MISENHEIMER — Fresh off its first USA South Tournament championship win, the Pfeiffer University men’s basketball team now has another goal in mind as it prepares for its first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.
The Falcons (18-7, 12-2 USA South) — now riding a nine-game winning streak — are preparing to travel to Newport News, Va., to challenge the Roanoke College Maroons (23-5, 14-2 ODAC) on Friday at 4 p.m. for the first-round tournament matchup.
The winner of that game will play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Christopher Newport (22-5) and John Jay College (19-8, 11-3 CUNYAC), who are also scheduled to face off together on Friday.
Marking the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance for Pfeiffer, the Falcons are hoping to continue the surge of momentum they’ve carried across the past two months in what has become their best season since reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division III and beginning play in the USA South during the 2018-19 season.
In the recent USA South Tournament, the Falcons easily got past Mary Baldwin (14-13, 7-7 USA South) in a 90-64 semifinals win on Feb. 27 and followed that up with a 108-80 victory over NC Wesleyan (17-10, 10-4 USA South) in Saturday’s conference championship game.
Senior guard Daymon Beckwith earned All-USA South honors and also received the USA South Tournament MVP award in the event, while junior forward Doug Smith also earned All-USA South first-team honors. Additionally, seniors Alex Cunningham and Jaylen Hamilton were named to the All-Tournament team for their performances in the event.
In the Falcons’ 28-point blowout win in the conference title game, five total Falcons scored in double figures: Beckwith (21 points), Cunningham (15), Donte Forrester-Jhagroo (12), Clayton Robinson (11), and Smith (10).
Now preparing to face Roanoke on Friday night, the Falcons will face a Maroon team that received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling short in the ODAC Championship game over the weekend.
Led by senior guard and Charlotte native Joshua McClary, Roanoke had won nine in a row leading up to that tournament loss.
The 64-team, single-elimination 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament consists of 43 automatic qualifiers and 21 at-large bids; Trine University, out of Angola, Ind., won the championship last year.
Looking ahead, the semifinals and championship will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., on March 20 and 22.