PROVIDENCE — Brown is going to a dance.

Not the Big Dance, the NCAA Tournament.

And not the Little Dance, the retooled NIT.

Brown is going to the new dance on the basketball block, the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, and the players are thrilled. They play Ohio University Tuesday.

“They’re all really excited, as are the staff and I,” coach Craig Robinson said last night after receiving the good news. “We’re happy to keep playing. We practiced this morning, hoping we’d have another game.”

Brown finished second behind Cornell in the Ivy League, the only Division I conference that does not have a tournament to determine the recipient of the NCAA’s automatic bid.

Brown’s RPI in the 104-106 range made it a long shot for the NIT, now owned and operated by the NCAA, and Robinson and his players were not disappointed they didn’t make that cut.

“We know how the process works. We’re in the Ivy League, and our RPI and strength of schedule aren’t as strong. We’re just happy there’s another tournament now,” he said.

The Ohio Bobcats, 19-12, are led by All-Mid-American Conference forwards Leon Williams and Jerome Tillman. Williams, averages a team-best 16.2 points and a league-leading 9.7 rebounds per contest. Tillman contributes 13.2 points and 7.4 boards per game.

Ohio is coached by Tim O'Shea, a long-time assistant to coach Al Skinner, first at URI and then at Boston College. O'Shea has been at Ohio since 2001.

This will be Brown’s fourth postseason appearance since the NCAA Tournament began in 1939 and third since the Ivy League started in 1956-57. The 1939 Bears lost to Villanova, 42-30, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and the 1986 Ivy League champions fell to Syracuse, 101-52, in the first round of the NCAAs. The 2003 team went to the NIT and lost in the first round to Virginia, 89-73.

The Ivy League has never sent more than one team to the NCAA Tournament and has sent only eight to the NIT. Brown was the last five years ago.

Brown was counting on several factors to attract attention from either the NIT or the CBI this year. This team posted the school’s best record in the 51 seasons of Ivy League basketball, 19-9, for a winning percentage of .678. Its 11-3 record in the Ivy League was second-best at Brown.

The 1974 team that finished 17-9, 11-3, had an overall winning percentage of .653. The 2003 NIT squad was 17-12, 12-2, with a winning percentage of .586.

The 2002 team finished 17-10-.629 but did not make a postseason tournament.

This team finished fast, winning 10 of its last 11 games, five on the road. It swept the season series from both Penn and Princeton, a first for the Brown program. This team defeated Eastern Michigan and Northwestern on the road and lost to Michigan by 15 and to Baylor by 10, both on the road. It also lost to Notre Dame by 33 in South Bend.

Three Brown players earned All-Ivy recognition. Seniors Mark McAndrew of Barrington and Damon Huffman made the first team and junior Chris Skrelja the second team. McAndrew and Huffman formed one of the most dynamic backcourts in the Northeast. McAndrew led the league in scoring (16.5), was fifth in field-goal percentage (.474) and was 10th in rebounding (5.0). Huffman was fifth in scoring (14.9), sixth in field-goal percentage (.472) and second in 3-pointers (73). Skrelja was third in rebounding (6.6) and second in assists (4.04).

Center Matt Mullery led the league in blocked shots (37), and forward Peter Sullivan was one of the best Ivy freshmen.

The Bears gathered last night at Robinson’s house to watch the NCAA Selection Show. “It was one of those times when everyone was quietly hoping we’d get a chance to play,” Robinson said.

They drifted back to their dorms and apartments to prepare for today’s classes and exams, “just in case they were going to be away,” their coach said.

It was a good move, because now they will be away.

mszostak@projo.com