WORCESTER—The spirit of March Madness was alive and well in Worcester this month as four basketball teams on three local campuses secured invitations to the Big Dance.
At Assumption University, both the men’s and women’s teams earned berths in the Division 2 tournament while the men’s teams at Clark University and WPI grabbed spots in the Division 3 tournament.
The Assumption men’s team captured its first NCAA Division 2 East Regional Championship in 50 years with a 97-90 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the Sweet Sixteen on March 18 at Daemen University in Amherst, NY.
The win advanced the Greyhounds (22-10) to the Elite Eight where they fell to top-seeded Nova Southeastern 102-93 in Evansville, Indiana on March 25. Nova Southeastern (34-1), known as a perennial national power, won the Division 2 title in 2023 and advanced to the championship game in 2024.
Down by as many as 25 points early in the second half, the Greyhounds did not go quietly as they fought back with a commanding 29-12 run to cut the lead to as few as eight points with just over 11 minutes remaining.
“This team, I’ve been proud of them all season with just the fight that they have. Every time that we’ve battled adversity, every time people thought we might be down and out, we just continue to fight through it and continue to battle together,” said Assumption Head Coach Scott Faucher in the post-game press conference. “I’m proud of these guys for that. I think that’s kind of a testament to who we are.”
This season marked the 28th overall NCAA Tournament appearance for the historic program. After opening the season with two losses, Assumption won its next 11 games in a row.
The Greyhounds were led by all All-Northeast-10 Conference selections Daouda Dembele (11.0 points per game, Second Team; All-Defensive Team), Njavan Stewart (11.6 points per game, Third Team) and Lenny Tangishaka (7.3 points per game, All-Rookie Team). Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton (10.2 points per game) was also named the Most Valuable Player on the All-Tournament Team for the NCAA East Regional.
On the women’s side, Assumption (19-14) received an at-large berth to the NCAAs after falling to Bentley 64-54 in the Northeast-10 Conference championship game on March 9. The Greyhounds received the sixth-seed in the East Regional but fell 67-53 to third-seeded
Holy Family in the first round at Bentley’s Dana Center on March 14. This season marked the third straight year and 10th time overall that Assumption has earned a trip to the East Regional.
Marina Callahan led the way for the Greyhounds this season, averaging team-highs in both scoring (13.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.3 rebounds per game). She was named a Division 2 All-American honorable mention by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in addition to garnering First-Team All-Northeast-10 Conference and All-NE-10 Defensive Team honors. Molly Stokes (12.8 points per game) was also a strong contributor for Assumption, leading the team with 54 three-point field goals.
Across town in Main South, the Clark men’s basketball team turned in a memorable campaign, going 18-10 and advancing to the NCAA Division 3 Tournament for the 17th time in program history but just the first time in 15 years. The second-seeded Cougars took down top-seeded WPI 80-65 on March 1 to capture the NEWMAC championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAAs before falling to Keene State 77-68 in its first-round game on March 7 at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Clark trailed Keene State by six points at halftime but battled back to tie the score and eventually take the lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
“I love our effort. I love our character. I love our competitiveness,” said head coach Tyler Simms after the loss. “I’ll go to bat with a team like that every single day.” The Cougars were led by a trio of All-NEWMAC performers in Fist-Team selections Bruce Saintilus (16.4 points per game) and Kekoa McArdle (11.7 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game) and Second-Team honoree Isaiah Taylor (11.8 points per game). Saintilus was also selected as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District First Team as well as a Second Team All-Region choice by d3hoops.com.
Despite falling to Clark in the NEWMAC title game, which broke a 16-game winning streak, WPI (26-4) earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division 3 Tournament and was chosen to host the first two rounds. The Engineers defeated Husson 81-71 on March 7 and downed Ithaca 79-71 on March 8. With the pair of wins, WPI advanced to its fourth overall appearance in the Sweet 16, but fell 66-50 to Wesleyan in Middletown, CT on March 14. The NCAA Tournament appearance was the 15th overall for the WPI men’s program.
“Our guys fought their tails off, I love my guys,” said head coach Chris Bartley after the loss. “I’m so appreciative of how hard they work.”
Aidan Callahan (15.3 points per game, 5.2 assists per game) picked up a host of post- season honors including NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, All-NEWMAC First Team, NABC All-America Second Team, NABC All-District First Team and d3hoops.com All-Region First Team. Joining Callahan on the All-NEWMAC First Team was teammate Tim Reidy (13.9 points per game) who was also named to the NABC All-District Second Team.
J.R. Newman (11.0 points per game) was selected as the NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year and WPI was also honored with the NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year award. Brett Marelli (9.8 points per game) was named to the All-NEWMAC Second Team and Bartley was tabbed as NABC District 2 Coach of the Year.
Mike Vigneux is a freelance writer in Worcester with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of municipal government, communications, and public relations. An avid fan of all sports, Mike enjoys telling the stories of local athletes and their teams. He holds two degrees from Clark University, a bachelor of arts in Communication and a master of science in Professional Communication. He can be reached at Mikevigs@gmail.com
