The Patriot League tipped off its conference tournament on Wednesday Night. The four first round games were decided by a combined 8 points, and included 2 games with a combined 4 overtimes in which the lower seeded team prevailed in both. The favorite to win is the conference leader American (10-4 in the conference), but barely escaped Holy Cross, who has been the team to beat in the league for years. Holy Cross has met the other Patriot power, Bucknell, in the last 3 conference tournament championships. Bucknell, the 7-seed, upset the 2-seed Navy in 3 overtimes. Below is the remaining schedule for the Patriot league tournament. If the rest is as half as fun as Wednesday’s action, this will be a must-see semifinals and championship.
Semifinals (Sunday, March 9)
No. 5 Army at No. 1 American
No. 7 Bucknell at No. 3 Colgate
Championship (Friday, March 14)
Winners of the Semifinals (played at higher seed)
What to expect
American is 5-1 against the remaining teams and is 3-0 against this competition at home, which is where they will be playing if they keep winning. American also scored a road win at Maryland and played close at Dayton, when Dayton was surging. Colgate is the league’s hottest team, winning five straight games. Bucknell has had a rough year, but can never be counted out. The experience of the Bison could vault them into the NCAA Tournament with a losing record. Army has the league’s second leading scorer in Jarell Brown and is the best scorer left in the tournament. I am going to predict American will beat Colgate in the finals. Colgate is hot, but I like the discipline that American shows. They are a great half court team, and I don’t see anyone beating them on their home floor.
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