2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball team

2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball
NEC Regular Season Champions
NIT, First round
Conference	Northeast Conference
Record	23–12 (15–3 NEC)
Head coach	Glenn Braica (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Clive Bentick (8th season) Ron Ganulin (2nd season) Jamaal Womack (2nd season)
Home arena	Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Madison Square Garden
Seasons ← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Terrier's home games were played at the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex. They also hosted one home game at Madison Square Garden, defeating Central Connecticut in the second game of a double header that saw St. John's defeat Marquette. The team has been a member of the Northeast Conference since 1981. St. Francis Brooklyn was coached by Glenn Braica, who was in his fifth year at the helm of the Terriers and has made the NEC Tournament each year.

The Terriers, for the first time in the program's history, were selected as the preseason 2014–15 NEC favorites by league head coaches. The program was also selected to participate in the 3rd annual 2014 Barclays Center Classic and faced Rutgers, LaSalle, Norfolk State and Tennessee State. The Terriers went 1–3, winning the consolation game of the Campus Site Bracket. St. Francis Brooklyn ended the non-conference portion of their schedule at 6–7 after opening the season with a five-game losing streak.

On January 31, 2015, the Terriers gained sole possession of 1st place in the NEC after defeating LIU Brooklyn in the annual

In the NEC Tournament, the Terriers defeated LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis (PA) to reach the Championship game, where they lost to Robert Morris and thus did not secure the NEC's automatic NCAA tournament bid. They did participate in the National Invitational Tournament by virtue of having won the NEC regular season championship. It was the program's first NIT postseason appearance since 1963. The Terriers traveled to Richmond, Virginia to face the Spiders and lost 74–84 in the first round of the NIT. The Terriers ended their season at 23–12 overall, tying the program's record for wins in a season last set in 1953–54.

Having fallen just one game short of qualifying for the NCAA tournament, St. Francis remained one of five teams to have never appeared in any NCAA tournament despite being eligible for every edition since the inaugural tournament in 1939 (Northwestern qualified in 2017 to leave just four teams with this distinction.)

Preseason

The Terriers lost three players to graduation:

The Terriers added 8 players to their roster: Keon Williams, Glenn Sanabria, Gunnar Ólafsson, Chris Hooper, Antonio Jenifer, Jonathan Doss, Marlon Alcindor and Tyreek Jewell. For the 2014–15 season Keon Williams, Jonathan Doss and Marlon Alcindor were redshirts.

• Sanabria, a 5 ft 11" point guard from St. Peter's Boys High School on Staten Island, averaged 13.6 points per game and led St. Peter's to the Catholic league semifinals, the furthest a Staten Island team has gone in over a decade, and the school's first Staten Island High School League crown since 2009.^[2]
• Ólafsson, a 6'2" wing has played for Keflavík in his native Iceland for the past two seasons.^[3] He averaged 8.9 points and 2.8 rebounds this past year under former Terrier assistant coach Andy Johnston.
• The 6'6" Hooper prepped at Satellite Academy before playing one season at both Kaskaskia College and at Odessa College.^[3] Hooper, who averaged 12.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in his senior year at Satellite Academy will have two years of eligibility at St. Francis Brooklyn.
• Jewell is a 6' 1"
  Bronx, New York and has 2 years of eligibility for St. Francis. Jewell previously played for Jamestown Community College and is a 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Second Team All-American.^[4]
• Doss is a 6’4” wing who will provide the Terriers with another option from behind the arc. Last season, the native of Chicago, Illinois shot 40% from long distance en route to averaging 18 points per game for Eastern Wyoming Community College.
• The 6’7” Jenifer was an NJCAA All-American at Hagerstown Community College during his sophomore season in 2012–13 after averaging 21 points per game while pulling down eight rebounds and shooting 47% in 33 games played.
• The 6’4” Williams, who was selected to play in the Kentucky/Indiana All-Stars boys’ All-Stars contest at Rupp Arena, scored more than 1,000 points in his career at John Hardin High School and finished fourth on the school's all-time scoring list. He averaged 18.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game last year.
• Alcindor is a 6’4” forward that played his final high school season at High School for Construction where he led his team to a 20–3 record in 2013–2014, with 18.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg.

