Purple Knights Set To Travel To LIU Post On Wednesday For 2016 ECC Championship Quarterfinals

Central Islip, N.Y. – After the conclusion of regular season play on Sunday afternoon, the bracket for the 2016 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championships are now set.

Tournament action begins on Wednesday, March 2 with the play-in round on campus sites. University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. will host the semifinals and finals of both tournaments on Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6.

Men's Basketball

After winning their second straight ECC Regular Season Championship, St. Thomas Aquinas (24-4, 18-2 ECC) earns the top seed in the men's bracket. The Spartans, who have advanced to the championship game in each of the past two seasons, enter the tournament on a roll as winners of 18 games in a row.

By earning the top seed, St. Thomas Aquinas earns a bye into the semifinals where they will face off against the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup between LIU Post (17-11, 12-8 ECC) and three-time defending champion Bridgeport (15-13, 12-8 ECC). The two schools renew a post-season rivalry with their first matchup in the ECC Championship since 2012. Starting in 2009, Bridgeport and LIU Post met in the final of four straight ECC Championships, with the Pioneers winning three times. This season, the schools split their two regular season meetings with each team winning on their home court.

Daemen, in their first season as active members of NCAA Division II, will make their first-ever appearance in the ECC Championship as the No. 2 seed. The Wildcats earn the first round bye on the back of an 18-9 (14-6) record.

In the semifinals, Daemen will play the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 quarterfinal matchup which features two teams ending multi-year ECC Championship appearance droughts. After finishing in the bottom two spots of the conference standings in 2014-15, District of Columbia (15-13, 13-7 ECC) and Mercy (12-14, 9-11 ECC) had turnaround seasons and will meet for a chance to advance to the semifinals. UDC is in the bracket for the first time since their first year in the ECC in 2011-12. Mercy ends a longer drought, with their first appearance since 2000-01 and only their fourth in the 27 year history of the tournament. Mercy swept the two games between the schools this season.

All games during the championship will be broadcast live. The quarterfinal match-ups will be available on the ECC website and host institution's websites.  The semi-finals and finals will be broadcast by Monumental Sports with links available on the ECC website. To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow us @ECCsports. Tournament recaps, highlights, interviews, and box scores will also be available on www.eccsports.org at the tournament specific web pages.

2016 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 2 at campus sites
7:00 p.m. - No. 5 Bridgeport at No. 4 LIU Post
7:30 p.m. - No. 6 Mercy at No. 3 Dist. Columbia

Semifinals – Saturday, March 5 at District of Columbia
5:00 p.m. - UB/LIUP vs.  No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas
7:30 p.m. - MER/UDC vs. No. 2 Daemen

Final – Sunday, March 6 at District of Columbia
2:30 p.m. - Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner

To view the ECC Men's Basketball Tournament page, click here.