We were unable to make it over to the WRAC for the NEC semifinal matchup between Long Island and Fairleigh Dickinson late night — we were busy watching Pam Halpert have a baby — so we were unable to watch what appears to have been a terrific game. The fourth-seeded Blackbirds outlasted the … let’s see … ah, yes, the Knights, 63–61, to advance to the Northeast Conference semifinals. The dream is still alive!
As is sometimes typical of NEC basketball, the ending was tight but not necessarily thrilling. Kenny Onyechi put in a layup with 1:48 remaining to give the Blackbirds the lead … and then no one else scored the rest of the game. Well, whatever works.
The NEC reseeds after each round of its tournament, but that won’t be necessary: The higher seeds won every game, which means our NYC Hoops Tour is officially over. There will be no more home games. The WRAC is retired until November. Long Island gets to keep playing, though. They’ll travel to play Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon, at 2 p.m., with the winner reaching the conference title game. Sunday’s game is actually on the MSG Network, so skip every other televised sporting event/pornographic film that might happen to be on, and watch that. Just two wins away. If Long Island makes it, just remember who was there first.