In Glenn Braica's first four seasons, the Terriers have made the NEC tournament each year. Going into this season Braica has a combined 60–62 overall record and 39–31 conference record. Last year the Terriers earned the fifth seed in the conference, yet for the fourth season in a row the Terriers were eliminated in the quarterfinals. The Terriers, for the first time in the program's history as members of the NEC, were selected as the preseason 2014–15 NEC favorites by league head coaches.[5] St. Francis Brooklyn claimed six first-place votes to finish ahead of Central Connecticut, which earned three first place nods. Braica, now in his fifth year, has stressed defense and rebounding since taking over the program in 2010. Last season, St. Francis Brooklyn led the NEC in scoring defense (66.8) and rebound margin (+3.2/game). They also ranked second in field goal percentage defense (.410), three-point percentage defense (.333) and blocked shots (5.3).^[5]

Regular season

Non-conference games

November

The Terriers opened their schedule on the road against Georgetown, where they were looking to upset in the season opener as they did last year against then reigning ACC Champions Miami (FL). The Terriers ended up losing 83–62 to the Hoyas and the all-time series between the programs is tied at 1–1; the other time they met was during the 1952–53 season in which the Terriers defeated the Hoyas 77–52.^[6] Senior Guard Brent Jones led the team in points (13), assists (6) and steals (4,) but also led in turnovers (8). In the Terriers homecoming game, they hosted the Army Black Knights for Military Appreciation Day. The Terriers were led by a strong performance from Cannon, who had his season first double-double, as the game came down to the wire but in the end they lost 71–74.^[7] St. Francis then traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey to face the Scarlet Knights as part of the Barclays Center Classic field where they lost 73–76. For the third game in a row the Terriers out-rebounded their opponents but also turned the ball over 17, 20 and 21 times respectively for a 3-game losing streak. Against Rutgers, St. Francis almost pulled out the upset as they were leading with 1:09 to play yet they came up short and were not helped by Cannon's foul trouble limiting him to playing only 12 minutes. The Terriers were aided by surprising performances from newcomers Jewel, Jennifer and Hooper, as Douglas led the team in points and rebounds. At La Salle the Terriers losing streak increased to 4, as they were defeated 60–73. The Terriers were led by Brent Jones (13 Pts, 3 Ast, 2 Reb and 3 Stl) and Jalen Cannon (11 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl and 1 Blk) yet they could not stop La Salle's Jordan Price, who scored 30 points. St. Francis then traveled to Jersey City, New Jersey to participate in the campus portion of the Barclays Center Classic at the Yanitelli Center, home of the Saint Peter's Peacocks. In the opening round they faced Norfolk State losing 70–72 in overtime, as they were led by Jalen Cannon (23 Pts, 9 Reb and 3 Stl).^[8] The loss extended the Terriers losing streak to 5 games making it the first time since the 2011–12 season that they opened a season 0–5. The Terriers five opponents have a combined 19–6 record thus far and the Terriers have lost three of the five contests by three points or less. With the loss the Terriers then faced Tennessee State in the consolation game of the Barclays Center Classic, where they won 59–57 for their first victory of the season.^[9] The team was again led by Jalen Cannon (15 Pts, 14 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk) with help from Brent Jones and Kevin Douglas. The Terriers closed out the month 1–5, playing 5 games away from the Pope.

December

St. Francis extended its win streak to 2 games by defeating Liberty 65–54, as they were led by Cannon's and Jones' 16 points apiece.^[10] The Terriers then snapped their win streak with a 66–68 loss to NJIT, which had just come off defeating then #17 ranked Michigan.^[11] St. Francis next faced Mount St. Vincent at home where they won 90–72 as they were led by Brent Jones (25 Pts, 6 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Stl) and Jalen Cannon (18 Pts, 12 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 5 Blk).^[12] For only the third time so far this season the Terriers played at home, against Delaware State where they lost 64–72.^[13] The Terriers were once again led by Jalen Cannon (16 Pts, 10 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk) who recorded his fifth double-double of the season. The squad was stagnant on offense, only shooting 37% from the floor and 14% from 3-point range and their defense while solid, out rebounding the Hornets by a 45–25 margin, could not slow down Delaware State senior Amere May, who scored 48 points (an NCAA D-I season high).^[13] The Terriers then went on a three-game win streak to close out their non-conference schedule by defeating Florida Atlantic, Monmouth and Columbia. Against Florida Atlantic, St. Francis won 61–56 as they were led by Cannon (17 Pts, 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl). Florida Atlantic had won its previous 4 contest prior to losing to St. Francis in a close contest.^[14] At Monmouth the Terriers were again led by Cannon (16 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk) who has an NEC-leading seven "double-doubles" and became the Terriers' all-time leader in made free throws and now has 340 for his career. St. Francis defeated the Hawks 71–46 in their most lopsided victory of the season.^[15] St. Francis closed out their non-conference schedule by hosting Columbia and defeating them 72–64.^[16] St. Francis Brooklyn led from start to finish en route to perhaps their most impressive victory of the season as they answered every run by the visitors and were led by Brent Jones (19 Pts, 2 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl) and Jalen Cannon (15 Pts, 12 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Blk). The Terriers closed out the month at 5–2 and 6–7 overall.

