ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University men's basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament after defeating Marymount University 83-77 in overtime in the 2025 Atlantic East Championship.
 
The Knights travel to Hartford, Conn. for first and second round action this weekend. Neumann will face the host, Trinity College (Conn.), in the first round. Keene State and Clark University will play in the other first round game on Friday afternoon. Trinity was ranked No. 4 in the latest D3hoops.com poll. 

This will be the fourth time the Knights will be playing in the NCAA Tournament under 12^th year head coach Jim Rullo. Neumann is currently 20-7 overall, marking the seventh time the Knights have hit the 20 win mark under Rullo Coach Rullo also recorded his 200^th career win at Neumann in the semifinal win over Marywood.
 
"Winning the conference and going to the NCAA Tournament is the goal every season for our program  – so to accomplish this feat is a testament to the players and the assistant coaches for their incredible sacrifice all season," says Coach Rullo. "We know we are playing a very good team in Trinity but we are embracing the challenge and looking forward to the opportunity."
 
Neumann is led by Atlantic East Conference Player of the Year and First Team Honoree Donte Dupriest. The junior is in the Top 15 in the country with 13 double-doubles and averaging 18.9 points and 15.1 rebounds per game.
 
In addition, three other Knights are averaging double-digits.  Second Team honorees DJ Earl (17.1 ppg) and TJ Lewis (13.4 ppg) while, Bryan Etienne adds 10.3 ppg. Mike Smith, III is close at 9.9 ppg.
 
"Going to the NCAA Tournament means a lot," says junior Lewis. "We put in an endless amount of hard work throughout these past couple of months and now that we get to showcase it on the biggest stage is a dream come true."
 
The Knights are Top 15 in the NCAA in Rebound Margin (9 rpg) as well as being Top 10 in both Free Throws Attempted per game (25.3) and Free Throws Made per game (18.0)
 
This will be the first match-up between Neumann and Trinity in men's basketball. Tip-off if slated for 7:10 PM on Friday evening.
 
The winners of Friday's games will play on Saturday in the second round for a chance to advance to the sectionals at four different sites on March 14^th and 15^th. The semifinals and championship will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on March 20^th and 22^nd.