The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team will travel to Roberts Wesleyan College on Wednesday, March 4 for a 6:00 pm start, while the men's squad will play in the semi-finals on Saturday, March 7, at 5:00 pm at LIU Post in the 2014-15 East Coast Conference Women's/Men's Basketball Tournaments.
STAC Basketball in the East Coast Conference Tournament
St. Thomas Aquinas College is one of just three schools to have both men's and women's teams appear in this year's tournament, joining NYIT and LIU Post. Below is the schedule, and possibilities for each team:
Spartans Men's Basketball
Wednesday, March 4 - first round bye
Saturday, March 7 - #1 STAC vs winner of Molloy/Post, 5:00 pm (at LIU Post)
(if STAC wins) Sunday, March 8 - ECC Tournament Championship, 2:30 pm (at LIU Post)
Lady Spartans Women's Basketball
Wednesday, March 4 - #6 STAC at #3 Roberts Wesleyan, 6:00 (at RWC)
(If STAC wins) Saturday, March 7 - vs #2 Queens College, 2:30 (at LIU Post)
(If STAC wins) Sunday, March 8 - ECC Tournament Championship, 12:00 noon (at LIU Post)
ECC Men's Basketball Tournament (Click Link for Full Men's Tournament Info)
After a frantic final weekend which started with none of the six seeds set, and four teams tied for third place with identical 10-9 records, the stage is finally set for the ECC Men's Basketball Tournament.
St. Thomas Aquinas captured its first ever ECC Regular Season Championship with a victory on the season's final day, locking down the #1 seed. Bridgeport, which finished tied for the top slot with a 17-3 record, takes the #2 slot after the tiebreaker, with both teams earning a first round bye into the semi-finals, which will be held at LIU Post on Saturday, March 7.
NYIT, the only team to register wins against STAC, Bridgeport, and Daemen, earned the #3 slot and will host #6 Dowling in Old Westbury on Wednesday, March 4, at 7:30 pm. The other first round match-up will feature #5 Molloy College traveling to face #4 LIU Post in a 7:00 pm tip.
The winners of those contests will advance to Saturday's semi-final round; the victor of the Molloy/LIU Post tilt will take on St. Thomas Aquinas in a 5:00 pm start, followed at 7:30 by Bridgeport meeting the winner of the Dowling/NYIT affair.
Both semi-final winners will then play for the East Coast Conference championship in a 2:30 pm start on Sunday, March 8, also at LIU Post. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.
ECC Women's Basketball Tournament (Click link for Full Women's Tournament Info)
With Tuesday night's victory at Mercy College, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Lady Spartans became the sixth and final team to lock up an ECC Tournament berth, returning to the post-season after a brief one-year absence.
Still, the tournament pairings were not secured until the season's final day amid high drama. Nationally ranked University of the District of Columbia - which narrowly escaped an upset minded STAC squad on Saturday - had already secured the top seed and a berth in Saturday's semi-finals at LIU Post.
With LIU Post's victory over Roberts Wesleyan on Sunday, Queens College ascended into the #2 slot and earned the other bye, dropping RWC into the #3 seed and setting up a first round pairing with St. Thomas Aquinas. The #6 Lady Spartans will make the trip north for a 6:00 pm start, while the other first round match-up will see #5 LIU Post take the short trip across the street to face rival #4 New York Institute of Technology starting at 5:00 pm.
Saturday's semi-finals at LIU Post will feature Wednesday's winners facing the awaiting top squads, with #1 UDC taking on the Post/NYIT survivor in the day's first game at 12:00 noon, and #2 Queens meeting the STAC/RWC winner at 2:30 pm.
The winners of Saturday's clashes will take the floor at 12:00 noon on Sunday, March 8, with the ECC Women's Basketball Championship at stake. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.