D3 Tournament

[karstenkibbe]

Flashback to Butler beating Pitt in Washington in the 2d round in 2011, right before Kemba and UConn handled Cincy.

Completely forgot about that finish. Matt Howard with the game winning free throw with less than a second left. Similar vibe.

 

[HooperScooper]

Wild finish to the Yeshiva-Bates game.

Looks like Bates was the only NESCAC school to lose in the first round today. Here are all the scores/boxscores from the first round.

https://d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2025-26/ncaa-tournament?date=2026-03-06

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Fun to see a bunch of Boneyarders with D3 alma maters.

After being a 4-year player at Bucknell, Jay Wright got his first coaching job as an assistant at the University of Rochester, in 1984. It was the same year Dennis O'Brien left the presidency of Bucknell for the same role at Rochester. Two years later, O'Brien's idea for a D3 conference comprised of academically elite, high-endowment medium-size universities was launched.

UChicago, Emory, NYU, and Washington U. in St. Louis (half the conference) all won their first round games in the D3 tourney.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Sucks that Westconn lost a close one.

 

[WrenchFan69]

#1 Trinity largely sucked today, though they were missing their second best player. Went 10 minutes without a field goal in the second half. Against (theoretically) the 64th seeded team in the tournament. But they scraped by and now face Babson (who they beat by 20+ in the regular season) tomorrow night at 7pm in the round of 32.

Wesleyan also looked pretty mediocre, barely getting past Lehman who Trinity beat by 60 to start the year. They face NYU (last year's national runner up) at 6:15pm.

WestConn unfortunately lost a close one to Catholic, who moves on to face Tufts

 

[businesslawyer]

Trinity moved on to the Sweet 16. Joined by Wesleyan and Yeshiva (a sweet 16 team playing in yalmukes is too much fun to ignore).

 

[XLCenterFan]

Trinity grad here. Bantams set to run it back. CT basketball is the greatest! I wish some of the other D1 teams could get rolling - Fairfield, SH, Q, CCSU.

Went to a few Trinity games last year and a few this year. The home playoff games get really good crowds. Trinity goes like 11 deep and sometimes does a line change - 5 in/5 out.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Wesleyan and Trinity are both hosting Sweet Sixteen games next weekend, so hoping to drive up and catch one of them.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Trinity moved on to the Sweet 16. Joined by Wesleyan and Yeshiva (a sweet 16 team playing in yalmukes is too much fun to ignore).

Actually, Zevi Samet, Yeshiva’s star shooting guard, is the only starter who wears a yarmulka, and only about half their roster are religious. It’s a mix of Israelis, guys who played at Jewish day schools and public schools in the U.S. one freshman played last year at St. Thomas Moore.

Yeshiva’s fan base is rabid and travels like no other fan base in D3… this was the scene outside Montclair State’s gym last night as a few hundred YU fans couldn’t get tickets…

 

[karstenkibbe]

Sweet 16 begins at 1pm today with a dandy between #2 Emory and #48 Yeshiva. Emory has a couple borderline D1 players. Fun fact: Emory has one of the larger gyms in D3 (holds 2000+) but the school is on spring break. Yeshiva is probably the only D3 program with a truly national following. Crowd in Atlanta could be 90% rooting for Yeshiva.

Yeshiva vs Emory DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 13th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Yeshiva and Emory DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Sweet 16 begins at 1pm today with a dandy between #2 Emory and #48 Yeshiva. Emory has a couple borderline D1 players. Fun fact: Emory has one of the larger gyms in D3 (holds 2000+) but the school is on spring break. Yeshiva is probably the only D3 program with a truly national following. Crowd in Atlanta could be 90% rooting for Yeshiva.

Yeshiva vs Emory DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 13th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Yeshiva and Emory DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

Trinity moved on to the Sweet 16. Joined by Wesleyan and Yeshiva (a sweet 16 team playing in yalmukes is too much fun to ignore).

It's official, I'll be part of the media for tomorrow's game at Trinity. That's another D3 gym that impresses: 2,200 capacity, which is more than Sacred Heart, New Haven and not much smaller than Yale or CCSU. Anyone at the game, stop by and say hi!

