USciences Men's Hoops Excited For D2 Tourney Debut
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- A magical season for the University of the Sciences men's basketball team is set to continue on Saturday when they Devils take part in their first ever NCAA Division II Tournament. In the first round they will take on St. Anselm up in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Devils bring a 24-5 record into the tournament. They are the #6 seed in the East Region and they earned an at-large berth after losing in overtime to Philadelphia University in the semi-finals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament.
"It's well deserved," Sciences head coach Dave Pauley tells KYW Newsradio. "It's great for the kids, the players, to see their name up on the big board, to experience that moment. It really means a lot to the alumni and the former players, they're probably more excited than the current players. It means a lot for my staff, I have two excellent assistants that get lost in the shuffle (Scott Sisson and Mike Gallagher), they've done a great job working with the kids."
Listen: Dave Pauley with KYW's Matt Leon
Sciences is led by arguably the best player in the country in Division II in 6'4" senior forward Garret Kerr, who averages 24.9 points and 12.7 rebounds a game. The three-time CACC Player of the Year leads the team in steals (53) and is second in assists (115) and he shoots 39% from 3. Kerr hit the winning three-pointer in the final seconds when the Devils stunned Division I Drexel at the DAC back on December 4th. Surrounding Kerr is a solid group of players including junior guard Sho Da-Silva, who averages 13.6 points per game and Garret's brother Wes, a junior swingman, who scores 8.1 points per contest. The Devils are a group that plays very well together and plays with extreme confidence.
"This group I knew was special when two things happened," Pauley says. "One, they were practicing the same way at Thanksgiving as they were in October. So you had six weeks in and they're still practicing the same way. Of course, referencing back to the Drexel thing, when you have a win like that, that really raises the expectations and ok, we can do this, we might be sitting on something special here. Let's put everything aside and play hard and play for each other and that's what we have. We have nice kids in the program and I think they really enjoy each other and they enjoy the others doing well."
St. Anselm hails from the powerful Northeast 10 Conference and they bring a 19-9 record into the tournament.
"Watched them on tape," Pauley says. "Keith Dickson's the coach, does a great job, I've known him well. They really like to score and push the ball, very, very talented. And it's a very intriguing match-up because I think both teams are very similar."
Pauley says he wants his team to take in everything about this NCAA Tournament experience because it is the latest step on a very special journey.
"I just want them to enjoy it and have fun," Pauley says. "Embrace everything. We've been nationally ranked, we've been regionally ranked. Not going to run away from that. Enjoy it."
Sciences and St. Anselm will tip-off at noon on Saturday. The winner gets the winner of Stonehill and Southern New Hampshire in the second round on Sunday.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
