Second chances at PAC tourney
That there was one major upset in the league tournament last year should be ample reason for men’s basketball coaches in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference to sweat a little this week.
It also serves as inspiration for a Washington & Jefferson team running low on positives this season.
The PAC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments begin tonight with the winner of each week-long event receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Only four months ago, the W&J men were expected to have a huge impact on the postseason, but the Presidents were dealt a staggering blow in the preseason when talented forward Nate Bellhy was lost for the year with a torn groin muscle. The Presidents (1-15, 2-23) never recovered and finished in last place in the nine-team league during the regular season. They will get a fresh start tonight when they play at eighth-seeded Westminster (3-13, 6-19) in a first-round game.
W&J’s only conference win came last Wednesday at Westminster, 61-50, when Mitch Locher scored 16 points. The Titans won in Washington in January when they made 15 three-point field goals.
If the Presidents need a reminder as to what can happen in the survive-and-advance world of conference tournaments, they can check out what Geneva did last year in the PAC tournament. The Golden Tornadoes went 1-15 in league play, won a first-round game over Westminster, then upset top-seeded Bethany in the quarterfinals on the Bison’s home court.
Some conferences do not include all league members, which eliminates the possibility of huge upsets, such as Geneva’s last year.
“The beauty of this league, compared to others in the area, is that in this conference tournament everybody has something to play for,” W&J coach Glenn Gutierrez said. “In this league, anyone can beat anyone. Geneva won back-to-back games last year. Once you get to Thursday night and the semifinals, anything can happen.”
The W&J-Westminster winner will have little time to savor a victory as it plays Tuesday in the quarterfinals at top-seeded Saint Vincent (14-2, 19-6), the regular-season champion.
Waynesburg (12-4, 16-9) enters the tournament as the PAC’s hottest team, having won seven in a row. The Yellow Jackets are the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 Grove City (4-12, 9-16) Tuesday night at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Tip-off is 7 p.m. If Waynesburg defeats Grove City, the Yellow Jackets will be back at home for the semifinals Thursday.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Grove City twice – 70-55 at home and 69-55 on the Wolverines’ court – during the regular season.
Head coach Mark Christner’s senior-laden team is 9-2 at home and has not lost in Greene County since early December.
“It’s going to be very interesting how the year ends,” Christner said. “We’ve played lights-out at home lately. If we can be at home Tuesday and Thursday, it will be a huge advantage for us.”
The PAC tournament has a history of being dominated by the top seed. In eight of the last 11 years, the No. 1 seed held serve and won the conference tournament. Last year, however, Geneva’s upset of Bethany paved the way for second-seeded Saint Vincent to repeat as PAC champion.
“The last couple of years, Saint Vincent was head and shoulders above everybody else,” Gutierrez said. “I don’t think that disparity is there this year. Everybody is capable of winning every night.”
The PAC changed its postseason format. Instead of having four quarterfinal games, the league’s new double-bye format gives top-seeded Thomas More (18-0, 25-0), the No. 1-ranked team in Division III, and second-place Saint Vincent (15-3, 21-4), automatic spots in the semifinals, which will be played Friday in Crestview Hills, Ky.
Third-place W&J (13-5, 19-6) and fourth-place Waynesburg (12-6, 15-10) receive byes to the quarterfinals. Both teams will be at home Wednesday (7 p.m.) and will play winners from tonight’s first-round games. W&J will host the survivor of seventh-seeded Westminster (5-13, 6-19) and sixth-seeded Bethany (8-10, 12-13). Waynesburg gets the winner of No. 8 Thiel (4-14, 5-20) and No. 5 Grove City (10-8, 12-13).
What the new format does is prevents the conference’s regular-season champion from having to play the No. 8 seed for the third time. As one PAC observer recently said, “That game was the most meaningless game in America.”
Advancing the top two seeds to the semifinals could go a long way in helping the PAC put a second team in the NCAA tournament. It not only prevents a possible quarterfinal upset of the top seeds, but also helps the strength of schedule of the regular-season champion and runner-up.