Belmont Abbey, UNC Pembroke Qualify for NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Tournament
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Less than 12 hours after the two programs played for the 2022 Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball Championship, Belmont Abbey and UNC Pembroke have qualified for the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Tournament which begins on Saturday, March 12.
UNC Pembroke is 26-3 this season and received the No. 4 seed in the Southeast Region where they will square off against fifth-seeded Flagler (23-7) on Friday. The winner will advance to the second round on Sunday, March 13. They will face the winner of eighth-seed Belmont Abbey and top-seed and Southeast Regional host Augusta (28-3). On the other half of the region, No. 2 Queens (28-3) faces No. 7 Columbus State (20-10) and No. 3 Lincoln Memorial (25-4) faces No. 6 Georgia College (21-7). The regional championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15.
The Braves are led by Conference Carolinas Player and Defensive Player of the Year Spencer Levi who averages 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Tyrell Kirk is second on the team with 15.3 points per contest while Jordan Ratliffe (14.8) and Deon Berrien (11.14) also average more than 10 points per contest. As a team, UNCP leads NCAA Division II in rebounds per game (44.59) and is sixth in the country in scoring offense at 89 points per game.
Belmont Abbey received the automatic bid to the tournament by way of their second-straight Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball tournament title and entered the field of 64 with a record of 23-9 on the season and a seven game win streak. This is the third straight national tournament appearance and sixth overall for BAC. The Crusaders are led by Conference Carolinas All-Tournament selections Sean Halloran, Quest Aldridge and Chandler Baker. Halloran and Alridge are tied for the team lead in scoring at 14.5 per game while Baker is right behind them with 13.4 per contest. The Abbey is ranked third in NCAA Division II in points per game at 90.5 and have scored 100-plus points 10 times this season.
The 64-team field includes 23 automatic qualifiers and 41 at-large selections. The eight regional tournaments will be held on campus sites March 12-15. The winners of the eight regional tournaments will advance to the Elite Eight to be held March 22-26 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
More information will be available in the near future. Fans can watch the full selection show video here. The interactive tournament bracket is available
here. Fans can read the UNC Pembroke release
here and the Belmont Abbey release
here.