General | 3/12/2026 3:59:00 PM

No. 1 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (28-3, 19-1 PSAC West) vs. No. 8 CHARLESTON (WV) GOLDEN EAGLES (19-9, 14-6 MEC) 
NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional -- Quarterfinals
DATE/TIME: Saturday, March 14, 2026 | 5:00 p.m.
HOMECOURT/LOCATION:  Highmark Events Center l Erie, Pa.


NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional at Gannon – Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 14
Game 1 – No. 3 Fairmont State (26-5) vs. No. 6 Indiana (Pa.) (22-7) – 12 noon
Game 2 – No. 2 West Liberty (27-4) vs. No. 7 Virginia Union (24-5) – 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 – No. 1 GANNON (28-3) vs. No. 8 Charleston (WV) (19-9) – 5:00 p.m.
Game 4 – No. 4 California (Pa.) (22-8) vs. No. 5 Fayetteville State (23-6) – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 15 -- Semifinals
Game 5 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 5:00 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – 7:30 p.m.
 
Tuesday, March 17 -- Championship
Game 7 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner – 7:00 p.m.


GANNON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Gannon is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has won five regional championships to advance to the Elite Eight. The fifth came two years ago when Nigel Haughton's putback as the buzzer sounded gave Gannon a 67-65 win over Charleston (WV). The Golden Knights went on to lose to Cal State San Bernardino 99-65 in the quarterfinals. A year ago Gannon defeated East Stroudsburg (99-74) and Virginia State (92-66) to reach the Sweet 16. West Liberty ended Gannon's hopes for a second straight trip to the Elite Eight with a 101-90 victory on its homecourt. Gannon won its first regional crown in 1975 winning the East Regional. They also won the East Regional in 1987, 1988 and 1990. In 2009 Gannon won the Atlantic Regional.
 
THE GANNON-CHARLESTON (WV) SERIES
Gannon leads 5-2
The Golden Knights and Golden Eagles last met in the 2024 Atlantic Regional championship game, with Gannon rallying for a 67-65 win at the buzzer to earn a trip to the Elite Eight. They met earlier that same season on the second night of the Atlantic Region Tip-Off Tournament in Charleston with
Gannon prevailing 91-83. This marks the third meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament. Gannon came away with a 66-64
win in the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 Atlantic Regional hosted by East Stroudsburg.  

ERIE, Pa. – Gannon earned its third straight berth in the NCAA Div. II Atlantic Regional and will host the regional for the second time in three years. The Golden Knights will host a high-powered group of eight teams with the regional tipping off on Saturday, March 14 with four games.
 
Gannon won the Atlantic Regional in 2023-24 to advance to the Elite Eight and a year ago reached the Sweet 16 before falling to West Liberty in the regional championship game.
 
The Atlantic Regionals gets underway at 12 noon with No. 3 seed Fairmont State (26-5) opposing No. 6 Indiana (Pa.) (22-7). At 2:30 p.m. No. 2 West Liberty (27-4), the Mountain East Conference champion, goes up against No. 7 Virginia Union (24-5).
 
Gannon (28-3) will take the court at the Highmark Events Center at 5:00 p.m. The top-seeded Golden Knights will face No. 8 Charleston (WV) (19-9). The first round wraps up with PSAC champion and No. 4 seed California (Pa.) playing Fayetteville State (23-6), the number five seed and CIAA champion.
 
The winners of the first two games on Saturday will meet in Sunday's first semifinal at 5:00 p.m. Games three and four winners will meet in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The semifinal winners will play for the Atlantic Regional championship and a berth in the Elite Eight on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m.
 
Gannon is one of three nationally-ranked teams in the Atlantic Regional. The Golden Knights dropped one spot to sixth in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 with Sunday's loss to California (Pa.) in the PSAC Championship game. West Liberty is ranked seventh and Fairmont State 12th in the national rankings.
 
If it's plenty of points you're looking for it's the Atlantic Regional. Four of the top scoring teams in Division II are competing in the regional. West Liberty ranks second nationally in scoring offense at 98.8 ppg., followed by Gannon at 97.1 ppg.  Fairmont State is seventh (90.7 ppg.) and Fayetteville State eighth (89.4 ppg.).
 
Gannon comes into the regional with a 28-3 record after seeing a 15-game winning streak snapped by Cal. The Golden Knights won the PSAC West regular season championship for the third straight year and second under head coach Easton Bazzoli. The second-year coach was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year.
 
The opening round game vs. Charleston (WV) is a rematch of the 2024 Atlantic Regional championship game that turned into an instant classic. Gannon scored on a putback at the  buzzer to rally from 16 points down and win a trip to the Elite Eight by a 67-65 score.

The Atlantic Regional champion will advance along with seven other regional winners to compete in the Elite Eight at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa. The quarterfinals are set for March 25 and the semifinals on March 27. The NCAA Division II Championship Game will take place in Indianapolis, Ind. on April 5.
 
