MEN'S BASKETBALL SELECTED TO NCAA TOURNAMENT

SMITHFIELD, RI -The Bryant University men's basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Division II tournament for the third consecutive year when the Bulldogs, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, will face No. 6 seed UMass Lowell at noon on Saturday at Stonehill College's Merkert Gymnasium in Easton, Mass.  The Skyhawks are the No. 1 seed and will host the tournament.  

More NCAA Tournament Information can be found at: www.ncaasports.com
Complete Bracket: http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/brackets/viewable/2006/DII

This will be the second meeting of the year between Bryant and UMass Lowell.  The Bulldogs defeated the River Hawks at home back on Feb. 1 and most recently earned a win in the Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinals last Monday night, 63-61. 

2006 NCAA Northeast-10 Regional Bracket
Saturday, Mar. 11 @ Easton, Mass.
No. 3 Bryant vs. No. 6 UMass Lowell, noon
No. 2 Saint Anselm vs. No. 7 Bridgeport, 2:30 pm
No. 1 Stonehill vs. No. 8 Bloomfield, 6 pm
No. 4 Bentley vs. No. 5 Adelphi, 8:30 pm

Tickets for the 2006 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Regional Championship are $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for children, seniors and students and will be available at the Merkert Gymnasium door prior to each session of the tournament

Bryant (21-9), the defending regional champion, is led by senior guard John Williams (Springfield, Mass.).  Williams was named the NE-10 Conference co-Player of the Year and brings a 20.3 ppg scoring average and 111 made 3-point field goals into the tournament.  He shares the 2006 conference player of the year honors with Lowell senior forward Stacey Moragne.

This will be Bryant’s fifth appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship and third in-a-row for the Bulldogs under head coach Max Good.   Bryant is 7-2 during the past two NCAA appearances including an NCAA Northeast Regional Championship last year and appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship game.

In 2004, Max Good’s third season at Bryant, the Bulldogs returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 24 years and advanced as far as the NCAA Regional Final before falling to host and top-seeded UMass Lowell in the final seconds.  The seventh-seeded Bulldogs won for the first time in NCAA postseason play with a 65-63 upset win over second-seeded C.W. Post in the first round and followed with a win over NYIT in the semifinals, 64-60 before falling on a last-second shot to Lowell 63-62 in the regional finals. 

Last year in 2005, Bryant returned to the NCAA tourney as the No. 6 seed and defeated the regular season conference champions of the NYCAC, CACC and Northeast-10 en route to capturing its first regional championship title. The Bulldogs defeated Adelphi in the opener and followed with a win over Bloomfield in the regional semifinals and proceeded to defeat rival and top-seeded Bentley in the championship.

BRYANT IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT UNDER COACH GOOD

2004    CW Post          65-63 W          Regional Qtrs
            NYIT               64-60 W          Regional Semis
            Lowell             62-63 L           Regional Final

2005    Adelphi           60-48 W          Regional Qtrs
            Bloomfield      76-59 W          Regional Semis
            Bentley            74-64 W          Regional Final
            Mount Olive    84-69 W          National Qtrs
            Tarleton St.     60-55 W          National Semis
            Virginia Union 58-63 L           National Final