West Babylon, N.Y. – With the regular season wrapping up on Sunday afternoon, the brackets for the East Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships have been finalized.
Tournament action begins on Wednesay, February 28 with the first round on campus sites. Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y. will host the semifinals and finals of both tournaments at the Voller Athletic Center on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4.
Men’s Basketball
Bridgeport takes the ECC Regular Season Championship and top seed in the men's bracket after dominating the regular season schedule with a 17-1 conference record (24-4 overall). Bridgeport, currently ranked No. 14 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 17 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, last won a regular season title in 2015. The Purple Knights also enter the tournament on a 15 game winning streak.
After earning the top seed, Bridgeport moves straight to the semifinals with a first round bye. The Purple Knights will take on the winner of the first round matchup featuring No. 4 LIU Post (11-17, 9-9 ECC) and No. 5 Molloy (8-20, 7-11 ECC).
LIU Post is back in the bracket after missing the tournament for the first time in 15 seasons a year ago. The Pioneers secured the No. 4 seed and a home game with a win in their regular season finale. Molloy makes the field of six teams vying for an ECC title for the second consecutive season. The Lions made their second-ever appearance in the championship game of the tournament in 2017, falling in overtime to St. Thomas Aquinas.
LIU Post swept the season series but Molloy took the game to overtime in the previous matchup on the Pioneers' home court.
St. Thomas Aquinas (24-6, 15-3 ECC), who is the two-time defending ECC Champion, earns the No. 2 seed and joins Bridgeport in the semifinals with a first round bye. The Spartans, who are also the defending NCAA East Region Champions, secured the No. 2 seed by virtue of winning a coin flip against Daemen.
Both St. Thomas Aquinas and Daemen finished with identical 15-3 conference records and split their season series to move to the next tiebreaker, which is record vs. top of the standings down. Both were swept by Bridgeport and swept each of the other seven ECC members meaning the only way to break the tie according to ECC bylaws was a coin flip. The Spartans won the flip to move straight to the semifinals in Rochester.
The loss in the coin flip gives Daemen (21-7 overall) the No. 3 seed and a first round date with No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan (14-13, 7-11 ECC). The winner will take on St. Thomas Aquinas in the semifinals. Daemen is back in the bracket for the third time in as many seasons since becoming eligible for NCAA Division II championship play, while Roberts Wesleyan is making their first-ever appearance in the tournament.
The thruway rivals enter the tournament on different types of streaks. Daemen has been among the hottest teams in the country with seven wins in a row and victories in 16 of their past 17 games. After a hot start to the season, Roberts enters the tournament with seven losses in a row and defeats in eight of their past nine games.
Daemen won both games against Roberts this season, running their winning streak against their long-time rivals to 14 straight games.
The official bracket for the ECC Men's Basketball Championship. More details on https://t.co/S3hhj0e4Up later this evening. pic.twitter.com/Jqp7Nr7kxm
— East Coast Conference (@ECCSports) February 25, 2018
Women’s Basketball
On the women’s side, LIU Post ended a two year playoff drought by claiming their first ECC Regular Season Championship since 2014 with a mark of 17-1 record in conference play (22-6 overall). As the top seed the Pioneers earn a bye into the semifinals.
LIU Post will take on either No. 4 seed NYIT (17-11, 11-7 ECC) or No. 5 seed Queens (13-13, 9-9 ECC). NYIT is back in the tournament for an ECC-high seventh straight season. The Bears have advanced to the final of the ECC Championship in three of the past five seasons but are still in search of their first-ever ECC title. Queens is back in the bracket for the sixth straight season. The Knights are lookinf to win their third ECC crown in the past four seasons.
The two squads also met in last season's ECC Championship with NYIT snapping Queens' 17 game winning-streak in an upset in the semifinals. This season NYIT swept the season series, winning both contests by an identical eight points.
St. Thomas Aquinas (24-4, 16-2 ECC) joins LIU Post with a first round bye. The Lady Spartans are making their fourth straight ECC Championship and third semifinal appearance in the past four seasons.
St. Thomas Aquinas will battle either No. 3 Roberts Wesleyan (19-9, 13-5 ECC) or No. 6 Daemen (12-16, 9-9 ECC). Roberts is back in the bracket for the fourth straight season, all of which have seen the Redhawks host a first round game. On the opposite bench, Daemen is making their first-ever appearance in the ECC Championship.
Roberts Wesleyan swept the season series between the Western New York rivals but their previous matchup in the Voller Athletic Center was perhaps the game of the year in the ECC to date. On January 6, Roberts and Daemen went to triple overtime with the Redhawks pulling out the 97-91 win.
The official bracket for the ECC Women's Basketball Championship. More details on https://t.co/S3hhj0e4Up later this evening. pic.twitter.com/lxGQzLbfDX
— East Coast Conference (@ECCSports) February 25, 2018
All games during the championship will be broadcast live on the ECC Network website and the ECC Network OTT app on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow @ECCSports. To see highlights during the semifinal and final contests, follow @ECCSportsNet on Twitter. Tournament recaps, live stats, box scores and all other pertinent tournament information will also be available on www.eccsports.org at the tournament central web pages.
2018 East Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
First Round – Wednesday, February 28 at campus sites
7:00 p.m. - No. 5 Molloy at No. 4 LIU Post
7:00 p.m. - No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan at No. 3 Daemen
Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 at Roberts Wesleyan
5:00 p.m. - MOL/LIUP vs. No. 1 Bridgeport
7:30 p.m. - RWC/DAE vs. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas
Final – Sunday, March 4 at Roberts Wesleyan
2:30 p.m. - Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner
2018 East Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championship
First Round – Wednesday, February 28 at campus sites
7:30 p.m. - No. 5 Queens at No. 4 NYIT
7:00 p.m. - No. 6 Daemen at No. 3 Roberts Wesleyan
Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 at Roberts Wesleyan
12:00 p.m. - QC/NYIT vs. No. 1 LIU Post
2:30 p.m. - DAE/RWC vs. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas
Final – Sunday, March 4 at Roberts Wesleyan
12:00 p.m. - Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner
