The NCAA Division III men's basketball championship is in the books. Wisconsin-Oshkosh dominated from start to finish to take home the program's first national title, defeating Swarthmore 96-82 from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
CHAMPIONSHIP 2019: View the interactive bracket | Print bracket | Scoreboard | All-Star highlights
The Titans came out hot from the start, opening the game on an 11-0 run. Wisconsin-Oshkosh would blow open a 15-point lead before Swarthmore came firing back, led by the impressive play of Zac O'Dell who scored 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Garnet.
While Swarthmore chipped away in the second half, cutting the lead to one possession at one brief moment, the Titans were simply too much. Jack Flynn was impressive inside the paint, leading all scorers with 33 points and seven rebounds, but all five starters scored in double figures in a balanced performance.
2019 DIII men's basketball championship schedule:
| date/time (ET) | round | matchup | streaming info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, March 15, 6 p.m. | Semifinals | Swarthmore 70, Chris. Newport 63 | Highlights | Full replay | Stats |
| Friday, March 15, 8 p.m. | Semifinals | Wis.-Oshkosh 104, Wheaton (Ill.) 85 | Highlights | Full replay | Stats |
| Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. | Championship Game | Wis-Oshkosh 96, Swarthmore 82 | Stats | Highlights |
The Titans are your 2019 DIII men's basketball national champions. Relive all the highlights from Saturday night's title game in the blog below:
The 2019 tournament started March 1 with a full 64-team field. Of the two finalists, Swarthmore was an automatic qualifier as a conference champion. Wisconsin-Oshkosh was an at-large selection.
Here was the road to the finals for the two remaining schools:
Swarthmore (28-3)
- Defeated Mitchell in first round, 90-73
- Defeated MIT in second round, 105-65
- Defeated Randolph-Macon in third round, 58-57
- Defeated Nichols in quarterfinals, 69-65
- Defeated Christopher Newport in the semifinals, 70-63
Wisconsin-Oshkosh (27-3)
- Defeated Lake Forest in first round, 86-62
- Defeated Northwestern-St. Paul in second round, 108-86
- Defeated Loras in third round, 86-75
- Defeated Guilford in quarterfinals, 82-79
- Defeated Wheaton in the semifinals, 104-85
This year's championship game confirms that we'll have a first-time DIII men's basketball national champion. Only one of the two schools has even reached the championship game — Wisconsin-Oshkosh was runner-up last year, losing to Nebraska Wesleyan 78-72.
Here is the full championship history for the DIII men's basketball tournament entering Saturday's action:
| YEAR | CHAMPION (RECORD) | COACH | SCORE | RUNNER-UP | SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | Matt Lewis | 96-82 | Swarthmore | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| 2018 | Nebraska Wesleyan | Dale Wellman | 78-72 | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | Salem, Va. |
| 2017 | Babson | Stephen Brennan | 79-78 | Augustana (Ill.) | Salem, Va. |
| 2016 | St. Thomas (MN) | John Tauer | 82-76 | Benedictine (Ill.) | Salem, Va. |
| 2015 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (27-5) | Bob Semling | 70-54 | Augustana (Ill.) | Salem, Va. |
| 2014 | Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-4) | Pat Miller | 75-73 | Williams | Salem, Va. |
| 2013 | Amherst (30-2) | David Hixon | 87-70 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | Atlanta, Ga. |
| 2012 | Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-4) | Pat Miller | 63-60 | Cabrini | Salem, Va. |
