FDU puts it all together to beat Stonehill in NEC quarterfinals
Terrence Brown, Bismark Nsiah and company advanced to face No. 1 seed Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
HACKENSACK – As Bismark Nsiah walked into the makeshift press conference room after FDU’s Northeast Conference quarterfinal win over Stonehill, he said, “This is the first time I ever experienced something like this.”
“Me too, bro,” Terrence Brown replied.
That’s March for you. The stakes are elevated, but so is everything else. FDU answered the call Wednesday night by beating Stonehill 71-56; the fourth-seeded Knights advanced to face No. 1 seed Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
Brown racked up 23 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in FDU’s first NEC tournament victory since the historic 2022-23 season. Nsiah (12) and Jo’el Emanuel (11) joined Brown in double figures.
Their semifinal opponent is 24-6 with 13 wins in a row, but Brown said Wednesday’s performance is going to give the Knights confidence they know they need.
“Just trust each other,” Brown said. “Me trusting Dylan (Jones), Jo’el, Biz, everybody on the floor to knock down shots and finish. That’s really what’s gonna bring us a long way. I feel like sometimes, we get away from that sometimes, just the confidence. So just going into the next game with as much confidence as possible. Obviously, we got a big win, so just keeping it rolling.”
Brown, who was recently named to the All-NEC first team and leads the conference in scoring (20.7 ppg) and total steals (66), drove to the basket at will during a dominant first half. He helped FDU build a 30-20 lead at intermission with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
“I think (my game) was great, but I think the team helped me play how I played,” Brown said. “…Everybody was knocking down shots and finishing at the rim, so that’s definitely what helped me play the way I did. So credit to my teammates.”
Coach Jack Castleberry spoke about the push and pull throughout the season of Brown balancing his scoring with being FDU’s primary ballhandler, responsible for getting his teammates involved in the offense.
“We watch film all the time, and it’s really just about that conversation,” Castleberry said. “When do you get off the ball, when do you stay on the ball, when do you be aggressive, when do you not? And he’s been unbelievable. It’s a difficult process for anybody, but for someone who’s had so much attention on him, he finally has come around to where he feels really comfortable.
“And I think that tonight was a great example of what he has in his future, and how special he can be.”
To Brown’s point, several of his teammates stood out.
Jameel Morris made his first career start instead of Brayden Reynolds or Tyree Barba-Bey in the backcourt. Reynolds only played six minutes as he’s dealing with what Castleberry termed a lower-body injury, but he’s expected to be available for Saturday.
Morris’ contributions (six points, five boards, two assists, three steals) were keenly felt, especially as he helped FDU finish the first half on a 9-0 run with plays at both ends of the floor. He also forced a turnover with his stifling defense by causing his man to dribble out of bounds in the full court.
“You figured that Jameel getting his first start in this environment was gonna have you going pretty hard from the very beginning,” Castleberry said.
“He knows that the reason he’s out there first and foremost is the defensive prowess that he has. He’s the best on-ball defender I’ve ever been lucky enough to coach. Coached a lot of guys that are pretty good athletes and guys who really understand how to play defense, but as far as bothering the ball and people not wanting to bring the ball up against him, I’ve never been around anybody like him.”
Stonehill got its offense going in the second half and used an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 45-43 with 10 minutes to play. At that point, the result was completely up in the air. FDU needed to stop the Skyhawks’ resurgence.
Cameron Tweedy rose to meet the moment. At 48-45, the senior scored on consecutive possessions, first a baseline jumper and then a give-and-go in the lane with Brown, allowing the Knights to start pulling away.
One of three players remaining from the 2023 NCAA Tournament team (along with Emanuel and Reynolds), Tweedy is a team leader respected throughout the locker room. He finished 3-for-3 for six points in a crucial supporting role, his highest-scoring game since Jan. 10.
“When Cam talks, people listen,” Castleberry said. “The reason they do that is because they know he’s such a good human being, they know how hard he works and how much he cares about other people. I don’t know that there’s a more selfless person on our team than Cam.”
Tweedy missed the 2023-24 season due to a torn ACL, but before that, he was already becoming a key reserve for the Knights who shot a combined 8-for-9 for 16 points in their tourney games against Purdue and Florida Atlantic.
“If you go back to when we made the NCAA Tournament run a couple of years ago, Cam Tweedy turned it on in the last six games of that whole season, and if Cam doesn’t turn it on, I don’t think that we do what we were able to do,” his coach said. “So it’s nice to have him back, and looking more like he did a year and a half ago.”
