Holy Family University A Top Seed In Division II NCAA Tourney
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A magical season for the Holy Family University men's basketball team just keeps getting better.
The Tigers won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament title over the weekend, beating Philadelphia University in the final on Saturday, 87-68. Then on Sunday night, the Tigers learned they had earned the #1 seed in the East Region of the Division II NCAA Tournament, which means they get to host the region. Holy Family will open the tourney up on Saturday when they entertain Southern New Hampshire.
"It was a tremendous weekend," Holy Family head coach R.C. Kehoe tells KYW Newsradio. "It capped off a terrific regular season that our guys had. We put together a challenging schedule for them early on and they fought through it month by month, and we got ourselves to the top of the ladder Saturday night."
The Tigers won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament title over the weekend, beating Philadelphia University in the final on Saturday, 87-68. Then on Sunday night, the Tigers learned they had earned the #1 seed in the East Region of the Division II NCAA Tournament, which means they get to host the region. Holy Family will open the tourney up on Saturday when they entertain Southern New Hampshire.
"It was a tremendous weekend," Holy Family head coach R.C. Kehoe tells KYW Newsradio. "It capped off a terrific regular season that our guys had. We put together a challenging schedule for them early on and they fought through it month by month, and we got ourselves to the top of the ladder Saturday night."
Listen to the entire interview with Holy Family's R.C. Kehoe:
Part of that challenging schedule for Holy Family included a regular season match-up with the same Southern New Hampshire team they will play on Saturday. That regular season meeting was back on November 21st up in Manchester. The Tigers lost a close one, 74-69.
"The excitement that ran through me when our name popped up on the top line as the #1 seed in the East," Kehoe says, "the excitement quickly simmered as Southern New Hampshire went into the #8 seed."
Southern New Hampshire hails from the powerful Northeast 10 Conference and they bring a 22-10 record into the tournament.
"We're in for a heck of a challenge on Saturday," Kehoe says.
The Tigers feature nine seniors on the roster including guard Reggie Charles who leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points a game. He also tops the sqaud in assists with 193. Senior guard/forward Marvin Crawford chips in 14.2 points a night. Senior forward Derrick Stewart is a defensive force who leads the way on the glass, pulling down 10.5 rebounds per contest.
Holy Family is making just its second appearance in the Division II NCAA Tournament. Their first came in 2008 when they lost in the first round. Kehoe talks about what they need to do to have success this time around.
"Everything we do is based on our defense," Kehoe says. "We play Syracuse's 2-3 zone for 40 minutes a game and we've been very, very good at it. This group has taken it to another level. In the tournament, just as in the CACC Tournament, we have to rest our head at the defensive end of the floor. If we're great on defense, I think between Reggie Charles and Marvin Crawford, we're good enough on the offensive end of the floor to make a run. But we're certainly going to be challenged in the opening round and then anything after that is going to be even more challenging. But if we can play great defense and our best players can play their best at this time of the year, I think we have as good a chance as anybody to be cutting down the nets and heading to Frisco, Texas (for the Elite 8)."
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
