Three of four MAC teams won opening round ECAC games last night and prepare for the semi-finals on Saturday. On the men’s side, Lebanon Valley (21-7), the #1 seed, advanced with a blow out of Marywood to play #5 Wesley on Saturday at 3 PM at home. In another MAC win, #2 DeSales (20-8) upended Neumann 86-74 and will play #3 Catholic at 1 PM. The Bulldogs beat Catholic by six at home early in the season. The final will be at Lebanon Valley on Sunday at 1 PM. Alvernia’s women were lead by juniors Allie Toczylowski (16 points/16 rebounds) and Angela Altemose (16 points/17 rebounds) as #6 Alvernia University (14-13) dominated the glass in a 58-45 win over #3 Gwynedd-Mercy College (17-11) in ECAC South Region Quarterfinal action at the Griffin Complex. The Crusaders advance to the ECAC semifinal and will play #2 Catholic University at top-seeded Waynesburg on Saturday at 6:00 PM Waynesburg will play PSU-Behrend in the other semifinal with the two finalists to meet Sunday at 2:00 PM at Waynesburg.
Four of the five MAC NCAA teams are on their way to various sites. The Lebanon Valley women host a pod in Annville with the Dutchmen taking on Neumann at 8 PM Friday after Randolph-Macon and Bridgewater State play at 6 PM. The winners will advance and play at 7 p.m. Saturday for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Neumann won its second straight Colonial State Athletic Conference title with Katie Young, the CSAC Player of the Year, leading the team with a 16.5 point and 13.0 rebounds per game. Andrea Hoover, the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, leads the Dutchmen with 11.0 points per game and 157 assists.
In other women’s action, DeSales (19-8) travel to upstate New York for the second straight year, taking on SUNY-Geneseo (25-3) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday evening at 8:00 PM. Last year the Bulldogs defeated Ithaca College in New York before falling to Williams College. Prior to the DeSales game, the other two teams in the four-team pod tangle when Medaille College (22-4) takes on Babson College (27-0) at 6:00 PM. DeSales will be making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth straight after winning the Freedom Conference Championship on Saturday. Senior Lori Lidlow, All-Freedom Conference First-Team for the second straight year, averages a team-best 16.9 points per game and also leads the Bulldogs with 58 steals.
The last MAC women’s team is perennial NCAA tournament participant Messiah (19-7), heading to the dance for the 12th straight season. The Falcons will face Western Connecticut (23-3) at 6 PM in First Round play Friday evening at Kean (22-4), while the hosts entertain Vassar (16-11) in the 8 PM game. Kean is the only familiar opponent to Messiah, as the Cougars handed the Falcons a 64-73 defeat earlier in the season. Kean is the only team currently ranked in this weekend’s pod, rated seventh in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and fifth in the D3hoops.com Top 25.
The Delaware Valley team will make its first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday, March 4 when the Aggies travel to Norfolk, Virginia to take on Virginia Wesleyan (7:30 PM), a team that is 23-4 overall, ranked 10th in the latest D3hoops.com poll and is makings its seven consecutive appearance (11th overall) in the NCAA tournament. The Marlins won the Division III championship just five years ago and were the runners-up the following season. Should the Aggies win, their second-round opponent would either be a Franklin & Marshall program that is 22-5, ranked 18th in the country and is making its 22nd overall appearance (third overall) in the tournament, or a North Carolina Wesleyan team that holds a 21-6 record and is receiving votes in the national poll. If the Aggies are to prevail, senior guard and 2011 Freedom Conference Player of the Year, James Jones will have to have a monster performance. He and sophomore center Jeremy Beckett, a second-team all-Freedom Conference selection, are keys to the Aggie attack.
Alvernia (18-6) travels to St. Mary's Friday evening for an NCAA First Round match-up with #8 Randolph-Macon (24-4), winners of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. #18 St. Mary's (22-5), winners of the Capital Athletic Conference, host the four-team pod and will face Medger Evers Friday evening. The two winners will square off Saturday at St. Mary's for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. The Crusaders have been to the dance seven times, with their best showing a Final Four loss to Williams by a point in 1997. Alvernia is led by junior center Cory Boone who averages 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
