ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University men's basketball team has earned a second straight berth in the Empire 8 Conference championship tournament. The Saxons, who were seeded fourth last year when they made the conference championships for the first time in team history, will be the second seed when the four-team tournament opens at top-seeded St. John Fisher Friday evening.
 
The Saxons (18-7 overall) finished the regular season strong, winning their final eight games. Included in the streak were seven Empire 8 victories, which gave AU an 11-5 conference record, the team's best in the 16-year history of the league. Alfred began a 3-0 week last Tuesday with a 60-59 win over then 16^th-ranked St. John Fisher in the Saxons' home finale, then ended the regular season with road wins at Utica and Elmira to clinch the tournament's second seed.
 
AU will play third-seeded Hartwick College (15-10, 10-6 Empire 8) in the tournament's second semifinal, at 8 p.m. Friday. The winner of that game takes on the winner of the first semifinal, at 6 p.m., between Fisher and fourth-seeded Ithaca in Saturday's championship. The tournament winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championship tournament.
 
Hartwick swept the Saxons in two games this year, winning 75-74 on Jan. 3 in Oneonta, and 74-62 in Alfred on Jan. 30, which was the last time AU lost a game.
 

Senior forward Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadaga Valley) and sophomore guard Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) pace the Saxons. Walsh averages a team-high 16.2 points (fourth in the Empire 8), 8.9 rebounds (seventh in the E8) and 2.1 blocks (second in the conference); Seelman averages 16.1 points (second on the team, sixth in the league) with 54 assists and a team-best 34 steals. His 3.2 three-point shots made per game ranks second in the conference.
 

After Walsh and Seelman, the Saxons boast a balanced scoring attack, with five players averaging at least five points. Sophomore guard Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) (48 assists) averages 7.8 points; sophomore forward Eric Adams (Lebanon, NJ/Hunterdon Central) (6.3 rebounds per game) averages 7.5; freshman forward Kevin McFall (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland) averages 6.3 points; senior guard Tim Pacheco (Mt. Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East) (team-high 70 assists) averages 6.1; and junior guard Jerry Kincel (Mossic, PA/Riverside) averages 5.6.
 
The Saxons split with the other two semifinal teams. Against Fisher, AU dropped a 77-46 decision in Pittsford on Jan. 20 before Alfred's big win at home last week. Alfred lost at Ithaca 92-79 on Jan. 23 and beat the Bombers at home, 73-59, on Feb. 3.
 
Alfred's 18 wins this year are tied with last year's team (18-9) and the 1998-99 squad (18-10) for the most in a single season since the 1988-89 Saxons went 19-8 and played in the NCAA tournament. This year's team is attempting to become the first at Alfred to make the NCAA tournament field since 1997.
 
THE REST OF THE FIELD
 
Hartwick (15-10, 10-6 Empire 8) finished the year winning seven of its final nine games. The Hawks dropped two of their last three league games, allowing AU to leapfrog them in the conference standings. Among those two losses was a 69-68 loss at home to Fisher, which scored the winning points on a last-second shot.
 
The Hawks are led in scoring by guards Trevor Norton and Joey Lufkin, who rank 10^th and 11^th in the conference, with 14.4 and 14.3 points per game, respectively. Lufkin also averages 3.4 assists (sixth in the league), while center Matt Wilson and forward Jake Sinicki ranks eighth and ninth in the E8 in rebounding, with 7.3 and 7.2, respectively. Forward Justin Pratt leads the team in steals, with 23, and three-point shots made per game (2.4).
 
St. John Fisher (21-4, 14-2 Empire 8) dropped two of its last three games: the loss at AU, which stopped the Cardinals' 18-game win streak, and a 60-54 road loss to Stevens on Saturday in Fisher's regular season finale.
 
Center Keegan Ryan leads the Cardinals and is one of the top players in the conference. His 16.2 points per game are tied with Walsh for fourth in the E8 and his 9.8 rebounds per contest rank third. Ryan has made 59.7 percent of his shots, which tops the league and 21st in the nation. Three Cardinal guards are at or near double-digit scoring: Tyler Hart averages 10 points; Chaz Lott (league-best 5.7 assists per game) averages 9.9; and Stefan Bock (1.6 steals, eighth in the E8) averages 9.3 points and 3.8 boards.
 
Ithaca (12-13, 9-7 Empire 8) comes into Friday's tournament having lost four of its last six, including three straight (home to Hartwick and Stevens and at Nazareth) before a regular season-ending 83-74 win at Elmira on Saturday.
 
The Bombers are led by center Keefe Gitto, who ranks with Walsh, Ryan and Wilson among the top post players in the conference. Gitto's 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game rank eighth and fifth, respectively, in the E8. His 50.5 percent shooting ranks sixth in the league. Guard Marc Chasin averages 14.8 points (ninth in the league); guard Sam Bevan averages 10.6; and guard Joe Masino averages 2.6 assists.
 
Odds and Ends: The four tournament teams rank at the top of the league in scoring offense. Alfred scores at a 75.2 point-per-game clip, third in the conference and is also third in scoring defense (69.4 points); St. John Fisher is second in scoring offense (77.4 points) and first in defense (61.2 points); Hartwick is fourth in offense (75.1 points) and fifth in defense (64.5 points); Ithaca averages a league-best 78.8 points per game, but allows 82 per contest (eighth in the nine-team conference)…AU ranks third in the nation in three point field goal defense (27.8 percent); Fisher ranks fifth in scoring margin (16.3 points) and fourth in field goal percentage (50.2 percent); Ithaca is 22nd in free throw percentage (76.2 percent)...Friday's semifinal between AU and Hartwick is a rematch of last year's first-round game, when top-seeded and eventual champ Hartwick topped the Saxons, 90-85…In the other semifinal, between Ithaca and Fisher, Ithaca will look to avenge a pair of regular-season blowout losses to the Cardinals: 92-61 at Ithaca on Jan. 6 and 96-70 at Fisher on Jan. 24…Neither Fisher nor Ithaca were part of last season's championship tournament field. Ithaca last made the tournament in 2013, when the Bombers won their second of two straight league championships. St. John Fisher last made the tournament in 2013, when they fell in the semifinals to Ithaca; the Cardinals haven't won a league title since 2007, when they won their last of five straight E8 crowns.

CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
 

Student Bus Ride Information: There are 50 spots on the bus. The bus will leave McLane Center at 5:45 pm on Friday, February 27. The cost is $10.00 which covers round-trip transportation and the cost of the ticket. Pay when you sign up at the AU Equipment Manager, Tony Aquilina's office or specify that you wish to be charged to your student account at that time. Cash only and it is first come, first serve. If the Saxons win, the $10.00 charge will also be good for the ticket and transportation on Saturday.