a year ago after transferring from Nebraska, an assertive and more confident Enright has upped those numbers to 13.3 ppg (11th in NEC) and 9.3 rpg (third in NEC In NCAA Statistics NEC) after his first seven outings of 2005-06. In a 63-52 loss to Bethune-Cookman (Top-30 - to begin on December 12) on November 9, he exploded for 19 points and 17 rebounds, both career-highs in his first-ever double-double performance. Ind. Category Rank Player School Statistics Wagner’s Winning Act At Spiro Scoring 30th Maurice Bailey Sacred Heart 19.8 ppg Following a 75-59 win over American on November 22, Wagner has won six straight at home and now stands at 57-24 (.703) all-time in the Spiro Sports Center, which Team Category Rank School Statistics opened in 1999. 3PFG Made 4th St. Francis (NY) 9.6/game

Monmouth Finishes Fourth At Great Alaska Shootout Ind. Game Highs Rank Player School Statistics Monmouth spent its Thanksgiving holiday in Anchorage, Alaska taking fourth place Rebounds 1st Nigel Wyatte Wagner 21 vs. Quinnipiac (2/2/04) at the Great Alaska Shootout from November 24-26. The first NEC team to compete in the Shootout, the Hawks opened with an 80-68 win over a Southern Illinois team Team Game Highs Rank School Statistics that has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four years, including a second round appearance in 2005, and is ranked #16 in the College Insider Mid- FT% 13th Monmouth .941 (16-17) vs. UMKC (12/13/03) Major poll. Senior guard Tyler Azzarelli (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant) led Mon- mouth and was named the Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game with 22 points, five rebounds, three assists Long Island To Debut New Athletic Facility; Construction Continues At Quin- and three steals, but suffered a foot injury and missed the next two games. In the semifinals the following nipiac evening, the Hawks led South Carolina, 42-25, with 16 minutes left to play, but the Gamecocks fought their way After spending 42 years playing in the Schwartz Athletic Center - formerly known as the world back with an 18-2 run and pulled out a 62-56 win despite junior forward Dejan Delic’s (Belgrade, famous Brooklyn Paramount Theater - Long Island moves into its new digs this winter. The $40 Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy) 17 points. Monmouth took on Oral Roberts in the third million, 100,000 square-foot Athletic, Recreation & Wellness Center is the largest building project place game , and despite trimming a 16-point second half deficit to five on a number of occasions, suffered in the campus’ 78-year history, the centerpiece of which will be a 3,000-seat basketball arena. a 64-56 setback. Junior forward Corey Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/Shelburne (Central Long Island will debut the facility for the public on January 5th, when the Blackbirds host Mount Michigan)) scored a career-high 20 points in the loss. St. Mary’s in their NEC opener.

That’s Why You Play The Game Long Island is not the only NEC school with a new athletic facility in the works. Quinnipiac broke Sacred Heart’s 63-61 road win over Albany on November 21 may have seemed unlikely to anyone who takes ground on its new Athletic Center a year ago, and is slated to open the building in January, 2007. stock in preseason coaches polls. The Pioneers were picked to finish 11th in the NEC, while Albany was The new Athletic Center will consist of a 157,000 square foot facility containing a basketball chosen as the preseason favorite to win the American East title. Sacred Heart, which led by 13 points midway arena and a hockey arena joined by a common lobby area for concession stands and ticket through the second half and withstood at late charge by the Great Danes, was led by senior center Kibwe sales. Trim (San Juan, Trinidad/St. Mary’s), who established a new career-high with 29 points (10-17 FG, 9-11 FT). Crashing The Party Below is a look at each of the 11 NEC school’s success rate in reaching the conference tourna- NEC Preseason Poll ment over the last five years. With three returning starters, including preseason all-NEC picks Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/ National Christian Academy) and Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht), defending Qualified For NEC Tournament • Last Five Years (2001-05) tournament champion Fairleigh Dickinson has been chosen as the 2005-06 NEC men’s basketball pre- All 5 Years: CCSU, Monmouth, St. Francis (NY), Wagner season favorite, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches taken prior to the league’s 25th anniversary 4 Years: Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner season. Looking to become the first league team since Rider in 1993 and 1994 to repeat as NEC champion, 3 Years: Long Island, Robert Morris, St. Francis (PA) Fairleigh Dickinson earned nine of a possible ten first place votes from league head coaches, who were not 2 Years: Quinnipiac allowed to vote for their own team. Monmouth, last year’s NEC regular season champion, finished tied for 1 Year: Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart (ineligible one year) 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 fourth. CCSU and St. Francis (NY) finished tied for fifth in the poll, Knights Rule Garden State followed by Quinnipiac, Mount St. Mary’s, St. Francis (PA), Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. Fairleigh Dickinson not only stood tall as NEC champion last season, but also carried the banner for the entire state of New Jersey. The Knights were the only one of the seven Division I teams 1. Fairleigh Dickinson (9) (FDU, Monmouth, Princeton, Rider, Rutgers, St. Peter’s and Seton Hall) in the Garden State to 2. Monmouth qualify for the postseason in 2004-05. FDU also finished as the only 20-win team in the state. Wagner (1) 4. Long Island (1) Red Hot Red Flash Shooters 5. Central Connecticut St. In 2004-05, St. Francis (PA) nearly became the first team in NEC history to lead the conference St. Francis (NY) in all three team shooting categories. The Red Flash led the circuit in field goal percentage (.474) 7. Quinnipiac and three-point field goal percentage (.388), and despite finishing 27th nationally in free throw 8. Mount St. Mary’s percentage (.737), finished second behind Monmouth (.771) in the league. St. Francis (PA)’s 9. St. Francis (PA) 47.4 percent success rate from the floor was the highest in the NEC since Monmouth hit 47.7 10. Robert Morris percent in 1996-97, and the 38.8 percent mark from beyond the arc was the best in the con- 11. Sacred Heart ference since Robert Morris drained 39.2 percent, also in 1996-97.

