Gannon, Kutztown, IUP to Play in Men's NCAA Tournament
PSAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Mar. 12
NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament Central
Three PSAC men's basketball teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. They will all play in the Atlantic Regional, which will be contested Saturday-Sunday, March 14-15 and Tuesday, March 17. Regional No. 1 seed and PSAC West and Tournament champion Gannon will host the eight-team event. Kutztown and IUP will be the other PSAC schools joining the Golden Knights.
PSAC Team Notes
Gannon Golden Knights
Gannon, ranked No. 6 in the March 3rd NCAA Division II top 25 poll, won the PSAC Tournament last week, winning all three games on its way to the title ... On Tuesday, March 3, the Golden Knights defeated Edinboro 89-75 in the conference quarterfinals. Senior guard Pierre Howard scored a career-high 29 points as Gannon shot 68 percent from the field in the first half ... GU then hosted the PSAC Final Four March 6-7. In the semifinals, the Knights beat Cheyney 69-50. Kyle Goldcamp recorded a double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Gannon held Cheyney to 2-18 shooting from the three-point range in the win ... GU beat East champion Kutztown 80-65 in the finals Saturday at the Hammermill Center. Four Knights were in double figures, with senior forward Tyler Stoczynski scoring 14 and grabbing ten boards. Gannon held the league's highest scoring team to 38 percent shooting from the floor.
IUP Crimson Hawks
IUP earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Atlantic Region ournament and will be making its first appearance since 2005 and eighth overall … The Crimson Hawks will face tradition-laden Virginia Union in the opening round … The Panthers have won three Division II national championships, most recently in 2005, and have sent several players to the NBA, most notably Charles Oakley … This will be the first meeting between IUP and Virginia Union in men's basketball … IUP won what was the NCAA East Region championship in 1994, 1995, 2000 and 2002 and made the Final Four in 1995 and 2002 … Overall, IUP has a record of 13-7 in the NCAA tournament, including 11-3 in regional play and 2-4 in the Elite Eight … In IUP's loss to Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament, Gerald Brooks scored a career-high 32 points and moved into 20th place in school history with 1,063 points.
Kutztown Golden Bears
Kutztown advances to the NCAA playoffs for the third time and the first since 1990 ... Both the 1990 and 1988 playoffs were also at Gannon ... KU was No. 21 overall and No. 2 in the region in last week's NABC and Atlantic Region polls ... KU will be the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Regionals, and will face West Virginia State on Saturday ... The Golden Bears have faced the Yellow Jackets twice before, winning 90-86 (2004-05) and losing 108-101 (1990-91) ... If KU advances, they would play either Virginia Union (0-3 all-time, last meeting: 1990-91) or IUP (3-13 since 1974, last meeting 2007-08) ... KU finished as the PSAC runner up for the third time ... Stephen Dennis averaged 30.3 points in KU's three PSAC playoff games ... Dennis and Dave Ben both broke KU's single-season scoring record in the semifinals vs. Slippery Rock ... Andre Woodlin became the 20th player all time and the third on this year's team to go over 1,000 career points against SRU.
NCAA Tournament Quick Hits
- This marks the second straight year and the fifth time in the last seven years that the PSAC has qualified at least three teams to the NCAA Tournament.
- IUP is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2005 while this is Kutztown’s first appearance since 1988.
- This will be Gannon’s second straight NCAA Tournament appearance but the first as a member of the PSAC.
- The last PSAC team other than California (Pa.) or IUP to win a regional championship was Millersville in 1989.
- Kutztown will be shooting for its first-ever regional championship.
- Gannon is hosting its first NCAA regional since the 1989-90 season. The Golden Knights defeated Kutztown in that season’s regional and Kutztown also played in the 1988 regional that was hosted by Gannon.
Past PSAC Regional Champions
2008 California (Pa.)
2002 IUP
2000 IUP
1996 California (Pa.)
1995 IUP
1994 IUP
1992 California (Pa.)
1989 Millersville
1986 Cheyney
1983 Bloomsburg
1982 Cheyney
1979 Cheyney
1978 Cheyney
1977 Cheyney
1976 Cheyney
1974 Bloomsburg
1971 Cheyney
1968 Cheyney
1967 Cheyney