Four Liberty League teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament
The NCAA has announced the 2016-17 Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournament fields and four Liberty League teams are participating. In the Men’s Basketball tournament, Union College earned the league’s automatic berth as they captured their first league title since 2004-05. Skidmore College and St. Lawrence University snagged at-large berths. On the women’s side, this year’s league champions, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) earned the automatic berth.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Tournament Bracket
Union – The Dutchmen, who have 16-10 overall record (10-6 Liberty League) are headed to their first NCAA tournament since the 2004-05 season. The last time that happened at Union head coach Chris Murphy was a junior starting guard. The team will travel west to the University of Rochester to take on Wesleyan University (19-16) on Friday at 5:30 p.m.. Winner of that game will take on the winner of the 7:00 p.m. game--Rochester (21-4) versus Albertus Magnus College (23-4) on Saturday to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Skidmore – The Thoroughbreds captured their third straight Liberty League regular season title with a program-best 14-2 mark in league play before falling to Hobart in the semifinals. Skidmore has an overall record of 19-7. Skidmore will be making its third straight tournament appearance and fifth in the last seven seasons. The Thoroughbreds travel east to host Babson College and they will face New Jersey City University (21-7) in the one of two games on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Babson (25-2) will play Husson University (21-6) in the other game at 7:00 p.m.. Winners will play on Saturday for a trip to the quarterfinals.
St. Lawrence – The Saints with a 20-6 overall mark (13-3 Liberty League) are also headed to the NCAA Tournament. St. Lawrence were the second seed in the league tournament and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Union in double overtime, 110-108. The team will play against host St. John Fisher College (22-5) at 7:30 p.m. while Tufts University (20-6) and Salem State University (17-10) will play in the earlier game on Friday at 5:30 p.m.. Winner of both games will meet on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. to decide who will move on to the quarterfinals.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Tournament Bracket
RIT – The Tigers (19-8, 10-6 Liberty League) punched a ticket to their first-ever NCAA tournament with an 85-72 win over league defending champions Clarkson on Saturday. RIT comes into the tournament having won five straight games and nine of its last ten and will play against future Liberty League member Ithaca College. Ithaca (24-3) and RIT will play in one game at 7:00 p.m. and in the other it will be Bowdoin College (21-4) vs. SUNY New Paltz (18-8) at 5:00 p.m. Winners of both games will play on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. with a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals on the line.
| Friday, March 3rd |
University of Rochester |
| Union vs. Wesleyan |
5:30 p.m. |
| Rochester vs. Albertus Magnus |
7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, March 4th |
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| Winners of First-Round Games |
7:00 p.m. |
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| Friday, March 3rd |
Babson |
| Skidmore vs. New Jersey City |
5:00 p.m. |
| Babson vs. Husson |
7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, March 4th |
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| Winners of First-Round Games |
TBA |
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| Friday, March 3rd |
St. John Fisher |
| Tufts vs. Salem State |
5:30 p.m. |
| St. Lawrence vs. St. John Fisher |
7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, March 4th |
|
| Winners of First-Round Games |
7:00 p.m. |
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| Friday, March 3rd |
Ithaca |
| Bowdoin vs. New Paltz |
5:00 p.m. |
| RIT vs. Ithaca |
7:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, March 4th |
|
| Winners of First-Round Games |
5:00 p.m. |
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