2021–22 Northeast Conference men's basketball season

2021–22 Northeast Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	NEC Front Row, ESPN2, MSG, FCS, Regional Sports Networks
NBA Draft
Regular season
First place	Bryant
Runners-up	Wagner
Season MVP	Alex Morales (Wagner)
Top scorer	Peter Kiss (Bryant)
NEC tournament
Champions	Bryant
Runners-up	Wagner
Finals MVP	Peter Kiss (Bryant)

2021–22 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Bryant †	16	–	2		.889			22	–	10		.688
Wagner	15	–	3		.833			21	–	6		.778
LIU	12	–	6		.667			16	–	14		.533
Merrimack*	10	–	8		.556			14	–	16		.467
Mount St. Mary's	9	–	9		.500			14	–	16		.467
St. Francis Brooklyn	7	–	11		.389			10	–	20		.333
Sacred Heart	6	–	12		.333			10	–	20		.333
Saint Francis (PA)	5	–	13		.278			9	–	21		.300
Central Connecticut	5	–	13		.278			8	–	24		.250
Fairleigh Dickinson	4	–	13		.235			4	–	22		.154
* ineligible for the 2022 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2022 NEC tournament winner

The 2021–22 Northeast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2021, followed by the start of the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in January and ended in February 2022.

The NEC tournament was held in March with the higher-seeded team hosting each game.

Changes from last season

On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Central Connecticut head coach Donyell Marshall, was stepping down after five years with the Blue Devils. On May 14, Central Connecticut hired Fairfield assistant coach Patrick Sellers as his replacement.

Head coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous position	Year at school	Overall record	NEC record	NEC tournament championships
Bryant	Jared Grasso	Iona (asst.)	4	40–44	24–26	0
Central Connecticut	Patrick Sellers	Fairfield (asst.)	1	0–0	0–0	0
Fairleigh Dickinson	Greg Herenda	UMass Lowell	9	101–142	67–75	2
LIU	Derek Kellogg	UMass	5	58–60	37–35	1
Merrimack	Joe Gallo	Robert Morris (asst.)	6	90–54	23–13	0
Mount St. Mary's	Dan Engelstad	Southern Vermont	4	32–54	31–37	0
Sacred Heart	Anthony Latina	Sacred Heart (asst.)	9	99–140	67–73	0
St. Francis Brooklyn	Glenn Braica	St. John's (asst.)	12	154–180	102–94	0
Saint Francis (PA)	Rob Krimmel	Saint Francis (asst.)	10	125–149	83–77	0
Wagner	Bashir Mason	Wagner (asst.)	10	144–124	96–64	0

Notes:

• All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
• Year at school includes 2021–22 season.
• Overall and NEC/NCAA records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2021–22 season. Because the current LIU athletic program inherited the athletic history of LIU Brooklyn, Kellogg's record includes his two seasons at LIU Brooklyn before the LIU athletic merger.
• Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason

Preseason coaches poll

Rank	Team
1.	Wagner (7)
2.	Bryant (2)
3.	Mount St. Mary's (1)
4.	Long Island
5.	Merrimack
6.	Sacred Heart
7.	St. Francis Brooklyn
8.	Saint Francis (PA)
9.	Fairleigh Dickinson
10.	Central Connecticut

() first place votes

Preseason All-NEC team

Recipient	School
Ty Flowers, (Senior, Forward)	LIU
Elijah Ford, (Senior, Guard)	Wagner
Peter Kiss, (Senior, Guard)	Bryant
Alex Morales, (Senior, Guard)	Wagner
Eral Penn, (R-Senior, Forward)	LIU
Tyler Thomas, (Junior, Guard)	Sacred Heart

NEC regular season

Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Northeast Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.

Week	Player of the week	Rookie of the week
November 15, 2021	Alex Morales, WAG	Joe Ostrowsky, CCSU
November 22, 2021	Peter Kiss, BRY	Ibrahim Wattara, FDU
November 29, 2021	Josh Cohen, SFPA Jordan Minor, MER	Jayden Brown, CCSU
December 6, 2021	Nigel Scantlebury, CCSU	Andre Snoddy, CCSU
December 13, 2021	Charles Pride, BRY	Jayden Brown (2), CCSU
December 20, 2021	Eral Penn, LIU	Jaylin Gibson, MSM
December 27, 2021	Alex Morales (2), WAG	Zaire Williams, WAG
January 3, 2022	Jordan Minor (2), MER Ty Flowers, LIU	Sebastien Lamaute, FDU
January 10, 2022	Alex Morales (3), WAG	Andre Snoddy (2), CCSU
January 19, 2022	Peter Kiss (2), BRY Ty Flowers (2), LIU	Andre Snoddy (3), CCSU
January 25, 2022	Alex Morales (4), WAG Ty Flowers (3), LIU	Anquan Hill, FDU
February 1, 2022	Alex Morales (5), WAG Jalen Benjamin, MSM	Andre Snoddy (4), CCSU
February 7, 2022	Charles Pride (2), BRY	Andre Snoddy (5), CCSU
February 14, 2022	Ty Flowers (4), LIU	Anquan Hill (2), FDU
February 21, 2022	Peter Kiss (3), BRY	Andre Snoddy (6), CCSU Tanner Thomas, SHU
February 28, 2022	Peter Kiss (4), BRY Eral Penn (2), LIU	Anquan Hill (3), FDU