The Knight Watch
Record:  28-3, 19-1 PSAC West

• Gannon is making its third straight appearance in the NCAA Div. II Atlantic Regional and hosting the event for the second time in three years. The Golden Knights won the 2024 Atlantic Regional to reach the Elite Eight and advanced to the Sweet 16 a year ago before losing to West Liberty in the regional championship game.
• The Golden Knights come in with a 28-3 record, tied for the third-most wins in program history. They were the PSAC Western Division regular season champions, finishing at 19-1 in league play. Gannon is sixth in the final NABC Div. II Top 25 released on Tuesday.
• Gannon finished as the runner-up at the PSAC Tournament, dropping an 80-79 heart-breaking decision to California (Pa.) in the title game. 
• The 15-game winning streak was tied for the second-longest in school history. The 2023-24 edition, with current head coach Easton Bazzoli serving as an assistant coach, set the record with 21 wins in a row. Last year's squad ran off 15 straight wins.  
• Gannon finished the regular season at 14-0 at the Highmark Events Center and is now 16-1 in the venerable facility. Including four wins last year Gannon had a 20-game home winning streak snapped by Cal. The Golden Knights are 28-2 the last two years at home and 49-2 the last three years. 
• Head coach Easton Bazzoli was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year. Bazzoli has a 55-10 record in his second season. He became the fastest coach to reach 50 career wins. Bazzoli led Gannon to a 27-7 record in his first season as head coach and was an assistant coach on the 2023-24 team that finished at 32-3.
• Pace Prosser (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley) topped the 1,000-point mark in Gannon's semifinal win vs. IUP. He became the first Gannon player to reach 1,000 career points since Adam Blazek in 2013-14 and the 27th overall. He is just the fourth Golden Knight to do it in two seasons (Glen Summors, Darryl Freeman, Troy Nesmith). Prosser enters the Atlantic Regional with 1,038 points.
• Two other Golden Knights have reached 1,000 combined career points while playing at two different schools. Senior swingman Victor Desmond (Onalaska, Wisc./Onalaska) topped 1,000 points recently against Pitt-Johnstown. He played two seasons at Des Moines Area Community College before joining the Golden Knights a year ago. Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia/Marist Catholic College North Shore) joined the personal 1,000-point club in the PSAC quarterfinal win over East Stroudsburg. Including two seasons at St. Cloud State the junior guard/forward now sits at 1,050 points.  
• Prosser was one of three players to earn All-PSAC West honors recently. The sophomore guard earned a spot on the All-PSAC West first team after earning second team honors as a freshman. Gannon had two players selected to the second team with redshirt junior forward Precious Idiaru (Speyer, Germany/LA Premier Prep) and sophomore guard Lucas Sekasi (Washington, DC/Jackson-Reed) on the second unit.

In Division II, Gannon ranks...
-- 3rd in scoring offense (97.1 ppg.)
-- 3rd in scoring margin (23.1)
-- 2nd in steals per game (13.1)
-- 8th in 3-point attempts per game (30.1)
-- 2nd in turnover margin (9.9)
-- 1st in turnovers forced per game (23.58)
-- 5th in assists per game (18.6)
-- 18th in rebound margin (6.5)
 
GANNON VS. THE ATLANTIC REGIONAL FIELD
No. 2 seed West Liberty (27-4) – The Hilltoppers defeated Gannon 101-90 in last year's Atlantic Regional championship game. The year before that the Golden Knights prevailed 103-88 in the regional semifinals. West Liberty won its fifth Mountain East Conference championship on Sunday with a 93-88 win over Fairmont State. The Hilltoppers are making their 17th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. They are ranked seventh in the NABC Div. II Top 25. While Michael Lamberti has taken over as head coach West Liberty remains one of the top scoring teams in Division II. The Hilltoppers rank second in Division II in scoring at 98.8 ppg.
Head Coach: Michael Lamberti (27-4, 1st year; 61-28, 3rd year overall)

No. 3 seed Fairmont State (26-5) – The Falcons fell to West Liberty 93-88 in the Mountain East Conference championship game on Sunday. Fairmont State is ranked 12^th in the latest NABC Div. II Top 25 and is making its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament in seven years under head coach Tim Koenig. The Falcons are another of the high-scoring teams in the regional, ranking seventh in Division II at 90.7 ppg.
Head Coach: Tim Koenig (159-46, 7th year; 252-134, 13th year overall)

No. 4 seed California (Pa.) (22-8) – The Vulcans upset Gannon on Sunday 80-79 to capture the PSAC Championship. It was their first conference crown since 2008. The Vulcans (22-8) will be making their third appearance in five years in the NCAA Tournament and their 16th all-time appearance. In addition to owning two wins over Gannon Cal has defeated Charleston (WV) and lost to West Liberty.
Head Coach: Danny Sancomb (134-79, 8th year; 350-194, 19th year overall)

No. 5 seed Fayetteville State (22-8) – Fayetteville State recently captured the CIAA championship with a 71-68 win over Bluefield State. It was the program's third CIAA crown and second since 2022. The Broncos have run off 17 straight wins under first-year head coach Devin Hoehn. They rank eighth in Division II in scoring offense at 89.4 ppg.
Head Coach: Devin Hoehn (22-8, 1st year)

No. 6 seed Indiana (Pa.) (22-7) – While IUP is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament under long-time head coach Joe Lombardi, the Crimson Hawks earned their first trip to the Big Dance since 2023 when they reached the Atlantic Regional championship game. IUP earned the bid after finishing third in the PSAC West and reaching the PSAC Semifinals before losing to Gannon.  
Head Coach: Joe Lombardi (453-144, 19th year)

No. 7 seed Virginia Union (24-5) – Virginia Union finished as the number two seed out the CIAA's Northern Division but was upset in the quarterfinals by Johnson C. Smith. The Panthers earned the at-large berth for their first appearance since 2023 and fourth under head coach Jay Butler. Virginia Union leads Division II in scoring defense limiting opponents to just 59.9 ppg.
Their resume includes wins over first-round opponent West Liberty (94-88) and Fayetteville State.
Head Coach: Jay Butler (CIAA Coach of the Year; 194-113, 11th year)

No. 8 seed Charleston (WV) (19-9) – Despite an early exit in the MEC Tournament, a 79-76 loss to Glenville State in the quarterfinals the Golden Eagles are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019-20., The loss to Glenville State snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Head Coach: James Long (37-19, 2nd year)