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 #1 Bentley 85		Live Stats l Recap l Boxscore
#7 So. New Hampshire 66 #2 UMass Lowell 60	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.

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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.

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