2016 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2016 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament was held from March 2–8, 2016. The tournament featured the league's top eight seeds, with higher seed hosting all games. The winners of the tournament, Fairleigh Dickinson, will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. This is Fairleigh Dickinson's fifth Championship.

2016 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2015–16
Teams	8
Site	campus sites
Finals site	Spiro Sports Center Staten Island, NY
Champions	Fairleigh Dickinson (5th title)
Winning coach	Greg Herenda (1st title)
MVP	Earl Potts Jr. (FDU)
Attendance	9,258
Northeast Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 2015 2017 →

2015–16 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Wagner	13	–	5		.722			23	–	11		.676
Fairleigh Dickinson †	11	–	7		.611			18	–	15		.545
Sacred Heart	11	–	7		.611			12	–	18		.400
St. Francis Brooklyn	11	–	7		.611			15	–	17		.469
Mount St. Mary's	10	–	8		.556			14	–	19		.424
LIU Brooklyn	9	–	9		.500			16	–	15		.516
Saint Francis	9	–	9		.500			13	–	17		.433
Robert Morris	8	–	10		.444			10	–	22		.313
Bryant	5	–	13		.278			8	–	23		.258
Central Connecticut	3	–	15		.167			4	–	25		.138
† 2016 NEC tournament winner

Format

For the twelfth straight year, the NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament consisted of an eight-team playoff format with all games played at the home of the higher seed. After the quarterfinals, the teams were reseeded so the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals.^[1]

Seeds

Teams were seeded based on the final regular season standings, with ties broken under an NEC policy.^[2]

Seed	School	Conference	Tiebreaker
1	Wagner‡	13–5
2	Fairleigh Dickinson	11–7	1–1 vs. SHU, 1–1 vs. SFC, 1–1 vs. Wagner, 2–0 vs. LIU, 2–0 vs. SFU
3	Sacred Heart	11–7	1–1 vs. SFC, 1–1 vs. FDU, 1–1 vs. Wagner, 1–1 vs. LIU, 1–1 vs. SFU
4	St. Francis Brooklyn	11–7	1–1 vs. FDU, 1–1 vs. SHU, 0–2 vs. Wagner
5	Mount St. Mary's	10–8
6	LIU Brooklyn	9–9	1–1 vs. SFU, 2–0 vs. Wagner
7	Saint Francis (PA)	9–9	1–1 vs. LIU, 1–1 vs. Wagner
8	Robert Morris	8–10

Bracket

Teams were reseed after each round with highest remaining seeds receiving home court advantage.

	Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 2 NEC Front Row					Semifinals Saturday, March 5 NEC Front Row, MSG+, and FCS					Championship Tuesday, March 8 ESPN2
	1	Wagner	59
	8	Robert Morris	50
						1	Wagner	81
						6	LIU Brooklyn	65
	4	St. Francis Brooklyn	51
	5	Mount St. Mary's	60
											1	Wagner	79
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											2	Fairleigh Dickinson	87
	2	Fairleigh Dickinson	74
	7	Saint Francis (PA)	72
						2	Fairleigh Dickinson	80
						5	Mount St. Mary's	75
	3	Sacred Heart	76
	6	LIU Brooklyn	84

All games will be played at the venue of the higher seed

Game summaries

Quarterfinals: #1 Wagner vs. #8 Robert Morris

Series History: Robert Morris leads 41–28

NEC Front Row

March 2 7:00 PM

Recap

#1 Wagner 59, #8 Robert Morris 50
Scoring by half: 24–19, 35–31
Pts: Mike Aaman 12 Rebs: Michael Carey 14 Asts: Michael Carey 3		Pts: Isaiah Still 11 Rebs: Rodney Pryor 7 Asts: Kavon Stewart 6

Spiro Sports Center Staten Island, NY Attendance: 1,012 Referees: Robert Testa, Art Jackson, Mike Pearson

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Quarterfinals: #2 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. #7 Saint Francis (PA)

Series History: Fairleigh Dickinson leads 44–40

NEC Front Row

March 2 7:00 PM

Recap

#2 Fairleigh Dickinson 74, #7 Saint Francis (PA) 72
Scoring by half: 40–44, 34–28
Pts: Darian Anderson 22 Rebs: Earl Potts Jr. 6 Asts: Stephen Jiggets 7		Pts: Ronnie Drinnon 21 Rebs: Ronnie Drinnon 22 Asts: Greg Brown 5