Northeast Conference games

January

St. Francis Brooklyn, who trailed by as many as 18 points late in the first half against

The Terriers opened the month with 7 victories and extended their win streak to nine games, their longest of the season. At Central Connecticut, the Terriers won 90–81 matching their season-high point total. St. Francis Brooklyn was led by Jalen Cannon's career-high 35 points and 13 rebounds, which led to him becoming the Terriers' all-time leading rebounder (1,028) surpassing Jerome Williams. He also became just the second player in NEC and first player in program history with at least 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.[27] Teammate Brent Jones (14 points, 7 assists) joined the 1,000 point club and became the first player in St. Francis Brooklyn history with 1,000 points and 500 assists.^[27] At Wagner, St. Francis Brooklyn won 66–51 behind Jalen Cannon's game-high 29 points. Cannon also became the Northeast Conference all-time leader in rebounds by surpassing Justin Rutty's (Quinnipiac, 2007-2011) previous mark of 1,032 rebounds with a rebound early in the second-half.^[28] The Terriers faced the Seahawks again at The Pope and defeated them 83–66, behind another big performance by Jalen Cannon (26 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk).^[29] St. Francis Brooklyn then hosted Sacred Heart and won 71–62, this time led by Chris Hooper (16 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Stl, 3 Blk).^[30] With the win, the Terriers were in first place with a 3-game lead and 4 games left to play in the season. The Terriers then faced Fairleigh Dickinson at The Pope and won 70–54 behind Jalen Cannon's 27-point performance. The win was not the squads prettiest as they shot 38.5% from the field but the Terriers were able to out-rebound the Knights by 33 caroms.^[31] With the win the Terriers are 19–9 and have won 19 of their last 23 outings. St. Francis Brooklyn then clinched the NEC Regular Season Championship with their twentieth win of the season against the Saint Francis Red Flash, 66–54. It is the Terriers third NEC Regular Season Championship and their first since the 2003-04 season, with it they have home court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament. Against the Red Flash, the Terriers were led by the senior duo of Jalen Cannon (23 Pts, 15 Reb, 1 Ast) and Brent Jones (15 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl), who were honored before the game along with Kevin Douglas and Lowell Ulmer on Senior Night.^[32] The Terriers next traveled to LIU Brooklyn and won 74–69 in overtime as they were led by Jalen Cannon (26 Pts, 15 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Blk) who became the programs all-time leading scorer in his effort.^[33] St Francis Brooklyn closed out their regular season at Bryant where they were dealt a 51–61 loss. The team was led by Kevin Douglas (13 Pts, 6 Reb, 1 Blk) and team leader Jalen Cannon only saw 10 minutes of action in the contest.^[34] The Terriers closed out the month 7–1, 21–10 overall, and 15–3 in conference play. They will host 8th seed LIU Brooklyn in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals.

NEC Tournament

Prior to the beginning of the conference tournament, the NEC announced Glenn Braica as the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year, Jalen Cannon as the NEC Player of the Year and Amdy Fall as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year. Heading into the tournament the Terriers have a 10–26 all-time record and have appeared in two championships but have yet to win it all. On Wednesday March 4, the Terriers defeated the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds in the NEC Quarterfinals, 79–70 behind a 31-point performance from senior guard Brent Jones.^[35] It marks the programs first NEC Quarterfinals win since the 2002–03 season and their 22nd victory on the year. The Terriers then faced Saint Francis (PA) in the semifinals where they won 62–48 behind Jalen Cannon's 20th double-double of the season (20 Pts, 11 Rebs).^[36] With the win, the Terriers tied their program record for victories in a single-season, 23, first set in the 1953–54 season. In the championship game the Terriers lost to Robert Morris, 63–66.^[37] The team was led by Tyreek Jewell (19 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk) and by Jalen Cannon (10 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Stl).

Post-season Tournament

By virtue of having won the NEC regular season championship, the Terriers will participate in the National Invitational tournament. It is the programs first NIT postseason appearance since 1963 and they will travel to face top-seeded Richmond in the first round. The Terriers put up a good fight and were down by 2 points with less than 3 minutes to play but they lost 74–84, behind impressive performances from Brent Jones (19 Pts, 4 Reb, 5 Ast) and Chris Hooper (16 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl).^[38]

