Men's Basketball Earns 14th NCAA Tournament Bid - Updated with Schedule, 3/8

Skyhawks seeded fourth in East Region, face rematch with No. 5-seed Bentley

Holy Family University Host Website

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee Field of 64 Announcement

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament Interactive Bracket

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show

EASTON, Mass. (March 6, 2016) – The Stonehill College men's basketball program is back in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight year after being named the No. 4 seed at the East Regional, which will be hosted by Holy Family University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 12-15.

Stonehill (21-8, 15-6 NE-10) earns its 14th NCAA Tournament bid in program history and second straight under third year head coach Chris Kraus '06. The Skyhawks received an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the East Regional and will face fifth-seeded and NE-10 Northeast Division Champions Bentley University (21-8, 16-5 NE-10) in a rematch of last week's NE-10 semifinal between the two rivals in a regional quarterfinal at Campus Center Gymnasium on the Holy Family Campus on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of Saturday's quarterfinal will face the winner of an opening round matchup between top-seeded and host Holy Family (26-5, 17-2 CACC), the regular season champions in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's South Division and CACC tournament champs, and Northeast-10 Tournament champions Southern New Hampshire University (22-10, 14-7 NE-10), the defending regional champions, on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. The regional championship is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m.

The remaining East Region NCAA bids went to No. 2 Saint Anselm College (21-7, 15-6 NE-10), who earned an at large bid from the Northeast-10, No. 3 Southern Connecticut State University (22-7, 17-3 NE-10), the NE-10 Southwest Division regular season champions who earned an at large bid, No. 6 Saint Thomas Aquinas College (26-4, 18-2 ECC), the East Coast Conference regular season and tournament champions, and No. 7 Philadelphia University (23-8, 14-5 CACC), who received an at large bid from the CACC.

Stonehill is one of five Northeast-10 Conference members to receive NCAA Tournament bids, including four from the NE-10's Northeast Division. The Skyhawks posted a combined 4-5 record against teams competing at the East Regional this weekend. Stonehill earned wins over Bentley (2-1), St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) and Southern New Hampshire (1-1), while going winless against Saint Anselm (0-2) and Southern Connecticut State (0-1).

The winner of the men's East Region will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, which will be held March 23-16 at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.

COMPETING TEAMS IN 2016 NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGIONAL
1-Seed ... Holy Family University (26-5, 17-2 CACC) … CACC regular season & tournament champion (automatic bid)
2-Seed ... Saint Anselm College (21-7, 15-6 NE-10) … NE-10 (at-large bid)
3-Seed ... Southern Connecticut State Univ. (22-7, 17-3 NE-10) … NE-10 regular season champion (at-large bid)
4-Seed … Stonehill College (21-8, 15-6 NE-10) … NE-10 (at-large bid)
5-Seed ... Bentley University (21-8, 16-5 NE-10) … NE-10 regular season champion (at-large bid)
6-Seed … Saint Thomas Aquinas College (26-4, 18-2 ECC) … ECC regular season & tournament champion (automatic bid)
7-Seed … Philadelphia University (23-8, 14-5 CACC) … CACC (at-large bid)
8-Seed … Southern N.H. University (22-10, 14-7 NE-10) … NE-10 tournament champion (automatic bid)

2016 NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGIONAL SCHEDULE
(Hosted by Holy Family University; Philadelphia, Pa.)
Saturday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)
#3 Southern Conn. State (22-7) vs. #6 St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4), Noon
#2 Saint Anselm (21-7) vs. #7 Philadelphia (23-8), 2:30 p.m.
#1 Holy Family (26-5) vs. #8 Southern N.H. (22-10), 5 p.m.
#4 Bentley (21-8) vs. #5 Stonehill (21-8), 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 13 (Semifinals)
SCSU/STAC winner vs. STA/PHI winner, 5 p.m.
HFU/SNH winner vs. STO/BEN winner, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 15 (Championship)

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

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