UAA men make NCAAs, face Humboldt in 1st Rd

INDIANAPOLIS (Mar. 6) – The Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team learned it will be returning to the ‘Big Dance’ for the first time since 2008 as the pairings for the 2011 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championships were announced Sunday evening.

The Seawolves (23-9) will be the No. 6 seed and play No. 3 seed Humboldt State (26-3) in the opening game of the West Regional Championships at 11 a.m. AST on Friday, Mar. 11, in Ellensburg, Wash.

UAA was the regular-season and postseason tournament runner-up in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while Humboldt was the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season champion and postseason tourney runner-up. Both teams qualified via at-large berths.

The UAA-HSU winner will play the survivor of No. 2 seed Cal State-Dominguez Hills and No. 7 Brigham Young-Hawaii in Saturday’s regional semifinals. The other half of the quarterfinal bracket features No. 4 seed Dixie State against No. 5 Chaminade, and No. 8 Seattle Pacific against host and top-seeded Central Washington.

The regional title game will be Monday, Mar. 14, at Central’s Nicholson Pavilion. Along with the other seven regional champions, the West Region winner will move on to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., Mar. 23, 24 and 26, to battle for the national title.

 

The Seawolves will be making their fourth NCAA appearance in the last six seasons and the 15th in program history. UAA advanced to the national semifinals in its last appearance in 2008 and was the national runner-up in 1988.

2011 NCAA Division II West Regional

Men’s Basketball Championships

Mar. 11, 12 & 14 – Ellensburg, Wash. (Nicholson Pavilion)

All times Alaska Standard/Daylight

 

First Round – Friday, Mar. 11

#3 Alaska Anchorage (23-9) vs. #6 Humboldt State (26-3), 11 am

#2 Cal State-Dominguez Hills (23-6) vs. #7 BYU-Hawaii (17-8), 1:30 pm

#4 Dixie State (20-6) vs. #5 Chaminade (20-8), 4:30 pm

#1 Central Washington (26-3) vs. #8 Seattle Pacific (20-8), 7 pm

 

Semifinals – Saturday, Mar. 12

UAA/HSU winner vs. CSUDH/BYUH winner, 4 pm

Dixie/Chaminade winner vs CWU/SPU winner, 7:30 pm

 

Finals – Monday, Mar. 14

Semifinal winners, 6 pm

 

--COMPLETE NCAA NATIONAL BRACKET ATTACHED--

 

Nate Sagan
Sports Information Director

University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr. / Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1295 / Fax: (907) 563-4565
GoSeawolves.com