For the third-straight season the East Central University men's basketball team is headed to Bartlesville, Okla., to participate in the Great American Conference Championship Tournament, March 3-6.  The Tigers, who claimed the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will face No. 7 Arkansas Tech in the opening round Thursday, March 3 at 2:15 p.m.

Game Notes

The Broadcast
ECU's radio home for Tigers basketball in 2015-16 is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Kenny Morrison returns to broadcast the games for his 19th season. Morrison, a 1987 ECU graduate, spent two seasons doing color prior to taking over the play-by-play duties during the 1997-98 season.  

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video (if available) and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the men's basketball schedule page. Fans can listen to the radio broadcast online or through the FREE KXFC App available in ITunes, Google Stores where apps are sold and www.kxfcradio.com.

Taking the Title
For the first time in the five-year history of the GAC, the Tigers claimed the 2016 GAC Regular Season title.  ECU ended the season in a tie with Harding at 17-5.

Post Season Honors
The post season honors started Wednesday, March 2 at the 2016 GAC Basketball Tournament banquet.  ECU saw three players honored at the event.

Senior Stirling Thomas was a unanimous selection to the All-GAC First Team for the second-straight season.  He was joined on the first team by junior Braxton Reeves.  The final member of the team to earn an award was junior Ishmael Donzo, who claimed All-GAC Honorable Mention accolades.

Thomas finished the season ranked No. 1 in the league in scoring (19.1), No. 4 in minutes (34.9), No. 6 in free throw percentage (.820) and No. 6 in three-point field goals made (2.6).

Reeves was ranked No. 9 inn the GAC in scoring (15.3), No. 4 in 3PT FG Made (2.9), No. 5 steals (1.4), No. 8 3PT FG percentage (.400) and No. 9 in minutes (33.2).

Donzo ranked No. 1 in field goal percentage (.618), No. 3 in blocks (1.4) and offensive rebounds (2.3) and No. 5 in rebounding (8.0) and defensive rebounds (5.7).

2016 Regional Rankings
For the first time in the NCAA portion of the Tigers history, ECU has been ranked in the NCAA Central Regional Poll, released Feb. 17.  The Tigers are ranked No. 8 in the first ranking of the season and are the lone team representing the Great American Conference.

20-Win Seasons
With the win over Northwestern, the Tigers recorded their 20th win of the year, marking the second-straight season with 20-or-more wins.  This is just the third time in school history for a group of ECU teams to accomplish the feat.  From 1995-96 to 1997-98, the Tigers record three 20-win seasons.  ECU also had three-straight seasons with 20-or-more wins from 1948-49 to 1950-51.

Against the Tournament Field
Of the other teams in the GAC Tournament field, the Tigers hold a 2-0 record against Arkansas Tech, Ouachita, Southern Nazarene and Southwestern.  ECU was 1-1 against Northwestern and 0-2 against Harding and Southern Arkansas.

Donzo's Career Weekend
Junior Ishmael Donzo made a mark for ECU in the games against Harding and Arkansas Tech.  The Austin, Texas native tallied career bests of 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, eight field goals and five free throws against the Bisons and added a career-high of one steal and five free throws against the Wonder Boys.

Reeves Player of the Week
Junior Braxton Reeves was named the GAC Player of the Week for Jan. 4 after helping the Tigers to a 91-87 win over Missouri-St. Louis last Saturday.

The Fort Worth, Texas, native scored a career-high 28 points against the Tritons. Reeves went 9-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the 3-point arc. He added a season-high five assists and two steals, along with four rebounds. He also finished the victory as one of two Tigers in the game (Stirling Thomas) with 28 points and four rebounds.

Nearly a Triple-Double Day
Senior Deron Hill had a strong overall game for the Tigers against Southwestern Adventist, just barely missing a triple-double, with career highs of 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Thomas Repeats at Player of the Week
Senior Stirling Thomas was named the GAC Player of the Week for Dec. 7.  This was the second honor for Thomas this season, after earning the award in the first week of the season.

Thomas he averaged 30.0 points per game in wins against Henderson State and Ouachita. The Elgin, Okla., native made 12-of-18 shots, with four 3-pointers against the Reddies and followed up with 27 points against OBU, last season's GAC regular-season champion.

The win against Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark., was the first time since Feb. 22, 2014 that OBU had given up a win at home.  That streak includes a perfect 13-0 mark at home in 2014-15 and ended at 15 games.