West Babylon, N.Y. – After the completion of regular season play on Saturday, the bracket for the ECC Men's Basketball Championship is now finalized.
Tournament action begins on Wednesday, March 1 with the first round taking place at on-campus sites. St. Thomas Aquinas will host the semifinals and final of the tournament at Aquinas Hall on their campus in Sparkill, N.Y. on Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5.
St. Thomas Aquinas earns hosting duties and is the tournament's top seed after continuing their run of dominance over the ECC. After compiling a 15-1 record (24-4 overall) in conference play, the Spartans have now won at least a share of six of the past nine ECC regular season titles and earned a first round bye for the eighth straight season (excluding 2021 season when only four teams played in the tournament).
The Spartans, who will attempt to win their seventh ECC Championship in the past eight seasons, will start their tournament awaiting the winner of the matchup between No. 4 District of Columbia and No. 5 Staten Island.
UDC (12-13, 10-6 ECC) makes their second straight trip to the ECC Championship and sixth since joining the conference in 2012. The Firebirds are still in search of their first-ever ECC Championship win after being eliminated in their tournament opener in their previous five appearances.
With Staten Island (9-18, 7-9 ECC) making their first-ever appearance in the bracket, one of the two teams is guaranteed to pick up their first ECC Championship victory. The Dolphins are in their first season of Division II postseason eligibility after transitioning from Division III over the past three years.
UDC and Staten Island split their season series, with both teams winning on their home courts.
On the other side of the bracket, Daemen (19-7, 12-4 ECC) earns the No. 2 seed. The Wildcats are making their eighth straight ECC Championship appearance. Daemen has advanced to the championship game of the tournament three times, including the last two seasons, but fell to St. Thomas Aquinas each time.
The Wildcats await the winner of No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan (9-15, 7-9 ECC) and No. 3 Molloy (11-17, 10-6 ECC).
Molloy has now made the tournament seven straight years and 16 times in 17 seasons. The Lions join St. Thomas Aquinas as the only other program in the bracket that has ever won an ECC title. Molloy pulled off the feat in the 2019 season.
Roberts returns to the bracket for the third straight season. The Redhawks, who advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history last season, are still in search of their first-ever ECC title.
Molloy and Roberts Wesleyan split their season series, with each taking the victory on their home court over a span of six days back in December. Both games were tight with the Lions winning by seven and the Redhawks' victory coming by eight points.
Follow Live
Each game of the championship will be broadcast live on the ECC Network website. The games will also be available on the ECC Network app. Download the ECC Network app on any Apple or Android mobile devices or on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku OTT streaming devices. In addition, the semifinal and final games from St. Thomas Aquinas will be syndicated to watch live on the ECC Facebook page.
Twitter updates will also be available 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 the tournament central page, which will be available on the ECC website later this week.
2023 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship
First Round – Wednesday, March 1 at campus sites
7:00 p.m. - No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan at No. 3 Molloy
8:00 p.m. - No. 5 Staten Island at No. 4 Dist. Columbia
Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 at St. Thomas Aquinas
12:00 p.m. - CSI/UDC vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas
3:00 p.m. - RWU/MOL vs. No. 2 Daemen
Final – Sunday, March 5 at St. Thomas Aquinas
2:30 p.m. - Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner
