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Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament

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The Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Northeast Conference (NEC). It has been held every year since the NEC was established in the 1981–82 season. The tournament is an eight-team single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The bracket is reseeded after the quarterfinals, with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals. The tournament winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament.

Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament
SportBasketball
ConferenceNortheast Conference
Number of teams9
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumCampus of highest seed
Played1982–present[1]
Last contest2024
Current championWagner Seahawks
Most championshipsRobert Morris Colonials (9)
Official websiteNEC Men's Basketball

Robert Morris, which left the NEC in 2020 for the Horizon League, is the program that has won the most NEC Tournament Championships (9), followed by current NEC members LIU (6) and Fairleigh Dickinson (6) as well as Mount St. Mary's (also 6), which left the NEC in 2022 for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.[2] LIU, which before 2019–20 represented only the university's Brooklyn campus, has been the only program to win three consecutive tournament championships, from 2011–2013. Robert Morris won back-to-back championships on three occasions (1982–83, 1989–90 and 2009–10), the only other programs to win back-to-back championships, Marist and Rider, are also no longer members of the NEC. Of the current conference members (9 programs), three have not won a championship. Sacred Heart has participated in all NEC tournaments since joining the conference; Le Moyne and Stonehill have yet to participate.

Through the 2022 tournament, schools transitioning from NCAA Division II were ineligible for the conference tournament, paralleling NCAA policy that prohibits such schools from NCAA-sponsored postseason play (either the NCAA tournament or the NIT). After the 2021–22 season, the NEC presidents voted to allow transitional members to participate in the NEC tournament starting with the third season of their four-year transition. Merrimack, which joined the NEC in 2019–20, was thus eligible for the 2023 tournament, its last before completing its D-I transition. Stonehill, a 2022–23 arrival, was only in its first transition year and, therefore not eligible to participate in the 2023 NEC tournament. Under the 2022 rule, should a transitional program win the conference tournament, the automatic NCAA tournament bid went to the other finalist.[3]

Effective for the 2023–24 academic year, NEC teams transitioning from Division II are eligible for the NEC tournament during the entirety of their transition periods. If a reclassifying institution wins the NEC tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will be awarded the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If two reclassifying teams reach the final of the NEC tournament, the conference will stage an automatic qualifier game between the two non-advancing semifinalists.[4] The rule change resulted in Stonehill and Le Moyne being eligible for the 2024 NEC tournament, since that was Stonehill's second transition year and Le Moyne's first. Similarly, Mercyhurst, which joins the NEC from Division II in July 2024, will be eligible for the 2025 NEC tournament.

History of the Tournament Final

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Year NEC Champion Score Runner-Up Tournament MVP Championship Venue
1982 Robert Morris 85–84 Long Island Tom Parks, RMU Arnold and Marie Schwartz Athletic Center (Brooklyn, New York)
1983 Robert Morris 79–67 Long Island Chipper Harris, RMU John Jay Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
1984 Long Island 87–81 Robert Morris Carey Scurry, LIU McCann Field House (Poughkeepsie, New York)
1985 Fairleigh Dickinson 63–59 Loyola (MD) Larry Hampton, FDU Reitz Arena (Baltimore, Maryland)
1986 Marist 57–56OT Fairleigh Dickinson Rik Smits, MARIST Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
1987 Marist 64–55OT Fairleigh Dickinson Drafton Davis, MARIST McCann Field House (Poughkeepsie, New York)
1988 Fairleigh Dickinson 90–75 Monmouth Jaime Latney, FDU Rothman Center (Hackensack, New Jersey)
1989 Robert Morris 69–68 Fairleigh Dickinson Vaughn Luton, RMU Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
1990 Robert Morris 71–66 Monmouth Alex Blackwell, MONMOUTH Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
1991 St. Francis (PA) 97–82 Fairleigh Dickinson Mike Iuzzolino, SFU DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pennsylvania)
1992 Robert Morris 85–81 Marist Myron Walker, RMU Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
1993 Rider 65–64 Wagner Darrick Suber, RIDER Alumni Gymnasium (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
1994 Rider 62–56 Monmouth Charles Smith, RIDER Alumni Gymnasium (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
1995 Mount St. Mary's 69–62 Rider Silas Cheung, MSM Alumni Gymnasium (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
1996 Monmouth 60–59 Rider Corey Albano, MONMOUTH William T. Boylan Gymnasium (West Long Branch, New Jersey)
1997 Long Island 72–67 Monmouth Charles Jones, LIU Schwartz Athletic Center (Brooklyn, New York)
1998 Fairleigh Dickinson 105–91 Long Island Rahshon Turner, FDU Schwartz Athletic Center (Brooklyn, New York)
1999 Mount St. Mary's 72–56 Central Connecticut Gregory Harris, MSM Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, New York)
2000 Central Connecticut 63–46 Robert Morris Rick Mickens, CCSU Sovereign Bank Arena (Trenton, New Jersey)
2001 Monmouth 67–64 St. Francis (BKN) Rahsaan Johnson, MONMOUTH Sovereign Bank Arena (Trenton, New Jersey)
2002 Central Connecticut 78–71 Quinnipiac Damian Battles, CCSU William H. Detrick Gymnasium (New Britain, Connecticut)
2003 Wagner 78–61 St. Francis (BKN) Jermaine Hall, WAGNER Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, New York)
2004 Monmouth 67–55 Central Connecticut Blake Hamilton, MONMOUTH William T. Boylan Gymnasium (West Long Branch, New Jersey)
2005 Fairleigh Dickinson 58–52 Wagner Tamien Trent, FDU Rothman Center (Hackensack, New Jersey)
2006 Monmouth 49–48 Fairleigh Dickinson Marques Alston, MONMOUTH Rothman Center (Hackensack, New Jersey)
2007 Central Connecticut 74–70 Sacred Heart Javier Mojica, CCSU William H. Detrick Gymnasium (New Britain, Connecticut)
2008 Mount St. Mary's 68–55 Sacred Heart Jean Cajou, MSM William H. Pitt Center (Fairfield, Connecticut)
2009 Robert Morris 48–46 Mount St. Mary's Jeremy Chappell, RMU Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
2010 Robert Morris 52–50 Quinnipiac Karon Abraham, RMU TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, Connecticut)
2011 Long Island 85–82OT Robert Morris Jamal Olasewere, LIU Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center (Brooklyn, New York)
2012 Long Island 90–73 Robert Morris Julian Boyd, LIU Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center (Brooklyn, New York)
2013 Long Island 91–70 Mount St. Mary's C. J. Garner, LIU Wellness, Recreation & Athletics Center (Brooklyn, New York)
2014 Mount St. Mary's 88–71 Robert Morris Rashad Whack, MSM Charles L. Sewall Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
2015 Robert Morris 66–63 St. Francis (BKN) Rodney Prior, RMU Generoso Pope Athletic Complex (Brooklyn, New York)
2016 Fairleigh Dickinson 87–79 Wagner Earl Potts, Jr., FDU Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, New York)
2017 Mount St. Mary's 71–61 St. Francis (PA) Elijah Long, MSM Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, Maryland)
2018 Long Island 71–61 Wagner Joel Hernandez, LIU Spiro Sports Center (Staten Island, New York)
2019 Fairleigh Dickinson 85–76 St. Francis (PA) Darnell Edge, FDU DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pennsylvania)
2020 Robert Morris[5] 77–67 St. Francis (PA) Dante Treacy, RMU UPMC Events Center (Moon Township, Pennsylvania)
2021 Mount St. Mary's 73–68 Bryant Nana Opoku, MSM Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
2022 Bryant 70–43 Wagner Peter Kiss, BU Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, Rhode Island)
2023 Merrimack 67–66 Fairleigh Dickinson Ziggy Reid, MRMK Lawler Arena (North Andover, Massachusetts)
2024 Wagner 54–47 Merrimack Tahron Allen, WAGNER Lawler Arena (North Andover, Massachusetts)

