AMHERST, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was selected as the No. 3 seed in the East Region, where the Hawks will take on No. 6-seeded Assumption University in the First Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, hosted by No. 1-seeded Daemen University at Lumsden Gymnasium on Saturday, March 14 at noon.
Saint Anselm, the 2026 Northeast 10 Conference champions, defeated Saint Michael's College on Saturday, 75-69, at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium to win their 11th title in program history and will now face a familiar foe in the first round of the NCAA DII Championship, Assumption University. The Hawks and Greyhounds met three times this year, splitting the regular season series before Saint Anselm knocked Assumption out in the semifinal round of the NE10 tournament, 90-77.
Saint Anselm holds a 23-7 overall record with a 14-4 mark in NE10 play, while Assumption fell to 17-12, 11-7 in the NE10, after its defeat to the Hawks last week. This will be the first meeting between the two programs in the NCAA tournament. The Hawks are 75-62 in the all-time series against the Greyhounds, a series that began in 1936.
This marks the 27th trip to the NCAA tournament for the men's basketball program, and the first since 2023 when the Hawks fell in a first-round matchup against Caldwell, 80-71. All-time, Saint Anselm is 18-28 in NCAA postseason play, having won two regional championships (2000, 2019). The last win for the Hawks in the NCAA tournament came in the Elite Eight in 2019 when Saint Anselm took down Nova Southeastern, 91-81, in Evansville, Ind.
Saint Anselm and Assumption are joined by NE10 counterparts, No. 4 Bentley, No. 5 Saint Michael's, and No. 7 Adelphi in the East Region.
No. 2 Felician, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) champions, and No. 8 Goldey Beacom (CACC) make up the remaining teams traveling to Amherst, N.Y., for the first and second rounds, along with the East Region Championship. Daemen was crowned champions of the East Coast Conference (ECC), posting a 30-1 record, 16-0 in the ECC, to earn the one seed in the East.
The winner of Saturday's game between the Hawks and Greyhounds will take on the winner of Felician and Adelphi on Sunday, March 15, at Lumsden Gymnasium at 5 p.m.
The full schedule for the 2026 East Regional is...
| Saturday, March 14 |
| 12:00 p.m. |
Regional Quarterfinal No. 1 - #3 Saint Anselm (23-7) vs. #6 Assumption (17-12) |
| 2:30 p.m. |
Regional Quarterfinal No. 2 - #2 Felician (27-3) vs. #7 Adelphi (18-11) |
| 5:00 p.m. |
Regional Quarterfinal No. 3 - #1 Daemen (30-1) vs. #8 Goldey-Beacom (21-10) |
| 7:30 p.m. |
Regional Quarterfinal No. 4 - #4 Bentley (19-9) vs. #5 Saint Michael's (18-13) |
| |
|
| Sunday, March 15 |
| 5:00 p.m. |
Regional Semifinal No. 1 - #2 Felician/#7 Adelphi vs. #3 Saint Anselm/#6 Assumption |
| 7:30 p.m. |
Regional Semifinal No. 2 - #1 Daemen/#8 Goldey-Beacom vs. #4 Bentley/#5 Saint Michael's |
| |
|
| Tuesday, March 17 |
| 7:00 p.m. |
Regional Finals - Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 |
All ticket sales for the 2026 East Regional are conducted via Daemen's online ticket office, accessible by visiting daemenwildcats.com/tickets. No cash is accepted on site. All games feature ticket pre-sales for families of student-athletes, coaches and team personnel. Pre-sale tickets for Saturday's quarterfinal contests will be available beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 11. Quarterfinal round tickets will go on sale for the general public beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 12. In addition, the gymnasium will be cleared between each contest. All ticket sales are for single games only.
Each game of the East Regional will also feature live stats and a live stream broadcast available at the NCAA Championships Pass app, accessible on Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV and Google TV devices. Additional information can be found at the East Regional central web page.
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