Men’s Basketball to Play No. 25 SUNY Cortland in NCAA Division III Championship First Round
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Elms College men's basketball team will travel to Cortland, N.Y. to take on No. 25 SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Division III Championship First Round on Saturday, March 2 at Corey Gymnasium. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
Elms posted its eighth conference title in nine seasons and fourth New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title in the last five years to earn its seventh overall bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Blazers enter Saturday's contest with an 18-9 overall record after besting Regis College 91-78 in the NECC title game to punch its ticket to NCAA postseason play.
Elms enters Saturday's first round tilt under the guidance of first-year head coach Todd Dean who directed the Blazers to a 14-2 record in league action and the top seed in this season's conference tournament. Senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) averaged an overall 18.5 points per game during the 2012-13 campaign and was recently named First Team All-NECC. A 1,000-point scorer in just three seasons of action, French also collected 102 steals and ranks in the top five in the nation in the category.
Prior to assuming the head coaching position for the 2012-13 season, Coach Dean was an assistant at Elms for 10 seasons, helping the team to seven conference titles, including four in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and three in the NECC. Elms also made six NCAA Division III Championship appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 and two Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) appearances in 2010 and 2012 including the program's first-ever ECAC title in 2010.
Cortland, ranked 25th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com poll, enters NCAA tournament play with a 23-4 overall record and was the winner of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament. The Red Dragons earned the top seed in SUNYAC postseason play with a 15-3 league mark and bested SUNY Plattsburgh, 75-61 to win its first conference crown since 2000. This is Cortland's first NCCA postseason appearance since 2006.
The Red Dragons are led by Jeremy Smith (Bronx, N.Y.) who averaged 15.9 points per game and scored 429 points during the 2012-13 season. Smith was named the SUNYAC tournament MVP after scoring 24 points in Cortland's win over Plattsburgh.
Head coach Tom Spanbauer is in his 18th season at the helm. Cortland's career leader in men's basketball victories, Coach Spanbauer has an 18-year record of 305-192 (.614). He earned both National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) East Region and New York State Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors twice after leading the Red Dragons to NCAA Division III "Sweet 16" playoff appearances in 1999 and 2000.
Coach Spanbauer has been named the SUNYAC Coach of the Year four times, most recently after the 2005-06 season when he guided the Red Dragons to a school-record tying 24-5 record, the SUNYAC regular-season title and the second round of the NCAA playoffs. He also won the award in 1996-97, 1998-99 and 2000-01.
The winner of Saturday's matchup will play the winner of No. 4 Middlebury College (22-3) and Curry College (21-7) on Saturday, March 9.
