Bridgeport Men Earn Top Seed In 2018 East Coast Conference Basketball Championship

West Babylon, N.Y. – With the regular season wrapping up on Sunday afternoon, the bracket for the 2018 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championships has been finalized.

Tournament action begins on Wednesday, February 28 with the first round on campus sites. Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y. will host the semifinals and finals of both tournaments at the Voller Athletic Center on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4.

Bridgeport takes the ECC Regular Season Championship and top seed in the men's bracket after dominating the regular season schedule with a 17-1 conference record (24-4 overall). Bridgeport, currently ranked No. 14 in the D2SIDA rankings and No. 17 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, last won a regular season title in 2015. The Purple Knights also enter the tournament on a 15-game winning streak.  

After earning the top seed, Bridgeport moves straight to the semifinals with a first round bye. The Purple Knights will take on the winner of the first round matchup featuring No. 4 LIU Post (11-17, 9-9 ECC) and No. 5 Molloy (8-20, 7-11 ECC).

LIU Post is back in the bracket after missing the tournament for the first time in 15 seasons a year ago. The Pioneers secured the No. 4 seed and a home game with a win in their regular season finale. Molloy makes the field of six teams vying for an ECC title for the second consecutive season. The Lions made their second-ever appearance in the championship game of the tournament in 2017, falling in overtime to St. Thomas Aquinas.

LIU Post swept the season series but Molloy took the game to overtime in the previous matchup on the Pioneers' home court.

St. Thomas Aquinas (24-6, 15-3 ECC), who is the two-time defending ECC Champion, earns the No. 2 seed and joins Bridgeport in the semifinals with a first round bye. The Spartans, who are also the defending NCAA East Region Champions, secured the No. 2 seed by virtue of winning a coin flip against Daemen.

Both St. Thomas Aquinas and Daemen finished with identical 15-3 conference records and split their season series to move to the next tiebreaker, which is record vs. top of the standings down. Both were swept by Bridgeport and swept each of the other seven ECC members meaning the only way to break the tie according to ECC bylaws was a coin flip. The Spartans won the flip to move straight to the semifinals in Rochester.

The loss in the coin flip gives Daemen (21-7 overall) the No. 3 seed and a first round date with No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan (14-13, 7-11 ECC). The winner will take on St. Thomas Aquinas in the semifinals. Daemen is back in the bracket for the third time in as many seasons since becoming eligible for NCAA Division II championship play, while Roberts Wesleyan is making their first-ever appearance in the tournament.

The thruway rivals enter the tournament on different types of streaks. Daemen has been among the hottest teams in the country with seven wins in a row and victories in 16 of their past 17 games. After a hot start to the season, Roberts enters the tournament with seven losses in a row and defeats in eight of their past nine games.

Daemen won both games against Roberts this season, running their winning streak against their long-time rivals to 14 straight games.  

All games during the championship will be broadcast live on the ECC Network website and the ECC Network OTT app on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku.  To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow @ECCSports. To see highlights during the semifinal and final contests, follow @ECCSportsNet on Twitter. Tournament recaps, live stats, box scores and all other pertinent tournament information will also be available on www.eccsports.org at the tournament central web pages.

2018 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship
First Round – Wednesday, February 28 at campus sites
7:00 p.m. - No. 5 Molloy at No. 4 LIU Post
7:00 p.m. - No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan at No. 3 Daemen

Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 at Roberts Wesleyan
5:00 p.m. - MOL/LIUP vs.  No. 1 Bridgeport
7:30 p.m. - RWC/DAE vs. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas

Final – Sunday, March 4 at Roberts Wesleyan
2:30 p.m. - Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner