CSAC Men's Basketball Championship Preview
ROSEMONT, Pa.--The top-seeded Cairn University HIghlanders (18-8, 10-2 CSAC) and the third-seeded Rosemont College (14-12, 8-4 CSAC) Ravens will square off Saturday at Cairn for the 2019 Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball title.
Both squads are making their first-ever appearance in the CSAC men's basketball championship game and will meet for the third time this season after each team earned victories on their opponent's home court. Cairn bested the Ravens on the road on January 16, 81-74, but Rosemont exacted revenge with a narrow 90-86 victory in Langhorne on February 9, handing the Highlanders their first conference loss of the season and only CSAC setback at home.
Cairn leads the conference in numerous categories, including scoring offense (82.3 ppg), field-goal percentage (.466) field-goal percentage defense (.438), three-point field-goal percentage (.341), rebounding offense (42.5 rpg) and rebounding defense (35.6 rpg). The Ravens are tops in the league in free-throw percentage (.755) and second in the conference in FG percentage at .455, just a shade behind Cairn.
The championship contest will feature some of the CSAC's premiere student-athletes. Rosemont's
Keith Blassingale, a first-team all-conference selection, leads all scorers with an 18.7 scoring average, bolstered by an impressive 45-point effort in Rosemont's 113-79 semifinal win over second-seeded Wilson College on Tuesday. Cairn also boasts two of the top scorers in the CSAC in
Malachi Hall (16.3 ppg, sixth) and
Julian Collazo (15.3 ppg, ninth), who were also both first-team all-conference honorees. Collazo (.565) and Hall (.529) rank first and second, respectively, in field-goal percentage in the conference. The duo also earned two major awards following their stellar regular seasons as Collazo was picked by the coaches as the CSAC Player of the Year and Hall was named CSAC Defensive Player of the Year. Rosemont's
Jalil Myers, an all-CSAC second team choice, is tied for the conference lead in rebounding (9.6 rpg) while Blassingale has also picked off a league-best 52 steals this season.
Rosemont comes into Saturday's championship tilt riding a seven-game winning streak that dates back to January 26. The Ravens are 4-2 against CSAC opponents on the road this season, with all four of those wins occurring since February 6. The Highlanders are riding the momentum of a gritty 10-point comeback win over fourth-seeded Centenary University on Tuesday in the semifinal round and is 5-1 against league foes on their home floor.
The winner of Saturday's championship contest will earn the CSAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.