Men's Basketball | 2/23/2015 1:23:00 PM

GLENSIDE, Pa. – The fifth-seeded Arcadia University men's basketball team is making its second Commonwealth Conference Championship Tournament appearance in three years, and will open tournament play Monday with a 7 p.m. First Round game at fourth-seeded Alvernia University.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Fans unable to make the trip to Reading can follow the game online thorough LIVE STATS and LIVE VIDEO feeds provided by Alvernia.  
 
THE MATCHUP: These two teams split the regular season series, with the home team winning both contests. Arcadia trailed by 16 with nine minutes to go before rallying for a 71-68 victory in Glenside December 3, snapping a 26-game losing streak to the Crusaders, while Alvernia posted a 66-56 win January 28 in Reading.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Alvernia has dominated the all-time series between the two programs with a 56-7 record against Arcadia since the two teams first met in 1981-82, including a 4-2 record in conference tournament play. The Crusaders had won 26 straight meetings in the series, starting with a 74-69 decision at Arcadia February 22, 2000. The Knights win over Alvernia this season with its first since the two schools have been members of the Commonwealth Conference, which Arcadia joined in 2008-09 and followed by Alvernia in 2009-10. The Crusaders won the only Commonwealth Conference tournament game between the two programs with a 69-66 win in the 2013 semifinals.
 
ARCADIA IN THE POSTSEASON: The Knights have made just one prior appearance in the Commonwealth Conference tournament, earning the No. 4 seed in 2013. Arcadia defeated fifth-seeded Stevenson 85-83 in the First Round game before falling at No. 1 Alvernia 69-66. In all, this marks the Knights' 12th conference tournament appearance, having made 10 postseason appearances as a member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference in 1992-93. Arcadia has an all-time record of just 6-11 in conference tournament play.
 
SCOUTING ARCADIA: The Knights posted an overall record of 14-11 in 2014-15, and closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak. Arcadia is led by senior forward Joe Brown, who is averaging 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game to go with 59 assists and 40 steals. Senior guard Travis Saltus is averaging 14.3 points in his 14 games played, and has averaged 10 points per contest in limited action the last two games after missing 11 in a row due to injury. Senior guard Torrell Candelaria is averaging 11.5 points per game, while junior guard John Landro is averaging 13.6 points and seven rebounds with 14 assists and nine steals over the last five games. Sophomore guard Ryan Kelley is averaging 10.6 points and three rebounds with 17 assists and 13 steals during that same five-game span.

SCOUTING ALVERNIA: The Crusaders are the two-time defending Commonwealth Conference Champions, and have won the Commonwealth Conference tournament in each of their three appearances (2011, 2013, 2014) with a combined record of 6-0. Alvernia has an all-time conference tournament record of 26-12 going back to 1992-93, with seven conference championships (three Commonwealth, four PAC). Alvernia enters this year's tournament with an overall record of 15-9 after closing the regular season with a four-game winning streak. Junior guard Charles Cooper leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game and has a team-best 62 steals on the season. Senior center Harrison Deyo averages 15.3 points and a team-leading 8.8 rebounds per game to go with a team-best 44 blocked shots, while senior guard Lamont Clark averages 13.4 points and six rebounds per game to go with a team-best 107 assists and 41 steals. Freshman guard Mike Miller also averages double figures in scoring with 12.7 points per game. The Crusaders average 69.3 points per game as a team, while allowing 63.5 points per game this season.  
 
NEXT UP: The winner of this game will advance to Wednesday's semifinals against top-seeded Lycoming College. The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Stevenson University and third-seeded Hood College. The championship game will take place Saturday at the highest remaining seed.