Indianapolis, Ind. – The University of Bridgeport was among the 64 teams remaining with a chance to cut down the nets as National Champion when the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship tournament bracket was announced Sunday night. The Purple Knights head to the championship tournament for the 19th time in school history.
Bridgeport earned the East Coast Conference's automatic berth into the field by capturing their second ECC Championship in the past four years with a 61-53 victory over Dowling. This will be the seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the 13 year tenure of Head Coach, Mike Ruane.
The Purple Knights received the No. 7 seed in the East Regional and will take on No. 2 seed St. Anselm, the tournament host. The Hawks are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation in the latest NABC Top 25 Poll and were the regular season champions of the Northeast 10. This will be the first meeting between the schools since the 2009-10 season, a contest the Hawks won 75-71.
In other tournament action, Franklin Pierce earns the top seed in the region for the second straight season and will take on Bloomfield, champions of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. No. 3 Assumption will take on Northeast 10 champs, No. 6 Southern New Hampshire, and No. 4 New Haven will battle No. 5 Dominican to wrap up the eight team field.
Despite St. Anslem serving as the tournament host, all tournament games will take place at nearby Southern New Hampshire University.
The tournament gets under way on Saturday, March 16. The semifinals take place the following day, Sunday, March 17, and after a day off, the championship game will be on Tuesday, March 19. All tip-off times will be released at a later date.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2013 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 16
No. 1 Franklin Pierce (21-8) vs. No. 8 Bloomfield (17-12)
No. 2 St. Anselm (23-5) vs. No. 7 Bridgeport (21-9)
No. 3 Assumption (20-7) vs. No. 6 Southern New Hampshire (19-10)
No. 4 New Haven (27-2) vs. No. 5 Dominican (22-6)
Semifinals – Sunday, March 17
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 19
