UPDATED NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET
HOPE'S TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder men’s basketball team will resume its NCAA Division III Tournament run on Friday March 14, in a Tournament Sectional game against Whitworth College (21-6). This weekend’s Sectional will be hosted by Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
Friday’s Sectional will open with Wheaton taking on Whitworth at 6 PM (EST) in Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse. Friday’s second Sectional Semifinal will feature Hope College (25-3) hosting Ohio Wesleyan University (22-7) at 8 PM (EST). Ticket information for the Sectional will be announced on Monday. The victors of Friday’s games will face each other at 7 PM (EST) in the Sectional Championship, for the right to play in the NCAA Division III Final Four on March 21-22 in Salem, Virginia.
Tickets for each day are $10 for reserved seats; while general admission seats are available at $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. Wheaton fans interested in buying advance tickets in the school's ticket allotment should call the Wheaton Athletic Department at 630-752-5079 between 9 AM (CST) on Tuesday March 11 and 10 AM (CST) on Thursday March 13. When fans call they should either leave a detailed message or tell the person answering the phone how many tickets they would like and what section they would like the tickets in. Fans who have pre-ordered these tickets will be able to pick them up at the DeVos Center for Friday's game. After 10 AM (CST) on Thursday, the Wheaton allotment will no longer exist and fans will have to call the Hope ticket office directly at 616-395-7136.
For more ticket information as well as
hotel and
restaurant options in the Holland area, fans are encouraged to visit Hope's Tournament website at this
LINK.
Friday night’s game will be the fourth all-time meeting between Wheaton and Whitworth. The Pirates hold a 2-1 edge in the all-time series. The last meeting between these two teams was in 2006-07 when Whitworth held off a late Wheaton rally to earn a 70-67 win in the Championship Game of Wheaton’s Lee Pfund Classic. The Pirates earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament by winning the Northwest Conference Tournament and the league’s automatic bid.
This weekend’s “Sweet 16” appearance is Wheaton’s first since the Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament came into existence in 1974-75. This is also the deepest Wheaton has advanced into a National Tournament since 1959-60, as a quarterfinalist, when the school competed in the NCAA Small College Division (now known as Division II).
Wheaton secured its “Sweet 16” appearance with a pair of come-from-behind victories in First and Second Round games on Friday and Saturday at UW-Whitewater. On Friday Wheaton defeated Lawrence University (22-3) in the First Round, 93-83 in overtime. The Vikings led 49-41 with 13:40 left in the second half, when a 10-2 Thunder run tied the game at 51-51 with 9:52 left in regulation. The closing minutes of the second half were back-and-forth. Wheaton All-American Kent Raymond sent the game into overtime when his 17-foot jumper tied the score at 71-71 with 3.7-seconds remaining in regulation.
Wheaton was a 76-73 winner against Loras on Saturday in the Second Round. Wheaton overcame a nine-point Loras lead at 66-57 with 6:00 left in regulation. Wheaton All-American Kent Raymond made a basket with 5:45 left in the game to ignite a 16-0 scoring run for the Thunder that gave Wheaton a 73-66 lead with 1:50 left in regulation. Wheaton withstood a late Loras rally to continue its tournament run.