Panther men will travel to No. 20 UT-Dallas for first round
ORANGE, Calif. – The 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament bracket was announced Monday morning and the Chapman University men's basketball team is heading to Texas this weekend. The Panthers will face off in a first-round regional matchup against No. 20 University of Texas at Dallas on Friday night.
UT-Dallas is the host school for the first and second rounds, which also includes SCAC champion Trinity University (Texas) and Northwest Conference champs No. 15 Whitworth University (Wash.).
This is the Panthers' third NCAA Division III Tournament berth in the last five years. Chapman is 2-2 in its past two NCAA appearances (2010-11), having been knocked out in the second round both times by Whitworth.
Chapman (18-9) put together a seven-game win streak to end the season, winning the SCIAC Postseason Tournament on Saturday night with a 79-51 win over Cal Lutheran. The Panthers are led offensively by junior guards Colin Zavrsnick (18.4 ppg) and Taylor Hamasaki (18.2 ppg). Senior F Nick Dragovich (10.5 ppg, 7 rpg) and junior C John Joyce (9.3 ppg, 5 rpg) patrol the paint, while junior Garrett James (7.3 ppg, 3.7 apg) runs the offense from the point.
UT Dallas (25-3) enters the playoffs after sweeping the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. The Comets are led by senior F 2013 All-American Kyle Schleigh. Schleigh, the school's all-time leading scorer, averaged 17.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Junior guards Matthew Medell (15.5 ppg) and Nolan Harvey (13.5 ppg) and senior F Dmitriy Chernikov (11 ppg) also average double-digit scoring performances.
Chapman and UT-Dallas will tipoff on Friday the Activity Center Gym at 7:30 p.m. (CST). The winner will take on the winner of Trinity-Whitworth on Saturday for a chance to advance to the 'Sweet 16'.
This is Chapman's 12th NCAA tournament appearance in school history. The Panthers had an impressive run of six postseason berths in seven years from 1956-63 under head coach Don Perkins. In the midst of that run, Chapman reached the 'Elite 8' in 1958 and lost in the College Division national championship game in 1960.
UT-Dallas will offer live stats (http://www.sidearmstats.com/utd/mbball/) and video (http://cometsports.utdallas.edu/showcase) of all of this weekend's games.
Complete interactive tournament bracket: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/basketball-men/d3
by Mitchell Eby
Sports Information Intern
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