MOC seeded No. 2 in East Regional

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 7, 2005 2:53 PM

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Mount Olive College men's basketball team has earned a trip to NCAA postseason play for the second consecutive year.

The Trojans (26-4) drew the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II East Regional and face seventh-seeded Millersville (Pa.) University in the quarterfinals Saturday at Pfeiffer University.

Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m.

Pfeiffer, the top seed and regional host for the second consecutive year, faces No. 8 Wheeling Jesuit, which emerged the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion. The remaining quarterfinal-round games are No. 6 Indiana (Pa.) University vs. No. 3 Edinboro (Pa.) and No. 5 Alderson-Broaddus against No. 4 Salem International.

Mount Olive finished the regular season ranked No. 13 in the NABC Division II Top 25 poll and No. 2 in the East Region poll. The Trojans ended the regular season with 17 wins in their last 19 games -- with both losses coming against Pfeiffer.

The Trojans earned one of five at-large bids to the regional.

Pfeiffer claimed the automatic CVAC berth, while Edinboro won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship. Millersville (22-7) finished runner-up in the PSAC tournament and lost to Queens University of Charlotte in the 2003 regional final.

This year marks the fourth consecutive year a CVAC school has hosted the regional.

A total of 64 teams were selected to the championship, eight in each of the eight regions. Semifinal-round play continues Sunday with the finals set for Tuesday.

The eight regional winners advance to the Elite Eight March 23-26 at Grand Forks, N.D.