ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College men's basketball team (23-5) will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship in seven years, and the Bombers will face off against Babson College (20-6) in the opening round at 5 p.m. on Friday evening, March 6. Ithaca is set to travel to No. 1 Swarthmore College (26-1) in Swarthmore, Pa. and the host Garnet will take on Brooklyn College in the first round.

GAME TIMES:
Round 1 (Friday, March 6)
No. 25 Babson (20-6) vs. Ithaca (23-5) – 5 p.m. | LIVE STATS | VIDEO
No. 1 Swarthmore (26-1) vs. Brooklyn College (13-15) – 7:30 p.m. | LIVE STATS | VIDEO

Round 2 (Saturday, March 7)
Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 7:30 p.m. | LIVE STATS | VIDEO

TICKETS:
$12 for adults
$7 for seniors and students
Free for children under 2

PRINTABLE BRACKET (PDF) | INTERACTIVE BRACKET

MERCHANDISE SALES

DIRECTIONS:

All games at Swarthmore will take place in Tarble Pavilion located within Lamb Miller Field House at:

Fieldhouse Lane
Swarthmore, Pa. 19081

More info on directions

Additional parking for the events is located at the corner of S Chester Rd and Rutgers Ave. View this map and consider 32, 39, 47, and 51 for parking options. (PDF)

ITHACA VS. REGIONAL FIELD: The Bombers are 2-1 all-time against the regional pod. IC has never played against Babson. Ithaca is 1-0 against Swarthmore and 1-1 against Brooklyn.

ITHACA VS. THE 2020 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: Ithaca went 3-3 against the NCAA Tournament field this season – all Liberty League games. The Bombers were 2-1 against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and 1-2 against Hobart.

ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 13th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship and first since 2012-13. Ithaca is 5-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 1963-64. IC's first tournament win came back in 1972 against Buffalo State, 70-58, and the Bombers prevailed again in 1982 against Buffalo, 74-73. The next victory came in 1993 by a 71-56 score against Fredonia. In 2012-13, Ithaca defeated Springfield, 89-77, and Rochester, 70-68, to advance to the Round of 16.

THE 2020 CHAMPIONSHIP: The Division III Championship provides for a 64-team, single elimination playoff field. The 64 teams include 43 winners of conferences whose champions have been awarded automatic bids and 21 teams who received at-large bids. A total of 16 schools are hosting regionals this weekend. The Round of 16 games will be played on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14. Winners of that round will advance Elite Eight and Final Four on March 20-21 in Fort Wayne, Ind. The national championship game will be played on Sunday, April 5 in Atlanta, Ga.

BREAKING DOWN THE POD (BY SEED):

No. 1 Swarthmore College Garnet (26-1)
At-Large Bid – Centennial Conference

SCHEDULE | ROSTER | STATS

Swarthmore, the 2019 national runner-up, has been ranked No. 1 all season by D3hoops.com. The Garnet carried a 26-game winning streak into the Centennial Conference final before losing to Johns Hopkins University, 73-71.

Swarthmore ranks fifth nationally in rebound margin (plus-10.7), 11th in scoring margin (14.4), 11th in total blocks (135) and 14th in blocked shots by game (5.0). The Garnet's 65.4 points allowed per game ranks 26th in the country.

Five different players average double digits in points for Swarthmore – George Visconti (12.1), Vinny DeAngelo (11.5), Conor Harkins (11.0), Zac O'Dell (10.8) and Nate Shafer (10.6). Colin Shaw (8.9 PPG) and Ryan Ingram (62 PPG) are also scoring threats for the Garnet.

Three other players – Justin Tucker, Michael Caprise and Abass Sallah – all play more than 10 minutes per game.

Babson College Beavers (20-6)
At-Large Bid – New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

SCHEDULE | ROSTER | STATS

Babson, the 2017 national champions, has been ranked as high as No. 12 in the country after the fourth week of the season. The Beavers earned their fifth NCAA appearance since 2014 as an at-large team after dropping a 73-58 decision to WPI in the NEWMAC semifinals.

Babson possesses a high-scoring offense at 84.9 points per game, which ranks 35th in Division III. The Beavers are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country (fifth overall) at 78.1-percent. Babson also takes care of the basketball better than almost any team in the nation with the fifth-fewest turnovers (265) in DIII. The 10.2 turnovers per game rank 10th overall.

Jack Coolahan is the leading scorer for the Beavers at 18.8 points per game, while Andrew Jaworski adds 17.3 points a contest. Crew Ainge (11.3 PPG) and Colin Bradanese (10.1 PPG) also average double digits.

Ithaca College Bombers (23-5)
Automatic Bid – Liberty League

SCHEDULE | ROSTER | STATS

The Bombers will carry their 11-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament after earning the Liberty League's automatic bid. Ithaca defeated RPI, 80-69, in overtime to secure the program's first conference title since 2012-13. IC outscored the Engineers, 14-3, in the extra session.

Ithaca ranks top 20 nationally in 11 different categories. The Bombers are fourth in 3-point field goal defense (28.1%), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7), fifth in 3-point attempts (916), sixth in 3-pointers made (329), sixth in turnover margin (plus-5.9), ninth in turnovers per game (10.2), 10th in 3-pointers made per game (11.8), 14th in assists (485), 15th in scoring margin (14.0), 20th in fewest turnovers (285) and 20th in winning percentage (82.1%).

The Bombers tout a three-man attack on the offensive end as Riley Thompson (18.4 PPG), Sebastian Alderete (17.0 PPG) and Skylar Sinon (15.7 PPG) can take over a game at any given time. Bryan Karl (8.0 PPG), Jake Mitchell (7.2 PPG) and Zach Warech (5.2 PPG) also add depth to the offense. Alex Barron, Cooper Macklin, George Sikoryak III and Liam Spellman will also see time on the floor for the Bombers. Lucas Joshi, Gabriel Khalife and Tommy Carver could also see time throughout the weekend.

Brooklyn College Bulldogs (13-15)
Automatic Bid – City University of New York Athletic Conference

SCHEDULE | ROSTER | STATS

Brooklyn put together an incredible run in the CUNYAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed and came away with a conference title. After winning their opening round game against No. 4 Hunter, the Bulldogs knocked off No. 1 John Jay and No. 2 Baruch to win the conference title.

The Bulldogs are one of the top teams in the nation in turnovers forced (17th – 18.4 per game), and steals per game (16th – 9.9). Brooklyn is 10th overall in steals with 276 and 23rd in turnover margin at plus-4.0.

Michael Tesoriero ranks ninth nationally with 2.7 steals per game and averages 10.7 points per game. Noah Shy leads the team with 12.0 points per game, while Anthony McClean puts in 11.8 per game and Jordan Wright averages 11.3.