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WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Westfield State University will play at Nazareth College in the opening round of the NCAA Division 3 Men's Basketball national championship tournament on Friday, March 4 in Rochester , N.Y.

Westfield (22-4) was slotted in a four-team regional alongside Nazareth, UMass Dartmouth, and Emerson.

Nazareth (23-4) and the champions of the Empire 8, is the host institution.

The winners of Friday night's two first round games will clash on Saturday evening for the right to play in the Sweet 16.

Westfield earned an automatic bid to the tournament by virtue of winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament on Saturday, with an 80-66 win over Worcester State in the title game. 

The Owls will ride a 10-game winning streak into the NCAA's. The Owls have not dropped a game since January 17.

Westfield is making its fifth NCAA tournament appearance. The Owls previously qualified in 1985, 1993, 2015 and 2020. Westfield lost to Clark, 88-78, in 1985, and fell to UMass-Dartmouth, an eventual final four participant, 90-81, in the first round in 1993. Westfield fell to another final four team, Babson, 75-62 in 2015.   Westfield fell to Middlebury College, 78-69, in the opening round of the 2020 tournament.

Westfield played UMass-Dartmouth earlier this season, falling 85-81 in a hard fought game at the Woodward Center.

Emerson College features Jarred Houston, the second-leading rebounder in the nation behind Westfield State's Brendon Hamilton.

UMass-Dartmouth(24-4) and Emerson (18-7) were both at-large selections.

In total, 64 teams were selected by the NCAA committee for the single-elimination tournament. 

Release courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information