Entering the penultimate week of Northeast Conference play, things were becoming clearer in what has been a wide-open conference all season. Six teams had separated themselves from the bottom of the pack, nearly ensuring they would have a chance to punch their ticket to the Big Dance by winning the conference tournament.

But where things were less clear was at the bottom, where four teams sat within two games of each other.

LIU Brooklyn entered with the advantage, with a one-game lead over eighth place. The Blackbirds were faced with the toughest two-game stretch in the NEC: the Pennsylvania road trip, where they would take on Robert Morris, and conference-leading Saint Francis (PA).

The Blackbirds could not even muster 50 points against Robert Morris, dropping them a game closer to the brink of missing the postseason.

But they turned it around against Saint Francis (PA). Despite a late-game run by the Red Flash, the Blackbirds were able to hold off the conference favorites and improve to 7-9 in NEC play. The Blackbirds control their own destiny and will host Central Connecticut and Bryant, two teams also seeking the final two spots.

As for Bryant, they took down Wagner at home, completing the season sweep. They then hosted Mount Saint Mary’s who could have tied them in the standings with a win. However, the Bulldogs dominated the Mountaineers in a 23-point trouncing.

Bryant will head to Saint Francis (BKN) on Thursday before hosting LIU Brooklyn on Saturday. Not only will the Bulldogs have a chance to secure their spot in the tournament, but they could also even pass LIU for the seventh seed.

CCSU entered the week tied with Bryant for the final spot. They faced a nearly must-win game against the Mount on Thursday in New Britain. Despite a strong first half showing, the Blue Devils fell apart in the second half as their postseason hopes began to slip.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils when they hosted Sacred Heart on Saturday, they were without star forward Tyler Kohl as well as sixth-man Joe Hugley, who was suspended indefinitely following an incident on the bench against the Mount. Despite hanging with the Pioneers, the Blue Devils were unable to pull off the upset.

As for the Mount, their win against CCSU left them a game out of the final playoff spot. However, they were handled by Bryant, unable to officially enter the tournament field, at least for the time being.

CCSU and the Mount now sit 5-11 in conference play, two games out of the final playoff spot with that many games remaining. Both teams will need to win their remaining games, at the very least, to qualify for the tournament.

The Blue Devils will have to win at LIU Brooklyn and home against Fairleigh Dickinson, whom they were defeated by in previous meetings. CCSU will have an even greater task with Kohl and Hugley’s statuses up in the air.

As for the Mount, they will host FDU and then travel to SFBK. Like CCSU, they lost to both opponents in earlier matchups.

Though these teams would face an uphill battle should they qualify for the tournament, things have been so unpredictable in the conference that any team that gets hot has a chance to hoist the conference championship trophy in just a mere two weeks.