PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Division III NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments get underway on Friday, and there is a local squad in each field.
On the men’s side, 19-9 Neumann University out of Aston earned an automatic bid for a second straight year, after winning the Atlantic East Conference tournament title.
The Knights will travel to Beverly, Massachusetts, in the first round and take on 26-1 Endicott College on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“This is why we do what we do,” said Neumann head coach Jim Rullo. “We’re excited with the way we’ve been able to play the last couple of weeks of our regular season into the conference [tournament], and then to be able to participate now [in the NCAA tournament] for our fifth time is pretty exciting for sure.”
🎧 MORE FROM NEUMANN HEAD COACH JIM RULLO
In the women’s tournament, Immaculata University in Malvern won the Atlantic East for a second straight season, earning an automatic bid. The 24-3 Mighty Macs will bring a 16-game winning streak into their first round match-up with 25-2 SUNY New Paltz in University Heights, Ohio.
“We’re super excited,” said head coach Brittany Whalen. “To be able to be in this position a year later and with a different group of girls on our team — we brought a lot of new faces into the program. We have seven freshmen after losing six of our core players and much of our lineup from last year. It’s just been so much fun throughout, and just to see the success that this program has had over the past two years … we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
🎧 MORE FROM IMMACULATA HEAD COACH WHALEN
The Immaculata game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.