AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen has earned its third straight berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Men's Basketball Championship. The Wildcats have been awarded an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament which gets underway next weekend with regional tournaments across the country. The full 48-team NCAA tournament bracket was announced late this evening during a selection show broadcast on NCAA.com.
The tournament field is broken down into eight regions, consisting of six teams each. Daemen is the No. 2 seed in the East Regional, which will take place at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, N.Y. The College of Saint Rose will serve as the regional host.
The region's top two seeds both hail form the East Coast Conference. St. Thomas Aquinas, the ECC tournament champion, is the No. 1 seed in the region. STAC and Daemen will both receive first-round byes into the regional semifinals. The four remaining seeds are all members of the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference. Third-seeded Bloomfield will meet sixth-seeded Nyack in one of the quarterfinals, while the other quarterfinal will feature fourth-seeded Dominican (N.Y.) and fifth-seeded Caldwell.
The CACC did not have a conference championship tournament this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bloomfield was declared the conference champion based on regular-season results. The East Region's other league, the Northeast-10 Conference, is not represented in the regional. Eleven of the NE-10's 14 schools opted not to play this season.
Daemen will face the Bloomfield/Nyack winner in the semifinals, while STAC will square off against the Dominican/Caldwell winner.
Quarterfinal games will take place Saturday, March 13. The regional semifinals will follow on Sunday, March 14, and the regional championship game is set for Tuesday, March 16. Game times and broadcast information for the East Region Championship will be announced later this week.
Daemen, which also earned at-large bids to the 2019 and 2020 NCAA tournaments, is back in the field after posting an 8-5 record so far this season. The Wildcats went 7-2 in ECC play and advanced to the championship game of the ECC tournament following a 78-72 victory over Roberts Wesleyan in Friday's semifinal round. Daemen's quest for a first-ever ECC tournament title came to an end following an 83-67 loss at top-seeded and nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas earlier today.
The Wildcats made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship in 2019 and suffered an opening round loss to New Haven. Daemen was scheduled to take on top-seeded Bridgeport in the opening round of last year's tournament, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the tournament.
Bloomfield enters the tournament with a 6-3 record, including a 65-63 win over Nyack. If Bloomfield advances to the semifinals it will mark the first-ever meeting between Bloomfield and Daemen. Nyack stands at 4-4 on the year. Daemen and Nyack have met each of the last three seasons during the ECC-CACC Challenge hosted by the Wildcats. Daemen prevailed in each of those three meetings, including an 80-74 victory last year.
Winners of the eight regional tournaments will advance to the Elite Eight which is slated for March 24-27 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
Regional Schedule (all games played at Albany Capital Center, Albany, N.Y.)
Saturday, March 13 – First Round games
6:00 p.m. Game No. 1 – TBA
8:45 p.m. Game No. 2 – TBA
Sunday, March 14 – Regional Semifinals
6:00 p.m. Game No. 3. (Winner Game No. 1 vs. TBA)
8:45 p.m. Game No. 4. (Winner Game No. 2 vs. TBA)
Tuesday, March 16 – Regional Championship Game
6:00 p.m. Game No. 5. (Winner Game No. 3 vs. Winner Game No. 4)
National Schedule
Wednesday, March 24 – National Quarterfinals (at Ford Center, Evansville, Ind.)
Thursday, March 25 – National Semifinals (at Ford Center, Evansville, Ind.)
Saturday, March 27 – National Championship Game (at Ford Center, Evansville, Ind.)
Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity teams. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.
