Empire 8 men's basketball standings
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth's 87-80 home-court win over Alfred Tuesday was significant in landing the Golden Flyers a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, but the Golden Flyers have still not clinched a spot in the four-team tournament that takes place Feb. 28 and March 1 at the site of the highest seed.

In fact the Golden Flyers can finish anywhere from first to fifth based on the list of tiebreaker scenarios released by E8 Associate Commissioner Janelle Zera. Nazareth improved to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in E8 games with Tuesday's win. Coupled with Hartwick's 78-72 win over Stevens Tuesday, there is a three-way tie for first place with Hartwick, Nazareth and Stevens each holding 9-4 conference records. St. John Fisher, which has completed its regular-season schedule, is 9-5, with Alfred sitting next at 8-5.

Elmira, 5-7 in conference games and 10-13 overall, visits Stevens Friday and Hartwick Saturday. Nazareth is at Utica (1-12 E8, 7-16 overall) Friday and Alfred hosts Ithaca (2-11 E8, 7-17 overall) Saturday.

Here are the updated tiebreakers following last nights competition in men's basketball.

TIEBREAKERS: http://empire8.com/sports/2013/7/23/MBB_0723130614.aspx?path=mbball

Hartwick holds advantage over Stevens with 2-0 record if they finish in a two-way tie.

If Stevens, Hartwick and Nazareth all finish 10-4….the record amongst each other would have them all 2-2, so then they would compare records against next highest seed which would be either Alfred or SJFC.  Stevens, Hartwick and Naz all split against Alfred so it would still be a tie there. Hartwick beat SJFC twice while Stevens/Naz split against SJFC so Hartwick would be #1. Then Stevens would be #2 based on two wins against Naz, giving golden Flyers #3.

If Alfred and SJFC are tied at 9-5 for #4 seed, after Hartwick Stevens and Naz battled out 10-4 tiebreaker….then Alfred would get #4 seed due to a split with #1 Hartwick, while SJFC lost to Hartwick twice.

If Stevens, Alfred, Hartwick, Nazareth, SJFC all finish 9-5…records amongst tied teams would be Hartwick 5-3, Stevens 4-4, Alfred 4-4, Naz 4-4, SJFC 3-5…Giving Hartwick #1….Stevens, Alfred and Naz would be compared for #4 seed, leaving SJFC out.  Record between Stevens, Alfred and Naz would have Stevens at 3-1, Alfred 2-2 and Naz 1-3…so Stevens would get #2, leaving Alfred/Naz to be compared…they split amongst each other. But then Nazareth beat #1 Hartwick twice, while Alfred split with Hartwick, so Nazareth #3 and Alfred #4.

If SJFC and Naz are tied at 9-5 for #4 seed…They split head-to-head. If Hartwick is #1 then Nazareth would hold advantage with a 2-0 record v the Hawks, while SJFC lost 2x to Hartwick. If Stevens is #1 then SJFC has advantage with a split against the Ducks, while Nazareth lost twice to Stevens. 

If Alfred, Nazareth and SJFC all tie at 9-5 (and Hartwick #1, Stevens #2)… they all split head to head. Record against #1 Hartwick would be Naz (2-0), Alfred (1-1), SJFC (0-2).