COLONIA, N.J. – The 2026 East Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals are set after first-round play on Wednesday night.
In the first round, sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan pulled the big upset, defeating third-seeded College of Staten Island 79-76 on the road, while fifth-seeded D’Youville University won its first ECC playoff game in men’s basketball with a road win over fourth-seeded Molloy University 86-80.
With the wins, Roberts Wesleyan will take on second-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Daemen University, while D’Youville will take on top-seeded Daemen at 5 p.m. in the semis.
No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan 79, No. 3 Staten Island 76 – Box Score
The Redhawks rallied from an early first-half deficit and trailed by as much as 18 points in the second half before rallying for the road win.
Khalik Gardner had 20 points in the win for RWU, while Jordan Brown had 14 points. Collin Woods and Mohamed Soumahoro each grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
For the Dolphins, Eric Tynes had a game-high 21 points, with Aaron Goldstein adding in 17 points.
Roberts Wesleyan shot 51.9 percent from the field in the second half, including a 5-for-8 clip from the three-point line.
With the Dolphins leading 54-36 with 16:04 left in the game, the Redhawks went on a 35-18 scoring run to tie the score at 71-all with 3:33 left on a Gardner dunk.
Soumahoro had a three-point play with 2:21 left to give Roberts Wesleyan a 74-71 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish.
A three-point play by Goldstein with 27 seconds left got the Dolphins within one, but they could not get any closer.
No. 5 D’Youville 86, No. 4 Molloy 80 – Box Score
The Saints, playing in its first ECC Men’s Basketball playoff game, made the most of it as Justin Moore and Elisha Warren each scored 24 points in the win.
The Saints led by as much as 11 points in the second half as Warren grabbed ten rebounds and five assists.
For Molloy, who led at halftime and by eight points with 17:38 left in the second, Chris Stokel had 21 points with Dylan Kopp getting 15.
Jared Weakly had nine rebounds for Molloy and five blocks.
D’Youville took the lead for good at 50-48 with 15:02 left on a three-point play by Moore. It was a personal 8-0 run for Moore and his pull-up jumper with 14:25 left gave the Saints a 52-48 lead.
Molloy got back in one at 66-65 with 6:32 left on a pair of foul shots by Bryce Merchant, but a Moore three-pointer with 6:12 left gave the Saints a 69-65 lead.
Prior to the game, Molloy sophomore Joshua Malcolm was honored as the ECC Elite 20 Winner for Men’s Basketball. Modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, this award is presented to a competing student-athlete with the highest-grade point average in each of the conference's 20 championships. Malcolm has compiled a 3.94 GPA as an accounting major.