2022 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament

The 2022 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college basketball in the United States. Featuring sixty-four teams, it began on March 4, 2022, following the 2021–22 season, and concluded with the championship game on March 19, 2022.

2022 NCAA Division III
men's basketball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Fort Wayne, Indiana
Champions	Randolph–Macon (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Elmhurst (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Marietta (1st Final Four) Wabash (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Josh Merkel (1st title)
MOP	Buzz Anthony (Randolph-Macon)
NCAA Division III men's tournaments «2021 2023»

The national semifinal and championship rounds were held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The tournament was won by the Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets, which "repeated" as national champions. During the 2021 season, the Yellow Jackets had won a mythical national championship from polls organised by D3Sports.com and a "bowl game" style championship game against the Trine Thunder in 2021.

This was the first tournament completed since 2019 after the two previous editions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tournament schedule and venues

800km
500miles

Worcester

Middletown

Pittsford

Ashland

Galloway

Newport News

Swarthmore

Marietta

St. Louis

Bloomington

Alliance

Atlanta

Elmhurst

Platteville

Belton

Oshkosh

  

2022 first and second round host sites

First and second rounds

First and second-round games were played at campus sites on March 4 and March 5.

On the basis of team strength and geography, these locations were chosen to host first and second-round games in the 2022 tournament:

• Kolf Sports Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh)
• Mayborn Campus Center, Belton, Texas (Host: University of Mary Hardin–Baylor)
• Williams Fieldhouse, Platteville, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Platteville)
• R.A. Fagenel Hall, Elmhurst, Illinois (Host: Elmhurst University)
• Woodruff Physical Education Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Emory University)
• McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex, Alliance, Ohio (Host: University of Mount Union)
• Shirk Center, Bloomington, Illinois (Host: Illinois Wesleyan University)
• Washington University Field House, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Washington University in St. Louis)
• Ban Johnson Arena, Marietta, Ohio (Host: Marietta College)
• Tarble Pavilion, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania (Host: Swarthmore College)
• Freeman Center, Newport News, Virginia (Host: Christopher Newport University)
• Stockton University Sports Center, Galloway Township, New Jersey (Host: Stockton University)
• Crenshaw Gymnasium, Ashland, Virginia (Host: Randolph–Macon College)
• Robert A. Kidera Gymnasium, Pittsford, New York (Host: Nazareth College)
• Freeman Athletic Center, Middletown, Connecticut (Host: Wesleyan University)
• Harrington Auditorium, Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

Third and fourth rounds

300km
200miles

Fort Wayne

Ashland

Marietta

Bloomington

Cleveland

  

2022 third and fourth round (blue) and Final Four (red) host sites

Third and fourth-round games were played at campus sites on March 11 and March 12.

At the conclusion of the second round, the NCAA announced the following locations would host third and fourth-round games.

• Horsburgh Gymnasium, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Case Western Reserve University)
• Shirk Center, Bloomington, Illinois (Host: Illinois Wesleyan University)
• Ban Johnson Arena, Marietta, Ohio (Host: Marietta College)
• Crenshaw Gymnasium, Ashland, Virginia (Host: Randolph–Macon College)

National Semifinals and Championship

The National Semifinals and Championship were played on March 18 and March 19.

• Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana (Host: Manchester University)

Fort Wayne hosted the Final Four for the second time, having previously hosted in 2019. Fort Wayne was also scheduled to host the Final Four in 2020 and 2021, before those editions of the tournament were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids (44)

The following 44 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2022 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid (except for the UAA, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).^[1]

