TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Washington & Jefferson College emerged from the regular season with the top conference record to secure the number one seed and home court advantage throughout the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, which will take place February 21-25.
The top eight teams as determined through the regular season earned spots in this year's Championship Tournament, which will begin Tuesday, Feb. 21st with quarterfinal games. The winners will advance to the Tournament semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 23 and the PAC Tournament title game will be Saturday, Feb. 25th.
W&J will be looking to repeat as PAC champions after eighth-year head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith led the Presidents to their 10th league title in program history and first since 1994-95 last year. W&J overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat #2 Chatham University 68-63 in the Championship game a year ago at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
Tournament play begins Tuesday with four quarterfinal match-ups, all tipping off at 7 p.m. The #1 seed W&J (19-6, 16-4 PAC) will host eighth-seeded Grove City College (10-15, 8-12 PAC), while the second seed Allegheny College (17-8, 15-5 PAC) will take on seventh seed Saint Vincent College (15-10, 11-9 PAC) in Meadville. The third seed Geneva College (17-8, 14-6 PAC) will host #6 Thiel College (12-11, 11-9 PAC) and the five seed Westminster College (14-11, 12-8 PAC) will make the journey to play at #4 Chatham (14-11, 13-7 PAC).
In Wednesday's semifinal round, the winner of the W&J/Grove City quarterfinal will face the winner of the Chatham/Westminster match-up, while the winner of Allegheny/Saint Vincent quarterfinal will take on the winner of the Geneva/Thiel tilt with games hosted by the higher seed. The semifinals will also start at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
This year's title game is slated for Saturday, February 25. The title game will be hosted by the highest seed remaining after Thursday's semifinal round.
Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students. PAC and institutional passes are not accepted at PAC Championship events. Students from PAC host institutions will be admitted for free with a valid college ID.
The winner of the PAC’s Championship Tournament will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to this year's Division III Championship Tournament. Forty-four conferences have been granted automatic qualification to this year's 64-team championship. The selected Division III Championship teams as well as the first and second round site selections will be announced Monday, February 27. First and second round games are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 3-4.