CLEVELAND — The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team is making school history with their first appearance in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Two weeks ago, the Spartans punched their ticket into the NCAA Tournament with their win over Carnegie Mellon.
From that moment, the Spartans haven't taken their foot off the gas, beating Dubuque 91-87 in the first round of the tournament and Wisconsin Oshkosh 77-74 in the second round last week at Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh, Wis.
Now, the Spartans enter their first Sweet 16 matchup in school history, hosting the third round of the tournament.
Head coach Todd McGuinness is excited about how far his team has been able to make it so far.
"If you told me at the beginning of the year we'd be playing in the Sweet 16 on our home court I would have said 'sign me up, fast forward the whole season, let's just play that game on Friday,'" McGuinness said.
And though the players don't want the run to end, they are thankful for the experience no matter what happens from here.
"We're kind of looking at every game as just being thankful to be able to play another one and I think our motto down the year has been just trying to have fun again," said senior guard Mitch Prendergast.
The Spartans take on Mary Hardin-Baylor in the third round of the NCAA DIII Tournament inside Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland Friday night. Tip off is at 8 p.m. The winner will take on Elmhurst in the quarterfinals Saturday evening.
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