BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford men's basketball team will meet CCBC-Essex for the third time this season when the No. 4 Fighting Owls (15-8) face the No. 5 Knights (14-12) at 1:00 p.m. on Friday in the opening round of the NJCAA Division-II Region XX Tournament at Hagerstown Community College.

The teams' most recent meeting was last Tuesday, Feb. 16 when Essex ousted Harford from the MDJUCO Tournament with an 86-80 win over the Owls at the Susquehanna Center.  Harford, the No. 6 seed,  led by as much as 16 points in that game, 41-25, but remained scoreless while allowing the No. 11 Knights to score 15 points over the final 4:45 in the upset win.

Essex fell in its quarterfinal game, 90-80, to No. 3 Hagerstown, but will not see the Hawks this weekend as host Hagerstown is a Division-I competitor. 

The Dec. 8 regular-season matchup between Harford and Essex saw the Owls pull out a 103-88 victory thanks to the Knights' second-half collapse.  Essex led by as much as 16 points, 64-50, before Harford battled back to earn the 15-point win.