Men's Basketball | 2/18/2018 4:33:00 PM

NEW ALBANY, Indiana -- The 2017-18 River States Conference Men's Basketball Tournament bracket and qualifiers have been determined, and they were released at RiverStatesConference.com. No. 2 East WVU Tech will host No. 3 West Asbury University.

The eight-team tournament takes place Feb. 21-27 at campus sites around the RSC with the top four teams from the RSC East and West Divisions qualifying. Hosting quarterfinal games on Feb. 21 are the first- and second-place teams in each division. The semifinals are Feb. 24, and the championship final is Feb. 27 with the higher seed hosting each game of the tournament.

The No. 1 overall seed is IU East (26-2, 16-0 RSC), which had a perfect record of 16-0 in conference play and is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Red Wolves have won 22 games in a row and are guaranteed a bid to the NAIA Division II National Championship as the RSC regular-season champion. The RSC East winners open the conference tournament Feb. 21 at home versus Brescia (Ky.) University (12-17, 9-9 RSC), the No. 4 seed from the RSC West. 

The other No. 1 seed is IU Southeast (21-7, 15-3 RSC), which is the RSC West Division champion. The Grenadiers, ranked No. 15 in the country, are 10-1 the last month with the only loss during that time to IU East. IU Southeast begins the tournament Feb. 21 at home versus No. 4 seed Carlow (Pa.) University (6-20, 6-11 RSC) from the RSC East. 

No. 2 seed IU Kokomo (16-14, 12-6 RSC) took second place in the RSC West and plays No. 3 seed Ohio Christian University (12-16, 8-8 RSC) from the RSC East in the quarterfinals on Feb. 21. The winner of that will face the winner of the other quarterfinal matchup from that side of the bracket, which is No. 1 IU East vs. No. 4 Brescia. 

No. 2 seed WVU Tech (19-10, 12-5 RSC) from the RSC East and No. 3 seed Asbury (Ky.) University (17-11, 10-8 RSC) from the RSC West meet in a quarterfinal matchup of teams that are both "receiving votes" in the NAIA Division II Top 25 Poll on Feb. 21. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 IU Southeast vs. No. 4 Carlow. 

The RSC Tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II national tournament. If IU East wins the tournament, then RSC West champion IU Southeast will receive the conference's other automatic bid to nationals. 

Watch Live the RSC Men's Basketball Tournament on Stretch Internet, the official video provider of the RSC and the NAIA. All seven games of the tournament will be streamed on the conference's RSC Game Central portal. Subscribe for $7.95 per game or $19.99 for the entire tournament. Subscribe at RiverStatesConference.com/Stretch.

Follow the tournament on Twitter @RiverStatesConf and @RSCScores with hashtags RSCMBB and RSCBASKETBALL. Follow on Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference and online at RiverStatesConference.com.

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RECORDS

• The Golden Bears finished 13-5 at home during the regular season and have won ten of their last 12 contests.
• The Eagles hold a record of 7-8 on the road including the 91-90 loss versus the Gold and Blue.

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES

• WVU Tech is currently receiving votes in the NAIA DII Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll.
• The scoring leader in Tech's win over Asbury was freshman Andreas Jönsson with 24 points.
• The team averages 84.69 points per game compared to their opponents' 80.66 points per game
• The Golden Bears have four top-ten rankings in the NAIA DII:
  • No. 6 in offensive rebounds per game, 13.931
  • No. 8 in total rebound margin, 8.724
  • No. 8 in total rebounds per game, 42.552
  • No. 8 in total offensive rebounds, 1,234

SCOUTING ASBURY

• The Eagles currently sit in third in the RSC West Division with a conference record of 10-8.
• Asbury averages 92.64 points per game.
• The team is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation (NAIA DII) for scoring offense per game (92.643).
• Asbury's leading scorer is Trenton Thompson who has averaged 26.39 points per game this season including 24 against Tech.

 

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