2012 Men's Basketball Tournament Preview
ST. LOUIS - The field is set for the 2012 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men's Basketball Tournament. Webster University, Westminster College (Mo.), Eureka College and MacMurray College will all battle for the tournament crown, as semifinal action kicks off on Thursday, February 23. The championship game is slated for this Saturday, February 25.
Top-seeded Webster will host fourth-seeded MacMurray at 8:00pm on Thursday. Webster (13-12) went 13-3 in conference play and won their seventh regular season conference championship. The Gorloks are also the defending SLIAC Tournament Champions. MacMurray (13-12) finished 10-6 in league play with a win on the last day of SLIAC play that qualified them for the Conference Tournament. Webster narrowly got by the Highlanders less than a week ago, as the Gorloks won 88-81 in double overtime on the road. Webster swept the series this season with a 74-65 victory versus MacMurray earlier in the season on their home court.
Westminster is seeded second in this year's Tournament and will play third-seeded Eureka at 6:00pm on Thursday. Westminster (15-10) posted a 11-5 record in the SLIAC this season. Eureka (15-10) also went 11-5 in conference play, losing their final conference game 76-62 to MacMurray College earlier this week. The Blue Jays and Red Devils split the regular season series. Eureka won on their home court back on January 7, by a score of 87-77. Westminster then edged out a 76-74 victory over the Red Devils last Saturday in Fulton, Mo.
Webster is 6-13 in 14 SLIAC men's basketball tournament appearances, with its first tournament championship last season in a 64-47 victory over Westminster. This also marks the fifth time that the Gorloks are the top-seeded team in the tournament.
Westminster is 15-12 in 14 SLIAC men's basketball tournament appearances. The Blue Jays have played for the Tournament Championship in each of the past three years and won the Tournament Championship in 2010 as the #1 seed. Westminster's other Tournament Championship came in 1995 as the #4 seed with an 82-72 win over MacMurray.
Eureka is 2-2 in only two SLIAC men's basketball tournament appearances. Both of the Red Devils two losses were in the championship game. They lost to Fontbonne, 88-79 in overtime, in 2007. Eureka also lost to Westminster, 74-67, in the championship game in 2010.
MacMurray is 13-10 in 12 SLIAC men's basketball tournament appearances. The Highlanders have claimed two SLIAC Tournament championships, with their last one in 1999 as the #3 seed. MacMurray was the #3 seed in last year's tournament and lost to second-seeded Westminster, 73-63, in the semifinal round.
SLIAC Men's Tournament Bracket:
Semifinals (Feb. 23)
#3-Eureka vs. #2-Westminster, 6:00pm
#4-MacMurray at #1-Webster, 8:00pm
Championship (Feb. 25)
Semifinal winners, 1:00pm
The four coaches representing this year's tournament field participated in a live chat earlier this week. An archive of the chat is available here.
