The knights beat The college of Dupage 89- 66 on March 18th to claim fifth place in Northern Essex community college’s first appearance in the national NJCAA tournament. They finished the season 2-1 in tournament play and a 33-2 overall season record. Additionally, they secured a NJCAA region 21 and NJCAA East region district title.
An impressive performance by The Knights bench carried the bulk of the offense scoring 51 points. Darlin Santiago of Salem and Phillip Cunningham of Haverhill each scored 18 and 10 points.
Luis Reynoso of Lawarence recorded his 28th double-double of the season knocking down a team high 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The victory concludes the most successful season in the program’s history and the 20th season under head coach Darren Stratton.
After a loss in the quarterfinals The Knights rebounded on March 17th with a 67-62 victory over Mohawk Valley community college to advance to the 5th place game. This was their 32nd win in 34 games.
NJCAA’s first team all-region member Luis Reynoso of Lawarence recorded his 27th double-double of the season. Reynoso dropped 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Darlin Santiago added 12 points off the bench. Johnathon Ligisi of Hamilton, ON and Mehmet Asik of Ankara, Turkey added seven points each.
Defensively, Edwin SamMbaka of Paris, contributed holding Mohawk Valley to 34% shooting, well under their season average.
The Knights faced College of Dupage on March 18th at the Herkimer college campus for the right to claim 5th place in the NJCAA national tournament.
The Knights fell 69-67 against Northampton community college on March 16 in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA tournament. Down by two in the closing seconds of the game, Luis Reynoso of Lawarence attempted a shot from behind the arc that rimmed out as time expired ending their quest for a national championship.
The Knights jumped out to a fast 7-0 start. Northampton responded with an offensive burst of their own taking the lead on a 13-0 run. The Knights trailed by 11 points 17-28 midway through the half. NECC stormed back with an 12-1 run to even the score at 29-29. The Knights took a one-point deficit into halftime, 34-33.
The Knights took on Mohawk Valley college in the consolation round on March 17th at noon on the Herkimer campus.
For the first time in five years NECC students hit the slopes at Gunsmoke mountain in Gilford, N.H. for a skiing trip on March 10th. Nine students participated in the NECC athletics and recreation sponsored tripled by engineering professor Douglas Leaffer.Students enjoyed the trails on Gunsmoke mountain with both snowboards andskis. Professor Leafer is planning on chaperoning future trips to other skiing areas.
Students in photo are: L to R: (top row): Zak Nadar; Josh Leaffer, (Professor Doug Leaffer), Scotty Silva, Franzi Hoene, Ethan Doherty, Patrick Mattin, Edward Hoene Front row: Chris Drew, Lauren Rafferty Professor Douglas Leafer
Participants show off their paintings on their butterflies. Their artwork will be part of a migrating mural. Back row, from left to right: Carla Pojoy, Jenn Houle, Sara Tema, Sarah Pachano, Christina Penna,Emily Gonzalez and Rubi Camacho. Front row, from left to right: Kate Houle and Daniela Valdivia-Terres. Photo courtesy of George Mongeau
Plant Paint Cross Pollinate recently touched down on the Lawrence campus.
The positive environmental art project landed at the new art gallery in the Fournier building on Amesbury Street on Feb. 19.
Students, faculty and members of the public learned about the importance of Monarch butterflies as pollinators. They planted native seeds which they took home to start their own eco-garden to attract pollinators. Participants also painted native flowers on wooden canvas with the shape of native butterflies which will be part of an itinerant art expo throughout the Merrimack Valley.
The event was a fully enriched hands-on learning experience.
Jenn Houle, the creative mind and leader of this project, is an adjunct professor in the Art & Design Department. She introduced the audience to a range of pollinators like honeybees, wasps, beetles, moths and native butterflies.
These insects play a critical role in our food production system.
According to the USDA, three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.
That’s one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of a pollinator.
Fun fact: Some birds and bats are also pollinators. Bats also help to keep crops safe by consuming nightly mosquitos or forest pests saving billions of dollars in pest control.
Houle also educated us about native species to plant in our garden to create a habitat for pollinators.
With the promise of having a colorful garden when spring sprang, each participant put sole in small containers and chose among a flower plant list their favorite native seed to grow.
Even people like me that are far from being a green thumb, indeed even a cactus did not survive under my will, were cheerfully participating.
Taking pictures of the chosen plant description to learn about their care, carefully adding soil before and sand after planting their seeds and writing the scientific / common name of the plant on small sticks, were part of this amusing activity.
