Both Apprentice School basketball teams learned on Tuesday night that they received bids to the 2012 U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships held March 7-10 in Uniontown, Pa. on the campus of Penn State Fayette.
For the women, this marks their 10th appearance in the national championships. Last season they finished seventh in the tournament defeating the host Penn State Fayette (84-52) and Penn State Brandywine (77-69) after losing to Penn State Beaver (68-60). They are 17-10 all-time in the USCAA Championships and have won the event twice (2000-01 and 2001-02).
They'll open the event as the second-seed and take on 15th-seeded St. Mary of the Woods College (Ind.) at 11:15 am on March 7. A win will put them in a quarterfinal against either seventh-seeded Concordia-Selma (Ala.) or tenth-seeded Lindenwood-Belleville (Mo.) on Thursday March 8 at 8 pm. A loss will put them against the loser of that game on Thurday, March 8 at 8 am in the 16-team event.
Rochester College (Mich.) earned the top-seed on the women's side, followed by the Apprentice School, Briarcliffe College (NY), Selma College (Ala.) and Southern Virginia University to round out the top five.
On the men's side, the Builders make their fifth appearance in the Men's Division I Championships and first since 2007-08 when they took third place in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They are 10-2 all-time in the USCAA Nationals and went 2-1 in 2007-08 defeating Rhema Bible College (76-61) before losing to Oakwood University (82-78) and rebounding to defeat Rochester College 84-72 for third place. The Builders won the event in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
They'll open the event immediately following the Lady Builders contest at 1:15 pm on March 7 when the sixth-seeded Builders face the third-seeded Lindenwood-Belleville Lynx. A win will put them into the semifinals on Friday, March 9 at noon against the winner of seventh-seeded Oakwood University and second-seeded Southern Virginia University.
Rochester College earned the top-seed on the men's Division I side, followed by Southern Virginia, Lindenwood-Belleville, Washington Adventist University and Ave Maria University. Following the Builders in the 8-team tournament are Oakwood University and the University of Maine-Fort Kent.
Brackets for the tournament can be found with the links below and on the USCAA website. More information will be forthcoming as to links and how to follow the action from Uniontown next week.