Bentley Named Top Seed and Host for NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball East Regional
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University Falcons will be the number one seed and the host team for the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional, which will be played at Bentley's Dana Athletic Center Saturday through Tuesday, Mar. 12-15.
Bentley, 22-4, will be making its first NCAA appearance in six years and will be hosting the regional for the first time since 2011. The Falcons will make their 2022 regional debut Saturday against the number eight seed, 19-9 Felician College.
Bentley, one of five Northeast-10 teams in the field, and Felician, champion of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, are two of the three automatic qualifiers. The other is East Coast Conference champion St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4).
Selected on an at-large basis were Dominican College (21-7), Franklin Pierce University (18-10), the University of New Haven (17-8), Pace University (19-9) and Saint Anselm College (17-10).
The other first round games on Saturday will have second-seeded Franklin Pierce squaring off against number seven St. Thomas Aquinas, third-seeded Saint Anselm facing conference rival and six-seed New Haven and Pace and Dominican, both New York, meeting in the 4-5 game.
Bentley will be competing in the regional tournament for the 19th time, including the 11th time in coach Jay Lawson's 31 seasons. The Falcons captured the regional championship and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
The semifinals will be Sunday at 5:00 and 7:30, and the regional championship is Tuesday, March 15.
The winner of the Regional will advance to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana March 23-26.
NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGIONAL
at Bentley University, Waltham, Mass.
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 12
#1 Bentley (22-4) vs. #8 Felician (19-9)
#2 Franklin Pierce (18-10) vs. #7 St. Thomas Aquinas (26-4)
#3 Saint Anselm (17-10) vs. #6 New Haven (17-8)
#4 Dominican (21-7) vs. #5 Pace (19-9)
Semifinals – Sunday, March. 13
Bentley-Felician winner vs. Dominican-Pace winner
Franklin Pierce-STAC winner vs. Saint Anselm-New Haven winner
Championship – Tuesday, March 15