22 Years in the Making! Saxons Clinch First NCAA Berth Since 1997 with E8 Men's Basketball Title

2/23/2019 9:16:57 PM

Alfred (23-4, 14-2 Empire 8) is heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1996-97 season following the program's first-ever Empire 8 Conference Championship title. Senior captain, Dom LeMorta was named the Tournament MVP following 44 points over the course of two games.
 
Alfred earned the program's first E8 title in program history with a 90-78 win over St. John Fisher in the Championship game in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena on Saturday afternoon. LeMorta led the Saxons with 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting. Fellow senior Sage Brown had 11 points and four rebounds while Scotty Stopera had eight points, 10 assists and four boards.
 
The Cardinals were led by E8 Player of the Year Ryan Henderson who finished with 19 points and six rebounds.

Video courtesy of Alfred athletic communications -

 
The Saxons opened the game like they did so many throughout the 2018-19 season, dropping back-to-back three-pointers. Four minutes later Fisher knotted the game up at 12 points with 14:09 to go in the half. LeMorta drained a jumper on the next possession, giving the Saxons a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
 
By the intermission the Saxons maintained a 46-40 lead behind 17-of-28 (61%) shooting from the field. LeMorta had 15 points and Henderson had 10 by the break.
 
Once again, the Saxons came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. LeMorta opened the half with a jumper that was quickly followed by a Cole Eells three-pointer forcing a SJFC timeout only 41 seconds into the half. Despite the attempt to stop the bleeding, the Cardinals were unable to slow the Saxons who went on a 15-4 run, jumping out a 61-44 lead.
 
Fisher managed to reduce the lead to only seven points with 4:18 to go in the game, 83-76, but Alfred kicked its offense into gear going on a 7-0 run over three minutes to seal the game and the program's first NCAA berth in 22 years.
 
Over the course of the game the Saxons shot 32-of-56 (57.1%) from the field and 7-of-16 (43.8%) from behind the arc.
 
"It's a surreal feeling right now. I'm just so proud of the guys, especially the seniors, having been able to recruit them and get to know them over the last five years and seeing how much work they've put in to get to this point, they deserve every bit of it," Alfred Head Coach Russ Phillips said. "The fans were outstanding! The community support from administration here has been very humbling. The amount of emails and texts that you get from alums just saying that they're proud of the team and I'm just really happy for them. We look forward to watching the selection show and see where we're going next weekend."

The Saxons will wait until Monday, Feburary 25 at 1:00 p.m. to hear where they will play the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. A live stream of the selection show can be found at NCAA.com. The first round will take place on Friday, March 1. Alfred is currently in the midst 13-game win streak - the program's longest win-streak since the 1988-89 season when they finished 19-8 overall and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Friday, February 22
Semifinal #1 
No. 1 Alfred 80, #4 Stevens 57
Semifinal #2 
No. 3 St. John Fisher 98, No. 2 Nazareth 90, OT

Saturday, February 23
Empire 8 Championship 
No. 1 Alfred 90, No. 3 St. John Fisher 78 

- Information for this release provided by the athletic communication staff at Alfred - 

ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