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2021 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament

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2021 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams4
SiteCampus sites
ChampionsMount St. Mary's (6th title)
Winning coachDan Engelstad (1st title)
MVPNana Opoku (Mount St. Mary's)
TelevisionNEC Front Row, ESPN3, ESPN2
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wagner 13 5   .722 13 7   .650
Bryant 10 4   .714 15 7   .682
Sacred Heart 9 7   .563 9 9   .500
Mount St. Mary's 9 7   .563 12 11   .522
Merrimack* 9 9   .500 9 9   .500
LIU 9 9   .500 9 9   .500
St. Francis Brooklyn 9 9   .500 9 10   .474
Fairleigh Dickinson 8 10   .444 9 15   .375
Saint Francis (PA) 5 13   .278 6 16   .273
Central Connecticut 5 13   .278 5 16   .238
* ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period
2021 NEC tournament winner

The 2021 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Northeast Conference for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament took place March 6 and 9, 2021 and all tournament games were played on home arenas of the higher-seeded school. The tournament winner received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Seeds

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Due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, only the top four teams in the Northeast Conference were eligible to compete in the conference tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[1]

  • Note: Merrimack College joined the Northeast Conference from Division II Northeast-10 Conference in 2019.[2] At the time, the NEC did not allow transitional D-I members to play in the conference tournament, meaning that Warriors would not have been eligible for the NEC Tournament until 2024. After the 2021–22 season, the NEC presidents voted to allow transitional members to compete in the conference tournament starting with their third transitional seasons, making Merrimack eligible for the tournament starting with the 2023 edition.[3]
  • Note: On February 28, Bryant announced they had canceled their final two regular season games against Mount St. Mary's because of positive COVID-19 results within Bryant's Tier 1 personnel and subsequent contact tracing. Bryant's status for the postseason had initially been uncertain, but they established their intent to compete in the tournament after meeting Rhode Island Department of Health guidelines. Bryant competed in its semifinal game with just seven players, one of whom was a walk-on.[4]
Seed School Conference Tiebreaker Tiebreaker 2
1 Wagner 13–5
2 Bryant 10–4
3 Sacred Heart 9–7 .450 strength of wins percentage
4 Mount St. Mary's 9–7 .425 strength of wins percentage

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Schedule and results

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Game Time [6] Matchup Score Television
Semifinals – Saturday, March 6
1 12:00 pm No. 3 Sacred Heart at No. 2 Bryant 55–85 ESPN3
2 2:00 pm No. 4 Mount St. Mary's at No. 1 Wagner 66–60
Final – Tuesday, March 9
3 7:00 pm No. 4 Mount St. Mary's at No. 2 Bryant 73–68 ESPN2
Game times in EST through Semifinals. Game times in EDT through Finals. Rankings denote tournament seed

[7]

Bracket and results

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Semifinals
Saturday, March 6, 2021
ESPN3
Championship
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
ESPN2
      
1 Wagner 60
4 Mount St. Mary's 66
4 Mount St. Mary's 73
2 Bryant 68
2 Bryant 85
3 Sacred Heart 55

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Northeast Conference Announces Basketball Regular Season & Tournament Format Changes".
  2. ^ "Northeast Conference - Merrimack College Accepts Invitation to Join Northeast Conference". northeastconference.org. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "2022 NEC Spring Meeting Recap" (Press release). Northeast Conference. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "Bryant rolls Sacred Heart, one win shy of NCAA Tournament". wpri.com. March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "#NECMBB Tiebreaker Scenarios". Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "2021 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship - Northeast Conference".
  7. ^ "2019 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship". Retrieved February 26, 2019.