Indianapolis – The NCAA announced late Sunday evening that three East Coast Conference men's basketball teams will compete in the upcoming Division II Championship.
After a streak of 15 years without as many as three ECC teams making the tournament was snapped last year, Bridgeport, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Daemen give the conference three teams in the bracket for a second straight season.
Despite falling in the final of the ECC Championship, Bridgeport earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region after a 24-4 record and an ECC Regular Season Championship. This is the 23rd tournament appearance for Bridgeport and the 11th since joining the ECC, tying Adelphi for the conference record.
By earning the top seed, Bridgeport will have home-court advantage as the host of the East Regional in Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium. The Purple Knights become the first team from the ECC to host the regional since C.W. Post pulled the trick in 2009 after an undefeated regular season.
Bridgeport's opening round opponent will be a familiar one. Daemen is back in the tournament for the second year in a row as the No. 8 seed. The Wildcats earned the region's final at-large berth after compiling a 24-8 record on the year.
Bridgeport swept the season series against Daemen although both games were decided by single digits.
St. Thomas Aquinas moved their streak of consecutive NCAA Championship appearances to five after winning the ECC Championship earlier this afternoon.
As the No. 2 seed, the Spartans are on the opposite side of the bracket from Bridgeport and Daemen. STAC's first round opponent will be the champion of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), No. 7 Dominican. This will be the fourth time since the start of the 2018-19 season that the two schools located less than a mile apart have met on the court. The Spartans won both meetings last year, including an NCAA Tournament matchup, but the Chargers came out on top by a 87-73 margin in this season's previous meeting.
The other matchups in the East Region bracket will feature NE10 Champion, No. 4 Saint Anselm, taking on No. 5 Le Moyne and No. 3 Jefferson facing No. 6 Stonehill.
The ECC teams in the bracket fared well against their fellow regional opponents this season. A big reason Bridgeport earned the right to host is a 7-2 record against fellow teams in the bracket. The Purple Knights have two wins against both St. Thomas Aquinas and Daemen and also picked up victories over Saint Anslem, Stonehill, and Dominican. Their losses came to Jefferson and St. Thomas Aquinas.
St. Thomas Aquinas also holds wins against half the field (Stonehill, Jefferson, Bridgeport, Daemen), while Daemen has victories over STAC and Le Moyne.
The tournament gets underway 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.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2020 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 14
No. 1 Bridgeport (24-4) vs. No. 8 Daemen (24-8)
No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-5) vs No. 7 Dominican (25-6)
No. 3 Jefferson (25-6) vs. No. 6 Stonehill (18-11)
No. 4 Saint Anselm (21-8) vs. No. 5 Le Moyne (19-9)
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
