Central Connecticut State seemingly had every advantage leading up to the Northeast Conference tournament final. The Blue Devils finished atop the regular season standings with a sparkling 14-2 record in league play, were riding a 14-game winning streak that was the longest in the country and got to play the title game in their home gym.
THE RED FLASH SURVIVE‼️
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2025
St. Francis hangs on to defeat Central Connecticut and clinch the NEC championship 🏆 pic.twitter.com/x2gI6EsH9H
Instead, it’ll be the St. Francis (PA) that will represent the NEC when the brackets are announced for the NCAA tournament on Sunday. The Red Flash won an ugly, low-scoring game against CCSU by a score of 46-43. Daemar Kelly hit the game-winning shot with nine seconds remaining; a free throw at the end sealed the victory. Juan Cranford Jr. led the Red Flash with 14 points, but no other player on the team had more than nine as the team overall struggled to score. St. Francis (PA) will head to the Big Dance with a losing record of 16-17.
I’m truly gutted for Central Connecticut State. 25 wins. Dominated the conference. No tournament.
— Theater In College Hoops (@CBBTheater) March 12, 2025
They quite literally saved their worst offensive performance of the season for the biggest game of the season🥺
With a NET rating of 308 (out of 364 teams), they will almost certainly be one of the lowest seeds in the tournament and play in one of the First Four games in Dayton as a 16 seed. It’s unlikely St. Francis will care where they end up; this will be their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1991 and will be thrilled to be there.
In the NEC Championship Game tonight:
— Jared Berson (@JaredBerson) March 12, 2025
- St. Francis’s largest lead was 4 points
- Central Connecticut’s largest lead was 2 points
Per KenPom, it’s the first Division I game played entirely with the margin within a window of 6 or fewer points since March 8, 2015.
For the Blue Devils, Tuesday night was a painful reminder of how quickly a dream season for a non-power conference school can come to an end (although they may get an invite to a different post-season tournament). CCSU bottomed out in the 2019/2020 season with a record of 4-27 but has since climbed into the upper echelon of NEC teams. They were ranked almost 150 spots better than St. Francis (PA) in the NET ratings and was a 10.5-point favorite but couldn’t pull away from the Red Flash. They shot 30% from the field and a paltry 17% from three-point range.
Now, CCST will have to wait until next year to try to get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.