John Carroll University will serve as a host site for the second round of the 2009 NCAA® Division III Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be held Saturday, March 7, at the school’s DeCarlo Varsity Center.
The second round match-up will feature John Carroll, representing the Ohio Athletic Conference, against Carnegie Mellon University of Pennsylvania from the University Athletic Association
John Carroll also welcomed Medaille College of New York from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, and the College of Brockport from the State University of New York Athletic Conference to campus this weekend.
In Friday’s first round, John Carroll (24-4) defeated Medaille (21-7) by a 90-79 score, while Carnegie Mellon (20-6) needed two overtimes to get past Brockport State (14-15) 75-70.
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Team
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Brockport State
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Carnegie Mellon
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John Carroll
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Medaille
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Game
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John Carroll
vs. Medaille
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Carnegie Mellon
vs. Brockport State
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John Carroll
vs. Carnegie Mellon
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Final Box Score
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Recap
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* Live Stats will be in effect during the specified game. Once the game is ended, the live stats will be reset to reflect the next game on the schedule
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Bracket
John Carroll, winners of 19 consecutive games, advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship by claiming the automatic bid of the Ohio Athletic Conference which is awarded to the postseason tournament champion. Also the outright regular season OAC champion, John Carroll is making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament and its fifth in the last seven years. The Blue Streaks have enjoyed a fair amount of success in its previous ten journeys into the NCAA playoffs, reaching the round of 16 in 2005 and 2007, the national quarterfinals in both 1998 and 1999, and finishing third in the nation in 2004.
The Blue Streaks are 17-12 all-time in NCAA tournament action, including 17-8 in eight appearances under current head coach Mike Moran. Since Moran first took a JCU team to the Division III Championship in 1996, JCU has managed to win at least one tournament game in seven of those eight appearances. John Carroll is 7-0 at home in NCAA playoff games, posting wins over Wooster (86-72 in 1996), Albion (72-50 in 1998), Allegheny (68-62 in 1999), Pitt-Bradford (85-65 in 2003), Calvin (87-77 in 2004), Bethany (76-48 in 2005) and Westminster (77-73 in 2007).
This is the first time in John Carroll history that it has the opportunity to host beyond the first round.
Medaille, which has won its last eight games and 13 of its last 14, is making its first appearance in the Division III Tournament, completing a remarkable four year turnaround. In 2004-2005, the Mavericks finished the season winless at 0-25. In 2008-09, Medaille ended the regular season as outright AMCC champions, and then defeated both Frostburg State and Pitt-Bradford to claim the school’s first league title.
Brockport State is perhaps the most improbable team to make this year’s field of 60 in the Division III tournament. Standing 7-14 after a loss to Buffalo State on February 10, the Golden Eagles reeled off seven straight wins including three in a row away from home to win the SUNYAC postseason tournament and with it the league’s automatic bid. Among the seven wins were two victories over SUNYAC regular season champion Geneseo State – one at the end of the regular season and once in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
The Golden Eagles may have the lowest winning percentage (.500) of any team in the tournament, but are no strangers to NCAA postseason play. This will be the ninth appearance by Brockport State in the Division III Championship, and its fifth of this decade. The best showings by the Golden Eagles were a fourth place effort in 1975 and a trip to the Elite Eight in 2007.
Carnegie Mellon comes of the rugged UAA, which sent its first place (Washington U) and second place (Brandeis) teams to the tournament as well. The Tartans concluded their regular season by winning five of their final seven games to make the Division III field for just the third time in team history.
In previous trips to the NCAA tourney, Carnegie-Mellon has yet to win a game, falling in 1977 in the first round to eventual national champion Wittenberg, and in 2006 to John Carroll’s OAC and crosstown rival Baldwin-Wallace College. The Tartans started out this year by winning its first eight games – among them an 81-79 win over John Carroll back on November 29 in the first round of the Radisson Carnegie Mellon Invitational.
