Post a Free Blog

Submit A Press Release

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Action
Animation
ATP Tour (ATP)
Auto Racing
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Breaking News
Business
Business
Business Newsletter
Call of Duty (CALLOFDUTY)
Canadian Football League (CFL)
Car
Celebrity
Champions Tour (CHAMP)
Comedy
CONCACAF
Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO)
Crime
Dark Comedy
Defense of the Ancients (DOTA)
Documentary and Foreign
Drama
eSports
European Tour (EPGA)
Fashion
FIFA
FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC)
FIFA World Cup (FIFA)
Fighting
Football
Formula 1 (F1)
Fortnite
Golf
Health
Hockey
Horror
IndyCar Series (INDY)
International Friendly (FRIENDLY)
Kids & Family
League of Legends (LOL)
LPGA
Madden
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
MLS
Movie and Music
Movie Trailers
Music
Mystery
NASCAR Cup Series (NAS)
National Basketball Association (NBA)
National Football League (NFL)
National Hockey League (NHL)
National Women's Soccer (NWSL)
NBA Development League (NBAGL)
NBA2K
NCAA Baseball (NCAABBL)
NCAA Basketball (NCAAB)
NCAA Football (NCAAF)
NCAA Hockey (NCAAH)
Olympic Mens (OLYHKYM)
Other
Other Sports
Overwatch
PGA
Politics
Premier League (PREM)
Romance
Sci-Fi
Science
Soccer
Sports
Sports
Technology
Tennis
Thriller
Truck Series (TRUCK)
True Crime
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
US
Valorant
Western
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Women’s NCAA Basketball (WNCAAB)
World
World Cup Qualifier (WORLDCUP)
WTA Tour (WTA)
Xfinity (XFT)
XFL
0
-- Advertisement --spot_img
HomeSportsBasketballFamiliar foes face off in First Four as American tests Mount St....

Familiar foes face off in First Four as American tests Mount St. Mary’s

Add to Favorite
Added to Favorite


DAYTON, Ohio — Two very familiar head coaches will get their first taste of NCAA Tournament action against each other when No. 16 American battles No. 16 Mount Saint Mary’s on Wednesday night in a First Four contest.

The winner advances to play No. 1 seed Duke in an East Region first-round game on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.

The Eagles (22-12) earned the automatic bid from the Patriot League after dispatching Lafayette, Colgate and Navy in succession to capture the conference championship. It is their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 2014.

The Mountaineers (22-12) earned their way to the NCAA Tournament by way of capturing the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament title in just their third season in the league.

Donny Lind, who coached the university to the NCAA Tournament in his first year as head coach, is facing Duane Simpkins, who is in his second year at American. The two exchanged text messages after each won their conference tournaments.

“You are not thrilled necessarily to play somebody who knows us so well,” Lind said. “One of the fun things about the Tournament is maybe you can sneak up on somebody because they don’t know you.”

This will be the first meeting between the schools since American won 68-65 on Nov. 22, 2023. American leads the all-time series 38-32.

“Obviously, we know each other well. We have seen each other play,” Lind said. “We haven’t played each other this year. But The Mount and American have a history of playing each other. That will be interesting. But we’ll be ready the best we can.”

Mount Saint Mary’s earned its spot in the First Four by capturing the MAAC title last Saturday with a 63-49 win over Iona.

Guards Dola Adebayo and Dallas Hobbs lead the Mount in scoring, averaging 13.2 and 12.6 points per game, respectively. Senior forward Jedy Cordilia leads the team in rebounding, grabbing 7.3 boards a game.

This is the seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament for Mount Saint Mary’s, which last qualified in 2021, falling to Texas Southern in the First Four. The Mountaineers have been a 16-seed in all previous six appearances.

Simpkins, who is 38-28 overall at American, has taken a seven-win program in conference play in 2023 and transformed the Eagles into a 13-win group that earned its first NCAA berth in 11 years this year.

“It’s exciting. I can’t put it into words,” Simpkins said. “It’s a lot coming all at one time. It’s busy time, but it’s a great busy. It’s a testament man to hard work and ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ and fighting through adversity and having the right people around you.”

Matt Rogers leads American in scoring at 17.0 points a game and is second in rebounding (5.6 rpg), while Elijah Stephens is averaging 10.6 points per game.

“We’ve got a great group of kids on our team and their families and our staff, and then our staff’s families,” Simpkins said. “This is truly all hands on deck. In order to get to this point, you need a lot of people. We’re on the boat in the same direction, no doubt.”

–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media

Subscribe to get Latest News Updates

Latest News

You may like more
more

Boogie back, Arkansas dances with familiar Kansas in Providence

There are two primary reasons the informed public believes...

Texas Tech looks to avoid early exit vs. UNC Wilmington

Texas Tech was sent packing in the first round...

Gonzaga rides strong finish into first-round clash vs. Georgia

Gonzaga wasn't looking so powerful when it lost consecutive...

Top-seeded Houston keeps guard up against SIU Edwardsville

Top-seeded Houston is not the type of team that...