CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team will continue their postseason action in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) on Saturday, March 25 in San Marcos, Texas at the Strahan Coliseum on the campus of Texas State University. Tip time is set for 5p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Peacocks enter the contest with a 20-13 overall record, the second 20 win season under head coach John Dunne and first since 2010-11. The Peacocks finished the regular season with a 14-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) record, good for a second place regular season finish. The 14 MAAC wins were a program record and the second place regular season finish was the best for a Peacock team since the 1988-89 campaign.
Playing in the programs first national postseason tournament since a 2011 NCAA berth, the Peacocks advanced to the quarterfinal round of the CIT by rallying late in the second half to knock off Albany, 59-55 in the first round on March 16. The win was the first national postseason tournament win for Saint Peter's since the 1980 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) when that team knocked off Connecticut in the first round and then Duquesne in the second round. Since the Peacocks are the No. 3 seed in the CIT, the team earned a bye in the second round and advanced to the quarterfinal round.
The Texas State Bobcats enter the quarterfinal round with a 22-13 overall record, including posting an 11-7 Sun Belt Conference record. The Bobcats advanced by handling Idaho, 64-55, in their second round contest. The Bobcats had three players score in double figures in the win with Nijal Pearson leading the way with 16 points, followed by 14 points from K. Gilder-Tilbury and 13 points from Ojai Black. The two postseason victories are the most the Bobcats have recorded since 1979, when that squad won the first games of the NAIA National Tournament.
The Peacocks boasted one of the top scoring defenses in the country and finished the regular season leding the league in five team statistical categories. Senior center Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, PA / Math, Civics and Science Charter) earned All-MAAC first team honors and led the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) during the season. Senior guard Trevis Wyche (Neptune, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) earned All-MAAC second team honors for the second consecutive year after averaging 11.4 points per game and leading the Peacocks in assists and the conference in assists to turnover ratio. Junior Nick Griffin (Rockville, MD/Col. Zadok Magruder (George Washington)) added 9.3 points per outing and sophomore Antwon Portley (Lancaster, TX/Lancaster) chipped in 7.8 points per contest. Senior Chazz Patterson (Browns Mills, NJ/Trenton Catholic) ranked second in the MAAC in steals per game and was named the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Peacock to win the honor and first Saint Peter's major award recipient since 2006.
Saint Peter's is the lone remaining men's squad in the MAAC playing in the postseason as the four other teams all fell in their respective tournaments (Iona – NCAA, Monmouth – NIT, Canisius and Fairfield – CIT). The Peacocks are also the only men's team in the conference to earn a win this post season with all four of the other teams falling in their first game.
At least 28 CIT games will be broadcast exclusively through Facebook Live, including all first round, second round and quarterfinal matchups. This enables the CIT to bring the excitement of postseason basketball to Facebook's global community of sports fans, which includes more than 650 million people connected to at least one sports Page on the platform.
The CIT semifinals and championship will be broadcast on CBS Sports for the fifth consecutive year.
