Men's Basketball Selected for an At-Large Bid Into NCAA Tournament

Men's Basketball Selected for an At-Large Bid Into NCAA Tournament

The Emory University men's basketball team was selected for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the tenth consecutive season, the longest active streak in Division III, via an at-large bid as announced on Monday afternoon on NCAA.com. 

The Eagles, who closed the regular season with a 17-8 record and 8-6 record in UAA play, will travel to Hampden Sydney, Virginia for their first round matchup with No. 20 ranked and host school Hampden-Sydney. The Hampden-Sydney Tigers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament with a record of 21-6 after losing in the semi-finals of the ODAC Tournament last weekend. 

The other first round matchup taking place at host site Hampden Sydney is between No. 2 ranked Christopher Newport (24-3) and Farmingdale State (21-7) with the winner of the two matchups facing off in the second round on Saturday. 

More information regarding the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be made available on emoryathletics.com later this week.

The Eagles, coached by Jason Zimmerman in his 15th season at the helm of the program, were one of 20 teams to earn an at-large bid into the tournament. Emory went 8-6 in conference play this season to finish third in the conference, however, they closed out the regular season on a two-game winning streak including a win over tournament team Rochester. With their appearance into the tournament this season, the Eagles have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament on eleven occasions. 

The Tigers went 14-2 against the ODAC conference in the regular season before losing in the semi-finals of the ODAC Tournament to Guilford 70-69 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer. This marks Tigers Head Coach Caleb Kimbrough's first tournament appearance at the helm of the program. 

Friday's contest marks the fourth meeting between the Eagles and Tigers, the most recent coming in 2017, with Hampden-Sydney holding a slight 2-1 edge in their previous three matchups.