The draw is in, and the Belhaven men’s basketball team now knows who it will play in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
During Monday afternoon’s selection show, the Blazers were expectedly selected as part of the field after winning an automatic bid through its Collegiate Conference of the South championship run. The team will open March Madness against St. Thomas (TX) on Friday, March 6. St. Thomas is the No. 3 team in the nation, according to D3hoops.com.
The matchup will be historic on multiple fronts. Not only will it be the first time the two programs have ever met but it will also be the first time Belhaven (16-12) has ever played in the NCAA Tournament.
With St. Thomas (26-1) being a top 16 team, it earned the right to host. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. CT inside the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center in Houston.
What to know
— Both teams are conference champions. Belhaven captured its first Collegiate Conference of the South Championship with a 92-73 win over LaGrange. St. Thomas beat Concordia (TX), 92-74, to secure the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title.
— St. Thomas has one loss on the season. It fell to then-No. 5 WashU, 54-53, on Nov. 15. WashU is also competing in the NCAA Tournament.
— Both Belhaven and St. Thomas are statistically impressive squads on the offensive side. The Blazers bring the nation’s No. 15 scoring offense into the tournament with an average of 89.1 points scored per game. St. Thomas is top 40 in categories such as field goal percentage and scoring margin.
— Defense isn’t much different. Belhaven forces an average of 19 turnovers per game, which ranks 10th nationally. The Blazers are No. 18 in the country at 11 steals per contest. St. Thomas allows 61.5 points per game, the eighth fewest in the country.
— Belhaven has four players averaging in double-digit scoring: CJ Milton (16.3 points per game), Dan Robinson (14.4), Benjamin Stewart (10.1), and Braylon Dame (10.1). St. Thomas has three players averaging in double-digit scoring: Corey Thompson (15.5 point per game), Garrett Rodgers (15.0), and Reyce Allen (10.3).
Another Mississippi team competing
Belhaven is not the only team from Mississippi set to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Mississippi University for Women, which introduced men’s sports in 2017, cracked the bracket, as well.
MUW (17-10) defeated Webster University, 77-76, in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game to earn an automatic bid. The Owls, in their first-ever tournament, will play Emory on Friday, March 6, at 6:15 p.m. CT.
Looking at the NCAA Division Tournament as a whole, 16 sites are hosting four teams each for first- and second-round games March 6-7. Second-round winners will advance to one of eight third-round sites March 13-14. The tournament then shifts to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., for the quarterfinals on March 19, and semifinals on March 21. The championship will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 5. The full bracket with game times and host sies can be found here.
