Men's Hoops to Play Geneva at Randolph-Macon in NCAA Tournament First Round

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The nationally-ranked No. 24 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team, which captured the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship this past Saturday night, is headed to the Ashland Regional and drew the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes for the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, it was announced Monday afternoon. The Blue Jays looked on in anticipation during the squad's viewing party, as each of the 64 teams in the bracket were revealed via a live selection show on www.NCAA.com. 

OFFICIAL NCAA RELEASE | NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

2022 National Champion and current nationally-ranked No. 4 Randolph-Macon College (R-MC) was selected to serve as the host institution for the first two rounds of the Ashland Regional, March 1-2, with games to be played inside R-MC's Crenshaw Gym in Ashland, Va. The Blue Jays will play the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes in the opening game of the Ashland Regional on Friday, March 1 at 5:00 p.m. Joining USJ, Geneva and R-MC in the 'pod' is Baruch College, who will face R-MC at approximately 7:30 p.m., following the conclusion of the USJ-Geneva game. The single-elimination tournament continues on Saturday March 2, with the two winners going head-to-head at 7:30 p.m. for the right to advance to the Sweet Sixteen/Sectional Round the following weekend. Tickets are $15 for general admission (13 & older), $10 for seniors (65 and older) as well as children ages 2-12 and students of participating colleges. Children under two years old are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased in advance online by clicking here.

THE COMPETITION

#24 Saint Joseph

USJ is one of 42 teams to gain entry into this year's bracket as the beneficiary of its league's automatic qualifier. The Blue Jays went undefeated in GNAC regular-season play with a 14-0 conference record (24-4 overall) to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference championship tournament. They defeated No. 8 seed Rivier, No. 5 seed Norwich, and No. 3 seed Saint Joseph's (Maine) en route to their third title in program history since 2018-19. Saint Joseph is now nationally-ranked, sliding into the D3hoops.com Top-25 in the No. 24 spot, in the most recent poll.

Roster | Schedule | Stats

Geneva

Geneva also earned its championship berth as an automatic qualifier as it captured the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) title. The Golden Tornadoes went 18-2 in PAC play (24-3 overall) to earn the No. 1 seed in the PAC Tournament, defeating No. 2 seed Saint Vincent in the league final.

Roster | Schedule | Stats

#4 Randolph-Macon

Randolph-Macon, which is currently ranked No. 4 in the D3hoops.com Top-25, is one of 16 hosts for the first and second rounds of the tournament. The Yellow Jackets' fate was left up to the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Committee as they fell in the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championship Tournament. They were the No. 1 seed after going 15-1 in ODAC play (23-4 overall), but had their championship hopes halted by Washington and Lee. However, their season was extended as they earned one of the 22 at-large bids into this year's bracket.

Roster | Schedule | Stats

Baruch

Baruch was also an automatic qualifier out of the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC). The Bearcats enter the national tournament with a 19-8 overall (13-1 CUNYAC) record, earning the league AQ with a 73-71 win over Lehman on Friday (Feb. 23).

Roster | Schedule | Stats

THE TOURNAMENT

The championship provides for a 64-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 42 conference champions, which form "Pool A." The remaining 22 teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ and the remaining Pool B institutions (Pool C). The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.

Interactive Bracket | Regional Rankings | NCAA Stats

Sixteen sites will host four teams for first- and second-round competition Friday-Saturday, March 1-2. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 8-9. Winners of the four sectional championship games will advance to the semifinals and finals March 14 and 16. All games, except the semifinals and finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The semifinals and finals will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

For more information about the men's basketball championship, log on to www.ncaa.com.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays will compete in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament against Geneva College on Friday, March 1 at 5:00 p.m., inside Crenshaw Gym, on the campus of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. Tickets are $15 for general admission (13 & older), $10 for seniors (65 and older) as well as children ages 2-12 and students of participating colleges. Children under two years old are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased in advance online by clicking here.

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