Salem State Earns Top Seed in MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament

For the second year in a row, Salem State will enter the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament as the top seed. The tournament tips off on Tuesday, February 19 with the quarterfinals.

There are two quarterfinals scheduled for Tuesday with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds serving as hosts. No. 3 seed Fitchburg State will host No. 6 seed Worcester State at 7 p.m. and No. 4 seed Bridgewater State will host No. 5 seed Framingham State at 5:30 p.m.

The two winners will advance to the semifinals on Thursday, February 21 where the top-seeded Vikings and second-seeded Westfield State await. The winner of the Bridgewater/Framingham game will travel to Salem at 7 p.m., while the winner of Fitchburg/Worcester visits Westfield at 5:30 p.m. 

The semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, February 23 at the highest remaining seed to determine the tournament champion which will earn the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. 

The top-seeded Vikings finished the year at 10-2 in conference play to earn a first-round bye. Leading the regular-season champions are Sean Bryan and Hakeem Animashaun who are both in the top-five in the conference in scoring at 25.4 and 21.8 points per game, respectively. Both players also lead the league in other categories with Bryan leading the league in assists (5.4) and Animashaun leading in field goal percentage (63.1%), rebounding (11.5), and blocks (1.8).

Westfield put together an 8-4 conference season to earn the second seed in this year's tournament and the other first round bye. They are led by Jauch Green, Jr. who currently ranks second in the conference with 23.4 ppg. Green also pitches in with 10.0 rpg (3rd) and 2.6 steals per game (1st).

Third-seeded Fitchburg enters the MASCAC Tournament after a 7-5 conference season. They are led by two guards who average double figures, Nicholas Tracy (14.3) and Jonathan Perez (11.7). Tracy is also one of the league's best dishers as he is fifth in the league in assists per game (3.0).

Defending MASCAC Tournament Champion, Bridgewater, is seeded fourth in the tournament this year with a 6-6 record. Rayshon Ward is the Bears top scorer averaging 17 ppg, which ranks fifth in the MASCAC. Ward is also second in the league in rebounding at 10.6 rpg.

Framingham is the No. 5 seed after a 5-7 season. The Rams feature the third-highest scorer in the league in Emmanuel Payton who averages 25.0 ppg. He is also instrumental in running the offense as he currently ranks sixth in the conference in assists with 72.

Closing out this year's tournament field is Worcester, which went 4-8 in league play this year. The Lancers feature one of the top three-point shooters in the conference in Tyler Dion. Dion leads the league in three-pointers made with 64 and is second in three-point percentage at 39.8%.

During the 2018 Tournament Championship, second-seeded Bridgewater defeated No. 4 seed Fitchburg State, 77-72, to claim the MASCAC crown and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.