BENNINGTON, Vt. – The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced Saturday its bracket for the 2014 Men's Basketball Championship with Southern Vermont College taking the No. 4 spot and a first round home game.
The Mountaineers, who finished the regular season with a 10-6 mark in the NECC, will host No. 5 Regis College at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Pride ended the conference schedule with a 9-6 record, one of their losses being vacated due to ineligibility of a Daniel Webster College player during a game played in the fall semester.
"The home crowd has provided us with a great advantage all season, and we're really excited to play in front of the Mountaineer faithful," commented first year head coach Dan Engelstad. "The guys earned this home game with the work they did in the regular season, and we're ready to now compete for the conference championship."
Southern Vermont split the season series with Regis, first losing 71-62 on the Pride's home court back on Jan. 18 before winning 62-59 at the MAC on Feb 12 in the final week of the Mountaineers' regular season.
"We know that we have a big challenge in Regis," continued Engelstad. "They are a very big defensive team and have an inside-outside punch, and they have proven to be one of the top teams in the league. We know we'll have our hands full when they come in on Tuesday."
Tuesday's other first round matchup pits No. 6 Daniel Webster (7-9 NECC) at Becker College (10-6 NECC). The Hawks' season sweep of Southern Vt. gave them the tiebreaker and No. 3 seed.
Elms College received the top seed, first round bye and ability to host the semifinal round after going 12-4 in league play. The Blazers will face the winner of Southern Vermont and Regis on Friday night. Mitchell College, the No. 2 seed, also has a bye until Friday with a 12-4 conference mark of its own. The Mariners will take on the victor of DWC against Becker Friday evening at EC. Tie-breaking procedures allowed for Elms to host as the Blazers defeated Becker twice in the regular season while the Mariners were 1-1 against the Hawks.
The two semifinal winners will face off in the championship round that will also be held on the Elms campus in Chicopee, Mass. on Saturday.