DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University men's basketball team has qualified for the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship Tournament for the 32nd time and the fifth year in a row, and will be the top seed in the tournament field for the first time since 2020. WestConn, coached by Guy Rancourt (7th Season), has a bye into the semifinal round when the Wolves will host either No. 4-seeded Southern Maine (16-9, 11-5) or No. 5-seeded Eastern Connecticut (16-9, 8-8) on Friday, February 27 at 6 p.m.

The Wolves finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 19-6 overall record and tied with UMass Boston for first place in the league with a 12-4 mark against Little East opponents.  The Wolves and the Beacons share the conference regular season title, but WestConn is the top seed in the tournament due to its sweep of UMass Boston in the two games between the schools this winter.  WestConn is receiving a bye for the fourth season in a row, having fallen to Keene State in the last three LEC Finals.  Admission will be free with a voluntary donation welcomed at the door and fans are encouraged to wear white to support the Wolves.

The winner of the Little East Championship Tournament will determine the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The No. 2-seeded Beacons (16-9, 12-4) received the other first-round bye, while the No. 3-seeded Keene State (15-10, 11-5) hosts No. 6-seeded Rhode Island College (11-14, 7-9) in the other first round game which has been pushed from February 24 to Wednesday, February 25 along with the Southern Maine/Eastern Connecticut game first round game because of wintry weather in New England. The LEC Championship Finals will take place on Sunday, March 1 at the site of the highest remaining seed with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in March. 

WestConn recovered from a 3-4 start to the 2025-26 season with an eight-game winning streak from December 11 to January 10.  Since that date, the Wolves have lost just twice in 10 games, but both setbacks came against Keene State with a home loss (63-59) on January 14 and a road defeat (84-90) on Valentine's Day.  WestConn split with both Eastern Connecticut and Southern Maine during the regular season and swept both Rhode Island College and UMass Boston.  The Wolves top the LEC defensively at 71.3 points allowed per contest and scoring margin at +10.4 per game.  WestConn also tops the the conference in turnover margin at +6.92 per game, assists at 18 per game and and steals with 13.2 per contest. 

Sophomore center Marcel Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.) ranks eighth in the LEC in scoring at 16 ppg, while senior guard Tayejon Lynch (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) is 17th with 13.1 ppg, and Henry is also sixth in the league with a .553 shooting percentage.  Lynch is the third-leading assist man in the conference with 4.8 per game, while Henry is fourth (1.2) and senior forward Nick Boyce (Jamaica, N.Y.) is tied for ninth (0.8) in the conference in blocked shots.  Four Wolves rank among the top ten in the LEC in steals per game, as Lynch is first at 2.4, Boyce is second with 2.0, freshman Avery Taitt-Christina (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) is sixth a 1.7, and junior Elijah Jean-Guillaume (New Haven, Conn.) is 10th at 1.6.