WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team, which captured the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship this past Sunday afternoon, was selected to play Penn State Harrisburg (PSH) in the Worcester Regional in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament in Worcester, Mass. The Blue Jays looked on in anticipation during the squad's viewing party, as each of the 64 teams in the bracket were revealed Monday afternoon in a live selection show on www.NCAA.com.
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) was selected to serve as host for the first two rounds of the Worcester Regional, March 4-5, with games to be played inside Harrington Auditorium. The Blue Jays will play the Penn State Harrisburg Lions in the opening game of the Worcester Regional on Friday, March 4 at 3:50 p.m. Joining USJ, PSH and WPI in the 'pod' is Vassar College (VC), who will face WPI at 6:20 p.m., following the conclusion of the USJ-PSH game. The single-elimination tournament continues on Saturday March 5, with the two winners going head-to-head at 6:20 p.m. for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen/Sectional Round the following weekend. Ticket prices are $15 per day for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets will go on sale on game day at the entrance of Harrington Auditorium. All spectators must show proof of vaccination, or proof of a negative COVID test prior to attending: either a negative PCR test within 72 hours or a negative rapid antigen test within 24 hours. Here is the full WPI Spectator Policy.
THE COMPETITION
All four teams in the Worcester Regional are conference tournament champions, winning their respective tournaments this past weekend. WPI (24-2), ranked No. 13 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, captured the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), Vassar (18-8) emerged victorious in the Liberty League, No. 9 Saint Joseph (26-1) claimed the GNAC and Penn State Harrisburg (22-3) won the United East Conference.
The four teams have a combined record of 91-14, with the 91 wins tying the Mary Hardin Baylor Regional for most combined victories among any other regional, while the 14 combined losses marks the fewest losses of all the 16 four-team pods nationwide.
Penn State Harrisburg
The Lions (23-3) won their second consecutive United East Championship last Saturday, 85-52, over top-seeded Lancaster Bible to clinch the league's automatic qualifier. The conference title is the second in program history for Penn State Harrisburg after achieving the same feat in 2019-20. In the 2020 NCAA Tournament, the Lions won their opening-round contest, 104-96, in double overtime over Johns Hopkins before falling in the NCAA Second Round to Yeshiva, 102-83, in the Baltimore Regional.
WPI
The nationally-ranked No. 13 Engineers (24-2) won their fourth NEWMAC Championship last Saturday, 70-54, inside Harrington Auditorium as the top seed over third-seeded Emerson, capturing its first NEWMAC title since the 2012-13 season. It will mark WPI's second-straight and 12th-overall NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 18 seasons under 21-year head coach Chris Bartley. In total, it's the Engineers 14th NCAA Tournament in program history, with other appearances occurring in 1982 and 1985. In the 2020 NCAA Tournament, the Engineers were eliminated from the tournament in the NCAA First Round by Yeshiva, 102-78, in the Baltimore Regional.
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Vassar
The Brewers (18-8) are fresh off their first Liberty League Championship in program history. Entering the Liberty League Tournament as the third seed, Vassar went on to defeat fifth-seeded Skidmore, 65-48, in the championship game last Sunday. The Brewers reach the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history with the win.
USJ
The nationally-ranked No. 9 Blue Jays (26-1) won their second-straight GNAC Championship last Sunday, 94-67, inside the O'Connell Center as the top seed over second-seeded Albertus Magnus. It marked the second conference championship for the Blue Jays in three full seasons in the program's brief history since USJ became a fully coeducational institution in the fall of 2018. It also marked the ninth overall GNAC title in USJ school history across all sports. The Blue Jays will be making their second NCAA Tournament appearance with their first coming in the 2020 NCAA Tournament. USJ was knocked out in the NCAA First Round in 2020 by Hobart, 78-74, in the Springfield Regional.
THE TOURNAMENT
The championship provides for a 64-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 44 conference champions, which form "Pool A." The remaining 20 teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ and the remaining Pool B institutions (Pool C). The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.
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Sixteen sites will host four teams for first- and second-round competition Friday-Saturday, March 4-5. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 11-12. Winners of the four sectional championship games will advance to the semi-finals and finals March 18 and 19. All games, except the semi-finals and finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The semi-finals and finals will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.
UP NEXT
The No. 9 Blue Jays will compete in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament against Penn State Harrisburg on Friday, March 4 at 3:50 p.m., inside Harrington Auditorium, on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Mass. Ticket prices are $15 per day for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets will go on sale on game day at the entrance of Harrington Auditorium. All spectators must show proof of vaccination, or proof of a negative COVID test prior to attending: either a negative PCR test within 72 hours or a negative rapid antigen test within 24 hours. Here is the WPI Spectator Policy.
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