2010 Northeast Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/03/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The pairings are set for the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament, which kicks off with four quarterfinal-round matchups on Thursday, March 4th. The remaining teams will be reseeded for the semifinals on Sunday, so the highest seed will take on the lowest. The Championship round will be played on Wednesday, March 10th, with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All games will be played at the home site of the higher seed.

Last season, Robert Morris earned its league-leading sixth NEC Championship with a last-second basket to beat Mount St. Mary's.

All four quarterfinal games will tip off at 7:00 pm (et) on Thursday night. The Quinnipiac Bobcats (21-8, 15-3 NEC) own the top seed and will take on eighth-seeded seed Monmouth (12-18, 8-10). The two teams split the season series, although Quinnipiac cruised to an 82-63 win at home when they met last Thursday. Quinnipiac finished with the same league record as Robert Morris, but the Bobcats owned the tiebreaker and as a result will have home-court advantage throughout the tournament. Quinnipiac won seven of its final eight games to capture the program's first-ever NEC regular-season title. Leading the way is James Feldeine with 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Down low is Justin Rutty, who is shooting 53.9 percent from the floor and averages a double-double with 15.0 points and 10.8 boards per contest. James Johnson (12.0 ppg) has also been a key contributor for the Bobcats and like Feldeine and Rutty, has not missed a start all season.

As for Monmouth, it dropped five of its last seven contests, including each of the last three to close out the regular season. The Hawks are led by forward Travis Taylor, a 54.3 percent shooter from the floor who averages 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per tilt. Taylor is complemented at the offensive end by Will Campbell (11.5 ppg) and Whitney Coleman (10.0 ppg) out on the perimeter. However, the Hawks are shooting just 40.3 percent from the floor as a team this season.

Robert Morris (20-11, 15-3) just missed out on a third straight regular-season title, as the Colonials lost to Mount St. Mary's in the finale. Mount St. Mary's closed out that game with an 8-1 run and sealed the comeback with a layup in the final seconds. As a result of that final, the Colonials dropped to the No. 2 seed and will take on seventh-seeded Central Connecticut State (12-17, 9-9) in the quarterfinal round. Prior to falling to Mount St. Mary's, the Colonials had won 13 of their previous 15 contests, so they'll be looking to recapture some of that momentum. RMU is led by Karon Abraham (12.9 ppg), who is shooting a marksman-like 43.6 percent (72-of-165) from beyond the arc. Rob Robinson, a 52 percent shooter from the floor, mans the low post with 10.2 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game.

CCSU has been plagued by some inconsistency throughout the season, but the Blue Devils got hot down the stretch, closing out the schedule with three straight wins. Shemik Thompson leads the team with 13.2 ppg. Robby Ptacek is next in line with 11.4 ppg, though he is averaging just 7.8 points in NEC play. Markeys Deans and Joe Seymore have both stepped up their efforts during league play, as both are scoring 10.6 ppg against NEC foes. These teams met on February 11th, with Robert Morris claiming a 69-60 victory on CCSU's home floor.

Also in quarterfinal-round action, third-seeded Mount St. Mary's (15-14, 12-6) will take on No. 6 seed Saint Francis-PA (11-18, 9-9). These teams split the season series, with each squad winning on its home floor. The most recent meeting was this past Thursday, as Mount St. Mary's cruised to a 67-51 win at home. The Mountaineers are no doubt the hottest team entering this tournament, as they closed out the season with a 10-game win streak to get above .500 for the first time since November 28th. In the regular-season finale, they knocked Robert Morris out of the top seed by rallying back from a 13-point deficit in the second half. The question is, can they keep the momentum going? First-Team All-NEC point guard Jeremy Goode is tallying a team-best 14.0 points and 4.4 assists per game, while Shawn Atupem and Kelly Beidler average 10.8 points and 10.7 points, respectively.

For Saint Francis, swingman Devin Sweetney (16.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg) is the first Red Flash player in the last five years to earn All-NEC First Team honors. However, he is also the squad's only double-digit scorer and its top rebounder. Rebounding has been an issue, as the Red Flash are being outworked on the glass by an average of 4.1 rpg. Saint Francis lost its final two games on the schedule, which directly followed a season-best four-game win streak.

The final game in Thursday's quarterfinal round pits fourth-seeded Long Island (13-16, 11-7) against No. 5 seed Fairleigh Dickinson (11-20, 10-8). These teams met up on February 18th, with Long Island claiming a 68-62 victory at home. For the Blackbirds, that triumph kicked off a stretch in which they won three of their final four games to close out the regular season. First-Team All-NEC guard Jaytornah Wisseh leads the charge for LIU with 17.3 points and 5.7 assists per outing. Kyle Johnson puts forth 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per tilt, while David Hicks is scoring 10.2 ppg in conference play. The Blackbirds shoot just 40 percent from the floor as a team, although they are pulling down an average of 39 rebounds per outing.

As for the Knights, they had a modest two-game win streak snapped in a season- ending 74-65 loss to Quinnipiac. The Knights have had trouble stringing together wins throughout the season, as a three-game win streak in early- January marked the only occasion in which they won more than two in a row. Leading the way for FDU is Sean Baptiste with 16.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg. Mike Scott is contributing 12.6 ppg, while Alvin Mofunanya is putting up 11.3 points and a team-best 8.6 boards per tilt, and Terence Grier chips in 10.8 ppg.