MEDFORD, Mass.  – The Catholic men's basketball team opens its 2026 NCAA Tournament campaign on Friday, March 6 at 3:30 pm against Western Connecticut in Medford, Mass inside of Cousens Gymnasium. 
The Cardinals earned an at-large bid into the field, the program's third consecutive NCAA tournament bid, after posting a 19-7 record and earning the top seed in the Landmark Conference tournament. Catholic comes into the game averaging 79.4 points per game while only giving up 67.5 points per game, which ranks in the top 40 in the country, en route to the top seed in the Landmark this season with a 15-3 record in league play. The Cardinals also rank 10th in the nation in three point percentage on the season, shooting at a 37.5 percent clip from deep and they are also 30th in DIII in scoring margin at +11.8. Catholic enters the tournament as the 23rd ranked team in the NCAA Power Index (NPI), earning the 11th of 21 at-large bids.
Friday marks the 17th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the program after earning an at-large bid in back-to-back seasons. This is the second time in program history the Cardinals have made the NCAA Tournament in three or more consecutive seasons. Catholic holds a 20-15 record all-time in the dance, winning the 2001 NCAA Division III Championship. The Cardinals reached the Elite Eight for the third time in program history last season (2000, 2001), picking up victories over Franklin and Marshall, Randolph-Macon and Roanoke in last season's tournament. Catholic's run came to a close in the Elite Eight against Trinity (Conn.), who went on to win the National Championship.
Catholic is led by two of its senior leaders this season in CJ Ruoff and Brian Herbert, who rank first and second on the team in points per game this season. Ruoff, the Landmark Conference Player of the Year, leads the team with 19.7 points per game, which is third in the Landmark this season and eighth on the program's single-season DIII all-time scoring list. He also paces the team in assists and was top five in the Landmark with 115 on the season. Herbert also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in scoring with 16.7 points per game and is one of the best free throw shooters in the conference, making 85.9 percent of his shots at the charity stripe. His percentage ranks seventh in a single season in program history. He also eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark for his career earlier this season and sits at 24th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,185 points. He is just 27 points shy of cracking the top 20 of the list entering the weekend. 
Both Herbert and Ruoff were honored on the All-Landmark First Team for their efforts this season. For Herbert it was his second time earning a spot on the All-Landmark team after receiving Second Team honors last season. Ruoff earned his first All-Landmark nod, in addition to earning conference player of the year, the third consecutive season a Catholic player has earned the award. 

In addition to the two players recognized, Aaron Kelly and his staff earned Landmark Coaching Staff of the Year, which is the third time the Cardinals staff has earned the honor. It is the second time in the past three seasons that Kelly's staff has earned the award.  Western Connecticut earned an automatic bid into the field after knocking off Keene State in the Little East Conference championship game, 84-68, winning its first conference title since the 2019-20 season. The Wolves picked up a one-point overtime victory in the conference semifinal against Eastern Connecticut State to set up a home championship game against the Owls. West Conn enters the weekend ranked 56 in NPI, entering the tournament scoring 81 points per game and allowing 70.7 points per game. The Owls are ranked in the top 20 in the country in several categories including steals per game (6th), turnover margin (10th) and free throws made per game (18th). The Wolves have three players this season who average double-digit points per game, including Marcel Henry, who leads the team averaging 15.4 points per game and he also leads the team in rebounding with 5.1 per game. The other two players are Tayejon Lynch and Nick Boyce who average 13.1 and 10.8 points per game respectively. Lynch also leads the team in three-points made this sesson with 30.