New York University's men's basketball team, who advanced all the way to the National Championship Game  last year, is making their return to the NCAA DIII Tournament. 

NYU will hit the road to take on Gettysburg College in the opening round of the tournament on Friday, March 6, in Middletown, CT, with tip-off set for 3:45 pm. Host school Wesleyan University and Lehman College round out the pod of teams.

The winners of Friday's games will play in the second round on Saturday, March 7, at 6:15 pm. 

The Violets completed their regular season with a win against Brandeis University on Saturday, February 28,  improving their record to 17-8, 8-6 in the University Athletic Association (UAA). 

This will be only the second time in history that the Violets and the Bullets have met. The teams played on January 2, 2015, with the Violets winning 60-44. 

"We have a whole week of practice to get ready and we need to focus on the things we have to do to get better," said first-year Head Coach Waleed Farid. "We have to take care of practice today and tomorrow, and then the excitement will increase and we will be ready to go."

Senior Bryan Moussako, who leads the team in minuted played, is familiar with the tournament. He is the only current member of the team to have appeared in the championship game against Trinity last year. 

"The biggest thing is to take one game at a time. You can't get to the championship today, you can't look too far ahead," said Moussako. "The next thing for us is our practice tomorrow."

The Violets have now qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.