NEC Tournament Semifinals: An Insider's Guide

Healthy once again after elbow injury caused him to miss half the season, Quinnipiac's Justin Rutty leads Bobcats' charge into NEC tournament semifinals. (Photo courtesy of New Haven Register)

We're down to four in the Northeast Conference tournament; and all four higher seeds were victorious in Thursday night's quarterfinals, thereby making our predictions an even 2-2. We continued to learn a lot more about the four remaining programs in their first postseason game two days ago, and both matchups will be interesting pairings that really could go either way.

#1 Seed LIU vs. #4 Seed Central Connecticut State - The conference's most productive offense draws the NEC Player of the Year for the second time in eight days, as the Blackbirds face the unenviable task of attempting to contain Blue Devils forward Ken Horton. Central is vulnerable if Horton and fellow big man Joe Efese get into foul trouble, a factor that nearly cost Howie Dickenman's unit the game against St. Francis (NY) Thursday night. Central also appears to have hit the wall after a hot start, while LIU does not appear to show signs of fatigue anytime soon. The Blackbirds have a decided advantage in the backcourt and a slight edge up front, but this game will be a lot closer than people envision it turning out to be.

#2 Seed Quinnipiac vs. #3 Seed Robert Morris - The Colonials withstood an all-out charge from Wagner at the end of regulation to prevail and face the Bobcats in Hamden, but Andy Toole's squad is highly susceptible to a bounce after Quinnipiac barely broke a sweat in their quarterfinal win over Mount St. Mary's. Deontay Twyman and James Johnson continue to be an effective 1-2 guard punch, and Justin Rutty should have his way with a Colonials interior game that doesn't match up to the inside presence brought forth by Tom Moore's frontcourt.

The Way I See It: Predictions

LIU defeats Central Connecticut State

Quinnipiac defeats Robert Morris

Just A Reminder: Bracketology makes its debut next week, most likely Sunday or Monday!