Northeast Conference Championship Preview
Back on January 25th, the Wagner Seahawks were 2-15, 1-7 in NEC and dead last in the NEC conference standings. The Seahawks played their way into the NEC tournament by winning nine of their last ten games, ultimately earning a sixth seed.
The previous three years, Wagner had hosted the quarterfinals and semifinals of the NEC tournament. This year, they had no such luxury with every game being at the home of the highest seed. Staring at them in the quarterfinals was a trip to third-seeded Robert Morris. Behind 17 points from freshman Mark Porter, the Seahawks pulled off the upset. Trailing by two at halftime, Wagner shot 56 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 69-65 win.
Next up was top-seeded Monmouth, who had escaped the quarterfinals with a one-point win over Central Connecticut State. The Hawks fought back from 14 points down at halftime and need a Marques Alston bucket with 1.4 seconds remaining to complete the comeback. Wagner got off to a tough start against Monmouth, as second team All-NEC performer Sean Munson left the game in the first two minutes after sustaining a back injury and the Seahawks fell behind by seven at halftime. Defense brought the Seahawks back in the second half when they held Monmouth to 29 percent shooting, including 0-14 from downtown. Mark Porter scored 18 points to lead Wagner to a 63-60 comeback win.
Now the Seahawks stand at 13-16 and are easily the hottest team in the NEC. Standing between Wagner and a trip to the NCAA tournament is second-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.
Fairleigh Dickinson’s road to the NEC final was not nearly as difficult. In the quarterfinals, the Knights beat St. Francis NY 78-60. Tamien Trent had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way. Fairleigh Dickinson faced Long Island in the semifinals and fell behind by 13 points at halftime. The Knights then used a 26-3 surge halfway through the second half to take the lead for good, winning the game 70-62 as Tamien Trent scored 16 of his 18 points in the decisive second half.
Wednesday’s final will be a match-up of different styles. Fairleigh Dickinson is second in the NEC in scoring at 74.8 points per game while Wagner is last at 62.4 points per game. This difference was further played out in the games the two teams split during the regular season. Back in December, FDU forced an up-tempo game and won 82-75. Two weeks ago was the rematch, where Wagner won on the Knight’s home court 67-59. In this recent hot streak, Wagner has allowed over 65 points in a game once, and they lost that game in overtime. If Wagner can beat the Knights, they would likely face Oakland in the opening round game as both teams would enter the big dance with losing records. But the Seahawks will have definitely earned their berth by beating the top three NEC teams on the road in the NEC tournament.
