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AUGUSTA, GA - The Emmanuel men's basketball team will play the first round of the 2023 NCAA DII Tournament after receiving an automatic bid by winning the Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Championship. 

#8 seed Emmanuel (23-7) will face #1 seed and Southeast Regional host Augusta University (26-5) in the Round of 64 on Saturday, March 11 at 5:00pm. 

KJ Jones and the Lions will meet Tyshaun Crawford and the Jaguars for the second time this season. On New Years Eve the Lions led early and often, taking a seven point lead into halftime and holding a 10 point advantage with 15 minutes to play. But 41 points from Augusta in the last 15 minutes of the game resulted in a 14 point win for the Jaguars, 91-77. The teams have faced each other annually for the past half a decade, and Augusta leads the matchup all time 4-1. Emmanuel's lone win came in 2019 in the Christenberry Fieldhouse, when Tyonn Stuckey sank a buzzer-beating three pointer to win 74-71. 

Augusta was ranked #10 in the nation in the final poll of the 2022-23 season and is currently on a six game win streak. The Jags average 80.4 points per game and make 49% of their shots from the field. The Peach Belt Conference Champions finished runner-up in the 2022 National Championship game. After winning the Southeast Regional (Sweet 16) and advancing through the national quarter and semifinals, the Jags fell to Northwest Missouri State, who has now won four consecutive National Titles. Tyshaun Crawford, a 7'1 center from Griffin, GA, is the player to watch for Augusta. The former PBC Player of the Year was a First-Team All-Region selection this season, averaging 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds for game. He will be a key matchup for the guard-heavy Lions squad to lock down. 

Emmanuel comes into the game with the third longest active win streak in the country, having won their last 16 games dating back to January 10. The Lions have the nation's leading scorer in KJ Jones II, who is averaging 26.4 points per game. The CC Player of the year was also an All-Region selection for the third consecutive season. Emmanuel will have to lean on their excellent three-point game against a much larger Jaguars team that may make things difficult under the basket. But the Lions currently hold the third ranked three point percentage in the nation, making 40.4% of their attempts beyond the arc. Emmanuel also makes the 12th most free throws per game in DII (16.7), so getting to the charity stripe will prove highly beneficial for a team that makes 77.1% of their shots from the line. 

The winner of the first round matchup will advance to the second round and face either #5 Catawba or #4 USC Aiken on Sunday, March 12 at 7:30pm. The Southeast Region Championship will take place on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00pm. All the aforementioned games will take place at Augusta, while the winner of each region will head to Evansville, Indiana and be reseeded for the Elite Eight. 

The tournament homepage on Augusta's website can be found here. The full DII Tournament bracket can be found here.

For more on Emmanuel College athletics, visit goeclions.com.