Men's Basketball Championship Central
2009 NORTHEAST-10 MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
| Feb. 28 - First Round - 2 p.m. | ||
| Matchup | Radio/Streaming | Coverage |
| #5 Assumption 83 #12 Pace 71 | Video | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #6 Le Moyne 73 #11 Franklin Pierce 53 | Video l Audio | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #7 So. New Hampshire 62 #10 Saint Rose 57 | Video l Audio | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #9 Saint Anselm 81 #8 American Int'l 65 | Audio | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| March 3 - Quarterfinals | ||
|
#9 Saint Anselm 88 | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore | |
|
#7 So. New Hampshire 66 | Video | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #6 Le Moyne 80 #3 Stonehill 66 | Video l Audio | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #5 Assumption 83 #4 Merrimack 77 | Video | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| March 5 - Semifinals - 7 p.m. | ||
| #5 Assumption 90 #9 Saint Anselm 67 | Video | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| #6 Le Moyne 61 #7 So. New Hampshire 55 | Video l Audio | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
| March 7 - Final - 2 p.m. | ||
| #5 Assumption 77 #6 Le Moyne 63 | Video | Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore |
NE-10 Men’s Basketball Final Set; #6 Le Moyne vs. #5 Assumption
South Easton, Mass. – Only two teams remain in the
Northeast-10 Men’s Basketball Championship as #5 Assumption
College and #6 Le Moyne College prevailed in the semifinals and
will now face each other at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 5 in
Worcester, Mass. for the Northeast-10 Championship. The winner will
receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Assumption defeated Le Moyne twice during the regular season on
the road and at home with a 79-76 win in Syracuse, N.Y. and a 90-79
victory in Worcester. Both teams have met only twice in NE-10
championship history with the series tied 1-1. Assumption won the
most recent meeting 102-84 in the semifinals ten years ago.
Assumption used sharp accurate shooting and solid defense in the
victory over #9 Saint Anselm College Thursday night in the
semifinal matchup. The Greyhounds jumped out big with a 30-12 lead
midway through the first half. As a team, Assumption shot 12-of-16
from beyond the arc and shot a combined 62-percent from the field
in the first half alone. Sophomore Mike Baldarelli (Sutton, Mass.)
scored 14 first half points and finished with a game-high 26
points.
Assumption led by as much as 29 points at one point in the first
half and held Saint Anselm at bay in the second half only allowing
Saint Anselm to come within 17 points of the lead. Courtland
Bluford (Ft. Washington, Md.) came off the bench and scored 15
points for the Greyhounds, while Patrick Shea (Salem, Mass.)
chipped in 13 points. Giovanni Carenza (East Hanover, N.J.) led the
Hawks with 16 points, while Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.)
added 13.
Assumption improves to 21-9 overall with the victory, while Saint
Anselm finishes the season 17-13. The Greyhounds are making their
seventh finals appearance in school history and second straight
after advancing to last year’s championship before falling to
Bentley.
In the other semifinal game Thursday night in Syracuse, N.Y., Le
Moyne took over and held the lead throughout the game and never
allowed #7 Southern New Hampshire to recapture the lead as the
Dolphins held off the Penmen 61-55. NE-10 Player of the Year
Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) led the way for the
Dolphins with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds to record his
21st double-double of the year.
Despite playing from behind a majority of the game, Southern New
Hampshire chipped away at Le Moyne’s 11-point lead with less
than five minutes to play in regulation.
The Penmen cut the lead to as low as four points when Lucas
Croteau (Rochester, N.H) connected on a jumper with :31 seconds
remaining but that is as close as they would get as Le Moyne
converted 5-of-8 free throws in the final minute.
James Cormier (Trumbull, Conn.) finished with 13 points for the
Dolphins, while Damani Corbin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted 10 along with
dishing out seven assists. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) led the
Penmen in scoring with a team-high 14 points, while Stephen Wood
(South Jamaica Queens, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 11
points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Le Moyne improves to 20-10 overall with the win, while Southern
New Hampshire concludes the year with a record of 19-11. The
Dolphins are making their second-ever appearance in the NE-10
finals. Their only other appearance was in 1997 when they defeated
Bryant 71-61 to claim the team’s only championship title.
The Northeast-10 championship final will be available for viewing
and aired through Pack Network. Fans could access the broadcast by
visiting the Northeast-10 website at www.northeast10.org. Once
there, fans should click ‘Watch Live’ and will be able
to view the games. You could also gain access to the Pack Network
by visiting www.packnetwork.com. Pack Network webcasts feature all
the elements of traditional TV broadcasts, such as multiple camera
angles, replays, commentary and more.
With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest
NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23
championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500
student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II
conference.
Historic Semifinal Match Ups Set in
the Northeast-10
Men’s Basketball Championship
South Easton, Mass. – After an upside-down quarterfinal
round the field is set for the final four teams in the Northeast-10
Men’s Basketball Championships, set to tip-off at 7 p.m. on
Thursday night.
For the first time in the conference’s storied 29-year
history none of the top four seeds will be advancing to the
semifinals. Instead, the semifinals will feature #9 Saint Anselm
College traveling to #5 Assumption College and #7 Southern New
Hampshire University will head to upstate New York to face #6 Le
Moyne College.
Assumption, the highest remaining seed, currently holds home-court
advantage in the championship after defeating #4 Merrimack College
83-77 on Tuesday. The Greyhounds improved to 20-9 overall, their
second straight 20-win season and 15th in their history. Mike
Baldarelli (Sutton, Mass.) led all scorers with 21 points on
8-of-14 shooting from the field. He grabbed a team-high nine
rebounds and dished out four assists. Post-grad Greg Twomey
(Groton, Mass.) added 18 points, while Courtland Bluford (Ft.
