SLIPPERY ROCK — Kevin Reynolds won’t pretend he had the ECAC Division II men’s basketball championship on his mind at the start of the season.

Most likely, few people did.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference launched the tournament this season, hoping to become the D-II equivalent of the Division I National Invitational Tournament.

Reynolds would rather have Slippery Rock University prepping for the NCAA Tournament.

But he isn’t going to turn his nose up at the opportunity. It’s still a chance to win a championship.

That’s why Reynolds will continue to play the guys that led the Rock to a 20-10 record.

“We want to build on this season. We will worry about next year when this season’s over,” Reynolds said. “This season isn’t over.”

Slippery Rock will be the top seed of the four-team tournament and face Caldwell (N.J.) College (16-11) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn.

Should The Rock win, it would play the winner of Dominican (N.Y.) College (18-9) or Lincoln (Pa.) University (18-9) in the finals at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Being a first-year tournament, putting together the field took some tweaking.

The ECAC tried to assemble an eight-team field, but had several teams drop out.

Losing an extra game of the tournament cost SRU a chance to make program history. Three wins would have allowed The Rock to set the program record with 23.

“Any type of basketball you can play that isn’t guaranteed is a blessing,” redshirt sophomore forward Jordan Grady said. “It is and it isn’t (disappointing they dropped the third game). Only two teams in Division II are going to end the season with wins and we’re one of them.”

Le Moyne College withdrew because it made the NCAA Tournament, while other schools cited travel concerns for not participating.

ECAC Commissioner Kevin McGinniss said they are working on sponsors to try and pay for the teams to travel for future tournaments. All four teams playing this weekend are paying their own expenses.

“It’s (travel) always a concern,” McGinniss said. “My hope is that long-term we are able to get corporate revenue to support the ECAC’s initiatives across the board.”

Finding teams was another concern. The ECAC, which also hosts Division III tournaments in nearly every sport, had previously hosted a Division II men’s basketball tournament, but McGinniss said schools lost interest because they saw it as a “dead-end tournament.”

“Some time ago, it was a regionally-based tournament,” McGinniss said. “The concern of many of the coaches is that since it was regional they would play a team they had already played two or three times during the season.”

The last Division II team that won an ECAC crown according to their website was Goldey-Beacom (Del.) in 2007.

McGinniss hopes that expanding outside of ECAC member schools, but still within its footprint, which ranges from the Northeast to North Carolina, will help change the perception.

SRU isn’t one of the ECAC’s 312 member schools. But the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference does have a history with ECAC, with Mansfield (2003) and Millersville (1992) winning titles.

“It’s great Division II is providing another avenue for postseason play,” Reynolds said. “If we don’t make the NCAA Tournament, we have an alternative.”

Reynolds believes The Rock was one game away from receiving an NCAA Tournament bid.

Now, they are two games away from winning a different title.

For junior Cornelius Brown, who is playing basketball after taking two years off, that’s enough motivation.

“For us, we heard from coach that this would be the first title the men’s basketball program won,” Brown said. “It’s a big deal. It would give us a boost to win this for the program.”