 

[businesslawyer]

It's official, I'll be part of the media for tomorrow's game at Trinity. That's another D3 gym that impresses: 2,200 capacity, which is more than Sacred Heart, New Haven and not much smaller than Yale or CCSU. Anyone at the game, stop by and say hi!

Congrats. As Trinity '81, I'd probably drive up for tomorrow's game, but for the minor detail that I will be at MSG where something else is going on.

 

[HooperScooper]

Sweet 16 begins at 1pm today with a dandy between #2 Emory and #48 Yeshiva. Emory has a couple borderline D1 players. Fun fact: Emory has one of the larger gyms in D3 (holds 2000+) but the school is on spring break. Yeshiva is probably the only D3 program with a truly national following. Crowd in Atlanta could be 90% rooting for Yeshiva.

Yeshiva vs Emory DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 13th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Yeshiva and Emory DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

It was a good run. Did they play this afternoon to avoid the Sabbath?

 

[businesslawyer]

It was a good run. Did they play this afternoon to avoid the Sabbath?

Yes.

 

[karstenkibbe]

It was a good run. Did they play this afternoon to avoid the Sabbath?

Yes. Will have to stay in Atlanta til after Sundown Saturday night. No matter. The Jewish community there will roll out some serious hospitality.

Samet putting up 43 with high efficiency while being guarded by Jair Knight is a massive accomplishment. Samet will likely make some solid money playing somewhere next year. My best guess is Israel.

 

[karstenkibbe]

It's official, I'll be part of the media for tomorrow's game at Trinity. That's another D3 gym that impresses: 2,200 capacity, which is more than Sacred Heart, New Haven and not much smaller than Yale or CCSU. Anyone at the game, stop by and say hi!

Enjoy! Should be a great game. Wish I could join you.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Sweet 16 begins at 1pm today with a dandy between #2 Emory and #48 Yeshiva. Emory has a couple borderline D1 players. Fun fact: Emory has one of the larger gyms in D3 (holds 2000+) but the school is on spring break. Yeshiva is probably the only D3 program with a truly national following. Crowd in Atlanta could be 90% rooting for Yeshiva.

Yeshiva vs Emory DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 13th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Yeshiva and Emory DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

I imagine those two schools could put together one hell of a chess tournament.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Holy crap, what a start for Trinity.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Trinity to the Elite Eight after demolishing Hood 88-to-71.

My first time seeing this squad live and I became a huge fan of Notre Dame-West Haven grad Drew Lazarre.

The senior is just 6'2 177, but stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Just a hard-nosed guard.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Very nice Elite Eight matchup 6:30 today between two top-notch NESCAC schools as #1 Trinity (last year's champions) faces #9 Tufts.

6:30 tip fits is nice as it's a solid 20 minutes before the first game of tonight's evening NCAA Tournament blitz.

Free to stream in the link below.

Tufts vs Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 19th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Tufts and Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

 

[WrenchFan69]

Very nice Elite Eight matchup 6:30 today between two top-notch NESCAC schools as #1 Trinity (last year's champions) faces #9 Tufts.

6:30 tip fits is nice as it's a solid 20 minutes before the first game of tonight's evening NCAA Tournament blitz.

Free to stream in the link below.

Tufts vs Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 19th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Tufts and Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

Sucks they have to play this game in an empty arena in Fort Wayne. Same as last year with a Final Four involving Trinity v Wesleyan and a National Championship of Trinity v NYU.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I whole-heartedly agree. I was at the Trinity game last Saturday and the building was pretty much full. Such a great energy on campus.

 

[WrenchFan69]

I whole-heartedly agree. I was at the Trinity game last Saturday and the building was pretty much full. Such a great energy on campus.

Trinity student/fan engagement is incredibly sad most of the time. Spent nearly 4 months as the #1 ranked defending champion and never had more than 100 students at the games. Glad they've turned it up some for the post season.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Do any NESCAC schools have strong fan bases? The only really strong fan bases I see in D3 are schools like Illinois Wesleyan, Randolph Macon, Yeshiva, TCNJ. I watched some Yeshiva early OOC games against NESCAC schools this year and gyms looked almost empty.

