ASTON, Pa. – For the fourth time in the last five years, the Neumann University Men's Basketball team have advanced to the Atlantic East Conference Tournament Championship Game as they'll visit Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon.
 
As the fourth seed, they advanced to this final confrontation on the strength of a 75-68 road win in the semifinals over the top seed, Marymount University, on Thursday night. Donte Dupriest was the main catalyst with a team-high 25 points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots. Jayson Love added 16 points, DJ Earl had 14, and Bryan Etienne had 13. Two days earlier, the fourth-seeded Knights defeated Marywood in the first round, 84-76.
 
Gwynedd Mercy is the number two seed in this year's tournament with a conference record of 11-3. Overall, they are 19-7. In their semifinal on Thursday night, they upended the number three seed, Centenary University, by a final score of 96-77.
 
The regular season series between Neumann and Gwynedd Mercy was split with each team winning on the road. The first meeting was on January 17^th in Gwynedd Valley and was a 72-68 win for the Knights. A tight game throughout, neither team led by more than eight points. Earl led with 21 points and Love had 18. Dupriest had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
 
In the return match on February 14^th, Neumann came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to force overtime. It was a fast break layup by Dupriest with eight seconds left in regulation that completed the comeback, but the Griffins earned the win with a last second jump shot in the extra five minutes. Dupriest was a rebound shy of a double-double with 27 points and nine rebounds. Etienne added 16 and Izaiah Johnson Young-El added 14.
 
With a win on Saturday afternoon, the Knights will grab their third championship in six years, and second in a row. Additionally, and factoring in the COVID seasons, this is Coach Jim Rullo's ninth appearance in a conference title game in the last 12 full seasons.