For the first time since 2009, American University’s men’s basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles (20-12, 13-5 Patriot) entered the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating top-seeded Boston University (24-10, 15-3 Patriot) in a low-scoring affair yesterday evening. They toppled BU 55-36, securing an automatic berth to March Madness.

Despite BU’s home court advantage, because they won the regular season championship, the Eagles pulled off the upset thanks to some excellent defense, holding the Terriers to just 36 points, a new record low in point totals in the Patriot League title game.

BU was projected as the pre-season favorite while American was picked to finish second-to-last in the league’s ten schools. The Terriers entered the tournament finale on a hot streak, winning nine of their last ten games and even pulled off a rare road game upset at UMD back in December.

Suffice it to say that the Eagles exceeded all expectations with head coach Mike Brennan winning the title in his first year on the job. On top of that, the Eagles are actually eighth overall in the country with a 49.5 percent field goal percentage.

American will await its seeding in the NCAA Tournament when the brackets are revealed on Selection Sunday at 6 p.m., which will be aired on CBS.

Meanwhile, in New York, seventh-seeded Georgetown University (17-14, 8-10 Big East) lost in the opening round of the Big East tournament yesterday to tenth-seeded DePaul University (12-20, 3-15 Big East). In the stunning upset, the Hoyas lost 60-56, eliminating their chances of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. It was DePaul’s first Big East tournament win since 2009.

GMU (11-20, 4-12 Atlantic 10) was also eliminated in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 tournament after falling to Fordham University last night, 70-67. GWU (23-7, 11-5 Atlantic 10) received a first-round bye and plays the winner of UMass / University of Rhode Island match on Friday at 9 p.m.

In Greensboro, eighth-seeded UMD (17-14, 9-9 ACC) faces ninth-seeded Florida State University (18-12, 9-9 ACC) at noon today in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The winner will then move on to face regular season champion and top-seeded UVa on Friday at noon.