Mar 11, 2024 By Chris Dugan 2 min read

Both the California men’s and women’s basketball teams received at-large berths late Sunday night to the NCAA Division II tournaments that begin Friday.

And as an added twist, the Cal men (27-4) will host two rounds of subregional play in the Atlantic Regional.

Because Gannon is the region’s No. 1 seed for both the men and women, the eight-team Atlantic Regional was broken into two parts. The top half of the men’s bracket will play at Gannon while the bottom half will go to Cal’s Convocation Center. The women’s regional is split between Gannon and Fairmont State.

The Cal men, who lost to Gannon in the PSAC tournament championship game Sunday, are seeded No. 2. The Vulcans will play seventh-seeded West Virginia State (20-9) in the opening round Friday at 5 p.m. The other game at Cal matches Mountain East Conference champion and third-seeded Charleston (W.Va.) and sixth-seeded Concord (22-7) at 7:30 p.m.

At Gannon, the Golden Knights (29-2) will play CIAA champion Lincoln (17-13) and fourth-seeded West Liberty (26-5) plays fifth-seeded Millersville (24-6).

The winning teams will play in the second round Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The regional final will be played Tuesday, March 19 at the highest remaining seed.

The Cal women (23-8) will be making their ninth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Vulcans, who are seeded No. 5, will get a rematch with PSAC runner-up and fourth-seeded Lock Haven (28-3) in the first round Friday at the Hagerty Events Center in Erie. Lock Haven edged Cal 54-51 in the PSAC tournament Saturday on the Bald Eagles’ home court.

The Cal-Lock Haven winner will play the winner of top-seeded and PSAC champion Gannon (32-2) and eighth-seeded West Virginia State (21-10).

The other half of the bracket will be played at Fairmont State. The Falcons (26-5) play West Chester (24-6), and Fayetteville State (27-2) plays Indiana (21-7).