Automatic bids
Conference	Team	Record (Conf.)	Appearance	Last bid
Allegheny Mountain	Medaille	15–12 (9–7)	6th	2017
American Rivers	Dubuque	21–6 (14–2)	7th	2015
American Southwest	Mary Hardin–Baylor	25–2 (17–2)	7th	2013
Atlantic East	Neumann	21–7 (10–2)	3rd	2017
Centennial	Johns Hopkins	22–3 (16–2)	13th	2020
CUNYAC	Baruch	20–7 (11–3)	6th	2019
Coast to Coast	Christopher Newport	24–2 (6–0)	25th	2020
CCIW	Elmhurst	22–6 (11–5)	7th	2020
Colonial States	Wilson	18–7 (12–2)	1st	Never
Commonwealth Coast	Nichols	25–3 (15–3)	5th	2020
Empire 8	Nazareth	23–4 (15–1)	9th	2018
Great Northeast	St. Joseph (CT)	26–1 (18–0)	2nd	2020
Heartland	Franklin	14–14 (7–11)	6th	2008
Landmark	Susquehanna	23–4 (13–1)	9th	2020
Liberty	Vassar	18–8 (11–6)	1st	Never
Little East	Keene State	20–6 (12–4)	7th	2019
MAC Commonwealth	Hood	20–6 (14–2)	2nd	2007
MAC Freedom	Stevens	16–8 (11–3)	4th	2020
MASCAC	Westfield State	22–4 (10–2)	5th	2020
Michigan	Hope	22–6 (12–2)	28th	2018
Midwest	Cornell College	19–8 (12–4)	4th	2009
Minnesota	St. John's (MN)	23–4 (17–2)	12th	2020
NECC	Mitchell	17–10 (4–2)	3rd	2019
NESCAC	Wesleyan (CT)	24–3 (9–1)	4th	2018
NEWMAC	WPI	24–2 (13–1)	14th	2020
New Jersey	Stockton	24–4 (15–3)	17th	2016
North Atlantic	Husson	15–9 (9–3)	8th	2019
North Coast	Wabash	24–3 (16–1)	6th	1998
Northern Athletics	Marian (WI)	19–8 (11–7)	3rd	2014
Northwest	Whitworth	22–4 (13–3)	15th	2020
Ohio	Marietta	25–2 (17–0)	10th	2020
Old Dominion	Randolph–Macon	27–1 (16–0)	18th	2020
Presidents'	Washington & Jefferson	24–4 (18–2)	3rd	1994
Skyline	Yeshiva	25–3 (14–2)	3rd	2020
Southern	Berry	23–2 (11–1)	2nd	2018
SCIAC	Pomona–Pitzer	21–4 (13–2)	14th	2020
SCAC	Trinity (TX)[a]	22–5 (13–3)	11th	2014
SLIAC	Blackburn	11–17 (7–7)	3rd	2005
SUNYAC	Oswego State	25–2 (17–1)	7th	2019
United East	Penn State Harrisburg	23–3 (14–2)	2nd	2020
UAA	Emory	19–5 (12–2)	10th	2020
Upper Midwest	Northwestern–St. Paul	22–6 (13–1)	9th	2019
USA South	Averett	17–11 (11–3)	5th	2009
Wisconsin	UW–Oshkosh	22–3 (10–2)	11th	2020

1. St. Thomas (TX) won the Southern Collegiate tournament, but was ineligible to participate in the postseason due to its recent transition to the NCAA from the NAIA. The automatic bid was awarded to Trinity (TX) as the tournament runner-up.

At-large bids (20)

The following 20 teams were awarded qualification for the tournament field by the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee.^[1] The committee evaluated teams on the basis of their win–loss percentage, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, results against common opponents, and results against teams included in the NCAA's final regional rankings.^[2]

At-large bids
Conference	Team	Record (Conf.)	Appearance	Last bid
NEWMAC	Babson	18–8 (11–2)	11th	2020
Michigan	Calvin	20–8 (11–3)	22nd	2017
UAA	Case Western Reserve	18–6 (8–5)	1st	Never
SCIAC	Chapman	22–4 (12–3)	5th	2016
MAC Freedom	DeSales	22–5 (13–2)	6th	2019
MAC Commonwealth	Eastern	21–5 (13–2)	1st	Never
NEWMAC	Emerson	18–7 (10–4)	2nd	2019
Ohio	Heidelberg	18–7 (12–5)	4th	2008
CCIW	Illinois Wesleyan	21–5 (14–2)	26th	2018
Ohio	Mount Union	23–4 (14–3)	4th	2020
UAA	Rochester	17–8 (8–6)	17th	2019
New Jersey	Rowan	23–5 (14–4)	14th	2019
Liberty	RPI	21–5 (15–3)	7th	2020
Centennial	Swarthmore	22–5 (15–3)	5th	2020
Little East	UMass Dartmouth	24–4 (14–2)	15th	2009
Wisconsin	UW–La Crosse	20–6 (9–5)	3rd	2019
Wisconsin	UW–Platteville	21–5 (9–4)	14th	2020
UAA	Washington–St. Louis	18–7 (8–6)	23rd	2020
CCIW	Wheaton (IL)	20–6 (12–4)	12th	2019
NESCAC	Williams	17–4 (5–3)	18th	2019

Tournament bracket

^[3]

* – Denotes overtime period

Top-left - Cleveland, Ohio

First round March 4 Campus Sites

Second round March 5 Campus Sites

Third round March 11 Cleveland, OH

Quarterfinals March 12 Cleveland, OH

UW–Oshkosh

92

Blackburn

74

UW–Oshkosh

74

Oshkosh, WI

Case Western Reserve

77

Case Western Reserve

91*

Dubuque

87

Case Western Reserve

84

Mary Hardin–Baylor

89*

Mary Hardin–Baylor

88

Chapman

81

Mary Hardin–Baylor

98

Belton, TX

Trinity (TX)

