Tournament Field Set for 2018 Men's Basketball
It came down to the final weekend of the Empire 8 regular season to determine the seeding for the 2018 Men's Basketball Tournament .
Nazareth College secured the top seed and hosting rights for the first time in Empire 8 Tournament history. The Golden Flyers finished with a 13-3 conference record
Stevens Institute of Technology dropped its final two games of the season but had a strong performance throughout the season to post a 12-4 conference mark and clinch the second seed.
Alfred University won three of its last four games to finish with a league record of 11-5, while Utica College won its final six games, including its final game 75-71 in overtime, to also finish with a conference mark of 11-5.
Alfred and Utica split the regular season series head to head, setting up the next tiebreaker criteria which is to compare records against conference teams in descending of the standings. Alfred and Utica both lost twice to top seeded Nazareth, while Alfred fell twice to Stevens but Utica split with the Ducks, giving the Pioneers the No. 3 seed and the Alfred Saxons the No. 4 seed.
Utica trailed Stevens by 20 points late in the first half today and by eight points, 61-53, with 3:22 remaining. The Pioneers nailed a three pointer with six seconds left to force overtime and carried the comeback momentum into the overtime period to clinch the postseason berth.
The two semifinals matches will take place on Friday, Feb. 23 at Nazareth The two winners will meet on Saturday, February 24 in the Empire 8 Championship with the winner earning an automatic bid and advancing to the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.
Friday, February 23
No. 1 Nazareth v No. 4 Alfred , 6:00 pm
No. 2 Stevens v No. 3 Utica , 8:00 pm
Saturday, February 24
Championship will begin at 4:00 pm