DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team has been selected to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Southeast Regional and will enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed. North Georgia will face No. 4 seed Lenoir-Rhyne in the opening round on March 14 in Anderson, South Carolina. The regional will be hosted by No. 1 seed Anderson. The four quarterfinals will take place on Saturday, the two semi-finals on Sunday and the Southeast Region championship on Tuesday night.
The Nighthawks enter the NCAA Tournament riding strong momentum after closing the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.
North Georgia continued its run in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament with victories over Georgia College and Columbus State to advance to the championship game before finishing as the tournament runner-up against Lander. Lenoir-Rhyne enters the tournament as the reigning Southeast Region champions after defeating UNC Pembroke in the championship game last year. The game will be a battle between the last two regional champions as the Nighthawks took home the title in 2024 with L-R claiming last year's Southeast regional.
The quarterfinal matchups feature #1 Anderson (29-2) vs. #8 Young Harris (22-8), #2 Lander (25-5) vs. #7 Lincoln Memorial (19-11), #3 Catawba (23-8) vs. #6 Columbus State (22-8) and #4 Lenoir-Rhyne (24-8) vs. #5 North Georgia (22-7).
Zack Hawkinson, Colin Turner and Chase Champion were each named to the Peach Belt Conference All-Tournament Team following their performances during the postseason run.
The regional selection marks the third NCAA postseason appearance in program history for North Georgia, with all three coming in the last four years.
The North Georgia/L-R quarterfinal is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start on Saturday evening.
The eight regional champions will advance to the quarterfinals in conjunction with the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's Elite Eight. The quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held March 25 and 27 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion and SportsPITTSBURGH will serve as hosts.
