NEWARK, Del. - - The 2017-18 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday with a First Round contest between the Wilmington University men's basketball team and Dominican College at the Hennessy Center in Orangeburg, N.Y.

The Wildcats earned the South Division's number three seed, marking it the first time in program history that the Wildcats earned back-to-back berths in the CACC Tournament. They are looking for another run through the CACC Tournament like the 2014-15 team that saw them go to the CACC Tournament Championship Game. That year, the Wildcats' run starts with a quarterfinal game at Dominican as well.

The Wildcats are participating in their fourth CACC tournament, with their first appearance coming in the 2009-10 season. This is their third appearance under head coach Dan Burke.

The CACC Tournament First Round games will be held at the higher seed, while the advancing teams will head to Jefferson for the remainder of the CACC Tournament.

Links to Follow the CACC Quarterfinals:

Live Stats: http://www.chargerathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2017-18/boxscores/20180227_81n9.xml
Live Stream: https://boxcast.tv/view/mens-basketball-vs-wilmington-university-716142
CACC Tournament Central: http://www.caccathletics.org/sports/mbkb/index

Admission to the 2018 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament:

Adults - $6.00
Seniors - $3.00
Students (with valid ID) - $3.00
Children under 6 – Free

Scouting the South No. 3 Wilmington University Wildcats:

Wilmington earned the CACC South Division's number three seed with an 11-8 conference record while going 16-12 overall on the season.

The Wildcats went 7-2 in the month of January, but lost three straight to start the month of February. After two wins, the Wildcats dropped their regular season finale to Goldey-Beacom, 79-71, to go 2-4 in the month of February.

The Wildcats are led by CACC leading scorer Nick Richards, as he puts in 20.8 points per game. Jermaine Head is fourth in the CACC, pouring in 18.4 points per game, but has scored more 20 points in the last five games. Head is also second in the CACC with 132 assists on the year, 98 of which have come in CACC play, which leads the pack. His 61 steals on the year also rank second in the CACC, while he is also 24^th in the league in grabbing 5.3 rebounds a contest for a guard.

Miles Gillette also averages double figures for the Wildcats with 13.6 points per game, while leading the team in grabbing 7.5 rebounds per game. Gillette ranked eighth in the CACC in rebounds per contest. Shawn Church is the final Wildcat in double figures on the year, scoring 11.6 points per game while making 2.5 three-pointers a contest.

As a team, the Wildcats are fifth in the CACC in scoring 74.9 points per game and fifth overall in only allowing 72.8 points a contest. In CACC play only, the Wildcats also rank fifth in the league in scoring 74.7 points a game and rank sixth on defense in allowing 72.2 points a game.

Scouting the North No. 2 Dominican College Chargers:

The Chargers earned the North Division's number two seed with a 13-6 CACC record. They went 19-9 overall throughout the regular season and were routinely in the D2SIDA East Regional Poll. They are currently number seven in the latest NCAA Division II East Regional Rankings.

Dominican ended the regular season on a two-game losing streak, falling to Concordia on Wednesday and to Nyack on Saturday. The game against Concordia snapped a five-game winning streak the Chargers had throughout the start of February.

The Chargers are led by Daniel Grant who scores 16.0 points per game, ranking 12^th in the CACC. Daraja Rodwell is 24^th in the CACC in scoring 12.8 points per game. Ian Gardner is 29^th in the CACC and the final Charger in double figures, scoring 12.2 points per game on the year.

Jonathan Garcia leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest while Daniel Grant dishes out 3.3 assists per contest.

As a team, Dominican is ninth in the CACC in scoring 71.2 points per game but gives up the third fewest points in the CACC at 69.5 points per game. In CACC play, the Chargers rank 10^th in the league in scoring 71.1 points per game and again ranks third in the league in only allowing 69.4 points per game.

