NCAA Division III Championship Tournament - First Round
Penn State Harrisburg (24-4) vs. (RV) Hood (19-6) // Friday, March 1 // 5:30 p.m. // Guilford College // Ragan-Brown Field House // Greensboro, N.C.
[Live Video] [Live Stats] [Bracket] [Digital Program] [Game Notes]
Penn State Harrisburg is no stranger to March Madness and is set to return to the Big Dance for the third time since 2020 after winning the program's third conference championship in the last four seasons. The Lions open NCAA play against a talented Hood team with three wins over nationally-ranked opponents to its name.
LIVE VIDEO
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GOING TO THE GAME
(DIRECTIONS) Ticket prices for Friday's contest are as follows: $15 for adults and $10 for students, children, veterans, and senior citizens. The box office is located in the Ragan-Brown Field House lobby and will open one hour before the first game each day. Tickets grant admission for one day only. A single ticket will grant admission to both games on Friday.
MASTERS OF MADNESS
Penn State Harrisburg is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and is no stranger to playing the role of Cinderella, having defeated a pair of top-10 teams during its last two trips to the tourney. In 2020, the Lions upset No. 6 Johns Hopkins in double overtime behind a memorable 45-point performance from Donyae Baylor-Carroll in the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament contest before falling to No. 13 Yeshiva the next day. Penn State Harrisburg returned to the Big Dance in 2022 and again played the role of spoiler, knocking off No. 9 St. Joseph (Conn.) in their first-round contest before bowing out with a loss to No. 13 WPI the following afternoon. The Lions are currently 2-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. Penn State Harrisburg secured automatic bids to the tourney in three of the past four seasons thanks to winning United East Championships, with all of the program's NCAA Tournament appearances coming under the guidance of 11th-year head coach Don Friday.
A FRIDAY IN MARCH
Penn State Harrisburg's Don Friday is making his fourth trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament as a head coach. In addition to his memorable runs with Penn State Harrisburg in 2020 and 2022, he also led Lycoming to the Big Dance in 2004. Under his leadership, the Warriors went 1-1 in the tourney that spring. As a head coach, Friday is 3-3 in tournament action. As an assistant under legendary head coach Pat Flannery, he helped lead Lebanon Valley to a unforgettable run in the 1994 NCAA Tournament that culminated with a thrilling national championship victory over NYU.
LAST TIME OUT
With an 84-61 victory over St. Elizabeth at a packed Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 24, Penn State Harrisburg won its third United East Championship in the last four years. Donyae Baylor-Carroll was named the United East Tournament MVP after recording his second straight double-double with 19 points and a career-high 10 steals to go along with seven assists. Nate Curry netted a game-high 21 points with six rebounds and four assists. Isaiah Milien had 14 points and four steals, while Isaiah Eggleston added a dozen points off the bench. The Lions pulled ahead by 22 midway through the second half following a straightaway 3-ball from Baylor-Carroll but the Eagles responded with a 9-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 13 with 9:41 left to play. From there, Baylor-Carroll sparked a one-man run with a layup through traffic before swiping one of his double-digit steals and laying one in on the other end to push the lead back to 17 at the 8:25 mark. After an Alex Leiba tip in made it 65-46, Curry buried a triple off a Lance Douglas feed and Baylor-Carroll sank a fallaway trifecta the next time down to effectively put things out of reach with 6:24 remaining.
IT'S A MAJOR AWARD(S)
Penn State Harrisburg's Donyae Baylor-Carroll swept this season's United East Volt Division Player of the Year awards, as he was tabbed both the conference's player of the year and defensive player of the year. Baylor-Carroll is averaging a team-high 18.7 points per game. The versatile guard is the NCAA Division III active 3-point leader (347) and currently leads the nation in total steals (100) and steals per game (3.57). The senior also ranks 10th in the country in total assists (147), 19th in assists per game (5.2), and 38th in total points (523). He was twice named to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week and earned eight United East Volt Division Player of the Week plaudits, including four offensive player of the week honors and four defensive player of the week accolades. Earlier this winter, he became the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,939 points and counting.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
In addition to his sweep of the conference's player of the year awards, Donyae Baylor-Carroll was also named to the United East Volt Division All-Conference First Team. He was joined as a first-team all-conference pick by teammate Nate Curry who leads the team in rebounding with an 8.9 rebounds per game average and eight double-doubles on the season.
