Three CAA MBB Teams Earn Postseason Berths
RICHMOND, Va. (March 17, 2013) - CAA champion James Madison
(20-14) will face Northeast Conference champion LIU-Brooklyn (20-13) on
Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio in the First Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball
Championship. The game will tip at 6:40 p.m. and will be televised on TruTV.
The winner of the JMU/LIU contest will meet top-seeded
Indiana (27-6) on Friday in Dayton.
CAA regular-season champion Northeastern earned a berth in the NIT and will travel to Alabama in a nationally televised game on Tuesday. George Mason was invited to the CBI and will visit future CAA member College of Charleston on Tuesday night.
JMU is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, but
first since 1994. The Dukes are 3-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, winning
first-round games over Georgetown (61-55) in 1981, Ohio State (55-48) in 1982
and West Virginia (57-50) in 1983. JMU fell 64-62 to third-seeded Florida in
the first round in 1994.
The Dukes earned the CAA's automatic bid to the NCAA
Tournament after knocking off top-seeded Northeastern 70-57 on March 11. JMU
comes into the contest riding a four-game winning streak.
The Dukes are led by the senior trio of guards Devon Moore
and A.J. Davis and post player Rayshawn Goins, all of whom were named to the
CAA All-Tournament team. Goins leads the Dukes in scoring (12.7 ppg) and
rebounding (7.4 rpg), Moore tops the CAA in assists (4.9 apg) and adds 11.6
ppg, while Davis has been JMU's leading scorer in eight of the past 10 games
and is averaging 12.1 ppg.
LIU-Brooklyn defeated Mount St. Mary's 91-70 to capture its third
straight NEC championship. The Blackbirds are led by Jamal Olasewere (18.9 ppg)
and C.J. Garner (16.1 ppg).
JMU is the first CAA team to get a #16 seed since East
Carolina in 1993. The CAA has had success pulling upsets in the tournament with
six wins by teams seeded #13 or lower. The conference has one win by a #15 seed
(Richmond - 1991), two wins by a #14 seed (ODU - 1995, Richmond - 1998), and
three wins by a #13 seed (Richmond 2 wins - 1988, UNCW - 2002).
The CAA has also had success in the First Four in Dayton, with VCU going from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011 with five straight victories.
CAA regular-season champion Northeastern will face Alabama out of the SEC in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
It will be the Huskies' third trip to the NIT and its third postseason appearance in five years.
George Mason is also on the road on Tuesday night as it visits future CAA member College of Charleston in the first round of the CBI. The game will tip at 7 p.m.