ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University men's basketball team punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship by rallying from a 17-point deficit to defeat Pomona-Pitzer 76-70 at R.A. Faganel Hall.

With the win, Elmhurst has reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history and the second consecutive NCAA Championship. The Bluejays improved to 24-6 on the season with the victory.

Elmhurst struggled out of the gate as the Bluejays began the contest shooting just 1-of-13 from 3-point range. Pomona-Pitzer (22-5) took advantage of the sluggish Elmhurst shooting to open up a lead. With the game tied at 11-11 with 12:40 remaining, the Sagehens rattled of a 17-3 run to open up a 28-14 lead with 6:15 left in the half. The Sagehens led by as many as 17 points in the half and carried a 40-26 lead into the locker room at the half. Elmhurst shot only 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the floor, including 16.7 percent (3-of-18) in the game's opening 20 minutes.

The Bluejays came out quickly in the second half, starting on a 7-0 run to bring the deficit down to seven points. Pomona-Pitzer pushed its lead back up to 10 with 17 minutes left, but the Bluejays responded with an 18-2 run over the next 4:30 to open up a 5-0 lead. A pair of 3-pointers from Jake Rhode and two buckets from Dominic Genco helped fuel the Bluejays' run. Elmhurst would not trail for the rest of the contest, but the Sagehens kept the contest close. Pomona-Pitzer sliced Elmhurst's lead down to just one with two minutes remaining after a Joe Cookson 3-pointer.

Rhode found Lavon Thomas open for a layup with 90 seconds left to put the Bluejays' up 68-65. After a Sagehins miss, Genco hit a driving layup just before the shot clock expired to five Elmhurst a five-point cushion with 30 seconds left. Thomas hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left after a Sagehens missed shot to help seal the win for the Bluejays.

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 40.6 percent (26-of-64) after hitting on 53.1 percent (17-of-32) of its shots in the second half. Jake Rhode led Elmhurst and all scorers with a game-high 23 points. Rhode added five assists, one steal and a block on the night. Genco came off the bench to spark Elmhurst with 14 points and a game-high seven assists. Thomas added 13 points and six rebounds while Jonathan Zapinski added nine points and six rebounds for Elmhurst. Ocean Johnson added seven points and a team-leading seven rebounds.

Despite losing the overall rebounding battle 43-34 to the number one ranked rebounding team in the nation, Elmhurst outrebounded the Sagehens by five in the second half. The Bluejays committed only two turnovers for the contest.

Pomona-Pitzer shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor after struggling in the second half. The Sagehens hit only 7-of-25 attempts (28.0 percent) in the second half.

Matthew Eberle led Pomona-Pitzer with 21 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. Eberle totaled 15 in the opening half but Elmhurst held him to just six in the second half. Brendan Mora led Pomona-Pitzer with a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Elmhurst will face Calvin College in the Sweet 16 on Friday, March 11. The location and start time will be announced shortly.