Not only did the Oswego State men’s basketball team secure an automatic bid into the NCAA national championship, but they were also granted the rights to host the first and second round of the tournament.
Making the trip to the port city will be Marymount University, John Carroll University and Albertus Magnus College. The four teams are relatively strangers, with the only meeting ever recorded between any of the four teams was between the John Carroll Blue Streaks and the Marymount Saints back in 2016. While the Blue Streaks won that game 72-70, it holds little bearing on this weekend’s games. Out of the four teams who will take the court in the Max Ziel Gymnasium, the Lakers rank the highest in the d3hoops rankings at No.6 in the nation. Not too far behind them are John Carrol who ranks at No.10.
While the Falcons of Albertus Magnus and Marymount are unranked coming into the weekend, like the Lakers, they both managed to win their conference tournaments for automatic bids into the national tournament. Albertus Magnus did so in impressive style after they toppled the undefeated No.1 ranked team in the country, the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays on their home court. The only team out of the four not to win their conference tournament was John Carroll who fell to a familiar foe of Oswego State, Marietta College, in their conference semifinal.
Oswego State, John Carroll and Albertus Magnus all head into the weekend with top-50 ranked offenses in terms of points-per-game. Meanwhile, Marymount averages about 10 points less than the lowest scoring offense out of the other three teams. However, the Lakers and Saints both rank in the top-15 in 3-point percentage in the nation, with Oswego State sitting at No.10 and Marymount at No.13.
A huge aspect to Albertus Magnus’ game is their ability to clean up on the glass. The Falcons are currently the third best rebounding team in the country with an average of just under 46.5 per game. John Carroll enters the weekend with the most wins over ranked opponents among the four teams this season after defeating Wheaton College, who were ranked at No.24 at the time of the game and Mount Union who sat at No.3 in the national rankings at the time.
An area in which Oswego State excels far more than any of the three teams visiting their home court is in their assist per turnover ratio. The Lakers rank ninth in the country in the statistic while the next closest team is John Carroll who are ranked No.227 in the category.
The first game of the weekend will take place between John Carroll and Albertus Magnus on March 3 at 3:15 p.m. Oswego State will then take the court immediately after to face Marymount at 5:45 p.m. Regardless of what team advances in both games, the second-round game will take place in the Max Ziel Gymnasium the following day at 5:45 p.m. as well.
Photo via: Oswego Athletics
