The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's basketball team will be playing Bentley University in the Championship Game of the NCAA Tournament East Region on Tuesday at 7:00 pm at the Dana Center in Waltham Mass.
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Click Here for East Regional Tournament Central
By the time the teams in the East Region square off on Tuesday night in Waltham, only 14 teams in the nation will remain in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, with the Midwest and West finals taking place Monday night.
Midwest - #3 Hillsdale 73 vs. #5 Missouri-St. Louis 63
West - #3 Chico State 70 vs. #8 Alaska Fairbanks 52
East - #1 Bentley vs. #7 St. Thomas Aquinas (Tuesday 7:00 p.m.)
Atlantic - #1 Indiana (PA) vs. #3 Cal U (PA) (Tuesday 7:00 p.m.)
Central - #1 Augustana (SD) vs. #3 Northwest Missouri State (Tuesday 8:00 p.m.)
South - #1 Nova Southeastern vs. #3 Embry-Riddle (FL) (Tuesday 7:00 p.m.)
Southeast - #1 Augusta vs. #2 Queens (NC) (Tuesday 7:00 p.m.)
South Central - #3 Black Hills State vs. #4 Colorado Mesa (Tuesday 8:00 p.m.)
Note - The final teams in the Elite Eight will be re-seeded after the regionals.
How They Got Here - Facing a double-digit deficit for a second straight game, the #7 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College battled back to eliminate #6 University of New Haven, 71-61 in Sunday’s regional semi-final. Grant Singleton led the come from behind effort for the Spartans, posting 17 second half points and 20 overall to lead all scorers. Osbel Caraballo (17 points) and Demetre Roberts (14 points) were also major contributors to the maroon and gold offense.
#1 Bentley advanced via a 96-84 overtime triumph over #5 Pace University in the other semi-final matchup on Sunday. Zach Laput led all scorers with 26 points, while Colton Lawrence (18 points), Jordan Mello-Klein (16 points), Mason Webb (14 points) and Adria Amabilino Perez (11 points) were also key factors in the Falcons victory.
The Match-Up - The Spartans face the top seed and hosts from Bentley University, in the NCAA East Region Final, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
On the grandest stage of them all, this will be the first time that the two programs have ever met in men’s basketball.
For the St. Thomas Aquinas, the 2022 regional title game will be the program’s fourth appearance in the last seven seasons, with the Spartans holding a 1-2 record in the three previous contests.
Spartans in the Post-Season – The Spartans have advanced to the ECC Finals in eight of the past nine seasons under four-time ECC Coach-of-the-Year Tobin Anderson, with six Tournament Championships in the past seven seasons; the only ones in program history. In the Anderson era, STAC is now 24-8 in playoff competition (all in the past nine years under Anderson), with a 15-3 mark (including 12 wins in their last 13 postseason games) in ECC Tournament action, 9-4 in NCAA East Regional play, and 0-1 at the Elite Eight. Tonight’s game marks the tenth meeting between the Spartans and an NE10 opponent in the NCAA Division II East Regional. St. Thomas Aquinas holds a 7-2 record against the NE10, a 2-1 mark versus the CACC and is 0-1 against the ECC.
What's Next? - The winner of this evening's game will will be crowned as the East Region Champion, with St. Thomas Aquinas in search of is second such title (2017) and Bentley looking for its fourth (2010). The victor will advance to the NCAA Elite Eight, which will be held at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana from March 22-26.
2022 NCAA EAST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 12 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #6 New Haven 78 vs. #3 Saint Anselm 70 (BOX SCORE)
Game 2: #7 St. Thomas Aquinas 76 vs. #2 Franklin Pierce 69 (BOX SCORE)
Game 3: #8 Felician 63 vs. #1 Bentley 95 (BOX SCORE)
Game 4: #5 Pace 77 vs. #4 Dominican 64 (BOX SCORE)
Sunday, March 13 - Semifinals
Game 5: #6 New Haven 61 vs. #7 St. Thomas Aquinas 71 (BOX SCORE)
Game 6: #1 Bentley 96 vs. #5 Pace 84 F/OT (BOX SCORE)
Tuesday, March 15 - Championship
Game 7: #7 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. #1 Bentley - 7 p.m. (LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS)
2022 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION
No. 1 seed – Bentley University (24-4, 14-5 NE10)... NE10 Northeast Division Regular Season & Tournament Champions (automatic bid)
No. 2 seed – Franklin Pierce University (18-11, 12-7 NE10)… NE10 Tournament Runners-up (at large bid)
No. 3 seed – Saint Anselm College (17-11, 11-8 NE10)... (at large bid)
No. 4 seed – Dominican College (21-8, 12-5 CACC)… CACC Tournament Runners-Up (at large bid)
No. 5 seed – Pace University (20-10, 14-5 NE10)… NE10 Southwest Division Regular Season Champions (at large bid)
No. 6 seed – University of New Haven (18-9, 13-6 NE10)… (at large bid)
No. 7 seed – St. Thomas Aquinas College (28-4, 17-1 ECC)… ECC Regular Season & Tournament Champions (automatic bid)
No. 8 seed – Felician University (19-10, 11-6 CACC)… CACC Tournament Champions (automatic bid)
TICKETS
$8 Adults, $5 Students/Children/Seniors.
Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12136/dana-center
Per NCAA policy, no complimentary admissions will be issued.
COVID 19 POLICY
Please note that if you are planning to attend, masks are now optional, but recommended at the Dana Center.