 

[businesslawyer]

Trinity student/fan engagement is incredibly sad most of the time. Spent nearly 4 months as the #1 ranked defending champion and never had more than 100 students at the games. Glad they've turned it up some for the post season.

Trinity was never a basketball school in terms of student interest. Prep school kids just aren’t into it and Trinity’s population was always disproportionately preppy. My first two years there in the late 70s, there weren’t 50 people in the building who weren’t friends or family of the players. Students did not show up just to watch the basketball.

 

[HooperScooper]

Do any NESCAC schools have strong fan bases? The only really strong fan bases I see in D3 are schools like Illinois Wesleyan, Randolph Macon, Yeshiva, TCNJ. I watched some Yeshiva early OOC games against NESCAC schools this year and gyms looked almost empty.

I have 2 sons who attended a NESCAC school that was pretty good in basketball for part of their time there and made the NCAA Tournament. Twice they hosted the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament. My younger son is a sports nut so he did go to games during the season but you're right, there were only a couple hundred people at the games. NESCAC kids have other things to do, like study, and overall aren't very supportive of sports. The NESCAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament were different though and were highly attended with raucous crowds. But remember that the gyms at NESCAC schools are like high school gyms. Maybe 2,000 people capacity. Williams has a storied men's basketball team and their gym seats 1,600. This is a picture of the gym at my sons' school. Pretty typical of NESCAC gyms. Our high school's gym (where Karaban played 1 year) is bigger than this.

 

[karstenkibbe]

I have 2 sons who attended a NESCAC school that was pretty good in basketball for part of their time there and made the NCAA Tournament. Twice they hosted the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament. My younger son is a sports nut so he did go to games during the season but you're right, there were only a couple hundred people at the games. NESCAC kids have other things to do, like study, and overall aren't very supportive of sports. The NESCAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament were different though and were highly attended with raucous crowds. But remember that the gyms at NESCAC schools are like high school gyms. Maybe 2,000 people capacity. This is a picture of their gym. Pretty typical of NESCAC gyms. Our high school's gym (where Karaban played 1 year) is bigger than this.

2,000 capacity is actually in the upper end of D3 gyms. Most hold half the number of people.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Do any NESCAC schools have strong fan bases? The only really strong fan bases I see in D3 are schools like Illinois Wesleyan, Randolph Macon, Yeshiva, TCNJ. I watched some Yeshiva early OOC games against NESCAC schools this year and gyms looked almost empty.

Wesleyan often has impressive Friday night/Saturday turnouts for men's basketball and volleyball, helps that they've been quite good in recent years. Wesleyan's Friday night game as the #1 team in the country last year against top 10 Tufts was significantly over capacity - lucky the fire marshal didn't shut it down. Football is hard to gauge because the kids are spread through and back and forth to tailgates.

 

[HooperScooper]

Wesleyan often has impressive Friday night/Saturday turnouts for men's basketball and volleyball, helps that they've been quite good in recent years. Wesleyan's Friday night game as the #1 team in the country last year against top 10 Tufts was significantly over capacity - lucky the fire marshal didn't shut it down. Football is hard to gauge because the kids are spread through and back and forth to tailgates.

My son went to the NESCAC Tournament semifinal at Wesleyan last year and he said it was a great atmosphere. Game went to double OT. Place was packed.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Very nice Elite Eight matchup 6:30 today between two top-notch NESCAC schools as #1 Trinity (last year's champions) faces #9 Tufts.

6:30 tip fits is nice as it's a solid 20 minutes before the first game of tonight's evening NCAA Tournament blitz.

Free to stream in the link below.

Tufts vs Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - March 19th, 2026 | NCAA.com

Live scores from the Tufts and Trinity (CT) DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.

www.ncaa.com

In a very fitting show of idiocy, the NCAA has paywalled the elite 8 through title game on ESPN+