Rothman Center Hackensack, NJ Attendance: 1,127 Referees: John Hughes, Rod Mrakovich, Dave Fernandez

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Quarterfinals: #3 Sacred Heart vs. #6 LIU Brooklyn

Series History: LIU Brooklyn leads 20–11

MSG, FCS, NEC Front Row

March 2 7:00 PM

Recap

#6 LIU Brooklyn 84, #3 Sacred Heart 76
Scoring by half: 47–33, 37–43
Pts: Joel Hernandez 22 Rebs: Joel Hernandez 7 Asts: Martin Hermannsson 6		Pts: Cane Broome 35 Rebs: Cane Broome 8 Asts: Jordan Allen 3

William H. Pitt Center Fairfield, CT Attendance: 710 Referees: Guy Pagano, Douglas Grant, Tom Regan

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Quarterfinals: #4 St. Francis Brooklyn vs. #5 Mount St. Mary's

Series History: Mount St. Mary's leads 30–26

MSG, FCS, NEC Front Row

March 2 9:00 PM

Recap

#5 Mount St. Mary's 60, #4 St. Francis Brooklyn 51
Scoring by half: 24–34, 36–17
Pts: Yunus Hopkinson 18 Rebs: Amdy Fall 9 Asts: Chris Hooper 5		Pts: BK Ashe 18 Rebs: BK Ashe 7 Asts: BK Ashe 4

Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Brooklyn, NY Attendance: 675 Referees: Steve Ruppenthal, Gary Prager, Brandon Williams

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Semifinal: #1 Wagner vs. #6 LIU Brooklyn

Series History: Wagner leads 40–39

MSG+, FCS, NEC Front Row

March 5 4:00 PM

Recap

#1 Wagner 81, #6 LIU Brooklyn 65
Scoring by half: 29–33, 52–32
Pts: Michael Carey 28 Rebs: Michael Carey 10 Asts: Corey Henson 4		Pts: Joel Hernandez 19 Rebs: Jerome Frink 8 Asts: Martin Hermannsson 4

Spiro Sports Center Staten Island, NY Attendance: 1,814 Referees: Jim Bruno, Brandon Cruz, Tom Courtney

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Semifinal: #2 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. #5 Mount St. Mary's

Series History: Fairleigh Dickinson leads 27–23

MSG+, FCS, NEC Front Row

March 5 2:00 PM

Recap

#2 Fairleigh Dickinson 80, #5 Mount St. Mary's 75
Scoring by half: 39–39, 41–36
Pts: Earl Potts Jr. 20 Rebs: Mike Holloway 17 Asts: Darian Anderson 4		Pts: Junior Robinson 21 Rebs: BK Ashe 7 Asts: Junior Robinson 2

Rothman Center Hackensack, NJ Attendance: 1,562 Referees: Lionel Butler, Andrew Maira, James Ostwalt

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Championship: #1 Wagner 79 vs. #2 Fairleigh Dickinson 87

Series History: Fairleigh Dickinson leads 41–37

ESPN2

March 8 7:00 PM

Recap

#2 Fairleigh Dickinson 87, #1 Wagner 79
Scoring by half: 33–35, 54–44
Pts: Darian Anderson 28 Rebs: Earl Potts, Jr. 7 Asts: Dairan Anderson 5		Pts: Corey Hensen 24 Rebs: Michael Carey 11 Asts: Michael Carey 5

Spiro Sports Center Staten Island, NY Attendance: 2,358 Referees: Earl Walton, Robert Riley, Donnie Eppley

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*All times EST

All-tournament team

Tournament MVP in bold.^[3]

Name	School	Pos.	Year	Ht.	Hometown
Earl Potts Jr.	Fairleigh Dickinson	Guard	Sophomore	6-6	Severn, Maryland
Darian Anderson	Fairleigh Dickinson	Guard	Sophomore	6-1	Washington, D.C.
Michael Carey	Wagner	Guard/Forward	Junior	6-5	Nassau, Bahamas
Corey Henson	Wagner	Guard	Sophomore	6-3	Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Joel Hernandez	LIU Brooklyn	Guard	Junior	6-3	Teaneck, New Jersey

References

1. "2016 NEC men's bracket" (PDF). NortheastConference.org. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
2. "NEC Basketball Tiebreaker Procedure". NortheastConference.org. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
3. "NCAA-Bound: Fairleigh Dickinson Storms Back to Top Wagner for #NECMBB CrownTitle". NortheastConference.org. Retrieved March 9, 2016.