Indianapolis, Ind. – On the heels of a third straight East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship, the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights will head to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and 21st time in program history.
Bridgeport earned the conference's automatic berth into the field by defeating St. Thomas Aquinas, 82-78 on Sunday afternoon to capture their third straight ECC title and fourth in the past six seasons. This marks the ninth time in Head Coach, Mike Ruane's 15 seasons that the Purple Knights will head to the big dance.
Seeded fourth, Bridgeport will face a familiar foe in the opening round of the East Region portion of the bracket, as they will square off with No. 5 seed and defending East Region Champion, Southern Connecticut State. The matchup is a rematch of an NCAA Tournament First Round matchup from a season ago that Southern Connecticut State won, 89-73.
The two schools have met already earlier this season, splitting two contests to set up a rubber match in the NCAA Tournament. Southern Connecticut State blew out the Purple Knights in Bridgeport, 99-78, on November 16 but Bridgeport came back to beat the Owls on their home court by a score of 66-63 on December 17.
American International earns the top seed after winning the Northeast 10 Championship. The Yellow Jackets will play host to the East Regional at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium on their Springfield, Mass. campus. AIC will take on CACC Champion and No. 8 seed, Philadelphia University, in the first round.
In other tournament action, No. 2 seeded Southern New Hampshire will battled No. 7 Stonehill and No. 3 St. Anselm will take on No. 6 USciences to wrap up the eight team field.
In addition to their victory over Southern Connecticut State, Bridgeport also holds wins over top-seeded AIC and No. 6 seed, USciences already this season.
The tournament gets under way on Saturday, March 14 The semifinals take place the following day, Sunday, March 15, and after a day off, the championship game will be on Tuesday, March 17. All tip-off times will be released at a later date.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2015 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 14
No. 1 American International (23-6) vs. No. 8 Philadelphia U. (24-7)
No. 2 Southern New Hampshire (21-7) vs. No. 7 Stonehill (19-9)
No. 3 Saint Anselm (19-9) vs. No. 6 USciences (24-5)
No. 4 Bridgeport (24-6) vs. No. 5 Southern Connecticut State (22-7)
Semifinals – Sunday, March 15
No. 3-No. 6 winner vs. No. 2-No. 7 winner
No. 1-No. 8 winner vs. No. 4-No. 5 winner
Championship – Tuesday, March 17
