Williams Men, Drury and Hoosac Alums in NCAA Basketball Tourneys

The Williams College men's basketball team will open the NCAA Division III tournament at home next weekend against Mitchell College, the NCAA announced on Monday afternoon.

 

The Ephs (23-4) received an at-large bid to the NCAA field after reaching the championship game of the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament this weekend, losing to three-time NESCAC champion Amherst.

 

The defending national champion Lord Jeffs received a bye through to the second round of the NCAA field.

Williams will host three teams next weekend as all four look to advance to the tournament's Sweet 16. In the other first-round matchup, Babson will face Gordon.

 

The Ephs' first-round opponent, Mitchell of New London, Conn., earned its first ever NCAA bid on Saturday with a win over Elms College in the New England Collegiate Conference final.

 

Williams and Mitchell share two common opponents. Each has a win against Connecticut College. And neither has beaten Southern Vermont College, which beat Williams in its opener back on Nov. 15 and beat Mitchell twice in NECC play.

 

Another game of local interest in the NCAA Division III field will feature Springfield College, which was the runner-up in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference and earned an at-large bid.

 

The Pride (20-7) and Hoosac Valley alumnus Robbie Burke received an at-large bid and travel to Randolph-Macon College in Virginia to play Mary Washington (22-5).

 

Burke, a senior forward, is averaging a team-best 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this winter.

 

While Springfield's men had to wait until Monday afternoon to learn if they had an at-large bid, the Springfield women punched their ticket with an upset win of NEWMAC top-seed Smith in Sunday's league title game. 

 

Drury alumna Danielle Racette had four assists and two steals for Springfield in the NEWMAC title game. The freshman from North Adams has played in 26 games for the 17-11 Pride, averaging 15.4 minutes per game and compiling a team-best 78 assists.

 

Springfield will take a short drive up Interstate 91 for Friday's first round game against Amherst (24-3), who got an at-large bid after losing the NESCAC final. 

 

Also getting an at-large bid on Monday was Williams (20-5), which opens tourney play on Friday at the University of Scranton against Vassar (22-5).