INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Back in NCAA Division III Basketball Championship play for the first time since 2012, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team is facing Texas Lutheran at East Texas Baptist in Marshall, Texas on Friday, March 6 in the first round of the NCAAs. The field of 62 tournament teams was announced on March 2 by the NCAA on the Selection Show. Game times and ticket information are not yet available as well as information about live stats and video, so please stay tuned for that information to be released a little later in the week.
The other first round matchup that will be hosted by East Texas Baptist at Ornelas Gym is a game between host ETBU and Hendrix. Should CMS advance, they would play the winner of the ETBU/Hendrix game on Saturday, March 7 at ETBU. Out of the four teams playing at ETBU, none are ranked in the D3hoops.com Top-25.
CMS earned the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship by winning the SCIAC Postseason Tournament over the weekend, including a 71-66 win at Chapman in the tournament finals.
First/Second Round Team Breakdown (Alphabetical)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (21-6)
CMS is making its 12th appearance in the NCAAs in program history and first since 2012. CMS has a 3-12 all-time record in NCAA postseason play, last winning at Upper Iowa in 1996, 70-58. Upper Iowa is now an NCAA Division II program. In addition to winning the SCIAC Postseason Tournament, the Stags finished in a three-way tie for first during the regular season. The Stags have now won 18 SCIAC regular season titles and four SCIAC Postseason Tournament championships. This year marks the second-straight 20-win season for CMS and third in four seasons. It is the sixth 20-win season under head coach Ken Scalmanini, who is now one win short of 300 during his tenure at CMS. The Stags are led by guard Tyler Gaffaney (CGU) who has averaged 22.7 points which leads the conference, to go along with 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
East Texas Baptist (23-5)
The hosts are making their first-ever NCAA postseason appearance after winning their first American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship, 82-71, over Concordia University-Texas over the weekend. ETBU has won 13 of their last 14 games overall and 20-straight at home. The Tigers are a very balanced team offensively with three players averaging double-figure points, none more than junior center Jamil Samuel's 11.9 points per game.
Hendrix (12-16)
Hendrix snuck into the NCAAs, despite a losing record, by winning the Southern Athletic Association Tournament. The Warriors won three games in three days to get the automatic berth to the NCAAs. All three games were decided by three points or less, including a pair of two-point wins in the first two rounds and then a three-point win over Rhodes in the conference tournament finals. In two previous games against Rhodes in 2014-15, Hendrix had lost by double-figures. This is Hendrix's third NCAA appearance all-time and first since 1996. Hendrix is 1-2 in NCAA postseason games. Hank Aldous (14 ppg) and Luke Vance (13.7) lead the team in scoring.
Texas Lutheran (18-9)
The Bulldogs are also making their first-ever NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship appearance. TLU won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament 80-75 over Centenary to earn the automatic bid. Over the last month of the season, TLU has played its best basketball, winning eight of its last nine games including four-straight, two of which came in the SCAC Tournament. Similar to ETBU, Texas Lutheran is a balanced team offensively with three players scoring in double figures, led by sophomore guard Jordan Kouremetis who averages 14.6.
Game time, video and live stats information coming soon, so please check back later this week for more info.
NCAA Bracket (PDF)
NCAA Interactive Bracket
NCAA Release
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