UNG dances into NCAA championship

The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team is taking its pursuit of a national title to another level. Thanks to a 70-67 victory against Lander University in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship game March 19, the Nighthawks are headed to the eight-team NCAA championship, which starts March 26 in Evansville, Indiana.

UNG (28-6) is the fifth seed in the national quarterfinals and faces West Texas A&M (29-4) at 9:30 p.m. March 26. The winner will take on the victor between No. 1 Minnesota State and No. 8 Ferris State in a March 28 national semifinal. UNG is hosting a watch party at 9 p.m. March 26 in the Chow Dining Hall for the West Texas A&M game, and the first 300 students will receive free T-shirts. 

A raucous, all-time record crowd of 3,767 in Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center got to see a relentless effort from UNG against Lander. Nothing was going to stop the Nighthawks. Not early foul trouble for junior forward Frank Champion or multiple comebacks by Lander.

Even though Champion sat the final 16:45 of the first half with two fouls, UNG started the game strong and led 36-29 at halftime after closing the half on an 8-0 run.

"These guys played with so much toughness and so much grit," fifth-year head coach Dan Evans said. "To lose someone of Frank's caliber early in the first half to two fouls and to still play well and not be rattled, it was a testament to our entire program."

Sophomore guard Cayden Charles, who tallied game highs 18 points and eight rebounds, was named NCAA Southeast Regional Most Valuable Player. Every time the Bearcats would make a push, UNG had an answer. It was especially meaningful after Lander swept the teams' two Peach Belt Conference (PBC) matchups this season.

"This was the third time we've played Lander. They're a tough team," Charles said. "They're going to make some runs, but it's just staying the course, rebounding, defending. I knew it would work itself out."

The game-turning plays often came through making an extra pass, as the Nighthawks dished out 15 assists on 27 field goals. Sophomore point guard AJ White had five of those assists.

"We don't care about who scores the most points," White said. "Unselfishness is the team's foundation."

Junior forward Giancarlo Bastianoni and sophomore center Colin Turner each pitched in 15 points against Lander.

The regional title left Evans pointing back to how his team recovered from dropping three out of four games at one point in February, including two in overtime. Since then, UNG has earned the PBC's No. 2 seed, won the program's first PBC tournament title to clinch the Southeast Regional No. 1 seed and then secured the three NCAA tournament victories to advance to Evansville.

"There wasn't any doubt that crept in or straying from what we were trying to accomplish. To win the league tournament and win the regional, it's especially gratifying because we know what it feels like to come up just short," Evans said. "We've come up short of a conference regular-season championship basically at the buzzer the last two years."

NCAA Division II championship schedule

Quarterfinals, March 26

Game 1: No. 3 Gannon vs. No. 6 California State University of Santa Barbara, 1 p.m.

Game 2: No. 2 Nova Southeastern vs. No. 7 Southern New Hampshire, 3:30 p.m.

Game 3: No. 1 Minnesota State vs. No. 8 Ferris State, 7 p.m.

Game 4: No. 4 West Texas A&M vs. No. 5 University of North Georgia, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals, March 28

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

Championship, March 30

Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner