Moravian Receives Top Seed in 2017 ECAC DIII Men's Basketball Championship Tournament
DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College men’s basketball team has been selected as the top seed in the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championship Tournament announced Monday, and the Greyhounds received a first round bye and will head to Erie, Pennsylvania on Friday, March 3 for the quarterfinals as third seed Penn State-Behrend was selected as the host for the finals.
DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team has been selected as the top seed in the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championship Tournament presented by Visit Myrtle Beach announced Monday, and the Greyhounds received a first round bye and will head to Erie, Pennsylvania on Friday, March 3 for the quarterfinals as third seed Penn State-Behrend was selected as the host for the finals.
Moravian, which is 19-8 overall this season and tied the school-record for victories, will be making its fourth appearance in the ECAC Tournament and the first since the 2013 season.
The ECAC switched from four regional tournaments to one overall championship this year, and the top four seeds all earned byes into the quarterfinals while the other eight teams will compete in the first round on Wednesday, March 1. Penn State-Behrend will host the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship on March 3-5. Moravian will play the first quarterfinal contest on Friday, March 3 when the Hounds take on the winner of Penn State-Altoona and Bethany (W.Va.) College at 11:00 a.m.
Moravian Head Coach Justin Potts has the Greyhounds in the postseason for the first time since 2012-13 in just his second season back at the school, and he has a 30-22 career record. The Blue and Grey made their third trip to the Landmark Conference Tournament and first since 2011-12, and the Hounds hosted a postseason contest for the first time since 2007-08 when Moravian hosted a Landmark Conference Semifinal and an NCAA Division III Tournament First Round game. The program has reached the 19-win plateau for just the third time in 80 seasons at Moravian, tying the 1982-83 and 1987-88 teams for the school record in victories.
The Hounds enter the ECAC Tournament having already set four single season school records – total points with 2,236, field goals made at 777, assists with 422 and three-pointers with 262.
On the court this season, senior forward Brandon McGuire leads the squad by averaging a double-double of 17.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game to go along with 48 assists, 35 steals, 31 three-pointers and 17 blocked shots. He is also shooting 65.8 percent (212-of-322) from the floor this year. McGuire, who was selected to the Lehigh Valley Small College Men's Basketball Team of the Year and has been the Landmark Conference Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week three times this winter, is currently ranked seventh in school history with 1,328 points and fourth in rebounds with 758.
Sophomore guard Jimmy Murray is netting 13.0 points per contest to go with a team-high 54 three-pointers as well as 38 rebounds, 28 assists, 15 steals and 12 blocked shots. Sophomore forward Oneil Holder is also scoring in double figures at 10.7 points per outing, and he is second to McGuire on the boards at 5.1 rebounds per game. Holder has added 33 assists, 26 steals, 18 three-pointers and 17 blocked shots, and both Holder and Murray have both passed 600 career points for the Greyhounds in just two seasons.
Senior guard Sean Hanna netted a career-high 21 points in the regular season finale, a win over Catholic to clinch the second seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament, and he is averaging 10.0 points per contest this winter for the Greyhounds to go along with 69 rebounds, 64 assists, 36 steals and 25 three-pointers. Hanna is eighth all-time with 210 assists while senior guard Isaiah Jennings ranks sixth in the Moravian record books with 271 career assists and tied for fifth with 130 career steals. Jennings, who is just the 12th player in school history to play in 100 games, has a team-high 90 assists this winter to go with 91 points, 64 rebounds, 38 steals, seven blocked shots and six three-pointers.
Hanna, Jennings and sophomore guard Will Brazukas are Moravian's top three ball handlers and have combined for 212 assists and just 133 turnovers as the Greyhounds have more assists (422) than turnovers (405) this winter and assists on over 50 percent of their field goals (422 assists on 777 field goals). Brazkuas has 58 assists to go with 59 points, 46 rebounds and 32 steals.
Sophomore forward Jake McGee is tossing in 7.6 points per game to go with 72 rebounds, 38 three-pointers, 18 assists and 11 steals while freshman guard C.J. Barnes has an average of 7.2 points per contest with 69 rebounds, 42 three-pointers, 26 assists and 10 steals. Freshman forward John Hargraves has 108 points, 58 rebounds, 13 blocked shots, six assists and four steals in his debut season while junior guard Matt Cardonne has added 87 points, 23 three-pointers, 14 assists, 10 rebounds and six steals. Barnes and Hargraves have played in all 27 games as freshmen and are two of just six Greyhounds to see action in every contest this winter.
Sophomore guard Nicholas Casazza has 46 points, 12 three-pointers, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals off of the bench for Moravian while junior guard Khalil Rhett has 35 points, 32 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Freshman guard Elijah Davis has added 25 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while freshman guard Mike Martino has 22 points, 18 assists, 12 steals and seven rebounds in their debut seasons. Senior guard Tom Cicalese, freshman guard Tyron Brown and freshman center Addis Ralph all have two points this winter with Cicalese adding two assists and a pair of steals.
2017 ECAC Division III Championship Tournament
First Round – Wednesday, March 1
Game 1: Pine Manor College (16-9) at SUNY Canton (11-7)
Game 2: Baruch College (18-9) at Stockton University (14-11)
Game 3: Penn State Altoona (14-13) at Bethany College (15-12)
Game 4: Juniata College (13-12) at Westminster College (15-11)
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3
Game 5: 11am Moravian College (19-8) vs. Winner Bethany/Altoona
Game 6: 2 pm DeSales University (18-9) vs. Winner Juniata/Westminster
Game 7: 5 pm Carnegie Mellon University (14-11) vs. Winner Stockton/Baruch
Game 8: 8 pm Penn State Behrend (19-7) vs. Winner Canton/Pine Manor
Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 – hosted at Penn State Behrend
Game 9: 3pm Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7
Game 10: 6pm Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 8
Championship – Sunday, March 5 – hosted at Penn State Behrend
Game 11: 1pm Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10
