TOURNAMENT PAGE

GREENWOOD, IN – The 2015-16 HCAC men's basketball regular season has come to a close and the action shifts to tournament play this weekend.  The winner of the six-team HCAC Tournament will earn the conference's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament.

Defiance College (15-10, 13-5 HCAC) locked up the conference's top seed on Saturday, defeating Rose-Hulman on a last-second jumper 73-72. The Yellow Jackets captured their third-straight men's basketball conference championship with the victory and will strive for their second-straight and fourth HCAC tournament title overall this weekend.

Defiance, Mount St. Joseph and Hanover have the best records against the tournament field with 6-4 records, while Rose-Hulman, Manchester and Transylvania each posted a 4-6 mark against the competition.

The top seed Jackets finished the season with a 7-3 record down the stretch.  Defiance will take on the winner of Rose-Hulman and Manchester Saturday evening in the HCAC semifinals.  Defiance swept Rose-Hulman and earned a split against Manchester during the regular season.

Rose-Hulman (15-10, 12-6 HCAC) enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and has won eight out of its last 10 games heading into tournament play.  The Engineers will look to move into the semifinals with a win over No. 5 Manchester Friday night.  Rose earned a season split with the Spartans during the regular season.  Manchester (13-12, 10-8 HCAC) claimed a 5-5 mark down the stretch this season and won its last two games to make the tournament field.  RHIT and MU will tip at 6:00 PM Friday night at Defiance College.

Mount St. Joseph (16-9, 13-5 HCAC) earned a share of the HCAC men's basketball title for the second-straight season and earned the No. 2 seed in this weekend's tournament.  The Lions have alternated wins and losses the last seven games heading into the postseason tourney.  Mount will face the winner of Hanover and Transylvania in the other semifinal Saturday night at Defiance.  The Lions split with Hanover and Transylvania during the regular season.

Hanover (14-11, 12-6 HCAC) claimed the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 Transylvania Friday night.  The Panthers and Pioneers (10-15, 9-9 HCAC) split two contests during their regular season series. Hanover finished the season 6-4 down the stretch, while Transylvania went 4-6 entering tourney play.  HC and TU will tip at 8:00 PM Friday night from Defiance College.

The HCAC tournament championship game will take place at 2:00 PM Sunday. 

Tickets will be $8.00 per session ($5.00 for students and senior citizens).  Children under the age of 11 are free.

Opening Round- Friday, Feb. 26 (at Defiance)
No. 5 Manchester vs. No. 4 Rose-Hulman, 6:00 PM
No. 6 Transylvania vs. No. 3 Hanover, 8:00 PM

Semifinals - Saturday, Feb. 27 (at Defiance)
No. 1 Defiance vs. No. 4/5 winner, 5:00 PM
No. 2 Mount St. Joseph vs. No. 3/6 winner, 7:00 PM

Championship- Sunday, Feb. 28 (at Defiance)
2:00 PM

#1 Defiance College Head Coach: Scott Cutter	#2 Mount St. Joseph University Head Coach: Toby Carrigan
#3 Hanover College Head Coach: Jon Miller	#4 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Head Coach: Rusty Loyd Player: Dillon Reynolds
#5 Manchester University Head Coach: Gerad Good Player: Brady Dolezal	#6 Transylvania University Head Coach: Brian Lane Player: Parker Stansberry & Alex Jones