Men's Basketball | 3/2/2026 6:50:00 PM
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team will travel to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va., on Friday, March 6, to face the Mount Union Purple Raiders in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
W&J captured its 11th Presidents' Athletic Conference championship this past Saturday, defeating Westminster 68-61. The title earned the Presidents the conference's automatic bid to the national tournament.
The appearance will be the fourth in program history and the second in the last five years. W&J enters Friday's game with a 22-6 overall record — tied for second-most wins in program history. The Red & Black previously earned tournament bids in 1984-85, 1993-94, and 2021-22.
W&J has a 3-4 record in their three previous trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 1985, the Presidents were defeated by Scranton 85-74 and Lycoming 102-99 in double OT when the Tournament held Regional third place games. In their second appearance in 1994, W&J made a run to the Elite Eight, defeating Otterbein (73-71), Kenyon (75-58) and Illinois Wesleyan (97-82) before falling to Wittenberg.
In the Presidents' most recent appearance, they dropped a 95-70 decision in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at No. 16 Elmhurst.
W&J is seeking to be the first PAC team to win an NCAA Tournament game since Grove City scored a 67-62 victory at Wooster in the opening round of the 2020 Tournament. The Wolverines dropped their second round match-up to Elmhurst by an 84-66 score the next night.
Mount Union earned an at-large bid after falling in a semifinal match up to Heidelberg in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. The Purple Raiders enter at 23-3 overall and 14-2 in conference play.
This will be the eight meeting all-time between W&J and Mount Union on the hardwood, but the first since Dec. 1, 1988. The Purple Raiders have a 4-3 series advantage, including a 72-53 victory in that 1988 contest.
Host Christopher Newport (21-5) will face Stevens (18-9) in the other first-round game on Friday. Christopher Newport earned an at-large selection after falling to Mary Washington, 88-58, in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Stevens claimed the MAC Freedom's automatic bid with a 68-59 victory over Misericordia this past Saturday.
Both games will be played at the Freeman Center on the campus of Christopher Newport University. The winners will play a second round match up on Saturday, March 7.
Contributed by Jack Sacco, W&J Student Sports Information Assistant