For the first time since its inception in the 2003-04 season, the Empire 8 men’s basketball tournament won’t be played on the Bobby Wanzer Court at St. John Fisher College’s Manning and Napier Gym. In fact, the usually-dominant Cardinals needed to win in their regular season finale this past Saturday just to make the four-team postseason tournament this season.

But their 70–61 win against Hartwick College this past Saturday clinched the fourth seed for the five-time defending conference champion. Their first round opponent? The new conference tournament host and regular season champion, Ithaca College.

The Bombers won their final five games – including wins against the top two teams at the time, Stevens Institute of Technology and Nazareth College, this past weekend –  to surge to the top of the Empire 8. Stevens finished in the No. 2 spot, followed by the Golden Flyers at No. 3.

With only one game separating all four teams in the conference standings, Nazareth College Head Coach Mike Daley said this year’s tournament will be one of the best.

“Any one of the four teams is capable of coming away with the win,” Daley said. “It should be a great tournament.”

Up for grabs is the Empire 8’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs, something only St. John Fisher has achieved in the past. Ithaca College Head Coach Jim Mullins said his team has an outside shot at claiming one of the at-large bids, as Utica College did two years ago, but winning the tournament is the only sure thing.

“If we win our first game there might be a shot at an at-large if we don’t win [the tournament],” Mullins said. “But usually they’re looking for a 20-win season, which we don’t have.”

Nazareth and Stevens play at 6 p.m. tomorrow, followed by Ithaca and St. John Fisher at 8 p.m. The two winners will play in the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday.

No. 2 Stevens vs. No. 3 Nazareth

In their first season as a member of the Empire 8, Stevens Institute of Technology has already established itself as one of the premier teams in the conference. Meanwhile, Nazareth College used a high-powered offense to grab the third seed in the Empire 8 tournament and a first-round matchup with the Ducks.

Nazareth senior guard Joe Canori finished the regular season as the Empire 8’s second leading scorer with 20.7 points per game. The McAdams brothers — junior Ryan and sophomore Corey — round out the Golden Flyers’ offensive attack. Ryan averages 14.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, while Corey averages 13.6 points and an Empire 8-leading 8.8 assists per game.

Stevens counters with do-it-all senior point guard Waleed Farid, who averages 12.2 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game. Junior guard Virgil Gray leads the team with 16.3 points per game, while junior guard Anthony Passalacqua’s 54 three-point field goals rank third in the conference. Stevens is also a superb defensive team, holding opponents to an Empire 8-leading 37.7 percent field goal percentage per contest.

Daley said the Ducks’ defensive intensity, athleticism and balance on offense are their biggest strengths.

“Farid and Gray are both great,” Daley said. “Passalacqua on the perimeter can hurt us [too], so we’ve got to contain them.”

No. 1 Ithaca vs. No. 4 St. John Fisher

Ithaca and St. John Fisher are two of the four highest scoring teams in the Empire 8 and that is due in no small part to their starting lineups. Among the 10 players to take the floor for tomorrow’s tip off will be eight of the conference’s top 30 scorers, two of the top four rebounders and two of the top five assist leaders. Here’s a deeper look into the individual matchups in tomorrow’s first-round game:

Junior forward Sean Leahy - Senior forward Mark Bearden

Leahy flies under the radar because of Burton and Bostic, but he has quietly put up averages of 14 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7-inch forward also bothers most of the players he defends with his arm length. Bearden has started all but one game this season for St. John Fisher but only averages 18.7 minutes per game. Bearden usually gives way to freshman Ozell Franklin, who adds just under eight points per game off the bench.

Junior guard Brendan Rogers - Sophomore guard Chris Baltz

Since moving into the starting lineup about midway through the season, Rogers has given the Bombers a high-energy defensive performance, as well as a capable offensive threat. Baltz, in his second year with the Cardinals, has emerged as a go-to scoring threat. Baltz ranks 10th in the conference in scoring with 14.3 points per game, which ranks him only behind Justin Beigel’s 14.8 points per game on his own team.

Junior forward Jeff Bostic - Senior forward/center Justin Beigel

This is easily the game’s marquee individual matchup, pitting two of the Empire 8’s best post players against each other. “Jeff Bostic is just an absolute terror out there,” Stevens Head Coach Josh Loeffler said. But while Bostic’s numbers (13.9 points per game, 11.7 rebounds per game and 2.09 blocks per game) are a little better than Beigel’s (14.8 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and 52.5 field goal percentage), Beigel has the experience of deep runs into the NCAA playoffs on his side. Whichever big man controls the post could well decide the outcome of tomorrow’s contest.

Junior guard Sean Burton - Sophomore guard Matt Newman

Burton has emerged as the leading candidate for Empire 8 Player of the Year, finishing the regular season ranked third in scoring (19.8 points per game), second in assists (5.63 per game), second in free throw percentage (88 percent) and first in three-pointers made (74). Newman set career highs with 9.8 points per game and 84 assists in his sophomore campaign. But the edge here goes to Burton, due in no small part to his three-point shooting penchant.

Senior center Louis Kail - Senior center Isaiah Smalt

Kail, like Rogers, was moved into the starting lineup about midway through the season. And also like Rogers, Kail has been a pleasant surprise. In the regular season finale against Nazareth this past Saturday, Kail finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the win. Smalt, like Kail, doesn’t play a huge role on offense and is only averaging 8.7 points per game. He does, however, rank second on the Cardinals with 6.3 rebounds per game.