FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2014
Saint Anselm fends off conference foe Le Moyne,
Southern Connecticut uses 60-point second half to down Bridgeport
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Quarterfinal action of the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional got underway Saturday at the Moore Field House on the campus of tournament host and top seed Southern Connecticut State University. Five Northeast-10 Conference teams make up the eight-team regional.
In the first of four contests on Saturday, third-seeded Saint Anselm College held off conference opponent and sixth-seeded Le Moyne College, 73-62.
The second contest saw second-seeded University of New Haven fall to seventh-seeded Bloomfield, 59-57, as Bloomfield will now take on Saint Anselm in Sunday's semifinals at 5:00 p.m.
Also on Saturday, host and top-seeded So. Connecticut buried eighth-seeded Bridgeport, 89-73, thanks to 60 points in the second half before fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University survived fifth-seeded Philadelphia, 66-65. The Owls will now take on Northeast-10 Conference foe Franklin Pierce Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the regional semifinals.
#2 SAINT ANSELM 73, #6 LE MOYNE 62
Saint Anselm's Roy Mabrey shot it 6-of-13 from three-point range for Saint Anselm to lead all scorers with 26, including 19 in the first half, in the Hawks' quarterfinal victory on Friday. Mike McCahey added 18 points and six rebounds for the Hawks, while point guard Dino Mallios had seven points and eight assists.
Le Moyne got 17 points and five helpers from Nate Champion, and Qwadere Lovell added 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Le Moyne led by as many as nine in the first half, but Mabrey's hot shooting gave Saint Anselm a 41-37 lead at the break. The Hawks then took a commanding 63-47 lead with less than 11 minutes left in regulation, but the Dolphins chipped away, making it a three-point game at 65-62 with 1:52 left. However, Saint Anselm made six key free throws – all with less than 30 seconds left – to fortify the win.
#7 BLOOMFIELD 59, #2 NEW HAVEN 57
Eric Anderson and Jeffery Adkins registered 14 points apiece for New Haven, but it was not enough on Saturday afternoon for the Chargers. Anderson added 12 rebounds to register a double-double, while teammate Justin Exum totaled 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
New Haven, which played in the Northeast-10 Championship contest last weekend, had a chance to tie or take the lead down 59-57 with under 10 seconds to play, but an Ashanti DePass three-point attempt rimmed out.
Steve Henderson had 15 points for the Deacons and teammate Mike Williams totaled 13, while Kevin Udo pulled down 14 rebounds to go along with three blocks.
#1 SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 89, #8 BRIDGEPORT 73
Down 35-29 at the break on their home court to the eighth seed, the Owls opened up the second half with an incredible 25-1 run, including 10 individually in that stretch from Northeast-10 Player of the Year Greg Langston.
Langston and teammate Tylon Smith both finished with 26 points, with Smith adding seven assists and Langston pulling down seven rebounds. Langston also went 4-of-5 from downtown, as the duo combined to shoot 59 percent (16-27) from the floor while committing just three turnovers.
For Bridgeport, JoJo Swift had 23 points but was the only Purple Knight to score in double figures.
#4 FRANKLIN PIERCE 66, #5 PHILADELPHIA 65
Ellis Cooper had 24 points (7-11 FG, 10-12 FT) and seven rebounds to help lead the Ravens past Philadelphia in a game that was never separated by more than seven points, and by no more than four points throughout the entire second half. Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Ravens' win, and Ryen Vilmont chipped in with 14 points and five boards.
Cooper (pictured) sank a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left in regulation to put his Ravens up by one. Philadelphia's chance for the win came on a Nick Schlitzer three-pointer with three seconds left, but he could not connect and the ensuing putback by Derek Johnson was no good either, allowing last year's East Regional champion Ravens to march on.
Down 32-31 at the half, Franklin Pierce shot 54 percent in the second half while limiting Philadelphia to just 41 percent after the break.
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional - VIDEO | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | LIVE STATS | BRACKET
Saturday, March 15 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: Game 1: #3 Saint Anselm 73, #6 Le Moyne 62 | BOX
Game 2: #7 Bloomfield 59, #2 New Haven 57 | BOX
Game 3: #1 Southern Connecticut 89, #8 Bridgeport 73 | BOX
Game 4: #4 Franklin Pierce 66, #5 Philadelphia 65 | BOX
Sunday, March 16 - Semifinals
Game 5: #3 Saint Anselm vs. #7 Bloomfield - 5:00 p.m.
Game 6: #Franklin Pierce vs. #1 Southern Connecticut - 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 18 - Regional Final
Game 7: 7:00 p.m.
– #NE10 –