The event landed on the art main project to create awareness about the importance of these hard-working insects. The audience was encouraged to paint large-scale cut out butterfly signs. These anatomical shapes belong to the five families of butterflies found in Massachusetts: swallowtails, whites and sulphur’s, gossamer-wings, brush footed butterflies and skippers.
“I have no experience in drawing or painting, I am afraid to ruin it!” said one participant. However, Houle offered handouts with drawing and painting techniques and patiently directed each participant to draft with chalks and use acrylic paint fearlessly directly on the signs.
But why butterflies’ signs instead of bees or another pollinator? Houle explained, “I chose the butterfly because it is a powerful symbol of transformation, and nature’s ability to metamorphose into something else. Butterflies are beautiful, their life cycle is almost magical. They are a ‘charismatic species’ which are animals that scientists realize easily capture the public’s love, imagination, care or attention. Charismatic species are often beautiful or visually striking and help ease the entry and connection to environmental conservation issues. I want to support all pollinators, and the seeds we plant will help do so!”
The project’s activities have been presented since January in different locations such the public libraries of Amesbury and Haverhill.
The Lawrence campus art gallery was the last call. This project will generate 20 colossal painted butterfly signs which will be part of Butterfly Mural Migration, which will tour from May – Oct. 2023 throughout Amesbury, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newbury and West Newbury on public conservation land, at public libraries, and around local schools.
The audience left with new knowledge about pollinators, delighted with their artistic contribution for the murals, and ultimately, inspired to collaborate in creating habitats for pollinators and support our ecosystem from their own backyards or planters.
More about the art project leader: Jenn Houle received her bachelor’s degree in art from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2007.
She later received her master’s degree in art from Cornell University in 2015.
She teaches 2D Foundations and Drawing at NECC. She also teaches at Fitchburg State University. Contact her at jhoule@necc.mass.edu or visit www.jennhoule.com
This program is supported in part by grants from the Amesbury, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newbury and West Newbury Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Also sponsored by Mel’s Record Shop, Water Street Realty Trust and BareWolf Brewing. Soil donation from Coast of Maine & Aubuchon Hardware Haverhill.
On March 6th it was announced by the NJCAA men’s region 21 committee three Knights, Luis Reynoso and Jeremiah Melendez both of Lawarence and Mehmet Asik of Ankara, Turkey received national recognition. In addition, Darren Stratton was named regional head coach of the year.
In 29 games Reynoso averaged 19.2 points per game and recorded 26 double-doubles. He also ranked second nationally in rebounding with 13.3 rebounds per game. Reynoso’s performance earned him a spot on the first team all-region.
Also receiving honors were Melendez and Asik. Melendez was selected to join the third team all-region. He averaged 11.3 points per game and shot 47% percent. Meanwhile, Asik was named an honorable mention for the second consecutive season, averaging eight points this season.
Head coach Darren Stratton won the regional head coach of the year award. Stratton led the team to their first national tournament appearance in program history. In his 20th season leadingthe program, The Knights won 27 consecutive games and finished 31–1 overall.Under his tenure The Knights are 288-203 with a 587% winning percentage.
On championship Sunday, March 6th Men’s basketball defeated Roxbury community college 91-76 to claim their first region 21 East/District championship title. In addition, the nationally ranked Knights extended their winning streak to 27. The win advances The Knights to their first NJCAA championship tournament in program history.
The knights jumped out to a fast lead when Mehmet Asik scored a two-pointer to go up 2-0. The Knights grew their lead to 14. RCC chipped away at their deficit in the first half but couldn’t make up enough ground. The Knights went into the Lockeroom with an eight-point advantage, 41-32.
Offensively, Johnathan Lingisi of Hamilton, ON led the way in scoring with a career high 24 points. Ryan Lacey of Salem, New Hampshire scored 17 points off the bench, the most since early December. Asik added 13 points. A Lawarence duo Jerimiah Melendez and Luis Reynoso each scored 11 points.
On defense Lingisi and Edwin SamMBaka of Paris, France held RCC two top scorers bellow their season averages.
A viewing party to determine the playoff bracket seeding was held Wednesday March 8th at the spurk building in lecture hall A. There It was determined that The Knights entered the tournament as the fourth seed and faced Northampton community college. The NJCAA tournament took place from March 14th– March 18th in Herkimer, NY.
On Saturday March 5th The Knights beat MassBay community college 93-53 at Holyoke community college in the Bartley center. The win marks their second consecutive Region 21 East/District finals appearance and their 26th consecutive win. They faced Roxbury community college on championship Sunday.