Roster

2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Brent Jones 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Bedford Academy High School Bronx, New York F 23 Lowell Ulmer 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Staten Island Technical High School Staten Island, New York F 5 Jalen Cannon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr William Allen High School Allentown, Pennsylvania G/F 34 Kevin Douglas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Frederick Douglass Academy Bronx, New York F 15 Chris Hooper 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Odessa College Bronx, New York F/C 32 Amdy Fall 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr College of Central Florida Manhattan, New York G 30 Edon Molic 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr St. Anthony High School Brooklyn, New York G/F 0 Tyreek Jewell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Jamestown Community College Bronx, New York G/F 14 Jonathan Doss  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Eastern Wyoming College Chicago, Illinois F 3 Antonio Jenifer 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Hagerstown Community College Hillcrest Heights, Maryland G 2 Yunus Hopkinson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Lee Academy Manhattan, New York G 10 Glenn Sanabria 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr St. Peter's Boys High School Staten Island, New York G/F 4 Gunnar Ólafsson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Reykjavik, Iceland F 13 Keon Williams  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr John Hardin High School Atlanta, Georgia F 21 Marlon Alcindor  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr High School for Construction East Elmhurst, New York	Head coach Glenn Braica (Queens College '89) Assistant coach(es) Clive Bentick ( Canisius '01 ) Ron Ganulin (LIU '68) Jamaal Womack (St. Francis '09) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 20, 2014

Schedule and results

Season statistics

Awards and honors

Glenn Braica

• Named the 2015 NEC Jim Phelan Coach of the Year
• Named the 2015 Peter J. Carlesimo Co-Coach of the Year

Jalen Cannon

• Selected to the 2014–15 Preseason All-NEC Team by NEC Coaches Poll.^[41]
• Named to the Barclays Classic All-Tournament Team.
• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (November 24–30, 2014). Cannon posted a pair of double-doubles and averaged 16.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals in St. Francis Brooklyn's three contests against LaSalle, Norfolk State, and Tennessee State.^[42]
• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (December 22–28, 2014). Against Monmouth Cannon posted his fourth double-double in a row with 16 points and 13 rebounds.^[43]
• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (December 29, 2014 – January 4, 2015). Cannon's NEC-best third Player of the Week nod comes after a 3–0 week for the Terriers. He averaged 14.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 blocks and shot 50.0 percent from the field for St. Francis Brooklyn in those 3 contests.
• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (February 2, 2015 – February 8, 2015). Cannon averaged 32.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg and 2.0 apg in two wins, while shooting 67.6 percent from the field and 62.5 percent (5-8) from long distance in the best two-game scoring stretch of his career.^[44]
• Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week honors (February 2, 2015 – February 8, 2015).^[45]
• Metropolitan Writers Association Player of the Week (February 2, 2015 – February 8, 2015).
• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (February 16–22, 2015). Cannon averaged 25.0 points and 15.0 rebounds, while shooting 61.3 percent from the floor and a perfect 11–11 from the line as the Terriers clinched their first NEC regular season championship since the 2003–04 season.
• Selected to the 2014–15 NEC men's basketball All-Conference first team.
• 2014–15 NEC Player of the Year.
• Selected to the NEC All-Tournament Team.
• Selected to the All-Met Division I First Team.
• AP Honorable mention All-American.

Brent Jones

• NEC men's basketball Player of the Week award (January 12–18, 2015). He averaged 21.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals, while converting at a 60.0 percent rate from the field and 54.5 percent clip (6-11) from long distance against Robert Morris and Saint Francis University.^[46]
• Madness Mid-Major Northeast Conference Players of the Week award (January 12–18, 2015).^[47]
• Selected to the 2014–15 NEC men's basketball All-Conference first team.
• Selected to the NEC All-Tournament Team.
• Selected to the All-Met Division I Third Team.

Amdy Fall

• 2014–15 NEC Defensive Player of the Year.
• 8th in country with 3.0 blocks per game

Program and Conference All-Time records

Jalen Cannon

• All-time leader in made free throws with 342 (vs Monmouth on December 23, 2014).
• Second player in program history and fourth in Northeast Conference history to record 1,000 rebounds (vs Mount St. Mary's on January 29, 2015).
• Exceeded 1,500 career points and became the first player in program history and second in Northeast Conference history to record 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds (vs Central Connecticut on February 5, 2015).
• All-time rebounds leader in program history with 1,019 (vs Central Connecticut on February 5, 2015).
• All-time rebounds leader in Northeast Conference history with 1,033 (vs Wagner on February 7, 2015).
• All-time scoring leader in program history with 1,663 (vs LIU Brooklyn on February 26, 2015)

Brent Jones

• Second player in program history to record 500 points and 500 assists (vs Bryant on January 5, 2015).
• All-time assists leader in program history with 535 (vs Robert Morris on January 24, 2015)
• Exceeded 1,000 career points and became the first player in program history to record 1,000 points and 500 assists (vs Central Connecticut on February 5, 2015).

See also

• 2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers women's basketball team

References