School	Player of the week Awards	Rookie of the week Awards
Bryant	6	0
Central Connecticut	1	9
Fairleigh Dickinson	0	5
LIU	6	0
Merrimack	2	0
Mount St. Mary's	1	1
Sacred Heart	0	1
St. Francis Brooklyn	0	0
Saint Francis (PA)	1	0
Wagner	5	1

Against other conferences

Records against non-conference foes for the 2021–22 season. Records shown for regular season only.

Conference	Outcome
America East	9–12
AAC	0–3
ACC	0–4
Atlantic-10	2–8
Big East	0–9
Big South	0–1
Big Ten	0–7

Conference	Outcome
CAA	0–3
Horizon League	1–2
Ivy League	2–6
MAAC	2–5
Mid-American	0–2
MEAC	5–0
Mountain West Conference	0–1

Conference	Outcome
Patriot League	7–6
SEC	0–1
Southland	0–1
SWAC	0–1
The Summit	0–1
WCC	0–3
Total	28–76 (.269)

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

	Bryant	CCSU	FDU	LIU	Merrimack	MSMU	Sacred Heart	SFB	SFU	Wagner
vs. Bryant	–	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1
vs. Central Conn.	2–0	–	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0
vs. Fairleigh Dickinson	2–0	1–1	–	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1
vs. LIU	1–1	1–1	0–2	–	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0
vs. Merrimack	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	–	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1
vs. Mount St. Mary's	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	–	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0
vs. Sacred Heart	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	–	1–1	1–1	2–0
vs. St. Francis Brooklyn	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	–	0–2	2–0
vs. Saint Francis (PA)	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	–	2–0
vs. Wagner	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	–
Total	16–2	5–13	5–13	12–6	10–8	9–9	6–12	7–11	5–13	15–3

All-NEC honors and awards

At the conclusion of the regular season, the conference selects outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches, below are the results.

Honor	Recipient
Player of the Year	Alex Morales, WAG
Coach of the Year	Jared Grasso, BRY
Defensive Player of the Year	Alex Morales, WAG
Rookie of the Year	Anquan Hill, FDU
Most Improved Player of the Year	Josh Cohen, SFPA
All-NEC First Team	Ty Flowers, LIU
	Peter Kiss, BRY
	Alex Morales, WAG
	Eral Penn, LIU
	Charles Pride, BRY

Honor	Recipient
All-NEC Second Team	Jalen Benjamin, MSM
	Michael Cubbage, SFBK
	Will Martinez, WAG
	Jordan Minor, MER
	Raekwon Rogers, WAG
All-NEC Third Team	Aaron Clarke, SHU
	Elijah Ford, WAG
	Mezie Offurum, MSM
	Nana Opoku, MSM
	Tyler Thomas, SHU
All-NEC Rookie Team	Oscar Berry, FDU
	Anquan Hill, FDU
	Sebastien Lamaute, FDU
	Andre Snoddy, CCSU
	Zaire Williams, WAG

Postseason

NEC tournament

Main article: 2022 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament

• 2022 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, held at higher seed campus sites

	Opening Round Monday, February 28 NEC Front Row					Quarterfinals Wednesday March 2 NEC Front Row					Semifinals Saturday, March 5 ESPN3					Championship Tuesday, March 8 ESPN2
						1	Bryant	73
						9	Central Connecticut	59
	8	Fairleigh Dickinson	66
	9	Central Connecticut	67
											1	Bryant	70
											4	Mount St. Mary's	69
						4	Mount St. Mary's	78
						5	St. Francis Brooklyn	48
																1	Bryant	70
																2	Wagner	43
						2	Wagner	82
						7	Saint Francis (PA)	53
											2	Wagner	82
											3	Long Island	62
						3	Long Island	82
						6	Sacred Heart	75

* denotes overtime period.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Seed	Region	School	First Four
16	South	Bryant	vs. Wright State, L 82–93

See also

• 2021–22 Northeast Conference women's basketball season

External links

• NEC website