82

Whitworth

52

Trinity (TX)

77

Mary Hardin–Baylor

84

Elmhurst

87*

UW–Platteville

76

Marian (WI)

59

UW–Platteville

64

Platteville, WI

Calvin

76

St. John's (MN)

71

Calvin

77

Calvin

77

Elmhurst

79

Elmhurst

95

Washington & Jefferson

70

Elmhurst

76

Elmhurst, IL

Pomona–Pitzer

70

Pomona–Pitzer

67

Northwestern–St. Paul

66

Cleveland Sectional Final

March 12 8:00 pm EST

Box Score

Mary Hardin–Baylor Crusaders 84, Elmhurst Blue Jays 87 (OT)
Scoring by half: 42-38, 35-39 Overtime: 7-10
Pts: Ty Prince – 21 Rebs: Ty Prince – 8 Asts: Ty Prince – 5		Pts: Jake Rhode – 21 Rebs: Jonathan Zapinski – 9 Asts: Jake Rhode – 6

Horsburgh Gymnasium – Cleveland, Ohio

Bottom-left - Bloomington, Illinois

	First round March 4 Campus Sites					Second round March 5 Campus Sites					Third round March 11 Bloomington, IL					Quarterfinals March 12 Bloomington, IL
	Emory		65
	Averett		60
						Emory		86
	Atlanta, GA
						Wabash		87
	Wabash		91
	Berry		79
											Wabash		73
											Williams		59
	Mount Union		74
	Stevens		84
						Stevens		61
	Alliance, OH
						Williams		71
	Williams		95
	Neumann		57
																Wabash		81
																Illinois Wesleyan		75
	Illinois Wesleyan		73
	Franklin		55
						Illinois Wesleyan		65
	Bloomington, IL
						UW–La Crosse		56
	UW–La Crosse		90
	Heidelberg		86
											Illinois Wesleyan		77
											Wheaton (IL)		73
	Washington–St. Louis		71
	Cornell (IA)		58
						Washington–St. Louis		61
	St. Louis, MO
						Wheaton (IL)		63
	Wheaton (IL)		70
	Hope		69

Bloomington Sectional Final

March 12 7:30 pm CST

Box Score

Wabash Little Giants 81, Illinois Wesleyan Titans 75
Scoring by half: 34-39, 47-36
Pts: Jack Davidson – 25 Rebs: Tyler Watson – 8 Asts: Tyler Watson – 5		Pts: Matthew Leritz – 21 Rebs: Matthew Leritz – 13 Asts: Luke Yoder, Cody Mitchell – 2

Shirk Center – Bloomington, Illinois

Top-right - Marietta, Ohio

	First round March 4 Campus Sites					Second round March 5 Campus Sites					Third round March 11 Marietta, OH					Quarterfinals March 12 Marietta, OH
	Marietta		91
	Medaille		79
						Marietta		88*
	Marietta, OH
						Rochester		83
	Rochester		88
	Eastern		65
											Marietta		89
											Oswego State		81
	Swarthmore		83
	Keene State		84
						Keene State		63
	Swarthmore, PA
						Oswego State		84
	Oswego State		82
	Hood		73
																Marietta		81
																Christopher Newport		79
	Christopher Newport		88
	Baruch		50
						Christopher Newport		81
	Newport News, VA
						Susquehanna		67
	Rowan		84
	Susquehanna		94
											Christopher Newport		93
											Stockton		54
	Stockton		87
	Wilson		52
						Stockton		70
	Galloway, NJ
						Johns Hopkins		63
	Johns Hopkins		63
	Yeshiva		59

Marietta Sectional Final

March 12 7:00 pm EST

Box Score

Marietta Pioneers 81, Christopher Newport Captains 79
Scoring by half: 30-37, 51-42
Pts: Lukas Isaly – 38 Rebs: Sahmi Willoughby – 10 Asts: Mason Lydic – 4		Pts: Jahn Hines – 20 Rebs: Ty Henderson – 10 Asts: Trey Barber, Ty Henderson – 2

Ban Johnson Arena – Marietta, Ohio

Bottom-right - Ashland, Virginia

	First round March 4 Campus Sites					Second round March 5 Campus Sites					Third round March 11 Ashland, VA					Quarterfinals March 12 Ashland, VA
	Randolph–Macon		99
	Mitchell		57
						Randolph–Macon		67
	Ashland, VA
						Babson		51
	DeSales		67
	Babson		80
											Randolph–Macon		92
											UMass Dartmouth		69
	Nazareth		78
	Westfield State		71
						Nazareth		68
	Pittsford, NY
						UMass Dartmouth		78
	UMass Dartmouth		86
	Emerson		83
																Randolph–Macon		76
																WPI		53
	Wesleyan (CT)		81
	Husson		61
						Wesleyan (CT)		58
	Middletown, CT
						RPI		59
	Nichols		58
	RPI		78
											RPI		55
											WPI		56
	WPI		77
	Vassar		58
						WPI		72
	Worcester, MA
						Penn State Harrisburg		52
	St. Joseph (CT)		53
	Penn State Harrisburg		63

