DOYLESTOWN (PA) – The Delaware Valley College men's basketball team will make its first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday, March 4 when the Aggies travel to Virginia Beach to take on No. 10 Virginia Wesleyan College in the opening round. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. 

Virginia Wesleyan will serve as the host for four teams and three games over a two-day span. Prior to the Delaware Valley-Virginia Wesleyan contest, No. 18 Franklin & Marshall College will take on North Carolina Wesleyan College at 5:30 p.m. The winners of the two Friday's game will meet in Saturday's second-round contest starting at 7:00 p.m. The team that comes out of the weekend will be in the sectional round – the final 16 – the following weekend. 

The men's basketball team is just the second program (football in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010) in Aggie history to reach the NCAA playoffs in a team-qualifying sport. It is also a remarkable turnaround for a program that posted a 3-22 overall record and was winless in conference play just three years ago. Head coach Casey Stitzel took over the reigns after that season and led the squad to 13-13 and 12-13 marks his first two years before this season's school-record 17-10 run. 

Delaware Valley earned its historic NCAA berth by capturing the Freedom Conference championship with a 79-58 home victory over two-time defending league champion DeSales University in the title game. The Aggies trailed by four with 14:20 remaining before they outscored the Bulldogs, 42-17, the rest of the way to bring home the crown.

Delaware Valley has no easy task this weekend as it will meet a Virginia Wesleyan team that is 23-4 overall, ranked 10th in the latest D3hoops.com poll and is makings its seven consecutive appearance (11th overall) in the NCAA tournament. The Marlins won the Division III championship just five years ago and were the runners-up the following season. Should the Aggies win, their second-round opponent would either be a Franklin & Marshall program that is 22-5, ranked 18th in the country and is making its 22nd overall appearance (third overall) in the tournament, or a North Carolina Wesleyan team that holds a 21-6 record and is receiving votes in the national poll. 

Leading the way for Delaware Valley is senior guard and 2011 Freedom Conference Player of the Year James Jones (Philadelphia, PA/Edward Bok Tech). Jones has set a school single-season record for points with 566 (21.0 avg) and he also averages 5.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds per contest. He has reached double digits in scoring in all but two games this year, including 14, 20-plus point performances and five efforts of 30 or more points. In the Freedom Conference Championship game against DeSales, he scored 26 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Jones was 13-for-13 from the foul line in that game and has now 58 straight from the charity stripe – one shy of the Division III record in a single season. 

Jones is in the Delaware Valley top 10 all-time list in five categories despite playing only three years at the school (he transferred from fellow Division III school Widener University). One of those is scoring where he is fourth with 1,506 points. Jones tops the record book with 424 made free throws and he is also third all-time in assists (324), eighth in steals (121) and ninth in 3-pointers (113). 

Sophomore center Jeremy Beckett (Reading, PA/Holy Name) was a second-team, all-Freedom Conference selection and he was the lone player in the league to average a double-double on the year with 16.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. He has also set an Aggie single-season record for blocks with 82 (3.0 avg), including a single-game record of nine against DeSales in the Freedom title game. 

Senior guard Jason Goldheimer (Manalapan, NJ/Manalpan) is the lone healthy player on the roster that played on the 3-22 team back in 2007-08. He is currently averaging 10.6 points per game and does most of his damage from 3-point land where he has drained 69 shots on the year. Goldheimer is second in school history with 198 career treys and he tops the list in both 3-point percentage (.431) and free throw percentage (.876). 

Senior forward Chris Ellis (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) and freshman guard Nathan Bollinger (Hellam, PA/Eastern York) round out the Aggie starters. Ellis, who transferred from Harcum College two years ago, averages 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Bollinger has played in all 27 games (21 starts) during his rookie campaign and he chips in with 8.9 points per outing. 

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE (23-4) 

Head coach Dave Macedo is no stranger to Delaware Valley as he played for Freedom Conference foe Wilkes University in the 1990s (Delaware Valley defeated Wilkes in the semifinals to get to this year's Freedom Conference Championship Game). Macedo and his squad won its first 16 games this season and eventually reached the Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinals where they dropped an 80-76 decision to Randolph College. However, the Marlins' resume was loaded enough to not only earn an at-large berth for its seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance, but also serve as an early-round host.

Virginia Wesleyan averages 74.7 points per game and has four players in double figures in scoring. Freshman guard DJ Woodmore leads the balanced attack with 13.7 points per game. He also grabs 5.3 rebounds per contest and is connecting on better than 41 percent of his shots from 3-point land (45-for-108). 

Sophomore forward Chris Astorga follows with 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per clip. He is another player who can shoot from long distance as he has hit 41 treys this season. 

Forwards Chris Teasley and Donald Vaughn average 11.7 and 11.4 points per game respectively. Teasley, a sophomore, has connected 40 times from 3-point land while Vaughn, a junior, is the team's leading rebounder with 7.4 boards per contest. 

Two others players to watch are guards Tre' Ford and Ed Roberrts. Ford, a sophomore, contributes 6.9 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per game whole Roberts, a junior, comes off the bench to average 6.6 points per game and has hit a team-high 46 treys. 

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE (22-5) 

Legendary head coach Glenn Robinson recently surpassed the 800-win total and is fifth among all active coaches on any NCAA level. He has led the Diplomats to 22 NCAA tournament appearances, five Final Four appearances and 16 conference championships. F&M enters the tournament on a hot streak having won 12 of its last 13 contests, including a 65-55 victory over Dickinson College in the Centennial Conference finals. 

The Diplomats average 77.2 points and permit just 63.6 per contest. Junior guard Georgio Milligan paces the squad with 16.5 points, 5.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Senior forwards James McNally and Mike Baker follow with 15.3 and 11.9 points per game respectively. Baker leads the way on the board with eight rebounds per clip while McNally is next with a 5.3 average. 

NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE (21-6) 

The Bishops, under head coach John Thompson, are making their fifth overall appearance in the NCAA tournament and their first since 2002. They have won eight games in a row and 15 of their last 16, including a 74-70 overtime triumph over Ferrum College in the USA South Conference finals. 

North Carolina Wesleyan averages 77.2 points per game and shoots better than 46 percent from the field. The team is led by junior guard Matt Dougherty, who has hit 72 treys on the year and averages 15.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Junior forward Domarius Thomas averages 13.8 points and six boards per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the field. Yet another junior, forward Alex Murray, is also in double figures in scoring with 12.6 points per outing. Murray also leads the way on the glass with 6.5 points per contest. 

All three weekend games at Virginia Wesleyan can be watched live on the internet at http://odac.nmtvsports.com. Live stats can be followed at http://www.vwc.edu/athletics/mbasketball/live/xlive.htm