Hartwick to Host Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship This Weekend
Hartwick College, coming off its first regular season Empire 8 title in school history, will host the Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship Friday and Saturday.
The Hawks (23-2 overall, 12-2 conference) will play the second semifinal on Friday at 8 p.m., facing off with fourth-seeded Ithaca College (12-13, 9-5). The teams split two close games during the season with the Bombers handing the Hawks one of their two losses this season, 73-71, at Hartwick on Jan. 13. The Hawks edged the Bombers 78-75 at Ithaca on Jan. 28.
Hartwick won last year's title as the third seed. Ithaca is looking for its first win in the Empire 8 postseason tournament.
Friday's first semifinal at 6 p.m. will feature second-seeded Nazareth College (17-8, 10-4) playing third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology (19-6, 10-4). The Golden Flyers swept the season series, giving the Ducks half of their conference losses. Nazareth won 74-67 on the road on Jan. 20 and posted a 77-61 home victory on Feb. 11.
The semifinal winners will meet in the conference final Saturday at 4 p.m. with the winner to earn the Empire 8 title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
All games can be seen on e8tv.com