Indianapolis – After winning a second straight East Coast Conference title earlier in the day, St. Thomas Aquinas learned their opponent in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship when the brackets were revealed Sunday evening. The Spartans, seeded No. 5 in the East Region bracket, will take on No. 4 Saint Anselm in the First Round.
St. Thomas Aquinas earned the conference's automatic berth after a 97-86 overtime victory over Molloy on Sunday afternoon. The win moved the Spartans' record to 25-5 on the season and clinched a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
St. Thomas Aquinas will take on Saint Anselm, champions of the NE10, in the First Round. The game is a rematch of an NCAA Second Round game a year ago in which Saint Anselm ended the Spartans' season by a narrow margin of 77-73.
Le Moyne earns the top seed and regional hosting duties. The Dolphins will host the regional at Ted Grant Court on their campus in Syracuse, N.Y. Le Moyne, who was the Regular Season Champion of the NE10's Southwest Division will take on No. 8 seed, Merrimack.
The other two matchups in the East Region bracket will feature No. 2 Southern New Hampshire taking on No. 7 Southern Connecticut State in a battle of NE10 members and No. 3 Saint Rose of the NE10 battling Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Champion and No. 6 seed, Bloomfield.
St. Thomas Aquinas holds a 1-1 record against teams in the East Region bracket this season. They fell by a margin of 83-72 to Bloomfield on New Year's Eve and also defeated Southern New Hampshire by a tally of 104-90 on January 9.
The tournament gets under way on Saturday, March 11. The semifinals take place the following day, Sunday, March 12, and after a day off, the championship game will be on Tuesday, March 14. All tip-off times will be released at a later date.
To view the full 64 team bracket, click here.
2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 11
No. 1 Le Moyne (22-6) vs. No. 8 Merrimack (18-11)
No. 2 Southern New Hampshire (21-8) vs. No. 7 Southern Connecticut St. (17-12)
No. 3 Saint Rose (24-7) vs. No. 6 Bloomfield (22-9)
No. 4 Saint Anselm (20-8) vs. No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-5)
Semifinals – Sunday, March 12
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 14
