For the first time in tournament history, the NCAA Division II and Division III championship games will take place in the same city hosting the Division I championship.
The final two teams in each division will compete for the championship title on Sunday, April 7 at Philips Arena. Amherst College (Mass.) will be taking on Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) at 12:30 p.m. (ET) in Division III action, followed by Drury University (Missouri) facing Metro State Univ. (Colo.) for the Division II title at 4 p.m. (ET). The games are free and open to the public.
The second-ranked Amherst Lord Jeffs will take aim at the program’s second Division III national title, coming off a 52-44 Final Four win over No. 3 North Central. Amherst (29-2) will make its third appearance in the national championship game after gaining back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008.
Mary Hardin-Baylor earned the right to face Amherst after the Crusaders (27-5), down by as many as 14 points, stormed back to stun St. Thomas, 74-67, to earn the program’s first berth in the national championship game.
Seeded No. 3, Metro State stunned No. 1 West Liberty (W.Va.) 83-76 on Saturday in Louisville, Ky., to advance to the Division II championship game. The Roadrunners improved to 32-2 overall and it is the second year in a row MSU has eliminated the No. 1-ranked team at the NCAA tournament. Metro State is making its 17th post-season tourney appearance, winning championships titles in 2000 and 2002.
The Drury University Panthers (30-4) downed No. 3 Western Washington, 107-97, over the weekend to advance to the title game. Drury is in the NCAA-II post-season for the eighth time, and sixth time in nine years under coach Steve Hesser.
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