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29th scotty wood tournament this weekend

It’s a little bit strange that the Muhlenberg basketball teams will go into this weekend’s Scotty Wood Tournament having already played a game. It’s the first time in the 29-year history of Scotty Wood that the tipoff tournament doesn’t actually tip off the season.

But that’s not the most unusual thing about this year’s event, which begins Friday at 1:00 and ends eight games later with the men’s championship Saturday at 8:00.

The Muhlenberg men’s team opens up against Rosemont at 8:00 on Friday. The Ravens are

Without his brother coaching against him, Evan Tozer has scored 52 points in six career Scotty Wood Tournament games.

coached by Ryan Tozer – the older brother of Mule senior co-captain Evan Tozer. Also on the Rosemont staff is Evan Tozer’s former high school coach.

“We need to win this,” said Evan. “For a few reasons.”

Tozer family bragging rights aside, the men’s team is seeking to build off Monday’s season-opening 68-60 win against Moravian and return to the Scotty Wood Tournament championship game. Last year, the Mules were defeated in the semifinals for only the third time in tournament history.

Muhlenberg has won 13 Scotty Wood Tournament championships, the most recent in 2008 with a victory in the final against a Marymount team coached by current Mule head coach Scott McClary.

Ryan Tozer’s Rosemont team went 6-19 last year, its first as a varsity program after the school went coeducational in the fall of 2009. The Ravens open up the

Tournament Schedule Friday, November 19   Lehman vs. Richard Stockton, 1:00 (women)   Gallaudet vs. Wilkes, 3:00 (men)   Muhlenberg vs. Mount St. Vincent, 6:00 (women)   Muhlenberg vs. Rosemont, 8:00 (men) Saturday, November 20   women's consolation, 1:00   men's consolation, 3:00   women's championship, 6:00   men's championship, 8:00

2010-11 season tonight against Drew.

The other first-round matchup is between Gallaudet and Wilkes. The game will be the first for Gallaudet as a member of the North Eastern Athletic Conference; the Bison left the Capital Athletic Conference after going 5-19 overall and 0-16 in the league last year. Wilkes (13-12 last year) opened the year with a 74-45 win against Penn State Hazleton.

The women’s field, meanwhile, features a trio of teams that received postseason invitations last year. Muhlenberg was nationally ranked most of the season, finishing 21-6, and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Mules, who have won five of the last seven Scotty Wood titles, posted a 68-55 victory against Moravian on Monday.

Muhlenberg’s first-round opponent, Mount St. Vincent, is the team with the best 2009-10 record among the visiting schools (18-10). But the Dolphins graduated three 1,000-point scorers who led the team to back-to-back ECAC Metro Tournament appearances.

Mount St. Vincent’s new-look team opened up with a 60-57 win against another Scotty Wood team from The Bronx, Lehman. The Lightning went 11-16 a year ago and faces Richard Stockton (13-14), another 2010 ECAC Metro invitee, in Friday’s Tournament opener.