2026 NEC men's basketball tournament

2026 NEC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2025–26
Teams8
SiteCampus sites
Finals siteSteinberg Wellness Center
Brooklyn, New York
ChampionsLIU (7th title)
Winning coachRod Strickland (1st title)
MVPGreg Gordon (LIU)
TelevisionESPN2, YES/NESN Nation/ESPN+, NEC Front Row
NEC men's basketball tournaments
2025–26 NEC men's basketball standings
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

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.

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 will qualify for the tournament. Teams will be 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 their 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

March 4
7:00 p.m. EST
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
Steinberg Wellness Center
Brooklyn, New York
Attendance: 886
Referees: Moyer, Ruppenthal, Stallworth
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
Mercyhurst Athletic Center
Erie, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,027
Referees: Caswell, Crum, Mooney
NEC Front Row
March 4
7:00 p.m.
No. 4 Le Moyne 71, No. 5 Stonehill 81
Scoring by half: 32–39, 39–42
Pts: 15 – Rainwater
Rebs: 10 – Tied (2)
Asts: 3 – Tied (3)		 Pts: 26 – Hackett
Rebs: 8 – Koffi
Asts: 7 – Sunderland
Game 4
Merkert Gymnasium
Easton, Massachusetts
Attendance: 781
Referees: Burton, Corbett Jr., Mallios

Semifinal Round

March 7
12:00 p.m. EST
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
YES/
NESN Nation/
ESPN+
March 7
2:00 p.m.
No. 1 LIU 64, No. 7 Wagner 56
Scoring by half: 23–23, 41–33
Pts: 19 – Gordon
Rebs: 13 – Lasu
Asts: 3 – Gordon		 Pts: 27 – Jones
Rebs: 9 – Basil
Asts: 3 – Basil
Game 6
Steinberg Wellness Center
Brooklyn, New York
Attendance: 1,028
Referees: Pagano, Powell, Sallustio Jr.

Final Round

March 10
7:00 p.m. EDT
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.

References

  1. ^ "New Look, Same Mission: NEC Begins Fresh Chapter". necsports.com. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  2. ^ a b "2026 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Championship". Northeast Conference. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  3. ^ "NEC Men's Basketball Tiebreaker Procedure". Northeast Conference. February 24, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  4. ^ "Fins Up! LIU Cuts Down the Nets for Seventh NEC Men's Basketball Crown". NEC Sports. March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
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