MILESTONE MEN
A pair of Penn State Harrisburg players in Donyae Baylor-Carroll and Nate Curry recently reached program milestones, with Baylor-Carroll becoming the program's all-time leading scorer in a victory over Penn State Berks in early January and Curry becoming the program's all-time leading rebounder during a win over Penn College a few weeks back. Baylor-Carroll's scoring mark currently stands at 1,939 career points, while Curry's rebounding total currently sits at 882 for his career.
BACK TO BACK FROM BEYOND THE ARC
They like to get it up from beyond the arc at Penn State Harrisburg. Thanks to his 347 career 3-point field goals and counting, Donyae Baylor-Carroll currently holds the moniker of NCAA Division III active 3-point leader. Incredibly, it was only a year ago that a Penn State Harrisburg player held the same title. It was former women's hoops standout Kendis Butler, however, who earned the same distinction in the women's ranks, as she completed the most-decorated career in program history as the NCAA Division III active 3-point leader with 295 triples for her career.
HOW CAN WE ASSIST YOU?
As a unit, Penn State Harrisburg is among the nation's top teams when it comes to sharing the basketball, with the Lions currently ranking fourth in the nation in assists per game (18.9). The team is also limiting mistakes as evidenced by a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio that currently ranks 22nd in the country.
MEN OF STEAL
As a defensive unit, Penn State Harrisburg can be as pesky as they come, as the Lions currently rank eighth among Division III programs in steals per game (10.6). Individually, Donyae Baylor-Carroll currently leads the nation with 100 total steals and a 3.57 steals per game average.
CONTINUED SUCCESS
As evidenced by its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last four seasons, Penn State Harrisburg is in the midst of the most successful era in program history. Since the 2019-20 campaign, the Lions have won 84 games, three conference championships, and a pair of NCAA Tournament games. This season's squad matched the single-season program record with 24 victories and earned a regional ranking for the first time in program history.
DANCE PARTNERS
So far during the 2023-24 campaign, Penn State Harrisburg faced six opponents who made the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament a year ago in St. John Fisher, Marymount (Va.), John Carroll, NC Wesleyan, Randolph-Macon, and Lancaster Bible. The Lions finished the regular season 4-3 in those contests.
NO ONE LIKES TO LOSE, BUT...
Penn State Harrisburg currently holds one of the best winning percentages in the nation at 85.7 percent - a number good enough to rank 13th among NCAA Division III programs. The team's only losses this season have come against No. 2 John Carroll at a neutral site, at No. 4 Randolph-Macon, at Bridgewater (Va.), and at conference rival Lancaster Bible in the regular season finale. JCU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Yellow Jackets won the 2022 National Championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 last spring, Bridgewater recently wrapped up its most successful season in nearly two decades, and Lancaster Bible is one year removed from knocking off NYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Penn State Harrisburg has been excellent on its home floor over the past three seasons (35-4 record) and the 2023-24 campaign saw that trend continue. The Lions were perfect at the Capital Union Building this winter (14-0) and set the program record for single-season victories at home. This season's squad matched the 2021-22 team by becoming just the second team in program history to finish the season undefeated on its home floor.
BATTLING THE BLAZERS
When the field of 64 was revealed, Penn State Harrisburg drew a tough matchup in Hood as its first round opponent. The Blazers went 19-6 this season, finished second in the MAC Commonwealth standings, and made a run to the semifinal round of the conference tournament before falling to the eventual champions from Eastern. Hood also made program history by earning its first-ever national ranking, climbing to as high as No. 21 in the D3hoops.com National Poll earlier this season. The Blazers are led by head coach Chad Dickman. Dickman is making his second NCAA Tournament appearance as the program's head coach and he surpassed the 100-win mark at Hood earlier this season. He was named the MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year for his efforts. Junior guard Garrison Linton is in the midst of a breakout campaign, as he currently leads the team in scoring (11.5 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg), and assists (6.0). Thanks to his strong play this season, he was named to the MAC Commonwealth All-Conference First Team. Garrett Cox is averaging 11.4 points per contest and he recently earned second-team all-conference recognition in his first full season with Hood after missing much of the past two years. The Blazers have won three games against nationally-ranked opponents this winter, including victories over No. 12 Cal Lutheran, No. 14 Catholic, and No. 16 Widener.
WHAT'S NEXT?
If the Lions are victorious over Hood on Friday night, they'll take on the winner of the Guilford/Berry first-round matchup in second-round action at Ragan-Brown Field House on Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.