Ben Burkey
  • mathematics
  • Class of 2017
  • South Portland, Maine

Ben Burkey playing in NCAA Division III basketball championships with Bates College

2015 Mar 4

Ben Burkey, a Bates College sophomore, is a member of the men's basketball team which recently earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship, which begins this Thursday. Burkey, a graduate of South Portland High School, is the son of Dr. David C. Burkey and Ms. Linda E. Zembsch of South Portland, Maine. He majors in mathematics at Bates.

The Bobcats (19-6) received one of 20 at-large berths in the 62-team Division III championship, a first for the college. Bates will face St. Vincent College of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in a first-round matchup on Friday at Stockton University, in Galloway, New Jersey. The winner of the game will face the winner between Stockton and Endicott College on Saturday.

The Bobcats have the second-most victories in team history against one of the toughest Division III schedules in the country.

"This has been the longest 10-day stretch of my coaching career, because we didn't know our destiny," head coach Jon Furbush said of the team's early uncertainty about whether they would be included. "I was really guarded, because I didn't want to get these guys too excited about playing, and then not play. It's been tough for these guys. It's not a fun feeling to not know what your destiny is."