Stonehill Earns No. 7 Seed in NCAA East Regional

Skyhawks will face 2nd-seeded Southern New Hampshire when regional opens Saturday in Springfield, hosted by top-seeded American International

EASTON, Mass. (March 9, 2015) – Stonehill College has ridden the March Madness bubble to a No. 7 seed for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional, to be hosted by top-seeded American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, March 14-17.

Stonehill (19-9, 14-7 NE-10) earns its 13th NCAA Tournament bid in program history - its first since advancing to the National Semifinals at the 2012 Elite Eight after winning its second East Regional Championship. It also marks the first NCAA Tournament bid under second-year head coach Chris Kraus '06 who was a senior student-athlete for the Skyhawks 2006 National Semifinalist squad and assistant coach in 2012. Stonehill earned an at large bid to the Tournament this season and will face fellow Northeast-10 Conference member Southern New Hampshire University (21-7, 17-4 NE-10), the Northeast Division Champions, who is seeded second on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The winner of Saturday's quarterfinal will face the winner of an opening round matchup between third-seeded Saint Anselm College (19-9, 14-7 NE-10), an at-large bid from the NE-10, and sixth-seeded University of Sciences in Philadelphia (24-5, 17-2 CACC), regular season champions from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, on Sunday at 5 p.m., with the regional championship scheduled for Tuesday at Butova Gymnasium on the American International campus at 7 p.m.

The remaining first round matchups on Saturday include: top-seeded and NE-10 Champions American International (23-6, 15-5 NE-10) against eighth-seeded Philadelphia University (24-7, 15-4 CACC), the CACC Tournament champions, and fourth-seeded University of Bridgeport (24-6, 17-3 ECC), the East Coast Conference regular season and tournament champions, against the defending regional champions, Southern Connecticut State University (22-7, 16-4 NE-10), the NE-10 Southwest Division Champions. The full East Regional schedule is expected to be released on Tuesday.

The winner of the men's East Region will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, which will be held March 25-28 at The Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The East regional winner will face the South Region champion on Wednesday, March 25.

COMPETING TEAMS IN 2015 NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGIONAL
No. 1 seed - American International College (23-6, 15-5 NE-10)… Northeast-10 Champions (automatic bid)
No. 2 seed - Southern New Hampshire University (21-7, 17-4 NE-10)… NE-10 Northeast Division Champions (at large bid)
No. 3 seed - Saint Anselm College (19-9, 14-7 NE-10)… NE-10 (at large bid)
No. 4 seed – University of Bridgeport (24-6, 17-3 ECC)… East Coast Conference Champions (automatic bid)
No. 5 seed - Southern Connecticut State University (22-7, 16-4 NE-10)… NE-10 Southwest Division Champions (at large bid)
No. 6 seed – University of Sciences (24-5, 17-2 CACC)… Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division Champions (at large bid)
No. 7 seed – Stonehill College (19-9, 14-7 NE-10)… NE-10 (at large bid)
No. 8 seed – Philadelphia University (24-7, 15-4 CACC)… CACC Tournament Champions (automatic bid)

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