| 2011 | St. Thomas (30-3) | Steve Fritz | 78-54 | Wooster | Salem, Va. |
| 2010 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-4) | Bob Semling | 78-73 | Williams | Salem, Va. |
| 2009 | Washington-St. Louis (29-4) | Mark Edwards | 61-52 | Richard Stockton | Salem, Va. |
| 2008 | Washington-St. Louis (25-6) | Mark Edwards | 90-68 | Amherst | Salem, Va. |
| 2007 | Amherst (30-2) | David Hixon | 80-67 | Virginia Wesleyan | Salem, Va. |
| 2006 | Virginia Wesleyan (30-3) | David Macedo | 59-56 | Wittenberg | Salem, Va. |
| 2005 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-3) | Jack Bennett | 73-49 | Rochester (N.Y.) | Salem, Va. |
| 2004 | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-5) | Jack Bennett | 84-82 | Williams | Salem, Va. |
| 2003 | Williams (31-1) | David Paulsen | 67-65 | Gustavus Adolphus | Salem, Va. |
| 2002 | Otterbein (30-3) | Dick Reynolds | 102-83 | Elizabethtown | Salem, Va. |
| 2001 | Catholic (28-5) | Mike Lonergan | 76-62 | William Paterson | Salem, Va. |
| 2000 | Calvin (30-2) | Kevin vande Streek | 79-75 | Wisconsin-Eau Claire | Salem, Va. |
| 1999 | Wisconsin-Platteville (30-2) | Bo Ryan | 76-75 (ot) | Hampden-Sydney | Salem, Va. |
| 1998 | Wisconsin-Platteville (30-0) | Bo Ryan | 69-56 | Hope | Salem, Va. |
| 1997 | Illinois Wesleyan (29-2) | Dennie Bridges | 89-86 | Nebraska Wesleyan | Salem, Va. |
| 1996 | Rowan (28-4) | John Giannini | 100-93 | Hope | Salem, Va. |
| 1995 | Wisconsin-Platteville (31-0) | Bo Ryan | 69-55 | Manchester | Buffalo, N.Y. |
| 1994 | Lebanon Valley (28-4) | Pat Flannery | 66-59 (ot) | New York University | Buffalo, N.Y. |
| 1993 | Ohio Northern (28-2) | Joe Campoli | 71-68 | Augustana (Ill.) | Buffalo, N.Y. |
| 1992 | Calvin (31-1) | Ed Douma | 62-49 | Rochester (N.Y.) | Springfield, Ohio |
| 1991 | Wisconsin-Platteville (28-3) | Bo Ryan | 81-74 | Franklin & Marshall | Springfield, Ohio |
| 1990 | Rochester (N.Y.) (27-5) | Mike Neer | 43-42 | DePauw | Springfield, Ohio |
| 1989 | Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-2) | Dave Vander Meulen | 94-86 | TCNJ | Springfield, Ohio |
| 1988 | Ohio Wesleyan (27-5) | Gene Mehaffey | 92-70 | Scranton | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1987 | North Park (28-3) | Bosco Djurickovic | 106-100 | Clark (Mass.) | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1986 | SUNY Potsdam (32-0) | Jerry Welsh | 76-73 | LeMoyne-Owen | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1985 | North Park (27-4) | Bosco Djurickovic | 72-71 | SUNY Potsdam | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1984 | Wisconsin-Whitewater (27-4) | Dave Vander Meulen | 103-86 | Clark (Mass.) | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1983 | Scranton (27-5) | Bob Bessoir | 64-63 | Wittenberg | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1982 | Wabash (24-4) | Mac Petty | 83-62 | SUNY Potsdam | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| 1981 | SUNY Potsdam (30-2) | Jerry Welsh | 67-65 (ot) | Augustana (Ill.) | Rock Island, Ill. |
| 1980 | North Park (28-3) | Dan McCarrell | 83-76 | Upsala | Rock Island, Ill. |
| 1979 | North Park (26-5) | Dan McCarrell | 66-62 | SUNY Potsdam | Rock Island, Ill. |
| 1978 | North Park (29-2) | Dan McCarrell | 69-57 | Widener | Rock Island, Ill. |
| 1977 | Wittenberg (23-5) | Larry Hunter | 79-66 | Oneonta State | Rock Island, Ill. |
| 1976 | Scranton (29-3) | Bob Bessoir | 60-57 | Wittenberg | Reading, Pa. |
| 1975 | LeMoyne-Owen (27-5) | Jerry johnson | 57-54 | Rowan | Reading, Pa. |