Four Knights scored double digits points. Those players were Jeremiah Melendez of Lawrence, Peter Lopata of Groveland, Luis Reynoso of Lawerence all scoring 11 points. Phillip Cunningham of Haverhill added 10 points.
Mehmet Asik of Ankara, Turkey and Cunningham led a strong defensive effort holding The Buccaneers to just 29% shooting from field goal range and 13% from three-point land. Asik and Cunningham recorded a combined nine defensive rebounds.
The Knights jumped out to a quick 11 point lead over The buccaneers. The Knights took a commanding 31-point lead into halftime 54-23. They carried their first half dominance into the second by out scoring The Buccaneers 39-31. The Knights prevailed with a final score of 93-54.
The library on the Haverhill campus was empty on Tuesday, March 6, as the college remained shut down due to an apparent cybertattack. Photo courtesy of Kim Zappala
Students, faculty and staff are trying to get back on track after Northern Essex Community College was hit by an apparent cyberattack, which led to canceled classes and outages of email, Blackboard and other systems from March 3 to March 7.
On Thursday, March 2, students received an email saying that NECC would be closed March 3, at 6 a.m. through Sunday, March 5, due to proposed electrical work being done in the area that they were just made aware of. The email also said that due to this there would not be access to school emails, Blackboard and other systems, which left students unable to complete and turn in assignments as well as not be able to reach their teachers.
Over the weekend we were made aware that NECC was a victim of a cyberattack. Some were wondering why there was a lack of transparency from the school initially about the attack. According to the head of NECC Public Relations, Melissa Bouse, ” NECC was not trying to lack transparency, it was a matter of safety.”
“Whenever there is an ongoing criminal investigation, they have to be careful of what kind of information is revealed and what protections have been put in place, so other people don’t try to exploit that,” she said in an interview on Thursday. She added “You have to be careful of what you reveal and when, in case it’s (the schools’ systems) is still vulnerable.”
NECC had to close the school March 3 through March 7, which has put a strain on both students and teachers to get midterms completed before spring break. Since there was no access to Blackboard, the system the college uses for teachers and students to access and turn in class assignments, most teachers are adjusting their syllabus in order to give students the extra time they need to complete and turn in assignments.
NECC officials are working closely with both law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to investigate the cyberattacks.
“The college is conducting a full systems audit to determine exactly what systems may have been affected and what impact, if any, there is on students and employees’ information,” NECC said in a statement. “At this time, the College has no forensic evidence that this incident resulted in the unauthorized access to or acquisition of personally identifiable information. In the event that the investigation determines that personally identifiable information was compromised, appropriate notification will be made, including contacting impacted individuals directly with guidance and next steps”
NECC’s priority was to “try and keep the systems safely running to minimize the interruptions to students,” said Bouse.
“We are still working through details and continuing to put protections in place,” the school said in a statement on Monday.
It is still unclear what the hackers were trying to obtain, but it might have just been a test to see if they could get away with it before trying to hack bigger institutions for financial gain, Bouse said.
NECC has not been the only local school to be a victim of a cyberattack. Two years ago the Haverhill Public Schools was a victim of a ransomware attack that shut down remote learning, email, telephones and other systems and forced cancellation of classes, according to WHAV.
Students should change all their passwords as well as monitor their credit. It is also important to not open emails from outside sources they are unfamiliar to.
Not much else is known yet since there is still an ongoing investigation. Hopefully we will be made aware of more information in the coming weeks.
Jeremiah Melendez of Lawrence lines up a three pointer in a game against Rhode Island Community College on Feb. 25. Photo by Daniel Henrick
A second half surge fuels a 98-63 win, advance to semi-finals
In the quarterfinals of the region 21 East district playoff tournament The Knights took down Rhode Island Community college (RICC) 98-63 on Feb. 25. They advanced to face MassBay in the semi-finals of the region 21 East district tournament.
A dominant performance from bench players, Angel Herrera of Lawrence and Phillip Cunningham of Haverhill carried the team’s offense scoring 11 and 18 Points each. Kevin Monterio and Tre Fight contributed off the bench as well.
“We’ve been the deepest team in the region bench wise. I think I have five guys on my bench that would be starters on other teams in the region and I decided to go with them to give us a lift” said head coach Darren Stratton.
Luis Reynoso of Lawrence recorded his 25th double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The first half was a grind never being able to create distance in the score. The Knights entered halftime with a five point lead 48-43. Seven minutes into the second half The Knights Pulled away on a 44-8 run to put the Knights on cruise control en route to their 98-63 victory.
