On Friday, March 1, the 2019 NCAA Division III (DIII) Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament officially kicked off. The 64 teams that qualified began competition in early round action, hoping to secure their spot in the third round, otherwise known as the Sweet Sixteen. March Madness has a distinctively local taste this year as the Hamilton men’s basketball team (25–4 overall) played host to the first- and second-round games in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.
A dramatic, come-from-behind 72–70 win over Penn State Behrend on Friday, March 1 gave the team momentum heading into their second-round game against the Moravian College Greyhounds the following day. With the 83–72 win against Moravian, the Continentals ensured that March Madness would stay a bit longer in Clinton, N.Y., as Hamilton was named a host of the second weekend of games. The Continentals now look forward to the opportunity of hosting at least one more game this coming weekend, with the action getting underway on Friday, March 8. The fourth-round game — also known as the Elite Eight — will be the next day, Saturday, March 9.
Even though the Continentals came up short of the NESCAC title this year by falling to Amherst College 62–56 in the NESCAC Championship game on Sunday, Feb. 24, their #10 ranking in the national D3hoops.com Top 25 poll paved the way for them to host the first- and second-round games of the Tournament. In the exciting first-round game against Penn State Behrend, Kena Gilmour ’20 — this year’s NESCAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year — led the team with 26 points. Seniors Peter Hoffman ’19 and Andrew Groll ’19 had 19 and 7 points, respectively. Other noteworthy performances included that of Sayo Denloye ’20 who had 3 assists and Nick Osarenren ’22 who had 3 steals.
Though they were down for much game, the Continentals weren’t willing to let their season come to an end. Trailing by double digits at points in the second half, they stormed back to take the lead on a Gilmour layup with 1:36 remaining. They held on for the two-point victory after Behrend missed two shots to tie at the buzzer.
The team carried over the energy showcased in crunch time to Saturday, taking an early lead over Moravian and mostly controlling the score the rest of the way. Hoffman led the team with 19 points, while both Gilmour and Tim Doyle ’19 each ended the game with 16. Michael Grassey ’19 scored 8 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Denloye had 8 points as well as 4 assists, and Groll had 8 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. By winning these two games and thus advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, Hamilton became one of the three NESCAC teams to move on to the next round along with Williams College (who will be playing here in Clinton this weekend) and Amherst College.
The Continentals have a chance to make program history this coming weekend. Having advanced to the third round of the NESCAC Championship tournament for the second year in the row, the team has the opportunity to get over the hump and move on from the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history. Last year, the team reached the Sweet Sixteen but lost that game.
Friday night’s matchup against the #9-ranked Christopher Newport University Captains (25–5 overall) from Newport
News, V.A. represents the sixth time in program history that the team has made it into the third round. Hamilton’s 25 wins this season are also the second-highest total for a season in program history. With a win on Friday night, the team would not only move to the Elite Eight game for the first time in program history, but they would also tie the College’s 1990–91 team for the most wins in a single season.
The winner of the Hamilton-Christopher Newport game will match up against the winner of the battle between #2 Whitman College (28–1 overall) from Walla Walla, W.A. and #19 Williams College (22–6 overall) on Saturday, March 9. The victor of that match-up will move on to the NCAA DIII Final Four next weekend in Fort Wayne, I.N.
Whitman and Williams will start the Sectional Semifinal action on Friday, March 8 at 5:30 PM. Christopher Newport and Hamilton will take the court around 7:30 PM. Both games will be in the Field House.
General admission prices for the game are $10 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens and children. Admission is free for children under 2. Tickets for students and employees will be paid for by the College president’s office.
Tickets will be available for presale and pickup in the Alumni Gym athletics office from 9 AM to 5 PM on Thursday, and 9 AM to 3 PM on Friday. Tickets for the first round will also be available at the field house entrance on Friday starting at 4:30 PM.
