CCC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS RELEASE | INTERACTIVE BRACKET
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball team closed out the regular season tied atop the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) standings, but due to the tiebreaker protocol, earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference postseason tournament, as announced Saturday by the conference office.
CCC QUARTERFINALS: NO. 2 ENDICOTT vs. NO. 7 SALVE REGINA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 8:00 PM | MACDONALD GYMNASIUM | BEVERLY, MASS.
LIVE STATS | VIDEO (Watch on ecgulls.tv and Facebook LIVE!) | GAME PROGRAM
THE MATCHUP: The Gulls (20-5 overall, 15-3 CCC), will host seventh-seeded Salve Regina on Tuesday, February 21st at 8:00 p.m., after the Seahawks finished 6-12 in CCC play and 8-16 overall. The Gulls swept the Seahawks in the regular-season series, 82-66 on Jan. 11, 2017 and 79-44 in the most recent meeting just this past week on February 14th.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Gulls have now qualified for the conference tournament each in the past four consecutive years, and 20 of the 23 years since Endicott became NCAA Division III varsity program in 1994-95. Endicott will be in search of its ninth title (7x CCC, one GNAC) and third-straight under third-year head coach Kevin Bettencourt.
NO. 2 ENDICOTT (20-5, 15-3 CCC) | STATISTICS | SCHEDULE
The Gulls finished the regular season on a three-game win streak and posted a 20-win season for the fifth time in program history. Endicott is led in scoring by senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.), whose 452 points this season helped him become the program's all-time leading scorer back on Jan. 31, 2017.
NO. 7 SALVE REGINA (8-16, 6-12 CCC) | STATISTICS | SCHEDULE
The Seahawks come into the playoffs having lost the last four games of the regular season. Senior forward Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) paces the team with 15 double-doubles on the year, while junior guard Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) leads the team in scoring (463 points), averaging 19.3 points per game, good for fourth-best in the conference.
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The winner will advance to the conference semifinals on Thursday, February 23rd. Looking ahead, the championship will be played on Saturday, February 25th at a site and time to be determined. The CCC Tournament champion will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship.
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2017 CCC Men's Basketball Tournament
Tournament Schedule
(Games hosted by the higher seed)
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 21
#8 University of New England at #1 Nichols, 7 p.m.
#7 Salve Regina at #2 Endicott, 8 p.m.
#6 Eastern Nazarene at #3 Roger Williams, 7:30 p.m.
#5 Wentworth at #4 Gordon, 7 p.m.
Semifinals – Thursday, Feb. 23
#1/8 winner vs. #4/5 winner, TBA
#2/7 winner vs. #3/6 winner, TBA
Finals – Saturday, Feb. 25
Semifinal winners at higher seed, TBA