Eight teams play on in NCAA Div. II playoffs
Eight black college basketball teams, four men's and four women's squads, will begin quests this weekend to bring home an NCAA Div. II national title.
Each earned berths into the men's and
women's NCAA Div. II national basketball championship
playoffs which begin regional play this weekend. The
64-team playoff fields were announced Sunday.
Women's regional play begins Friday, March 14, continues to Saturday (March 15) with the title games on Monday, March 17. Men's regional play begins Saturday March 15, will stage semifinals on Sunday (March 17) with the championship game on Tuesday (March 18).
CIAA tournament champion Shaw and tournament runners-up Johnson C. Smith will play in the women's South Atlantic Regional Friday in Florence, S.C. JCSU (21-9) is seeded eighth and will take on top-seed Wingate (23-7) at 1 p.m. Shaw (21-11) is seeded fourth and will play fifth-seed Augusta State (19-9) at 3 p.m. Sixth seeded Francis Marion is hosting the tournament.
SIAC tournament champ Tuskegee (21-8) will face second-seed Arkansas-Tech (25-5) in the opening round of the women's South Regional in Cleveland, Ms. SIAC tourney runner-up Kentucky State (19-11) plays undefeated host Delta State (29-0) at 1 p.m.
On the men's side, CIAA Tournament champion Johnson C. Smith earned the conference's automatic bid into the South Atlantic Region and is seeded seventh in the eight-team field. The Golden Bulls (21-9) face host and second-seeded Augusta (Ga.) State (22-6) Saturday at 1 p.m. CIAA regular season champ Virginia Union (22-7) is seeded fourth and will face fifth-seed Lenoir-Rhyne (22-6) Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
SIAC regular season and tournament champ Benedict was the only SIAC men's team to make the South Region field. The Tigers (26-4) are seeded second and will face seventh-seeded Eckerd (19-9) Saturday in the opening game at 12 noon of the regional at Lakeland, Fla. Host Florida Southern (24-8) is the South Region's top seed.
The other men's team to make the field was Cheyney who was the East Division regular season winner of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Wolves (19-9) earned a berth and fifth seed into the East Regional in California, Pa. where they will face fourth-seeded Alderson-Broaddus (25-6), regular season and tournament champions of the WVIAC, at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Men's regional winners will advance to the Div. II Elite Eight, the national quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game, to be held on March 26, 27 and 29 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. The women's Elite Eight will be contested on the same dates at the Health and Sports Center at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
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