Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Fitchburg State Falcons have earned the top seed in the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament which starts on Tuesday, February 23 with the quarterfinal matchups.

Fourth-seeded Worcester State starts off the quarterfinal round on Tuesday as the host of fifth-seeded Westfield State at 7 pm while third-seeded Bridgewater State hosts sixth-seeded Framingham State at 7:30 pm. Fitchburg State will then entertain the winner of Worcester State/Westfield State at 7 pm while second-seeded Salem State will host the winner of Bridgewater State/Framingham State at 7 pm.

The two semifinal winners will then meet up on Saturday, February 27 at the highest remaining seed to determine the MASCAC Tournament champion.

Fitchburg State as the top seed in the tournament earns a first round bye after finishing 9-3 in the MASCAC. Jaleel Bell led the Falcons in points per game with 17 for the second best mark in the conference. He also finished the regular season third in the MASCAC in free throw percentage at 78.8 percent.

Earning the other first round bye is Salem State who closed out the MASCAC regular season also at 9-3. Marcus Faison was solid for the Vikings this season with the third most points per game in the conference (15.8), second best field goal percentage (58.5 percent) and rebounds (12.6) and the most total rebounds (314).

Bridgewater State sits in the third slot after going 8-4 during the MASCAC season. The duo of Fawaz Mass and Joseph Carty led the Bears in points per game this season with 15.3 and 12.3, respectively. Mass ended the regular season fourth in points per game and total points (366) while Carty was fourth in the conference in rebounds (9.7).

Grabbing the fourth seed is Worcester State who also had an 8-4 conference record. The Lancers Bilal Shakir finished the regular season atop the MASCAC in points per game with 17.4 and total points with 432 while also tallying the third most assists with 74. Teammate Paul Brooks had third most rebounds in the league with 252 and averaged 10.1 while also having the league’s best field goal percentage at 59.6 percent.

Closing out the tournament field are Westfield State and Framingham State with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. The Owls tallied four wins in conference play. Jesus Sanchez led the squad with 15.2 points, fifth best in conference, and a 37.2 third point percentage which was fourth best in the league. For the Rams who had two conference victories, Tony Alexandre led the way with 12.1 points per game and finished with 212 rebounds (8.5 per game) for the fourth most in the league.

Last season during the 2015 MASCAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, Westfield State won the title with a 78-69 victory over Bridgewater State for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.