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Men's Basketball To Face Scranton In First Round Of NCAA Division III Championship
Posted: Mar 06, 2008

Men's Basketball To Face Scranton In First Round Of NCAA Division III Championship

MEN'S BASKETBALL TO FACE SCRANTON
IN NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND

The Matchup: Scranton (19-8) vs. Elms College (22-6)
Date: Friday, March 7
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Site: Hen Bream Gymnasium on the campus of Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA)
Click here for directions to Gettysburg College 
Admission: Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. Children under 2 are admitted free.
Click here for complete 2008 NCAA Division III Championship bracket

Click here for complete media game notes

Click here to listen live beginning at 5:45 p.m.

All-Time Series: Friday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Elms College and the University of Scranton. The winner of this game advances to Saturday's second round to face the Gettysburg/Salem State winner.

Elms College In The NCAAs: The Blazers return to the NCAA Division III Championship for the fourth consecutive season. Elms College enter this year's tournament as one of just six schools in the 59-team field that have qualified for each of the last four NCAA Division III Championships. Maryville (10), 2007 national champion Amherst (9), Wooster (6), 2006 national champion Virginia-Wesleyan (4) and WPI (4) are the other five. The Blazers are winless in their three previous tournament appearances and includes losses at Salem State (74-71 in 2005), Norwich University (82-70 in 2006) and St. Lawrence (85-79 in 2007).

Setting The Scene: Elms College punched its ticket into the field of 59 for the fourth consecutive year following a 72-65 win over Lesley University in last Saturday's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Tournament championship game. That victory also marked the fourth straight NAC Tournament title for the Blazers - most of any team in conference-history. In that win, junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) netted a game-high 17 points was named Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the Blazers, who used an 8-0 run to overcome a two-point deficit in the game's final 3:30. Senior guard Randy Hite (Hartford, CT), who was also named to the NAC All-Tournament team, matched his season-high with 14 points that included 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range. The Blazers come into the NCAA Division III Championship riding a program-record 13-game win streak. A first round win over Scranton would break Elms College's previous program-record for wins in a season (22 set in 2005-06).   

Scouting The Opposition: Friday's game will mark the Blazers' first-ever meeting with Scranton (19-8), which won the Landmark Conference's inaugural tournament title with a 64-57 win over Juniata last Saturday. The Royals, who earned one of four Pool B bids nationally, are no strangers to the NCAA Division III Championship, as Friday will mark the program's 21st appearance in the tournament. Scranton is a two-time NCAA Division III national champion (1976, 1983) and will make its fourth appearance in the tournament this decade (2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008), including a trip to the "Sweet 16" in 2003. The Royals have averaged 72.0 points and allowed just 65.5 points per contest. Senior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia) and senior point guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, PA), both three-time all-conference selections, provide a formidable one-two punch for Scranton, which has four players scoring in double figures. Bicknell has averaged a team-leading 14.2 points, while Arnold has averaged 11.4 points. Arnold comes into Friday night as Scranton's 21st all-time leading scorer with 1,266 points.

Coming Up Big: Although he stands only 5-4, sophomore guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) has come up big for the Blazers all season. Galdon, a First Team All-North Atlantic Conference (NAC) selection, has started all 27 games and averaged a team-leading 18.5 points in just 27.1 minutes per contest. Galdon has netted 519 points this year and recently became the first player in program-history to score 500 points in a season.

Stealing The Show And Handing Out Helpers: Aswad Thomas handed out 104 assists this season to shatter the previous mark of 65 set by David Williams ‘07 back in 2005-06. Thomas currently ranks second nationally in steals (3.7) and is also 14th nationally in assists (5.7).

More Blazer Bits: Elms College is currently second nationally in steals (15.3), 13th in scoring offense (84.5) and 15th in scoring margin (+12.4).