Championships by school

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Chicago State and Mercyhurst will play their first NEC seasons in 2024–25.

‡ Denotes school is a former member of the NEC, as of the upcoming 2024–25 NCAA basketball season
School Championships Years
Robert Morris‡ 9 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2020
LIU[a] 6 1984, 1997, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018
Fairleigh Dickinson 6 1985, 1988, 1998, 2005, 2016, 2019
Mount St. Mary's‡ 6 1995, 1999, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2021
Monmouth‡ 4 1996, 2001, 2004, 2006
Central Connecticut 3 2000, 2002, 2007
Marist‡ 2 1986, 1987
Rider‡ 2 1993, 1994
Wagner 2 2003, 2024
Bryant‡ 1 2022
Merrimack‡ 1 2023
Saint Francis (PA) 1 1991
St. Francis Brooklyn‡ 0 —
Quinnipiac‡ 0 —
Sacred Heart‡ 0 —
Loyola (MD)‡ 0 —
Le Moyne[b] 0 —
Stonehill[c] 0 —
Notes
  1. ^ From 1981 to 2019, Long Island University was represented in the Northeast Conference by its Brooklyn campus, known for athletic purposes as "Long Island" through the 2012–13 season and "LIU Brooklyn" from 2013–14 forward. After the 2018–19 season, LIU merged the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses into a single program, now competing as the LIU Sharks, that inherited the NCAA Division I and Northeast Conference memberships of the Brooklyn campus.
  2. ^ Le Moyne, which started a transition from NCAA Division II in 2023, is not eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play in any of its sports until the 2027–28 school year. Under NEC rules, it was immediately eligible to participate in the NEC tournament.
  3. ^ Stonehill, which started a transition from NCAA Division II in 2022, is not eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play in any of its sports except men's and women's ice hockey until the 2026–27 school year. Stonehill was eligible to participate in the NEC tournament for the first time in 2024.

Broadcasters

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Television

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Year Network Play-by-play Analyst Sideline reporter
2024 ESPN2 Doug Sherman Tim Welsh
2023
2022
2021 Rich Hollenberg Dan Dakich
2020 Dave Flemming Sydney Johnson Meaghan McKeown
2019 Mike Couzens Chris Spatola
2018 Rece Davis Tom Crean
2017 Jim Calhoun
2016 Karl Ravech
2015 John Brickley Craig Robinson
2014 Mike Crispino Miles Simon
2013 Tim Welsh
2012 Jon Sciambi
2011[6] LaPhonso Ellis
2010[7] Bob Wischusen Tim Welsh

Radio

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Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
2016 Westwood One Gary Cohen Doug Gottlieb
2015 Jason Benetti Alaa Abdelnaby
2014 John Sadak Donny Marshall
2013 Dial Global Kelly Tripucka
2011[8] Westwood One John Tautges Alaa Abdelnaby

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Past Northeast Conference champions and MVPs, NortheastConference.org, May 16, 2013
  2. ^ "NEC men's basketball record book" (PDF). northeastconference.org. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. ^ "2022 NEC Spring Meeting Recap" (Press release). Northeast Conference. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "2023 NEC Spring Meeting Recap". Northeast Conference. June 15, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "Robert Morris Secures Ninth #NECMBB Crown, Dancing For First Time Since 2015". Northeast Conference. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  6. ^ http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/02/28/championship-week-presented-by-dick%e2%80%99s-sporting-goods-schedule/?s-sporting-goods-schedule/
  7. ^ "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  8. ^ "We've Moved!". the506.com.
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