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MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – Having earned the program’s second trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II national tournament in three years with a 68-67 win over host SUNY Niagara on Saturday (March 8), SUNY Orange has drawn the 15th seed in the 2025 men's basketball tournament set to begin on Monday, March 17 in Danville, Ill.

The Colts (27-4) will face 18th seed Milwaukee Area Tech (15-17) in a first-round matchup at 4 p.m. ET with the winner set to challenge 2^nd seed North Central Missouri (31-1) at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 18. The tournament includes 20 teams playing in a double-elimination style format. Facing Milwaukee Area Tech in the opening contest sets up a rematch of two Final Four teams from the 2023 tourney, where the Stormers notched a 79-76 victory over the Colts to advance to the title game.

Saturday’s victory by SUNY Orange over SUNY Niagara in the East A District championship featured 10 ties and 21 lead changes with neither team ever holding a cushion larger than six points. Both teams’ defenses were stellar as Niagara held SUNY Orange’s high-powered offense to its fewest points of the season while the Colts limited the Thunder Wolves to their third lowest output of the campaign. Sophomore guard Marquis Gill led the Colts with 25 points while Dan Lans and Mat Shea added 13 each.

This year’s trip marks the third national tournament appearance in the program’s history. SUNY Orange made its national tournament debut in 2006, losing its opening round game 75-57 to Penn Valley Community College of Missouri before dropping the consolation contest 64-57 to Triton College of Illinois. Two years ago, the Colts set a program record with 31 wins and earned their first-ever Final Four appearance in just their second national tourney appearance. In that tournament, they beat Scottsdale (Ariz.) 85-63 and Henry Ford College (Mich.) 102-87 before falling to Milwaukee Area Tech (Wisc.) 79-76 in the semifinal and host Danville Area (Ill.) 74-65 in the third-place game.

Pairings for the tournament, to be held at the Mary Miller Center at Danville Area Community College from March 17-22, were announced live on the NJCAA Network Tuesday afternoon (March 11). All teams are guaranteed two games in the tournament, and all contests will be streamed online by the NJCAA Network (https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index).

Sophomore Jabari Phillip (Bronx, N.Y.) leads four Colt starters who are averaging double figures in scoring. Phillip is averaging 20.3 ppg., followed by Marquis Gill (Middletown, N.Y.) at 18.0 ppg., Daniel Lans (Spring Valley, N.Y.) at 14.3 and Mat Shea (Wallkill, N.Y.) at 13.2 ppg. Shea and Phillip are the Colts’ top two rebounders, averaging 9.0 rpg. and 8.3 rpg., respectively. Lans leads all players in Division II with 108 steals. Gill, who earlier this season became the Colts’ career leader in three-point baskets made, ranks fifth nationally with 93 threes.