Ray Floriani of College Chalktalk is the RTC correspondent for the MAAC and NEC Conferences.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – The standings of the NEC, Monday January 12, as the race is starting to take shape.
- Robert Morris 5-1
- LIU 4-1
- Central Ct. 3-2
- Quinnipiac 3-2
- Sacred Heart 3-3
- Wagner 2-3
- Mount St. Mary’s 2-3
- St.Francis(NY) 2-3
- Monmouth 2-3
- FDU 2-4
- St.Francis(PA) 1-4
This week’s NEC news & notes:
- Still some tough times for FDU but junior guard Sean Baptiste was named NEC player of the week for a 25 ppg week that included 31 points against Seton Hall just before the new year. Baptiste continued his hot shooting netting 37 points, his season high, in a 72-68 win over Quinnipiac.
- Julian Boyd earned Rookie of the Week honors. The 6-7 freshman doesn’t start for LIU, yet is an important part of the Blackbirds’ success. He averaged 8 points, 6 boards and shot 59% to earn the honors for the second time this season.
- Central Connecticut mentor Howie Dickenman is close to 200 career wins. Dickenman is in his 13th season. Central Connecticut has been an NEC member a dozen years and during that time Dickenman has posted 191 conference wins. Dickenman’s 199 career wins is second to FDU’s Tom Green with 402 in 26 seasons.
- Balance. The NEC is always discussed as a wide open league where the unexpected is expected. The start of conference play gives another indication that the race will be quite entertaining for fans, stressful for coaches. This is the first time since 1986-87 the NEC didn’t have a conference team start 3-0. Everyone had at least one loss three games into league play.
- After a rough go in non-league play, Monmouth is starting to break into the win column. The Hawks have two freshman of note making an impact, Mike Meyers at forward averaging a 9 points per game norm, second on the team. Freshman guard Will Campbell has also contributed. Frosh will continue to log minutes as coach Dave Calloway has utilized at least five different lineups this season.
- Mount St. Mary’s leads the NEC in scoring and field goal percentage categories. A tempo free evaluation shows Milan Brown’s club is sound, but not the leader as far as defensive efficiency is concerned.
- LIU 90
- Quinnipiac 95
- Central Ct. 95
- Monmouth 96
- Mount St.Mary’s 97
- Robert Morris 100
- Sacred Heart 100
- St.Francis(NY) 105
- Wagner 106
- St.Francis(PA) 111
- FDU 112
- Figures are for conference games only and give us a little more insight why FDU continues to struggle and a team like Monmouth is starting to show life.
- Another note that bears a separate column, Edgar Carotto is retiring after 22 years as NEC supervisor of officials. Edgar worked with 30 head coaches and three commissioners during his two plus decades with the NEC. Edgar was also the longest tenured NEC employee having begun with the league in 1987.