DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team is traveling to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, for the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, as announced by the NCAA on Monday afternoon.

The Aggies (15-12) will face the 26-1 Cardinals on Friday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m., after Gettysburg College (20-7) and Chatham University (23-4) face off at 4:30 p.m. The two winners from Friday will compete for a spot in the sectional round on Saturday evening. DelVal secured its tournament berth with a 64-63 victory over the first-seeded Stevens Ducks in the MAC Freedom Championship game on Saturday.

Wesleyan is the top-ranked team in the country according to the National Power Index (NPI) rankings, having won 26 consecutive games before suffering their first loss of the season to #4 Trinity College (ranked #2 in the conference) in the NESCAC Championship. The Chatham Cougars earned their place in the tournament by defeating Washington & Jefferson (W&J) for the PAC Championship, while the Gettysburg Bullets received an at-large bid.

All four teams have players who have earned major conference awards. Senior Shane Regan from Wesleyan secured a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team. He is the Cardinals' leading scorer, averaging 18.2 points per game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 85.5% from the free-throw line. His scoring average ranks second in the NESCAC, while he also ranks in the top five in both field goal and free throw percentage and in the top ten in assists.

From Chatham, junior Diaun Pinkett was named PAC Conference Player of the Year. Pinkett led the Cougars to their second PAC title in three seasons, averaging 17.1 points per game, which ranked fourth in the conference. He also ranked fifth in the PAC in field goal percentage (51.4%).

Gettysburg's Jordan Stafford, a junior, was named Player of the Year in the Centennial Conference. Stafford averaged 14.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 53.1% from the field and 46% from three-point range.

For the Aggies, junior Antonio Redding was named MAC Freedom Co-Player of the Year. Appearing in 21 games, he averaged 17.5 points per contest, including ten performances of 20 or more points. He led all of Division III in three-point shooting at 51.1% and ranked third in free throw percentage at 92.1%, missing just five attempts all season.

In addition to player accolades, the head coaches from Delaware Valley and Chatham were honored as Coach of the Year. After winning only two conference games the previous season, Aggies head coach Muhamadou Kaba guided the team to an 8-6 conference record, securing a second-place finish in the MAC Freedom playoffs before winning the conference championship. Under his leadership, the Aggies closed the season on a 5-1 run, earning their first playoff berth since 2022 and hosting their first home semifinal since finishing first in 2017. Defensively, Kaba's squad ranked second in the conference, allowing just 68.3 points per game.

Wesleyan's staff, led by head coach Joe Reilly, earned the 2024-25 NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year award. This marks Reilly's second career NESCAC coaching honor, having previously been named NESCAC Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season.

Event Details

• Location: Wesleyan University, Silloway Gymnasium | Middletown, Conn.
• Time: 7:00 p.m.
• Ticket: Tickets are available via in-person sales. $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, students, and children.
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• DelVal Audio Broadcast
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