title: Empire 8 men's basketball tournament
text: # Empire 8 men's basketball tournament
  
  The Empire 8 men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the NCAA Division III Empire 8 conference. The tournament has been held annually since 2004. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.
  
  The winner, declared Empire 8 champion, receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship.
  
  Prior to 2004, the league championship was awarded to the team with the best regular-season record. Since the tournament's establishment, St. John Fisher was the most successful program, with 6 titles.
  
  ## Results
  
  | Year | Champions | Score | Runner-up |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 2004 | St. John Fisher | 62–59 | Utica |
  | 2005 | St. John Fisher | 92–51 | RIT |
  | 2006 | St. John Fisher | 74–61 | Utica |
  | 2007 | St. John Fisher | 78–73 (OT) | Utica |
  | 2008 | Nazareth | 64–63 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2009 | RIT | 76–71 (OT) | Nazareth |
  | 2010 | Nazareth | 65–64 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2011 | Hartwick | 69–58 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2012 | Ithaca | 71–55 | Nazareth |
  | 2013 | Ithaca | 70–55 | Stevens Tech |
  | 2014 | Hartwick | 67–62 | Nazareth |
  | 2015 | St. John Fisher | 77–62 | Alfred |
  | 2016 | Hartwick | 93–91 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2017 | St. John Fisher | 80–69 | Stevens Tech |
  | 2018 | Nazareth | 66–64 | Utica |
  | 2019 | Alfred | 90–78 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2020 | St. John Fisher | 72–64 | Nazareth |
  | 2021 | Utica | 89–65 | St. John Fisher |
  | 2022 | Nazareth | 54–53 | Utica |
  | 2023 | St. John Fisher | 78–62 | Nazareth |
  
  ## Championship records
  
  | School | Finals record | Finals appearances | Years |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | St. John Fisher | 8–6 | 14 | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2023 |
  | Nazareth | 4–5 | 9 | 2008, 2010, 2018, 2022 |
  | Utica | 1–5 | 6 | 2021 |
  | Hartwick | 3–0 | 3 | 2011, 2014, 2016 |
  | Ithaca | 2–0 | 2 | 2012, 2013 |
  | Alfred | 1–1 | 2 | 2019 |
  | RIT | 1–1 | 2 | 2009 |
  | Stevens Tech | 0–2 | 2 | |
  
  * Schools highlighted in pink are former members of the Empire 8
  * Elmira, Houghton, Keuka, and Sage have not yet qualified for the Empire 8 tournament finals
  