NCAA BASKETBALL: SJC Gets At-Large to Join Emmanuel in Women's Field, Albertus Men Draw Chris Newport
The NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament brackets were unveiled on Monday, with the GNAC getting two women's programs into the dance for the second time in four years.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Albertus Men's Basketball Will Play Christopher Newport in First Round
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – For the seventh time in program history, the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team will play in the Division III NCAA Tournament set to begin Friday, March 1. The Falcons are 20-7 on the year and will face Christopher-Newport University in first-round tournament action at the Freeman Center in Newport News, Va.
The Falcons and 11-ranked Captains will meet for the first time in program history. Albertus enters the first-round on a nine-game winning streak and won their eighth Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship this past Saturday after defeating the University of Saint Joseph's (CT), 81-77.
This will be CNU's 23rd NCAA appearance, and fourth straight. CNU is 23-5 and John Krikorian's squad has won nine straight games, including the Capital Athletic Conference title game Saturday over York, 78-56.
Alfred University (NY) and Ramapo (NJ) will also play at the Freeman Center on Friday, with the winners of the two games advancing to meet on Saturday. Alfred is 23-4 and Ramapo has a record of 18-9.
All game information, including how to purchase tickets, game times, etc., will be posted at AlbertusFalcons.com as soon as it becomes available.
Courtesy of Albertus Athletics Communications.
Saint Joseph's Earns At-Large Bid, Set to Play MIT in NCAA First Round
STANDISH, Maine – The 20189 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament field has been released and Saint Joseph's College (27-1, 12-0 GNAC) has earned an at-large berth and will play MIT (21-7, 12-4 NEWMAC) in a first-round contest at Ithaca College on Friday evening.
Game times and ticket information will be released on gomonks.com at some point on Tuesday following a conference call with NCAA officials.
Saint Joseph's – ranked eighth and 10th nationally in last week's D3Hoops.com and WBCA polls, respectively - is one of 20 teams in the nation to earn an at-large (Pool C) berth. The Monks join Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Smith among the five New England Region programs to gain entrance into the national tournament after failing to win their respective conference championship.
The at-large berth is the just the second in SJC Athletics history. The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team, which claimed an at-large bid after playing as an NCAA DIII Independent during the 2002-03 season, was the first.
Led by 27th-year Head Coach Mike McDevitt '83, the Monks will be making an appearance in the national tournament for the fourth-consecutive season - and fifth time in the last six years – despite suffering a heartbreaking 65-64 setback to Emmanuel College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday.
With the GNAC title triumph, Emmanuel earned the conference's automatic national tournament qualifier and will face Hartwick College at SUNY-New Paltz in a first-round matchup on Friday.
As the #4 seed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament, MIT knocked off top-seeded Babson College in a semifinal matchup on Thursday and defeated #3 Springfield College, 66-50, on Saturday to claim the program's second-consecutive NEWMAC Championship.
Friday's NCAA Tournament bout will be the third meeting between the Saint Joseph's and MIT women's basketball programs and first since November 15th, 2014 when the Monks topped the Engineers by a 73-50 margin at the Curry College Tip-Off Tournament. The Engineers won the first matchup, 78-56, at MIT on November 18th, 2005.
The other Friday night game in the four-team pod at Ithaca will feature the host Bombers (22-5, 15-3 Liberty) and SUNY-Poly (23-5, 15-1 NEAC), with the winner taking on the SJC/MIT victor at Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday, tip-off TBD. Ithaca and SUNY-Poly received automatic qualifiers into the NCAA Tournament after winning conference championships over the weekend.
Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.
GNAC Champion Emmanuel to Take on Hartwick at SUNY New Paltz
BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel currently stands at 23-5 on the year after capturing the program's 16th Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship this past weekend with a 65-64 win over No. 8/10 Saint Joseph's (ME) on Saturday. The Saints now advance to the NCAA tournament for the 19th time in program history and will take on Hartwick College on Friday, March 1 at SUNY New Paltz in the opening round of the action, it was announced on Monday afternoon in the NCAA's online selection show.
Under 42nd-year head coach Andy Yosinoff, the Saints title victory this past weekend marked their first GNAC title since winning seven straight from 2007-13.
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –