The 2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Terrier's home games were played at the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex. They also hosted one home game at Madison Square Garden, defeating Central Connecticut in the second game of a double header that saw St. John's defeat Marquette. The team has been a member of the Northeast Conference since 1981. St. Francis Brooklyn was coached by Glenn Braica, who was in his fifth year at the helm of the Terriers and has made the NEC Tournament each year.
The Terriers, for the first time in the program's history, were selected as the preseason 2014–15 NEC favorites by league head coaches. The program was also selected to participate in the 3rd annual 2014 Barclays Center Classic and faced Rutgers, LaSalle, Norfolk State and Tennessee State. The Terriers went 1–3, winning the consolation game of the Campus Site Bracket. St. Francis Brooklyn ended the non-conference portion of their schedule at 6–7 after opening the season with a five-game losing streak.
On January 31, 2015, the Terriers gained sole possession of 1st place in the NEC after defeating LIU Brooklyn in the annual Battle of Brooklyn. For St. Francis Brooklyn, it marked the first time being in first place after 10 games since starting 8–2 in the 2003–04 season. That year the Terriers finished 12–6 and shared the NEC regular season title with Monmouth. On February 21, 2015, the Terriers clinched the NEC Regular Season Championship and recorded their first 20+ win season since the 1998–99 season. Prior to the beginning of the NEC Tournament, the NEC announced Glenn Braica as the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year, Jalen Cannon as the NEC Player of the Year and Amdy Fall as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year.
In the NEC Tournament, the Terriers defeated LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis (PA) to reach the Championship game, where they lost to Robert Morris and thus did not secure the NEC's automatic NCAA tournament bid. They did participate in the National Invitational Tournament by virtue of having won the NEC regular season championship. It was the program's first NIT postseason appearance since 1963. The Terriers traveled to Richmond, Virginia to face the Spiders and lost 74–84 in the first round of the NIT. The Terriers ended their season at 23–12 overall, tying the program's record for wins in a season last set in 1953–54.
Having fallen just one game short of qualifying for the NCAA tournament, St. Francis remained one of five teams to have never appeared in any NCAA tournament despite being eligible for every edition since the inaugural tournament in 1939 (Northwestern qualified in 2017 to leave just four teams with this distinction.)
Preseason The Terriers lost three players to graduation: shooting guard Ben Mockford, center Matt Milk, and forward Aleksander Isailovic. The biggest loss was Mockford, who led the team in 3-point shooting and was second in scoring last season. The Terriers also lost 4 players to transfers: Anthony White, P.J. Santavenere, Wayne Martin and Sheldon Hagigal. These four players were suspended last year because of misconduct and their transfers may be related to the event. Martin, Hagigal and White were critical components to last year's team.
The Terriers added 8 players to their roster: Keon Williams, Glenn Sanabria, Gunnar Ólafsson, Chris Hooper, Antonio Jenifer, Jonathan Doss, Marlon Alcindor and Tyreek Jewell. For the 2014–15 season Keon Williams, Jonathan Doss and Marlon Alcindor were redshirts. Sanabria, a 5 ft 11" point guard from St. Peter's Boys High School on Staten Island, averaged 13.6 points per game and led St. Peter's to the Catholic league semifinals, the furthest a Staten Island team has gone in over a decade, and the school's first Staten Island High School League crown since 2009. Ólafsson, a 6'2" wing has played for Keflavík in his native Iceland for the past two seasons. He averaged 8.9 points and 2.8 rebounds this past year under former Terrier assistant coach Andy Johnston. The 6'6" Hooper prepped at Satellite Academy before playing one season at both Kaskaskia College and at Odessa College. Hooper, who averaged 12.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in his senior year at Satellite Academy will have two years of eligibility at St. Francis Brooklyn. Jewell is a 6' 1" wing from the Bronx, New York and has 2 years of eligibility for St. Francis. Jewell previously played for Jamestown Community College and is a 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Second Team All-American. Doss is a 6’4” wing who will provide the Terriers with another option from behind the arc. Last season, the native of Chicago, Illinois shot 40% from long distance en route to averaging 18 points per game for Eastern Wyoming Community College. The 6’7” Jenifer was an NJCAA All-American at Hagerstown Community College during his sophomore season in 2012–13 after averaging 21 points per game while pulling down eight rebounds and shooting 47% in 33 games played. The 6’4” Williams, who was selected to play in the Kentucky/Indiana All-Stars boys’ All-Stars contest at Rupp Arena, scored more than 1,000 points in his career at John Hardin High School and finished fourth on the school's all-time scoring list. He averaged 18.