After the Knights had a slightly worrying 2-for-18 performance from three in Saturday’s season finale loss to Long Island, their outside shots began falling again. Emanuel made three of them, and Jones had a critical one out of the under-8 timeout to double the lead to 55-49, igniting the Knights’ game-ending surge.
Brown made this interception and house call, following it with an and-one before Morris found Emanuel on this alley-oop for the exclamation point.
“Being a part of a team like this where everybody’s so connected, it just makes you want to be out there and just feed off each other’s energy,” Nsiah said. “Like when Terrence got that and-one, I was super happy because I knew that was gonna bring our energy up.”
Nsiah, who added four rebounds, three assists and three steals from the five spot, has played in NCAA Tournaments before at the Division II level with Jefferson University. I asked him how it feels to be playing basketball (and winning) at this time of year once again.
“It’s like the best time of the year. Like I know it’s supposed to be Christmas, but it’s actually March for basketball players,” Nsiah said. “I’m just excited to be here, play with my team and see how far we go. I know that we’re going to keep playing hard, keep playing defense and yeah, just enjoy the ride.”
………
Happy Thursday, and welcome back. That was the performance FDU needed in its quarterfinal game after a bumpy end to the regular season.
Paid subscribers can check out my more comprehensive breakdown of what’s currently at stake for each team from Tuesday. For now, let’s clean the glass with a few quick topics – including a viewing schedule for a mammoth Saturday, and my upcoming coverage plans as hinted at a week or so ago.
At the Big Ten women’s tournament, No. 15 seed Rutgers was no match for No. 10 Nebraska in their first-round game Wednesday. Final: Nebraska 84, Rutgers 60. It’s worth noting before we close the book on this season (11-19, 3-15 Big Ten) that Destiny Adams ended her college career as an All-Big Ten second-team selection (coaches and media). Kiyomi McMiller received an honorable mention on the media ballot; her last game of the season (and, I have to figure, in a Rutgers uniform) was Feb. 6 before she appeared on the availability report with an unknown injury. She played 21 games for Rutgers.
Saturday’s buffet of Jersey games:
Penn at Princeton, 2 p.m., ESPN+ … As mentioned Tuesday, it’s win and in for the Princeton men to make Ivy Madness. A Brown loss to Yale also does the trick.
Princeton WBB at Penn, 2 p.m., ESPN+ … Columbia just needs to beat Cornell to claim the outright Ivy title, but Princeton’s still in the running for a share if the Lions lose and the Tigers beat Penn.
Niagara at Rider and Canisius at Saint Peter’s, both 2 p.m., both ESPN+ … Based on what happens Thursday around the MAAC, either of these could be win-and-in scenarios for the Broncs and Peacocks at home.
No. 4 seed FDU at No. 1 Central Connecticut, 2 p.m., ESPN+ … Here’s what Castleberry had to say about FDU’s first two games against CCSU: “I don’t think they’ve really gotten our best effort yet. They’re an incredibly good team, and you have to have your best effort to be able to beat them.” Brown wasn’t available for their first game against the Blue Devils and had an unbelievable 31 of FDU’s 66 points in a 21-point loss on Feb. 6.
Seton Hall at UConn, 2:30 p.m., FOX … Because DePaul won last night, Seton Hall needs a win and a DePaul loss on Saturday to avoid a last-place finish and the No. 11 tournament seed. A sweep of UConn would be just a remarkably funny outcome considering how the Pirates’ season has gone.
No. 6 seed Monmouth vs. Hofstra/NC A&T winner, 8:30 p.m., FloCollege … The Hawks won seven of their last 10 and beat both these teams – plus their would-be quarterfinal opponent, No. 3 Charleston – in the regular season.
No. 6 seed Seton Hall WBB vs. DePaul/Xavier winner, 9:30 p.m., FS2 … Savannah Catalon became the third different Pirate this year to win Big East Player of the Week honors. She’s red-hot at the right time.
Now, here’s what you can expect from Guarden State for conference championship week:
Sunday morning: Coverage from Niagara-Rider and a massive roundup of Saturday’s goings-on
Monday morning: Coverage from Minnesota-Rutgers and final thoughts on the Harper/Bailey era
Tuesday by noon, for paid subscribers: Conference tournament previews for every Jersey team still standing
Wednesday morning: Coverage from Atlantic City, provided a Jersey team gets into the MAAC tournament
Thursday morning: TBD from Atlantic City or elsewhere
Monday, March 17: Selection Sunday reaction