Ashland Sectional Final

March 12 7:30 pm EST

Box Score

Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets 76, WPI Engineers 53
Scoring by half: 40-33, 36-20
Pts: Buzz Anthony – 23 Rebs: Daniel Mbangue – 6 Asts: Josh Talbert – 7		Pts: John Lowther – 15 Rebs: John Adams – 8 Asts: Andrew Lufkin – 2

Crenshaw Gymnasium – Ashland, Virginia

Final Four

	National semifinal March 18 Fort Wayne, IN					National championship March 19 Fort Wayne, IN
	Elmhurst		90
	Wabash		68
						Elmhurst		45
						Randolph–Macon		75
	Marietta		63
	Randolph–Macon		81

National Semifinals

March 18 4:00 pm EDT

Box Score

Marietta Pioneers 63, Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets 81
Scoring by half: 28-38, 35-43
Pts: Lukas Isaly – 23 Rebs: Jason Ellis – 7 Asts: Tim Kreeger – 5		Pts: Ian Robertson – 22 Rebs: Daniel Mbangue – 10 Asts: Buzz Anthony – 10

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, Indiana

March 18 6:30 pm EDT

Box Score

Elmhurst Blue Jays 90, Wabash Little Giants 68
Scoring by half: 48-34, 42-34
Pts: Jake Rhode – 32 Rebs: Bryce Drews – 11 Asts: Dominic Genco – 4		Pts: Jack Davidson – 21 Rebs: Jack Davidson – 6 Asts: Three tied – 2

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, Indiana

National Championship

March 19 6:00 pm EDT

Box Score

Elmhurst Blue Jays 45, Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets 75
Scoring by half: 23-38, 22-37
Pts: Lavon Thomas – 10 Rebs: Jonathan Zapinski – 7 Asts: Jake Rhode, Dominic Genco – 2		Pts: Josh Talbert – 15 Rebs: Josh Talbert – 11 Asts: Buzz Anthony, Josh Talbert – 4

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, Indiana

All-Tournament Team

• Buzz Anthony (Sr, Randolph–Macon) – Most Outstanding Player
• Miles Mallory (Jr, Randolph–Macon)
• Jake Rhode (Sr, Elmhurst)
• Lukas Isaly (Sr, Marietta)
• Jack Davidson (Sr, Wabash)

Record by conference

Conference	Record	Win %	R64	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG	NC
Old Dominion	6–0	1.000	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
CCIW	10–3	.769	3	3	3	2	1	1
North Coast	4–1	.800	1	1	1	1	1
Ohio	4–3	.571	3	1	1	1	1
American Southwest	3–1	.750	1	1	1	1
Coast to Coast	3–1	.750	1	1	1	1
NEWMAC	4–3	.571	3	2	1	1
SUNYAC	2–1	.667	1	1	1
Little East	3–2	.600	2	2	1
NESCAC	3–2	.600	2	2	1
New Jersey	3–2	.600	2	2	1
UAA	5–4	.556	4	4	1
Liberty	2–2	.500	2	1	1
Michigan	2–2	.500	2	1	1
Wisconsin	3–3	.500	3	3
Empire 8	1–1	.500	1	1
Landmark	1–1	.500	1	1
Southern Collegiate	1–1	.500	1	1
United East	1–1	.500	1	1
Centennial	1–2	.333	2	1
MAC Freedom	1–2	.333	2	1
SCIAC	1–2	.333	2	1
MAC Commonwealth	0–2	.000	2

• The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
• The Allegheny Mountain, American Rivers, Atlantic East, CUNYAC, Colonial States, Commonwealth Coast, Great Northeast, Heartland, MASCAC, Midwest, Minnesota, NECC, North Atlantic, Northern Athletics, Northwest, Presidents', Skyline, SAA, SLIAC, Upper Midwest, and USA South each had one representative, eliminated in the Round of 64 with a record of 0–1.

See also

• 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2022 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2022 NAIA men's basketball tournament
• 2022 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

References

1. "2021-22 men's basketball conference tourney tracker". D3Sports.com. February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
2. "2021-22 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Pre-Championship Manual" (PDF). NCAA. August 1, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
3. "2022 Division III Men's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA. Retrieved February 28, 2022.