2 Conn. teams head to Div. 2 tournament

(WTNH) -- No NCAA Tournament bids for any of the division one men's basketball teams across the state but the University of New Haven and University of Bridgeport are getting ready to play this weekend in the NCAA Division Two Tournament.

"I have jitters its hard for me to sleep I'm ready to get to new hampshire," said Omari Howard, University of Bridgeport.

It's fair to say the University of Bridgeport and its players are pretty excited about the division two NCAA basketball tournament.

The Purple Knights are postseason bound for the 7th time in the last 13 years.

"Well I'll tell ya what, everyday I walked in here and I saw the banners, the '92 and '91 national championship appearances, the five regional titles and you know, it's an honor to be here and we have such a great tradition," said Coach Mike Ruane.

Bridgeport won 21 games this season and they've won 14 of 15 games heading into the tournament.

"We love each other as a family so every time we go out on the court, if somebody falls, we pick them up. We're like go get them again, go get them again," said Dion Waiters, University of Bridgeport.

The Purple Knights are not the only team in the area playing postseason ball.

The University of New Haven is also in the division two tournament for the first time in 9 years.

"We've had a great year all year. Rough start to begin with 1-5 but it's a testament to our players, finished up won 18 of our last 21, well deserving of the bid," said Coach Ted Hotaling.

The Chargers recent success didn't happen over night. This team really struggled four years ago.

"We were like 5 and 22 my freshman year I'll never forget that and then this year we win 19 games," said Jeremy Williams, UNH.

If the Chargers and Purple Knights win a couple of games this weekend they could face each other in a regional final next week.            

"My dream would be a University of Bridgeport, New Haven regional final this year," said Coach Ruane.

"Our dream is to beat Dominican first and then we'll figure it out after that," said Coach Hotaling.