Preseason All-NEC Team Long Island Wins NEC’s Most Improved Award Three returning all-stars from a year ago landed a spot on the 2005-06 NEC Preseason All-Conference team Long Island was the big winner in the Most Improved sweepstakes a year ago, going from eight as voted by league head coaches. Fairleigh Dickinson senior forward Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, wins in 2003-04 to 14 wins in 2004-05. The Blackbirds’ six-game improvement was the biggest MD/National Christian Academy) is a two-time first team selection, while Long Island junior guard year-to-year jump for the program since a 12-game leap from nine victories in 1995-96 to 21 James Williams (DeSoto, TX/DeSoto) and Sacred Heart junior forward Joey Henley (Kent, WA/ in 1996-97. Below are the greatest improvements in the NEC from one season to the next over Kentride) were both picked to the second team in 2004-05. Joining them on the preseason team were the last five years: Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Landy Thompson (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) and NEC Most Improved Teams From 2000-05 Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht). +13 CCSU 2001-02 14 wins to 27 wins +11 Fairleigh Dickinson 2002-03 4 wins to 15 wins Hi-Five For Monmouth +9 Monmouth 2000-01 12 wins to 21 wins Monmouth’s 91 wins over the last five seasons (2000-05) is not only the best in the NEC, but also a program- +8 St. Francis (PA) 2002-03 6 wins to 14 wins high for a five-year period. The previous best at the school was 87 victories from 1987-88 to 1991-92. The +8 Mount St. Mary’s 2002-03 3 wins to 11 wins league record for a five-year stretch is held by Fairleigh Dickinson, which went 102-47 from 1984-89. The +8 Quinnipiac 2001-02 6 wins to 14 wins Knights are the only NEC program in league history to average 20 wins over a five-year span. 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 defending NEC champion, is right on St. Francis (PA)’s tail with a 33-8 (.805) record at the Rothman Center 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 tradition- ally 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

Ball Hawks Utilizing its trademark matchup-zone, Monmouth perennially ranks among the league leaders in scoring defense. In fact, Monmouth has led the NEC in the category in 12 of the last 17 years, including the last three in a row and five out of the last six. In 2004-05, the Hawks were once again the NEC’s stingiest defensive unit, allowing a mere 63.2 ppg, the seventh best single-season mark in league history. 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- son (Germantown, MD/Archbishop Spalding) is the NEC’s leading active scorer entering play in 2005-06. If Thompson were to average 16.7 points over the course of a 27-game regular season, he would vault from 62nd place on the NEC career chart all the way into the top-ten. As a junior, Thompson averaged 14.4 ppg to lead the Mount in scoring for a third consecutive season.

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 streak in the conference and tied with Fairleigh Dickinson (1981-89) and Marist (1982-90) for the longest stretch in league history. The Terriers finished 9-9 against conference competition in 2004- 05 and qualified for the NEC Tournament for the 15th consecutive season (second to FDU’s league record 18 from 1984-01).