Men's Basketball | 3/24/2026 12:00:00 PM

No. 3 GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (31-3, 19-1 PSAC West) vs. No. 6 MICHIGAN TECH HUSKIES (29-6, 16-4 GLIAC) 
NCAA Division II Elite Eight -- Quarterfinals
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, March 25, 2026 | 12 noon
HOMECOURT/LOCATION:  UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse l Pittsburgh, Pa.

NCAA Division II Elite Eight – Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 25
Game 1 – No. 3 GANNON (31-3) vs. No. 6 Michigan Tech (29-6) – 12 noon
Game 2 – No. 2 Cal State East Bay (33-0) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist (30-3) – 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 – No. 1 Nova Southeastern (30-1) vs. No. 8 Black Hills State (30-4) – 6:00 p.m.
Game 4 – No. 4 Daemen (33-1) vs. No. 5 Lander (28-5) – 8:30 p.m.

Friday, March 27 -- Semifinals
Game 5 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 6:00 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – 8:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, April 5 – Championship in Indianapolis, Ind.
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 now won seven regional championships to advance to the Elite Eight. The sixth 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-MICHIGAN TECH SERIES
Michigan Tech leads 12-6
Gannon and Michigan Tech first met in 1995-96 as members of the GLIAC. The Huskies won that initial meeting 82-61 and have won two-thirds of the meetings in the series. The two teams last met in the championship game of the 2018 Gary Miller Classic with MTU prevailing 50-43.

Last Meeting:  Nov. 24, 2018 – Michigan Tech 50, at Gannon 43 – Gary Miller Classic Championship Game
The Huskies were crowned the champions of the 35th Annual Gary Miller Classic, rallying from a 22-11 halftime deficit. MTU's Bryan Heath was named the outstanding player after scoring a game-high 18 points. Victor Olawoye led Gannon with 10 points.
 
 
ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team earned its second trip to the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight in three years after defeating Indiana (Pa.) in the Atlantic Regional championship game.
 
The Golden Knights will now face an old conference foe in the national quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 25. Awarded the third seed, Gannon plays No. 6 Michigan Tech at 12 noon at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The two teams faced each other as members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the 1990's and until Gannon moved into the PSAC in 2008-09.
 
This year's Elite Eight will have a different look. The quarterfinals are set for Wednesday with the semifinal games on Friday, March 27. The NCAA Div. II National Championship game will not take place until Sunday, April 5 in Indianapolis, Ind. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 
 
The Gannon-Michigan Tech contest is the first of four quarterfinal games on Wednesday. Game number two tips at 2:30 p.m. with undefeated and No. 2 seed Cal State East Bay (33-0) opposing No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist (30-3).
 
The second session of the day gets underway with No. 1 Nova Southeastern (30-1) squaring off against No. 8 Black Hills State (30-4) at 6:00 p.m. The day concludes with No. 4 Daemen (33-1) meeting No. 5 Lander (28-5) at 8:30 p.m.
 
The semifinals take place on Friday, March 27 with the winners of Wednesday first two games playing at 6:00 p.m. followed by the winners of games three and four squaring off at 8:30 p.m.
 
The 2026 NCAA Division II Championship Game is scheduled for Sunday, April 5 in Indianapolis, Ind. Tipoff at Gainbridge Fieldhouse is 1:00 p.m.  
 
Gannon, the Atlantic Regional champions, enters with a 31-3 record and was ranked sixth in the final NABC Div. II Top 25. The Golden Knights were awarded the number three seed in the tournament field. The 31 wins ranks second all-time, bettered only by the 32 wins in 2023-24.
 
Michigan Tech earned the sixth seed after winning the Midwest Regional for the first time. The Huskies have set a school record for wins with a 29-6 record and were 16th in the final NABC poll.
 
Gannon is known for its high-scoring offensive attack which is actually a bi-product of a 94-feet-of-hell pressing defense. The Golden Knights rank third in Division II in scoring offense (95.9 ppg.) while leading the country in turnovers forced per game (23.15) and ranking second in turnover margin (+9.6). 
 
They'll face a Michigan Tech team which limits opponents to 66.5 ppg., tied for 19th in Division II. The Huskies place a great deal of emphasis on the 3-point shot, taking over 200 more shots from beyond the arc than their opponents. They average 9.7 three's made per game and 27.4 three's attempted per game, both figures in the top 30 nationally.
 
Gannon is also third in Div. II in scoring margin at 22.4 ppg. The Golden Knights have only played in four games decided by 10 points-or-less, going 3-1. MTU has played in 20 games decided by 10 points-or-less. The Huskies are 16-4 in those contests.
 
