INDIANAPOLIS (Mar. 4) – Nationally 15th-ranked Alaska Anchorage will be the No. 2 seed and face No. 7 seed Montana State Billings when the Seawolves open play Friday, Mar. 9, at the NCAA Division II West Regional Men’s Basketball Championships in Bellingham, Wash.
The Seawolves (22-6), who received an at-large bid, will be making their fifth NCAA appearance in the last seven seasons and the 16th in program history. UAA’s first-round game is also a matchup of Saturday’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title game, which Billings won 74-70 to earn the league’s automatic bid. UAA beat the Yellowjackets (18-11) twice during the regular season.
The UAA-MSUB winner will play the winner of 3rd-seeded Seattle Pacific (21-7) vs. 6th-seeded Dixie State (20-6) on Saturday.
The other half of the bracket sets up with No. 1 seed and host Western Washington (25-5) taking on 8th-seeded Grand Canyon (19-7), while 4th-seeded Humboldt State (22-7) and 5th-seeded Chico State (24-7) will play in a matchup of the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular- and post-season champions.
The Seawolves’ No. 2 seed is the program’s highest since earning the No. 1 seed in 2007-08, when they won the region and advanced to the national semifinals for the second time in program history. UAA was also the NCAA Div. II runner-up in 1988.
The regional semifinals are set for Saturday, Mar. 10, with the title game to be played Monday, Mar. 12, at WWU’s Carver Gymnasium. Along with the other seven regional champions, the West Region winner will move on to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Highland Heights, Ky., Mar. 21, 22 and 24, to battle for the national title.
The full 2012 national bracket is available at www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/basketball-men/d2.
2012 NCAA Division II West Regional
Men’s Basketball Championships
Mar. 9, 10 & 12 – Carver Gymnasium – Bellingham, Wash.
All times Alaska Standard/Daylight
(Times TBA)
First Round – Friday, Mar. 9
#3 Seattle Pacific (21-7) vs. #6 Dixie State (20-6)
#2 Alaska Anchorage (22-6) vs. #7 Montana State Billings (18-11)
#4 Humboldt State (24-7) vs. #5 Chico State (22-7)
#1 Western Washington (25-5) vs. #8 Grand Canyon (19-7)
Semifinals – Saturday, Mar. 10
SPU/Dixie winner vs. UAA/MSUB winner
HSU/Chico winner vs WWU/GCU winner
Finals – Monday, Mar. 12
Semifinal winners
--GoSeawolves.com--
Nate Sagan
Sports Information Director
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr. / Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1295 / Fax: (907) 563-4565
GoSeawolves.com
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