Men's Basketball | 2/25/2021 1:37:14 PM
St. John Fisher will look to defend its Empire 8 Championship title, as the 12-game 2021 spring season gets underway on March 1. The start of the season marks the first basketball games in a full calendar year for all Empire 8 programs. Keuka College makes its Empire 8 debut as a full-time member of the conference this season. The Empire 8 postseason tournament format has changed for spring 2021, with the top six teams advancing to the Empire 8 Championship Tournament, which will take place from March 6-11, with the higher seed hosting each game.
Team Capsules (sorted by 2019-20 Standings)
Nazareth
Nazareth, the 2019-20 Empire 8 regular season co-champions, returns four starters from a team that finished 21-6 and advanced to the league championship game. Senior Stephen Gabel, a 2019-20 All-Empire 8 first team selection averaged 16.1 points and 6.8 boards per game, while juniors Zach Stenglein and Jonathan Park were All-E8 second team picks. Stenglein, the 2019-20 E8 Defensive Player of the Year, averaged 15.7 points, 4.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game, while Park led the league by shooting 59 percent from the field to go along with 9.9 boards and 2.1 blocks per game. Senior guards Kevin Underwood and Isaac Nelson are also expected to be key contributors this spring.
St. John Fisher
The defending Empire 8 Tournament Champion Cardinals finished 19-9 overall in 2019-20, including 12-2 in league play. St. John Fisher will have a new look this spring, with its top four scorers from last season having graduated, including Sammy Robinson, the 2019-20 Empire 8 Player of the Year and Dennis Hare, the 2020 Empire 8 Tournament Most Valuable Player. Senior Mark Valeriani and Junior Sean Williams will be counted on the lead the way for the Cardinals this spring. Williams averaged 7.6 points, 3.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 2019-20. Sophomore Dan Cook will look to make an immediate impact after a strong rookie season at Hobart.
Utica
The Pioneers will look to build off last season’s 18-8 mark in which they advanced to the Empire 8 semifinals. Utica returns four starters, including junior Darius Hopkins, who averaged 14.5 points per game and was a 2019-20 All-Empire 8 first team pick. Sophomore Thomas Morreale, the reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, shot 51 percent from the floor, while averaging 12.2 points and 5.8 boards per game. Seniors Kimedrick Murphy and Kobe Lufkin are also key contributors for the Pioneers. Murphy was an All-Empire 8 honorable mention selection in 2019-20 after finishing second among all players in rebounds and blocked shots per game.
Sage
Sage returns 10 players from last season’s squad that won 15 contests and advanced to the Empire 8 semifinals in 2019-20. Junior guard Jalon Borders enjoyed a tremendous 2019-20 season, averaging 16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game to earn All-Empire 8 first team honors. Classmate Charles Davis averaged 9.0 points per game, while shooting 61.5 percent from the floor. Fellow juniors Stuart Phair, Tyler Mitchell and Jason Geronimo have all exceled at various times throughout their first two seasons and will all be counted on to be key contributors this spring.
Hartwick
The Hawks return 2019-20 All-E8 second team selection Pat Garey, who averaged 14.9 points and 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season, while draining 66 3-point field goals. Austin Haskell, Bobby Connors and Tommy Kelly also return after all averaging in double figures a season ago. Haskell also shot 50 percent from the floor, while Connors pulled down a team-high 7.6 boards per game.
Alfred
Alfred, the 2018-19 Empire 8 Champions, will look to make it back to the E8 Tournament in 2021. Junior Marshall Brewster is back after averaging 13.6 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, while finishing among the league leaders, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor in 2019-20. Sophomore guard Mike Schmidt enjoyed a strong rookie season last year, dishing out 3.9 assists per game.
Houghton
The Highlanders return a dozen players from last season’s squad, including All-Empire 8 honorable mention selection Jordan Holmes. Holmes, a senior, averaged 14.6 points and 7.6 boards per game a season ago. Sophomore Billy McCrae was one of the top E8 rookies in 2019-20, scoring 10.2 points, while pulling down 5.6 boards per game.
Elmira
The Soaring Eagles will look to make a return to the Empire 8 postseason and return 13 players from last season’s squad, including senior Shawn Backus, who averaged a team-best 12.4 points per game in 2019-20. In addition, junior sophomore forward Rashaad Nurse will be a key member of the squad after averaging 9.8 points and a team-best 5.6 boards per game. Mason Weir and Kyle Kokoskie combined to start 30 games last season and will be key contributors this spring.
Keuka
Keuka College makes its Empire 8 debut this spring under first-year head coach Jake Scott. The Wolves competed the North Eastern Athletic Conference and won six league games in each of the last two seasons. Sophomores Devin Milton and Nana Oteng averaged 11.3 and 10.3 points per game respectively as first-year student-athletes in 2019-20 and will look to take the next step and lead the Wolves this season.
Final 2019-20 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Standings
Nazareth (21-6, 12-2 Empire 8)
St. John Fisher (19-9, 12-2 E8) – League Champions
Utica (18-8, 9-5 E8)
Sage (15-11, 8-6 E8)
Hartwick (14-11, 6-8 E8)
Alfred (11-14, 5-11 E8)
Houghton (5-20, 3-11 E8)
Elmira (2-23, 1-13 E8)
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
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