All-Time Series vs. Dominican:

Tuesday will be the 19^th meeting between the two programs since the Wildcats joined the NCAA ranks for the 2004-05 season The Wildcats had a three-game winning streak against the Chargers snapped in the regular season this year, falling on the road, 72-63, on February 10. The Chargers now lead the all-time series, 13-5.

The Wildcats and Chargers met once in the CACC Tournament, playing a quarterfinal matchup in the 2014-15 season when Dominican was the North Division Regular Season Champion. The Wildcats defeated the Chargers, 69-67, with a last second buzzer beater by Rashaun Rasheed. The Wildcats carried that momentum all the way to the CACC Tournament Championship game. They went 5-3 in January and 5-2 in the month of February.

The Chargers are led by Daniel Grant who scores 16.0 points per game, ranking 12^th in the CACC. Daraja Rodwell is 24^th in the CACC in scoring 12.8 points per game. Ian Gardner is 29^th in the CACC and the final Charger in double figures, scoring 12.2 points per game on the year.

Jonathan Garcia leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest while Daniel Grant dishes out 3.3 assists per contest.

As a team, Dominican is ninth in the CACC in scoring 71.2 points per game but gives up the third fewest points in the CACC at 69.5 points per game. In CACC play, the Chargers rank 10^th in the league in scoring 71.1 points per game and again ranks third in the league in only allowing 69.4 points per game.

Wilmington In the CACC Tournament:

2009-10 (0-1): S#2 Goldey-Beacom 79 – S#3 Wilmington 71
2014-15 (2-1): S#4 Wilmington 69 – N#1 Dominican 67; S#4 Wilmington 75 – S#2 Holy Family 71; S#1 Philadelphia 77 – S#4 Wilmington 68
2016-17 (0-1): N#3 Caldwell 81 – S#2 Wilmington 74

Overall: 2-3

Season Series and All-Time vs. CACC Tournament Participants:

North Division:
#1 Bloomfield College: 2017-18 – vs. L 89-90; All-Time – 3-14; CACC Tournament – 0-0
#2 Dominican College: 2017-18 – at L 72-63; All-Time – 5-13; CACC Tournament – 1-0
#3 Caldwell University: 2017-18 – at L 86-64; All-Time – 6-12; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#4 Felician University: 2017-18 – vs. W 82-76; All-Time – 4-12; CACC Tournament 0-0

South Division:
#1 Goldey-Beacom College: 2017-18 – at W 61-59/vs. L 79-71; All-Time – 8-21; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#2 Jefferson University: 2017-18 – at L 84-81 (OT)/vs. W 79-61; All-Time – 6-21; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#3 Wilmington University
#4 University of the Sciences: 2017-18 – vs. L 83-58/at W 61-54; All-Time – 9-19; CACC Tournament – 0-0

2017-18 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule:

First Round (Tuesday, Feb. 27)
S#4 USciences at N#1 Bloomfield (7:30 p.m.)
N#3 Caldwell at S#2 Jefferson (7:30 p.m.)
N#4 Felician at S#1 Goldey-Beacom (7 p.m.)
S#3 Wilmington at N#2 Dominican (7 p.m.)

* - Min. 30 minutes put on pre-game countdown clock prior to Bloomfield & Jefferson games due to DH

Banquet (Friday, March 2)
Banquet will be held at the Philadelpia Cricket Club (7 p.m., Doors Open at 6:30 p.m.)
Address: 415 West Willow Grove Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118

Semifinals (Saturday, March 3)
Bloomfield/USciences vs. Jefferson/Caldwell (5 or 7 p.m.)
G-B/Felician vs. Dominican/WilmU (5 or 7 p.m.)

* - Highest remaining seed will play in the night's first game
** - Min. 30 minutes put on the clock between Saturday's semifinal games

Championship Final (Sunday, March 4)
Semifinal Winner vs. Semifinal Winner (2:30 p.m.)

The semifinals and final will be held at the Gallagher Center on the Jefferson campus.