Men's Basketball | 3/2/2017 1:16:00 PM

Heartland Conference Tournament Central
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Tournament Bracket

TULSA, Okla. – St. Edward's men's basketball is set for the 2017 Heartland Conference Tournament as they advance to postseason play for a third consecutive season.
 
The Hilltoppers, seeded sixth, finished their regular season with a record of 17-14 overall and 9-9 in the conference. They open the tournament against No. 3 seed UA Fort Smith, Friday at 5 p.m. inside the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.
 
Live video and stats of the game will be available at GoHilltoppers.com. Tickets are available at the doors. A preview of the tournament and full notes are available below.
 
Full Game Notes
 
ACROSS NCAA DIVISION II: Heading into the tournament, St. Edward's is ranked in the top-20 in seven different categories...the Hilltoppers are ranked fourth in free-throws made (555) and turnover margin (+6.0) to go along with steals (249-15th), least amount of turnovers committed per game (10.8-16th), turnovers forced per-game (16.87-19th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41-20th) and free-throw attempts (724-20th).
 
CLASSROOM SUCCESS: In the fall, St. Edward's Athletics named a school-record 194 student-athletes to the Heartland Conference Honor Rolls...a total of nine men's basketball players were included in the list...out of the nine, six were named to the President's Honor Roll which requires a grade-point average of 3.5 or better.
 
I'M SEEING DOUBLE: The Hilltoppers have three sets of brothers involved with the program...Lucas and ALEX DORIA, along with Mark and MATTHEW PATERSON are both twins...assistant coach Taylor Land and volunteer assistant Cooper Land are brothers two years apart...redshirt freshman LYNDON COOK will welcome his brother (Logan) next season.
 
HILLTOPPER HOMECOMING: Assistant Coach Taylor Land is in his first year as assistant coach...Land played point guard for four seasons for the Hilltoppers from 2005-08 helping lead the squad to three conference titles...since graduating, Land has made coaching stops at UT-Pan America and St. Francis (Ill.)...he has also played professionally in Australia for the Rockingham Flames.
 
1,000-POINT CLUB: Last season, senior guard RAMIR BURTON became the 28th member of the Hilltopper 1,000-point club and currently sits fourth on the all-time list with 1,702 points...fellow senior JOHN GRAMLICH followed Burton into the club this season and is ranked 10th on the list with 1,418 points...senior ETHAN GILBERT is only 40 points away from also making the list as he currently has 960 career points.
 
IT'S NOT CHARITY IF YOU EARN IT: Senior RAMIR BURTON has had a knack for getting to the free throw line his entire career...this season has been his best yet...the guard broke the school's single season and career record for free throws made...in 2016-17, Burton has amassed 173 made free throws, breaking DeNell Davis' (1983-84) mark of 169. He has also broken Davis' career mark and is the Heartland Conference recordholder with 542 made free throws. Burton is currently fifth in the nation in this category this season.
 
TRES AMIGOS: Hilltopper seniors RAMIR BURTON, ETHAN GILBERT, and JOHN GRAMLICH have been together since they arrived on the hilltop in the Fall of 2013...the trio has played in every game but one since their freshman season and have made 35 straight starts together dating back to late last season...the group has amassed a 67-40 record in its four years.
 
WE'LL TAKE THAT: The 2016-17 Hilltopper squad has used turnover margin to its advantage...the team has averaged 6.0 turnovers less than their opponents per game...that's good enough for fourth in the country...last season the Hilltoppers led the nation in turnover margin.
 
For the latest information on the St. Edward's University Men's Basketball team, follow us on Twitter at @SEUMBasketball, or visit us at www.GoHilltoppers.com.