Washington, Md.) came off the bench and added 13. Baldarelli leads
the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.8 points and 6.3
rebounds per game. Twomey is averaging just over 12 points per
game, while sophomore Savoy Fraine (Granada Hills, Calif.) is
chipping in 11.2 points per contest.
After knocking off eighth seeded American International College on
the road in the first-round of the championship, Saint Anselm faced
top-seeded and regular season champion Bentley University. The
Falcons, two time defending champions, were looking to be the first
team in conference history to pull off the three-peat; until last
night when the Hawks spoiled Bentley’s chances of a historic
feat. Saint Anselm defeated Bentley 88-85 and made some history of
their own becoming the lowest seed to advance to the NE-10
semifinals. Previously, the lowest seed to ever advance was a
number eight seed which has occurred three times in the
conference’s 29 year history. The last was Stonehill College
in 1998-1999.
Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.) led the Hawks with a game-high 27
points, while shooting 10-of-18 from the field. Sophomore Thomas
Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) added 17, while John Mariano
(Naugatuck, Conn.) scored 12. Baudinet leads the team in scoring
with 18.3 points and has brought in 5.8 rebounds per contest as
well. Vetrano is second on the team in scoring with 12.7 per and
has dished out a team-high 5.7 assists.
This marks the sixth time that Assumption and Saint Anselm will
meet in the Northeast-10 Championship with the Hawks holding a 3-2
series advantage. Saint Anselm has won the last two meetings with
double-digit victories coming in 2000 (73-62) and 2004 (93-73).
Le Moyne will be hosting it’s first-ever Northeast-10
semifinal contest and making its third appearance in the semifinals
after defeating #3 Stonehill 80-66 in last night’s
quarterfinal contest. Junior Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt Manor,
N.Y.), the NE-10 Player of the Year, scored a game-high 19 points
and grabbed 17 rebounds which wound up to be one short of the
Northeast-10 Championship record of 18set by Glen Harrison of
American International in 1990. Junior Damani Corbin (Brooklyn,
N.Y.) added 16 points and dished out a game-high ten assists.
Ekperigin leads the team in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounding (11.5
rpg), while freshman Christopher Johnson (Lidenhurst, N.Y.) is
adding 14.2 points per game and sophomore Kevin Roth (Lake View,
N.Y.) is chipping in just under ten points per game.
Southern New Hampshire is making its fourth appearance in the
Northeast-10 semifinals and first since the 2004-2005 season after
upsetting #2 UMass Lowell last night, 66-60. The Penmen were led by
freshman Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.) who scored a
game-high 21 points, while junior Stephen Wood (South Jamaica
Queens, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and a
game-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.)
leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game, while grabbing
just under six rebounds per contest. Senior Troy Bowen (Nashua,
N.H.) is averaging 12.5 points and Wood is scoring 10.8 points per
game.
This is the first time that Le Moyne and Southern New Hampshire
will meet in the Northeast-10 Championships. Le Moyne is currently
9-9 all-time in the NE-10’s, while Southern New Hampshire is
9-7 all-time.
With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest
NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23
championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500
student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II
conference.
- NE-10 -
Bentley Secures Home-Court
Advantage in Upcoming Northeast-10
Men’s Basketball Championships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
South Easton, Mass. – The Falcons of Bentley University
secured the top seed in the upcoming Northeast-10 Men’s
Basketball Championship.
Bentley, ranked 13th in Division II and second in the East Region,
has claimed its fifth straight Northeast-10 regular season title
and eighth overall, while finishing the season 18-4 in conference
play. The Falcons are the only team in NE-10 history to win five
straight regular season titles.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell (21-6, 16-6 NE-10) received
the second seed in this year’s championship followed by
Stonehill College (21-6, 16-6 NE-10). Merrimack College (20-7, 16-6
NE-10) received the fourth seed after the conference tie-break
procedures sorted through the three-way tie for second place. All
four teams earn first-round byes in the championship and will each
host a quarterfinal contest. First Round action begins on Saturday,
Feb. 28 with four match ups with the winners moving on to the
quarterfinal round on Monday, March 2.
First round games include #12 Pace University (9-18, 7-15 NE-10)
at #5 Assumption College (18-9, 15-7 NE-10), #11 Franklin Pierce
University (11-16, 8-14, NE-10) at #6 Le Moyne College (17-10, 13-9
NE-10), #10 the College of Saint Rose (11-16, 9-13 NE-10) at #7
Southern New Hampshire University (16-11, 12-10 NE-10) and #9 Saint
Anselm College (15-12, 10-12 NE-10) at #8 American International
College (15-12, 11-11 NE-10). All games are scheduled to tip-off at
2 p.m.
Quarterfinal match-ups will feature the winner of Pace/Assumption
traveling to Merrimack, the winner of Franklin Pierce/Le Moyne
visiting Stonehill, the Saint Rose/Southern New Hampshire winner
will face UMass Lowell and the winner of Saint Anselm/American
International will be at Bentley. All quarterfinal contests are set
for 7 p.m.
The semifinal round will take place at the higher seeds on
Thursday, March 5 at 7 p.m. The championship is slated for
Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m. at the highest remaining seed.
With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest
NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23
championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500
student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II
conference.
- NE-10 -



























