The 2024 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Northeast Conference for the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament took place on three dates between March 6 and 12, 2024, and all tournament games were played in the home arenas of the higher-seeded school. The winner, Wagner, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA tournament.
The top eight teams in the conference regular-season standings qualified. 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.[1] Previously, transitioning NEC teams were eligible for the conference tournament only during their third and fourth transition years. The rule change results in Stonehill and Le Moyne being eligible for the 2024 NEC tournament, since Stonehill is in its second transition year, and Le Moyne is in its first.
Teams were seeded by record within the conference,[2] with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[3]
*Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed
Tournament notes
Quarterfinals
Top-seeded Central Connecticut found themselves trailing Saint Francis by as many as eight points at 54–46, before going on an 8–0 run to tie the score at 57. Moments later, a three-pointer by Jordan Jones, who finished with 18 points, gave the Blue Devils a 60–59 lead. After several lead changes, a jump shot by Jones gave Central Connecticut the lead for good with 3:29 to play. Allan Jeanne-Rose had a career-high 28 points and added five rebounds for the Blue Devils. Eli Wilborn scored 19 points and had six rebounds for the Red Flash.[5][6][7]
Merrimack survived a difficult test from LIU in the NEC quarterfinals, securing a 72–66 victory to advance. The game remained close throughout, until the Warriors went on a 9–0 run to take a 10-point lead with less than four minutes to play and seemingly put the game away. However, the Sharks battled back and got within a point of the lead in the final minute. Merrimack iced the game at the free-throw line and by clamping down on defense in the closing minute. For the game, the Warriors forced 18 turnovers, leading to 27 points. Jordan Derkack had his third double-double of the season for Merrimack with 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Adam "Budd" Clark added 18 points for the Warriors. Tai Strickland and Andre Washington each had 18 points and two steals for LIU.[7][8][9]
Tahron Allen's go-ahead layup with 46 seconds remaining fueled Wagner to a 60–57 upset victory at Sacred Heart. The game was close throughout, and neither team led by more than three points during the final 11:13. After a pair of free throws by Melvin Council Jr. gave the Seahawks a three-point lead in the closing seconds, and the Pioneers' three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark. Wagner held the lead for 35:03. Allen led Wagner with 22 points and added six rebounds. Alex Sobel had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots for Sacred Heart. The Seahawks were the first road team to win an NEC quarterfinal game since 2019.[7][10][11][12]
Powered by Luke Sutherland's 22 points, Le Moyne cruised to an 82–61 wire-to-wire victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Dolphins opened the game with three three-pointers to take a 9–0 lead just 1:45 into the contest. The Knights settled down, and Le Moyne was up, 42–34, at intermission. Leading 46–40 in the second half, the Dolphins went on an 11–0 run over 2:09 to take a 57–40 lead with 15:42 remaining. Fairleigh Dickinson got no closer than 12 points behind the rest of the way. Darrick Jones Jr. scored 17 points for Le Moyne. Sean Moore scored 16 points and added eight rebounds and two steals for the Knights.[7][13][14]
Semifinals
After Le Moyne jumped out to an early 13–4 lead, Merrimack's defense got the Warriors back into the game, and a 19–3 run in the later part of the first half helped them build a 28–20 lead at intermission. The Dolphins cut the deficit to three with 14:47 to play on a put-back by Kaiyem Cleary. The teams traded three-pointers over the next three minutes, until Samba Diallo's layups on consecutive possessions extended Merrimack's lead to seven points. The Dolphins responded with a 6–2 run to get within three points at 40–37 with 8:14 to play. An 8–2 Warriors run gave them a nine-point lead with 6:45 on the clock, but Le Moyne responded with a pair of three-pointers by Luke Sutherland to pull within three again with 5:42 to play. After each team had two empty possessions over the next two minutes, Bryan Etumnu was fouled on a layup and completed the three-point play, sparking a 9–2 Merrimack run that put the game away. The Warriors' 61–51 victory put them in the NEC tournament final for the second straight year. Adam "Budd" Clark scored 24 points to lead Merrimack. Sutherland had 23 points and eight rebounds for Le Moyne.[15][16][17]
Julian Brown scored 20 points to lead Wagner past top-seeded Central Connecticut, 66–56. After the Seahawks took a 28–23 halftime lead, the Blue Devils battled back and tied the game at 39 with 9:06 remaining, but Central Connecticut was never able to pull in front. After the Blue Devils got within 48–45, Melvin Council Jr., who finished with 12 points, scored the next two baskets to extend Wagner's lead to seven points with 2:57 on the clock. Javier Ezquerra scored to give the Seahawks a 54–48 lead with 2:23 to play. After a Jordan Jones three-pointer got the Blue Devils within five points at 61–56, the Seahawks, who were down to five dressed players after Council and Keyontae Lewis fouled out, went 5 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final 30 seconds to ice the game. Lewis scored 12 points and added nine rebounds for Wagner. Jones had 15 points for Central Connecticut.[15][18][19]
Final
Wagner became the first team to win three road games and take the NEC tournament title and, as the no. 6 seed, matched the lowest seeded team to ever capture the NEC crown with a 54–47 victory at Merrimack. Tournament MVP Tahron Allen scored 22 points for the Seahawks and gave them an 11-point lead at 41–30 with his three-pointer with 12:38 to play. The Warriors responded with a 13–0 run, keyed by two Jordan McCoy three-pointers and capped by Bryan Etumnu's three-pointer, to take a 43–41 lead with 8:07 to play. With the sellout crowd in a frenzy, Wagner answered by holding Merrimack scoreless over the next six minutes while scoring eight points to take a 49–43 lead with 2:18 to play. After Allen's free throws put the Seahawks up, 51–45, with 1:10 on the clock, the Warriors' three-point attempts were all off the mark. McCoy hit a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to go to bring Merrimack within four points, but Javier Ezquerra sank a pair of charity tosses four seconds later to ice the game. Melvin Council Jr. had 12 points, and Keyontae Lewis scored eight points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Seahawks. Devon Savage had 16 points and six rebounds for the Warriors, and McCoy added 11 points. NEC Player of the Year, Jordan Derkack, played through an injury he suffered in Merrimack's semifinal game but was held to only four points. Merrimack was held to just one field goal over the final 8:07 and shot 30% from the floor, including 16% (10 for 38) from beyond the arc.[20][21]
Bracket
Teams were reseeded after each round with highest remaining seeds receiving home-court advantage.
