Fitchburg State Earns the Top Seed in the 2017 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The Fitchburg State Falcons earned the top seed in the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament which starts on Tuesday, February 21 with the quarterfinal round.
The Fitchburg State Falcons earned the top seed in the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament which starts on Tuesday, February 21 with the quarterfinal round.
Starting on Tuesday with the quarterfinal, third seed Bridgewater State will host sixth seed Framingham State at 5:30 pm while fourth seed Westfield State entertain fifth seed Worcester State at 7 pm.
Top seed Fitchburg State will host the winner of Westfield State/Worcester State on Thursday, February 23 at 7 pm in the first tournament semifinal while second seed Salem State will face off with the winner of Bridgewater State/Framingham State at 7:30 pm in the other semifinal game. The two semifinal winners will then meet at the highest remaining seed Saturday, February 25 for the MASCAC Championship.
Grabbing the number one seed and a first round bye for the second straight year, Fitchburg State ended the conference regular season with a 10-2 mark. Leading the Falcons is 2016 MASCAC Player of the Year Jaleel Bell who ended the regular season first in the conference in points per game with 22.2, total points at 532 and steals at 49 while also tallying the second most defensive rebounds at 166 and fourth most total rebounds with 199 and free throw percentage at 83 percent.
Earning the other first round bye and the second spot in the tournament is Salem State who ended league play with a 9-3 record. Marcus Faison led the Vikings and the MASCAC in total rebounds (278), defensive rebounds (185) and rebounds per game (11.1). Throughout the 2016-17 season, he also netted 18 steals, 18 blocks and averaged 14.6 points per game.
Bridgewater State lands the third seed with a 7-5 MASCAC record. The Bears duo of Fawaz Mass and Rocky DeAndrade led the Bears, averaging 15.7 and 14 points per game, respectively. Mass finished the regular season second in the league in points with 392 total while his points per game were the fourth most in the league. DeAndrade tallied the second best free throw percentage at 85 percent, third most steals with 44 and fourth best three point percentage at 41 percent.
Sitting in the fourth seed with a 6-6 conference record is Westfield State. Jesus Sanchez ended the regular season as the leading scorer for the Owls with 15 points per game. He also netted the best conference free-throw percentage (85.2), fourth most assists (62) and seventh most total points (361).
Rounding out the tournament field with the fifth and sixth seed are Worcester State with a 6-6 record and Framingham State with a 4-9 mark in MASCAC competition. Paul Brooks concluded the regular season for the Lancers with the most blocks in the conference with 56 and field goal percentage at 61 percent while also grabbing 184 total rebounds which is the fifth most in the league. Tony Alexandre netted the third most total rebounds in the MASCAC (234), defensive rebounds (160) and fifth best field goal percentage (51 percent) on his way to 272 total points on the season.
During the 2016 MASCAC Tournament, top seed Fitchburg State outlasted second seed Salem State 82-78 to earn the MASCAC's automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament.
Release courtesy of the MASCAC office