Championship Preview: No. 4 Salve Regina hosts No. 5 Wentworth

FEBRUARY 25 | 7 p.m. RODGERS RECREATION CENTER • NEWPORT, R.I.
WENTWORTH LEOPARDS (15-10, 8-8 CCC)	SALVE REGINA SEAHAWKS (12-13, 8-8 CCC)
SERIES Seahawks lead, 34-32 LIVE STATS http://www.salveathletics.com/ LIVE VIDEO Click here DIRECTIONS Click here
INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET
GAME PROGRAM Download PDF

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's basketball team earns the No. 4 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships and hosts No. 5 Wentworth Institute of Technology.

SOCIALIZE
Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and notes on Salve Regina athletics by connecting with the Seahawks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to use the hashtag #goSeahawks for an insider's look at Salve Regina's teams and student-athletes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott College completed the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball regular season with a 12-4 CCC (18-7 overall) record and earned the top seed in the CCC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.

The Gulls will be trying to return to the CCC Championship after missing the title game a year ago. Before the 2019 final, Endicott had made four straight appearances in the conference championship game. This year's quest for the conference crown will begin in the CCC Semifinals as the top seed receives a bye in the First Round.

That bye did not come easily however as Endicott and Nichols actually tied for the regular-season championship with identical 12-4 conference records. According to the league's tiebreaking procedure, the tied teams were compared in head-to-head matchups. The Gulls and Bison split the regular-season series, offering no relief. Endicott was awarded the top seed in the next tiebreaking step which compares each team's record against other conference opponents in rank order. The Gulls swept No. 3 seed Western New England in their season series, while Nichols split against the Golden Bears.

While the Gulls wait in the semifinals, the rest of the tournament field will participate in the CCC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The three-time defending CCC Tournament Champion Bison will be the No. 2 seed and host No. 7 seed Roger Williams (7-9 CCC, 15-10 overall). No. 3 seed WNE will host No. 6 seed Gordon (7-9 CCC, 12-13 overall) and No. 4 seed Salve Regina (8-8 CCC, 12-13 overall) will host No. 5 seed Wentworth (8-8 CCC, 15-10 overall) in the other two quarterfinals. All three games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

The tiebreaking protocol was needed again to sort out the bottom half of the bracket. The Seahawks and Leopards both finished with 8-8 conference records. They split their regular-season series, so it was Salve's win over the top-seeded Gulls that gave them the edge and hosting duties in the No. 4-No. 5 matchup.

There were three teams tied at 7-9 in league standings – Gordon, Roger Williams, and the University of New England. The Fighting Scots were the first team pulled out as their 3-1 record in head-to-head matchups with the other two tied teams gave them the No. 6 seed. The Hawks went 2-0 against the Nor'easters giving them the No. 7 seed and leaving UNE on the outside looking in.

Following the quarterfinals, the three remaining teams will advance to the CCC Semifinals to join the top-seeded Gulls on Thursday, Feb. 27. Endicott will play the winner of the Salve-Wentworth game, while the other two quarterfinal winners meet in the other semifinal. Game times for those matches will be announced following the first round.

The two semifinal winners will advance to compete in the 2020 CCC Men's Basketball Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 29 and the chance to represent the conference in the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship as the league's automatic qualifier.

LAST TIME OUT
NEWPORT, R.I. (February 22, 2020) - Salve Regina University seniors Tyler Benjamin (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Andrew Bronstein (Needham, Mass.) posted career bests in points (21) and assists (11), respectively, to lead the Seahawks to a come-from-behind 68-63 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in the final regular season men's basketball game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC).

MORE READING: Benjamin, Bronstein bring their best on Senior Day

SEAHAWKS NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Salve Regina rides a season-high (matching) win streak of four games into the postseason that started with a road triumph over top-seeded Endicott (98-89 on February 11).
• Previous Seahawk championships - (3x) 1988-89, 1994-95, 2010-11.
• Seahawk head coach Sean Foster '97 has been part of three championships - as a player in 1995, and as a coach in 1998 (Wentworth) and 2011 (Salve Regina).
• Salve Regina has four players earning All-CCC accolades - senior Tyler Benjamin is the league's Scholar Athlete, juniors Cameron Collins (first team) and Kevin Kelly (second team), and sophomore Mikey Spencer (second team).
• Collins leads all league players in field goal percentage (60.4%) while Spencer ranks fourth in scoring (19.4 ppg).
• Top three Seahawks in scoring - Spencer (19.4), Collins (18.6), and Kelly (17.0).
• With his performance last Saturday, Benjamin has elevated to fifth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (42.0%).
• Kelly and Andrew Bronstein rank second and 10th, respectively, in assists per game among league players (5.0 and 3.5, respectively).
• Salve Regina tops the league in field goal percentage overall (49.4%) and against CCC opponents (49.5%).
• With 990 career points, Collins could become the next Seahawk to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
• The Seahawks have an average rebound margin of +4.6 which ranks first among all CCC men's basketball programs.
• Seahawk players are encouraged their fans to wear white to support the home team at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
• Salve Regina is 1-4 in overtime games this season.

LEOPARD LISTS

• The Leopards won back-to-back titles in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
• Wentworth has returned to the championship game twice since, falling to Salve Regina in 2010-11, and then Endicott in 2014-15.
• Stephen Azums ranks second in the CCC for rebounds per game (10.6), and joins Nichols' Matt Morrow as the only two league players averaging a double-double for 2019-20.
• Top three Leopards in scoring - Kevin Fernandez (14.8), Azums (12.7), and Trey Carrier (11.6).
• Wentworth averages a conference-best 20.4 free throw attempts per game.
• The Leopards lead the league with the lowest points allowed per game (70.8).
• Wentworth is 1-2 in its last three, and 4-7 in its last 11 games.
• The Leopards had a season-best five-game win streak when they defeated the Seahawks in OT on January 9 (85-77).
• Wentworth is 3-1 in overtime games this season.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Salve Regina University and Wentworth Institute of Technology meet for the 67th time overall, and the fifth time in the conference postseason. With last Saturday's win, the Seahawks improve to 34-32 in the all-time series which includes victories in the previous four postseason meetings. These programs met in the 2011 title game in Boston, Mass., as fifth-seeded Salve Regina defeated second-seeded Wentworth in overtime, 68-58.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Winner advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal on Thursday, February 27, at top-seeded Endicott College in Beverly, Mass.