ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball travels to Eastern University for the title game of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Championships on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
The winner of the MAC Commonwealth Championship will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships, while the runner-up will await word on a potential at-large bid when the field is revealed on Monday, Feb. 28.
Tickets (Per MAC Championship Policy)
- Adults - $6
- Senior Citizens - $4
- Non-Hood students (valid ID) & Children - $2
- Pre-school (under 6) with Adult - FREE
Follow the game
Scouting the Eagles
Eastern enters the contest with a record of 21-4 overall and tied Hood for first place with a 14-2 record. The Eagles were awarded the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Championship based upon winning the season series with the Blazers. All five starters for Eastern average between 11 and 13 points per game. Draig Cooley leads the team in scoring at 13.1 ppg, shooting 58 percent from the field. Sam Gallardo is second at 12.4 ppg and leads the team by hitting 47 percent from 3-point range. Kaeshawn Ward, William Blet and Jaron Fairweather each score over 11 ppg. Ward leads the team with 71 assists and Blet ranks fourth in the MAC Commonwealth with 7.5 rebounds per game. The Eagles are third in the conference in scoring at 77.1 points per game as a team but have the second best defense, allowing only 70.3 ppg. Eastern shoots a league-high 46 percent as a team and is third in 3-point shooting at .359. To get to the championship game, Eastern defeated Lebanon Valley 81-70 in the quarterfinals and Messiah 84-73 in the semifinals.
Scouting the Blazers
The Blazers enter the playoffs at 19-6 overall after finishing 14-2 in the MAC Commonwealth. Hood is led by the senior guard tandem of twin brothers
Mason Wang and
Evan Wang. Mason is the conference's leading scorer at 22.3 points per game and makes league-best 3.3 3-pointers per game. He also ranks second in steals (2.3), third in 3-point percentage (.426), fifth in assists (3.5), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), seventh in free throw percentage (.803) and eighth in field goal percentage (.501). Evan is among the MAC Commonwealth leaders in scoring (eighth, 14.3), field goal percentage (10th, .487), 3-point field goals (second, 2.8) and assists (third, 3.8); while leading the league in 3-point percentage (.453) and assist/turnover ratio (2.5). As a team, Hood leads the MAC Commonwealth in scoring at 82.2 points per game and has a +8.0 scoring margin, also tops in the league. The high-scoring attack is fueled by a perimeter attack that hits 13.0 3-pointers per game, fourth in all of Division III. Hood is 16th in the nation in 3-point percentage at .379 as the Wang twins each rank in the top 25 individually. The Blazers take excellent care of the basketball, committing just 11.9 turnovers per contest.
Hood's Playoff History
The Blazers are playing in the conference championship game for the first time since 2006-07, when Hood fell to Catholic in the championship game of the Capital Athletic Conference. The Blazers are making their 10th trip to a conference tournament in program history. It is also the team's fourth trip to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals in five trips since joining the conference. The Blazers have made each of the last three full-season MAC Commonwealth Championship tournaments dating back to 2019.
About the 2022 MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball Championship
For the 2021-22 season, tournament expansion was approved to include all nine teams, versus the typical field of five, due to a surge in COVID-19.
