2026 NEC men's basketball tournament
American college basketball postseason tournament
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The 2026 NEC Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the NEC for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament took place over three dates between March 4 and 10, 2026, and all tournament games were played in the home arenas of the higher-seeded school. The winner, LIU, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
| 2026 NEC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Campus sites |
| Finals site | Steinberg Wellness Center Brooklyn, New York |
| Champions | LIU (7th title) |
| Winning coach | Rod Strickland (1st title) |
| MVP | Greg Gordon (LIU) |
| Television | ESPN2, YES/NESN Nation/ESPN+, NEC Front Row |
NEC men's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LIU † | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Connecticut | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercyhurst * | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 17 | – | 17 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Le Moyne * | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Haven ** | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stonehill | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 12 | – | 21 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fairleigh Dickinson | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wagner | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Francis | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 7 | – | 24 | .226 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 NEC tournament winner * ineligible for the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II ** ineligible for both the 2026 NEC tournament and the 2026 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This was also the first men's tournament held under the "NEC" name. On October 2, 2025, the conference changed its name from the Northeast Conference to its longstanding initialism of NEC.[1]
Seeds
Eight of the conference's ten teams qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference,[2] with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[3]
NOTE: New Haven was ineligible for this tournament due to its transition from NCAA Division II.
| Seed | School | Conference Record |
Tiebreaker 1 |
Tiebreaker 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LIU | 15–3 | ||
| 2 | Central Connecticut | 12–6 | ||
| 3 | Mercyhurst | 10–8 | 1–1 vs. Central Connecticut | |
| 4 | Le Moyne | 10–8 | 0–2 vs. Central Connecticut | |
| Inel | New Haven | 9–9 | ||
| 5 | Stonehill | 8–10 | 1–1 vs. Central Connecticut | 3–1 vs. Mercyhurst/Le Moyne |
| 6 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 8–10 | 1–1 vs. Central Connecticut | 2–2 vs. Mercyhurst/Le Moyne |
| 7 | Wagner | 8–10 | 0–2 vs. Central Connecticut | |
| 8 | Chicago State | 5–13 | 1–1 vs. Central Connecticut | |
| DNQ | Saint Francis | 5–13 | 0–2 vs. Central Connecticut |
Schedule
| Game[2] | Time * | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 4 | |||||
| 1 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 8 Chicago State at No. 1 LIU | 75–79 | 886 | NEC Front Row |
| 2 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 Wagner at No. 2 Central Connecticut | 70–60 | 2,105 | |
| 3 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson at No. 3 Mercyhurst | 61–70 | 1,027 | |
| 4 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 Stonehill at No. 4 Le Moyne | 81–71 | 781 | |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 7 | |||||
| 5 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 5 Stonehill at No. 3 Mercyhurst | 51–56 | 567 | YES/NESN Nation/ESPN+ |
| 6 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 7 Wagner at No. 1 LIU | 56–64 | 1,028 | |
| Final – Tuesday, March 10 | |||||
| 7 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 3 Mercyhurst at No. 1 LIU | 70–79 | 1,562 | ESPN2 |
| * Game times in ET; rankings denotes tournament seed | |||||
Bracket
Teams will be reseeded after each round with highest remaining seeds receiving home-court advantage.
| Quarterfinals March 4 NEC Front Row | Semifinals March 7 YES/NESN Nation/ESPN+ | Final March 10 ESPN2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | LIU | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Chicago State | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | LIU | 64 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Wagner | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Central Connecticut | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Wagner | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | LIU | 79 | ||||||||||||
| Pairings are reseeded after the quarterfinals. | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Mercyhurst | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Mercyhurst | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Mercyhurst | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Stonehill | 51 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Le Moyne | 71 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Stonehill | 81 | ||||||||||||
Source:
Game summaries
NOTE: all times are in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) for Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds; Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) for Final round
Quarterfinal Round
| No. 1 LIU 79, No. 8 Chicago State 75 | ||
| Scoring by half: 40–33, 39–42 | ||
| Pts: 21 – Porter-Brown Rebs: 7 – Gordon Asts: 6 – Davis |
Pts: 22 – Byard Rebs: 12 – Byard Asts: 5 – Ray | |
| Game 1 | ||
NEC Front Row |
March 4 7:00 p.m. |
| No. 2 Central Connecticut 60, No. 7 Wagner 70 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–31, 25–39 | ||
| Pts: 29 – Smith Jr. Rebs: 13 – Smith Jr. Asts: 2 – Tied (2) |
Pts: 18 – Awoke Rebs: 8 – Basil Asts: 3 – Awoke | |
| Game 2 | ||
William H. Detrick Gymnasium New Britain, Connecticut Attendance: 2,105 Referees: Ba, Deneen, McCloskey |
NEC Front Row |
March 4 7:00 p.m. |
| No. 3 Mercyhurst 70, No. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson 61 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–28, 35–33 | ||
| Pts: 20 – Tied (2) Rebs: 7 – Blunt Asts: 4 – Tied (2) |
Pts: 15 – Cox Rebs: 9 – Jackson Asts: 3 – Cox | |
| Game 3 | ||
Semifinal Round
| No. 3 Mercyhurst 56, No. 5 Stonehill 51 | ||
| Scoring by half: 23–19, 33–32 | ||
| Pts: 17 – Johnson Rebs: 9 – Martin Asts: 3 – Tied (2) |
Pts: 21 – Hackett Rebs: 8 – Tutic Asts: 2 – Koffi | |
| Game 5 | ||
Mercyhurst Athletic Center Erie, Pennsylvania Attendance: 567 Referees: Barley, Downs, Tuomey |
Final Round
| No. 1 LIU 79, No. 3 Mercyhurst 70 | ||
| Scoring by half: 42–40, 37–30 | ||
| Pts: 24 – Tied (2) Rebs: 13 – Fuller Asts: 5 – Fuller |
Pts: 26 – Blunt Rebs: 14 – Martin Asts: 8 – Lemelman | |
| Championship | ||
Steinberg Wellness Center Brooklyn, New York Attendance: 1,562 Referees: Corbett Jr., Cruz, Kitts |
Awards and honors
- All-Tournament Team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Bernie Blunt III | Mercyhurst |
| Malachi Davis | LIU |
| Greg Gordon (MVP) | LIU |
| Davante Hackett | Stonehill |
| Quadir Martin | Mercyhurst |
MVP denotes Most Valuable Player
Source: [4]
Statistics
- Source:
Tournament highlights
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
LIU was guaranteed the NEC bid regardless of the outcome as Mercyhurst was ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to being in transition from Division II.