Friday, March 13, 2009

Sweet 16 Parties in Amherst, Lancaster

Officially, they're called Sectional semifinals. Unofficially, we know them as the "Sweet 16" games. The Muhlenberg women and the Franklin & Marshall men are still alive in the 2009 NCAA Division III basketball championship tournaments and take on a pair of Bay State opponents in Brandeis and Salem State tonight. Get halftime updates and final scores sent right to your cell with Twitter.


The Mules (26-3) continue to make school history, advancing to their first-ever sectional semifinal. 'Berg is riding a 12-game win streak and hopes to add another milestone to its list of accomplishments, including:

* A victory gives Muhlenberg a school and Centennial record 27 wins.
* Joining the 1997 and 1998 Johns Hopkins squads as Conference teams reaching the national quarterfinals.

Brandeis (19-7) is also in the Sweet 16 for the first time. The Judges climbed as high as No. 5 in the D3hoops.com rankings before splitting its 14 UAA games. Brandeis is 8-5 against the NCAA tournament field this season and is led by first-team All-UAA guard Jessica Chapin who leads the team in scoring (14.2), rebounding (6.7), assists (3.3) and steals (3.0).

The game tips-off at 5 p.m. You can watch the game live, listen to the broadcast, and follow the numbers with live stats.


The Diplomats are making their 12th appearance in the Sweet 16 and first since 2004. F&M is 7-3 in the round of 16, including wins in its last three trips over Rensselaer (1996), Catholic (2000) and Gwynedd-Mercy (2004). A victory:

* puts the Diplomats in the national quarterfinals for the eighth time and the opportunity to make their fifth trip to the "Final Four" (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).
* gives the Diplomats 25 wins for the first time since 2003 and seventh time since the Conference was formed in 1994.

Salem State (23-6) is led by two-time Massachusetts State Conference Player of the Year Dylan Holmes who stands 6-7 and averages 18.5 ppg. Three other starters average in double figures - Nick Linear (13.1), Ricky Ogboin (10.7) and Steve Celestin (10.2).

The game is scheduled to tap at 8 p.m. You can watch the game live and follow the numbers with live stats.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

F&M did not beat Catholic in the Sweet 16 round in 2000. They defeated Catholic in the Elite 8 game. They defeated Rowan in the Sweet 16 round