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game last year. Alcindor is a 6’4” forward that played his final high school season at High School for Construction where he led his team to a 20–3 record in 2013–2014, with 18.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ben Mockford 3 G 6'2" 175 Senior Shoreham-by-Sea, England Graduated, named to Great Britain's senior squad for the EuroBasket and signed with Cáceres of the Spanish LEB Plata league. Matt Milk 33 C 6'8" 220 Senior Wantagh, New York Graduated Aleksander Isailovic 25 G 6'4" 185 Senior Belgrade, Serbia Graduated Anthony White 44 G 6'2" 190 Sophomore Mastic, New York Transferred P.J. Santavenere 11 G 6'2" 175 Junior Middletown, Connecticut Transferred to University of Bridgeport Sheldon Hagigal 43 G 6'1" 175 Freshman Westbury, New York Transferred to Midwestern State University Wayne Martin 45 F 6'6" 215 Freshman Brooklyn, New York Transferred to Tennessee State University
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Chris Hooper 15 F 6'6" 230 Junior Bronx, NY Junior college transfer from Odessa College Tyreek Jewell 0 G/F 6'1" 180 Junior Bronx, NY Junior college transfer from Jamestown Community College Jonathan Doss 14 G/F 6'4" 175 Junior Chicago, IL Junior college transfer from Eastern Wyoming College Antonio Jenifer 3 F 6'7" 215 Junior Hillcrest Heights, MD Junior college transfer from Hagerstown Community College
Class of 2014 signees
Season outlook In Glenn Braica's first four seasons, the Terriers have made the NEC tournament each year. Going into this season Braica has a combined 60–62 overall record and 39–31 conference record. Last year the Terriers earned the fifth seed in the conference, yet for the fourth season in a row the Terriers were eliminated in the quarterfinals. The Terriers, for the first time in the program's history as members of the NEC, were selected as the preseason 2014–15 NEC favorites by league head coaches. St. Francis Brooklyn claimed six first-place votes to finish ahead of Central Connecticut, which earned three first place nods. Braica, now in his fifth year, has stressed defense and rebounding since taking over the program in 2010. Last season, St. Francis Brooklyn led the NEC in scoring defense (66.8) and rebound margin (+3.2/game). They also ranked second in field goal percentage defense (.410), three-point percentage defense (.333) and blocked shots (5.3).
Regular season
Non-conference games
November
The Terriers opened their schedule on the road against Georgetown, where they were looking to upset in the season opener as they did last year against then reigning ACC Champions Miami (FL). The Terriers ended up losing 83–62 to the Hoyas and the all-time series between the programs is tied at 1–1; the other time they met was during the 1952–53 season in which the Terriers defeated the Hoyas 77–52. Senior Guard Brent Jones led the team in points (13), assists (6) and steals (4,) but also led in turnovers (8). In the Terriers homecoming game, they hosted the Army Black Knights for Military Appreciation Day. The Terriers were led by a strong performance from Cannon, who had his season first double-double, as the game came down to the wire but in the end they lost 71–74. St. Francis then traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey to face the Scarlet Knights as part of the Barclays Center Classic field where they lost 73–76. For the third game in a row the Terriers out-rebounded their opponents but also turned the ball over 17, 20 and 21 times respectively for a 3-game losing streak. Against Rutgers, St. Francis almost pulled out the upset as they were leading with 1:09 to play yet they came up short and were not helped by Cannon's foul trouble limiting him to playing only 12 minutes. The Terriers were aided by surprising performances from newcomers Jewel, Jennifer and Hooper, as Douglas led the team in points and rebounds. At La Salle the Terriers losing streak increased to 4, as they were defeated 60–73. The Terriers were led by Brent Jones (13 Pts, 3 Ast, 2 Reb and 3 Stl) and Jalen Cannon (11 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl and 1 Blk) yet they could not stop La Salle's Jordan Price, who scored 30 points. St. Francis then traveled to Jersey City, New Jersey to participate in the campus portion of the Barclays Center Classic at the Yanitelli Center, home of the Saint Peter's Peacocks. In the opening round they faced Norfolk State losing 70–72 in overtime, as they were led by Jalen Cannon (23 Pts, 9 Reb and 3 Stl). The loss extended the Terriers losing streak to 5 games making it the first time since the 2011–12 season that they opened a season 0–5. The Terriers five opponents have a combined 19–6 record thus far and the Terriers have lost three of the five contests by three points or less. With the loss the Terriers then faced Tennessee State in the consolation game of the Barclays Center Classic, where they won 59–57 for their first victory of the season. The team was again led by Jalen Cannon (15 Pts, 14 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk) with help from Brent Jones and Kevin Douglas. The Terriers closed out the month 1–5, playing 5 games away from the Pope.
December