And So It Ends...

The Nor'easters historic basketball season has officially come to an end with a loss in the NCAA Division III National Tournament to Farmingdale State. UNE probably played their worst game of the year, against the best opponent they have faced all year. Farmingdale out-rebounded, out-shot, and flat out out-hustled the Nor'easters. Those things rarely happened throughout the season, especially the latter of the three, but the Rams caught UNE on an off night.
The Nor'easters came out sluggish, allowing the Rams to get out to a 22-11 lead, and then exploding with seven minutes left in the half, extending their lead to 42-26 at intermission. UNE shot a disgusting 26% from the field, including 18% from beyond the arc during the first half, and could not get anything sort of rhythm going. The Nor'easters got away from their game, playing a slower half court offense and did not capitalize on Farmingdale turnovers.
The second half was better, but still not that great. UNE continued to be ice cold from downtown, but showed better effort attacking the paint. Juice Simpson led the way; not letting the Nor'easters lay down, and played the second half with a chip on his shoulder. Simpson, or "Birdman," scored all of his 17 points in the second frame, most of which coming by attacking the rim and fighting for second chance opportunities. Johnnie Jefferson could not find his stroke until late, connecting on a couple threes in the final minutes of the game, and TCCC Rookie of the Year, Quentin Thompson, struggled all game to score, finishing with 9 points.
The Rams showed off their height advantage and athleticism, out-rebounding the Nor'easters 53-30 and finished with an outstanding 52 points in the paint. Farmingdale also did a great job of playing the game at their pace, often out-running UNE, and really controlled the play all game long.
Despite ending the season with a loss, the Nor'easters had a truly outstanding season, winning the TCCC and setting a school record with 24 wins. Remember this is a program that had just five wins two years ago, and now their is a true passion about basketball on this campus. We look forward to the Blue and White being on the court in the 2009-2010 campaign.