DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University men's basketball team, coached by Guy Rancourt (7th Season), has qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the 14th and the first time since 2020 and will play Catholic University (19-7) in the opening round on Friday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m. at Tufts University.  The Wolves made the tournament field thanks to their 84-68 victory over Keene State in the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships Finals yesterday.  WestConn, which is 21-6, will play the winner of Friday night's Tufts/PSU-Harrisburg game in the NCAA Second Round on Saturday, March 7 at 6 p.m. if the Wolves defeat the Cardinals on Friday.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 3 to 12, students with ID and senior citizens. 

WestConn won a share of the LEC Regular Season title with a 12-4 conference record and were the top seed in the conference tournament.  The Wolves survived a semifinal game against Eastern Connecticut before taking care of the three-time defending champion Keene State Owls in the finals on Sunday.  WestConn's previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2020 also came by virtue of an LEC crown, and the Wolves were also sent to Tufts for the first round where they suffered a 74-73 setback against the Jumbos.  WestConn first made the NCAA Tourney in 1986 and enjoyed a four-year run to the Big Dance from 1989 to 1992.  The Wolves were also in the NCAA Tournament in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2003, 2005, 2011, and, 2012, and reached the Elite Eight round in 1990.  WestConn, 9-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, did not play any teams this season that made the field this year and the Wolves and the Cardinals have never faced each other.

WestConn recovered from a 3-4 start to the 2025-26 season with an eight-game winning streak from December 11 to January 10.  Since that date, the Wolves have lost just twice in 11 games and Coach Rancourt garnered his second LEC Coach of the Year award earlier this week.  The Wolves top the LEC defensively at 70.7 points allowed per contest and scoring margin at +10.2 per game.  WestConn also tops the the conference field-goal percentage defense at .410, in turnover margin at +6.41 per game (10th in nation), assists at 17.2 per game (25th in nation) and and steals with 12.8 per contest (6th in nation).  The Wolves have also gone to the foul line ninth-most in all of NCAA Division III.

Wolves sophomore center Marcel Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.) ranks 10th in the LEC in scoring at 15.4 ppg, while senior guard Tayejon Lynch (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) is 17th with 13.1 ppg, and Henry is also seventh in the league with a .540 shooting percentage.  Lynch is the third-leading assist man in the conference with 4.7 per game, while Henry is fourth (1.1) and senior forward Nick Boyce (Jamaica, N.Y.) is tied for ninth (0.8) in the conference in blocked shots.  Five Wolves rank among the top ten in the LEC in steals per game, as Lynch is first at 2.3, Boyce is tied for second with 2.0, and senior guard Jahlyl Morgan (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), junior guard Elijah Jean-Guillaume (New Haven, Conn.), freshman Avery Taitt-Christina (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) are all tied for 10th at 1.6.  Jean-Guillaume is also seventh in the LEC with a .833 free throw percentage this winter.  Lynch and Henry are 2026 All-LEC First Team selections and Morgan graced the LEC All-Defensive Team.