Behrend Will Host First-Round of ECAC Playoffs Against Grove City
Behrend
men's basketball has been awarded the top seed
in the ECAC Southern Tournament and will host the first-round against #8
Grove City (16-12, 6-6 PAC) on
Wednesday, February 28 at 8:00 p.m. The men finished the regular
season at 18-6, 16-2 in the AMCC and advanced to the championship game of
the conference tournament where they lost 59-58 to Lake Erie. The men
have made the post season every season since 1996-97, making the ECAC
tournament six times and the NCAA tournament three times during that stretch.
The blue and white last met Grove City in 2004-05 on the road and lost 62-58. Other tournament pairings include #2 DeSales (19-8) vs. #7 Gwynedd-Mercy (14-12), #3 Lebanon Valley (14-11) vs. #6 Carnegie Mellon (12-11), and #4 Juniata (16-11) vs. #5 Bethany (19-8).
The men have been led this season by Kevin Buczynski (Erie/Villa Maria) and Justin Kovac (Venetia/Peters Township). Buczynski averages 18.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting an impressive .598 percent from the floor. Kovac averages 7.3 points and 3.0 assists a game while managing the offense from the point guard position. Grove City is led by Ryan Gibson who averages 12.3 points a game and Craig Hallman who adds nine points and 7.3 boards a contest. The men will try to use their suffocating defense that gave up a conference best 57.8 points a game to keep Gibson and Hallman in check.
The tournament semifinals and championship game will be held at a location to be determined later in the week.