DANBURY, CT – The Eastern Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) released its 2018 Division III Men's Basketball Championship bracket on Monday, and pitted the Alfred University men's basketball team (18-8, Empire 8 11-5) against Penn State-Behrend (20-7, AMCC 14-4) on Wednesday February 28, 2018 at 7PM in the Junker Center in Erie, PA.
After falling to Nazareth College 73-72 on Saturday in the Empire 8 Championship semifinal, the Saxons will take on Penn State-Behrend in the first round of the ECAC Division III Men's Basketball Championship at 7PM on the road. It is the second time in five years that the Saxons have earned an ECAC bid, previously making an appearance in during the 2013-14 season. AU will make its seventh appearance in an ECAC Men's Basketball Championship dating back to 1980-81.
The first round of the 2018 ECAC Men's Basketball Championships are broken into four pods or regions. The higher seeds in each game will host their opponent** on Wednesday February 28 at 7PM. The winners of each first round game will go on to compete in the quarterfinals on Friday March 2 at Wilkes University where the remainder of the games on Friday and Saturday will be played.
The Saxons are 2-6 in all ECAC games, including two wins during the 1998-99 season when the Saxons made a run to the ECAC semifinals after defeating Fredonia 70-59 and RPI 65-60. AU was defeated by New Paltz 96-81 during that semifinal game.
A full bracket can be seen here.
The 2018 ECAC Men's Basketball First Round games are as follows:
Game #1: No. 4 Arcadia University (14-13) at No. 1 Juniata College* (22-5)
Game #2: No. 2 Neumann University (20-8) at No. 3 Drew University* (16-10)
Game #3: No. 4 Penn State Altoona (17-9) at No. 1 Bethany College* (16-12)
Game #4: No. 3 Medaille College (17-10) at No. 2 Westminster* (19-8)
Game #5: No. 4 Alfred University (18-8) at No. 1 Penn State Behrend* (20-7)
Game #6: No. 1 Wilson College (20-7) at No. 4 Widener University* (15-10)
Game #7: No. 3 Baruch College (15-11) at No. 2 William Paterson University* (16-12)
**If the higher seed requested to host a first round game