The Knight Watch:
Record:  31-3, 19-1 PSAC West
Head Coach: Easton Bazzoli (PSAC West Coach of the Year; 58-10, 2nd year)
Top Players:  Pace Prosser (G, 6-2, So., 18.3 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 73-of-235 3's, 153 asts., 76 stls.); Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia/Marist Catholic College North Shore) (G/F, 6-4, Jr., 13.6 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 52.9 FG%, 53 stls.); Lucas Sekasi (Washington, DC/Jackson-Reed) (11.4 ppg., 4.9 rpg., 156 asts., 63 stls.); Precious Idiaru (Speyer, Germany/LA Premier Prep) (F, 6-10, R-Jr., 11.1 ppg., 4.4 rpg., 40-of-127 3's); Mackenzie Morgan (Sydney, Australia/Marist Catholic College North Shore) (G, 6-4, Jr., 9.6 ppg., 3.8 rpg., 57-of-169 3's, 68 stls.); Layne Sarver (New Madison, Ohio/Tri-Village) (G, 6-6, Sr., 9.1 ppg., 60-of-177 3's); Victor Desmond (Onalaska, Wisc./Onalaska) (G/F, 6-7, Sr., 7.7 ppg., 4.7 rpg., 30 blks.)  

• Gannon is making its second appearance in three years in the Elite Eight, and a year ago advanced to the Sweet 16. The Golden Knights won the Atlantic Regional title and are in the Elite Eight. They were awarded the third seed in the tournament.  
• The Golden Knights come in with a 31-3 record, the second-most wins in program history. They were the PSAC Western Division regular season champions, finishing at 19-1 in league play. Gannon was sixth in the final NABC Div. II Top 25 released recently.
• 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 Vulcans were fouled on a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left and converted all three free throws to snap Gannon's 15-game winning streak. The Golden Knights defeated East Stroudsburg 104-73 in the quarterfinals and beat Indiana (Pa.) for the third time this season in the semifinals 99-85.
• After defeating Charleston (WV) 83-58 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Regional, Gannon gained a bit of revenge in the semifinals against California (Pa.). The Golden Knights pulled away for an 89-73 win over the Vulcans behind Pace Prosser's (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley) season-high 30 points. That left a fourth meeting with Indiana (Pa.). Gannon erased a six-point halftime deficit to win 81-74 as Prosser dropped in 24 points. The sophomore guard was named the regional MVP and Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia/Marist Catholic College North Shore) earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
• Head coach Easton Bazzoli was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year. Bazzoli has a 58-10 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.
• Prosser 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 boosted his career total to 1,108 points in the Atlantic Regional and now has 623 points this season. That is the sixth-highest season total.  
• 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, totaling 600 points, before joining the Golden Knights a year ago. He has 1,043 overall career points. 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, where he piled up 635 points, the junior guard/forward now sits at 1,085 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. Prosser has since been named to both the NABC All-Atlantic Region Team and D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Team. 

Scouting Michigan Tech:
Record:  29-6, 16-4 GLIAC
Head Coach:  Josh Buettner (95-58, 5th year)
Top Players:  Marcus Tomashek (G, 6-6, Sr., 21.6 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 113-of-304 3's, 161-of-205 FTs, 95 asts.); Dawson Nordgaard (F, 6-10, R-Sr., 9.5 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 63.8 FG%, 32 blks.); Ty Fernholfz (G, 6-1, So., 8.7 ppg., 85-of-237 3's); Gabe Smith (G/F, 6-6, R-So., 7.9 ppg., 6.6 rpg., 60 stls.)

• Michigan Tech is making its first appearance in the Elite Eight after winning the Midwest Regional. The Huskies knocked off the numbers one, two and six seeds behind an incredible effort from All-American Marcus Tomashek. MTU opened the tournament with an 83-73 win over Lake Erie and in the semifinals they edged No. 2 seed Grand Valley State 69-67. MTU trailed 67-64 with 22 seconds but Tomashek made a free throw with 14 seconds left and with two seconds remaining hit the game-winning 3-pointer and ensuing free throw for a four-point play. Tomashek scored 33 points in the regional championship game to lead the Huskies to an 87-70 win at No. 1 Walsh. He was named the regional MVP after scoring 89 points in the three games.
• Fifth-year head coach Josh Buettner has led the Huskies to a 29-6 record, a school record for wins. They finished tied for first in the GLIAC with a 16-4 record before losing in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals to Grand Valley State. Buettner has guided MTU to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
• Marcus Tomashek is wrapping up an incredible career. The 6-foot-6 senior is an NABC All-American and a three-time All-GLIAC selection. He ranks second in career scoring at MTU with 2,447 points. Tomashek ranks 12th in Div. II in scoring at 21.6 ppg. and sixth in 3-pointers made per game (3.32). He has made 113-of-304 3-pointers. He has scored 734 points this season, the fourth-highest season total.
• Three other Huskies received GLIAC postseason recognition. Dawson Nordgaard, a 6-foot-10 senior earned first team All-GLIAC honors. Nate Abel, a 6-foot-2, redshirt senior, and Gabe Smith, a 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore, were named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team.