MARCH 24, 2005


DIVISION II QUICK HITTERS


I did not do very well picking the Elite Eight winners in the Division II National Tournament, but here are the games beginning Wednesday March. 23 in Grand Forks North Dakota:

Bryant (23-8) versus Mount Olive (29-4)
Cal Poly-Pomona (24-6) vs. Tarleton State (23-9)
Findlay (30-3) versus Lynn (28-5)
Metropolitan State (29-3) versus Virginia Union (27-4)

· Here is something interesting about each team:

Bryant ? 6-0 guard John Williams is the highest scoring player in the Elite 8

Mount Olive ? Reached the Elite 8 in its first NCAA Tourney appearance

Cal Poly-Pomona ? They rank fifth in the nation in scoring defense at 61.1 points

Tarleton State ? Lowest seeded team (7th) in their regional to make it to the Elite 8

Findlay ? The # 1 ranked team in the nation coming into the tournament.

Lynn ? Second year head coach Scott McMillin faces Findlay coach with a career record of 432-161

Metropolitan State ? Has gone 28-7 in the NCAA Tournament winning two National Titles since 1999-2000

Virginia Union ? Ranks second in highest scoring margin at 17.4 in Division II


DIVISION II QUICK HITTERS

· UW-Stevens Point became only the third school to win back-to-back National Championships in Division III history. They defeated Rochester 73-49 in the finals and York in the semifinals 81-58.

· Stevens Point?s average victory margin in the five NCAA Tournament games was 21 points including the widest margin ever in the Championship game. They won 26 of their 32 games this year by double digits.

· D3Hoops.com First Team All-Americans were:

Adam Dauksas ? Illinois Wesleyan
Nick Bennett ? UW-Stevens Point
Jason Kalsow ? UW-Stevens Point
Seth Hauben ? Rochester
Shacun Malave ? New York City Tech.
 

David Adelman spent 7 years as a Division 1 assistant and two years as a Division III assistant at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. After two years coaching minor league professional basketball, he is currently working as a consultant for the New Jersey Nets. EMAIL DAVID

 
 
 
 
 
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