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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's basketball team will open the 2010 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship against Evangel (Mo.). Westminster received the fourth overall seed and play at 1:15 MT on Thursday, March 18.
“We are very excited to be a part of the tournament again,” head coach Tommy Connor stated. “We were rewarded with an awfully high seed for an excellent regular season.
This is the 11th trip to the national tournament for Westminster and second consecutive appearance. They first appeared in the event in 1959 and have gone 3-10 all-time. The Griffins advanced to the quarterfinals last season losing to Columbia (Mo.) 50-47.
“I know better than most this tournament isn't about seeding, but about match-ups,” Connor said. “I don't know a lot about Evangel yet other than they are from a tough conference and I'm sure they will be a tough challenge for us.”
This is the first trip to the national tournament for Evangel. They finished the season at 20-12 and qualified for the tournament as the host team after finishing second in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. They are one of just two teams making a first ever trip to the national tournament. Evangel is located in Springfield, Missouri which is just 165 miles from Kansas City.
“I think having some guys that have been there before will help us a little,” said Connor of his team's experience advantage. “This is also essentially a road game for us with Evangel being from Missouri, but it will create a fun environment for the game.”
Westminster enters the 2010 Championship with a 26-5 overall record and winner of the Frontier Conference regular season and tournament championships. They are riding a school record 13-game winning streak and have won 23-of-24 since starting the year 3-4.
The Griffins are fourth nationally allowing just 61.1 points per contest. Westminster opponents shoot just 40.2% from the floor and only 32.1% from beyond the arc.
Ben Walker leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and rebounding at 5.9 boards per night. He shoots 66.5% from the floor to rank third in the country.
Spud Harbour leads the team in scoring at 18.2 per game. He has scored 20-plus points in six consecutive games and twice this season went for at least 30. Chad Gillaspy and Jonathan Huskisson average 12.7 and 10.8 points per game respectively.
The winner of the opening round game will face the winner of the Azusa Pacific (Calif.) versus Cumberlands (Ky.) game on Friday, March 19 at 1:15 p.m. MT. Azusa Pacific is the No. 13 seed in the tournament.
“We normally get the Thursday draw being from the west,” Connor said of the schedule. “We are just excited and humbled to be able to play at any time on any day in Kansas City.”
The entire tournament will be held in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri beginning with first round games on Wednesday, March 17. The action continues through the championship game on Tuesday, March 23. The Championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 17 automatic qualifiers from 11 Division I affiliated conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.), 1 host berth, and 14 at-large berths. Tickets can be purchased by calling 816.595.8000.
Thirty-one games will be played out in Kansas City. The first 30 games will be video-streamed by NeuLion, the parent company of JumpTV. Three different subscription plans for basketball (Men's and Women's Division I; Men's and Women's Division II) will be available for tournament coverage. Users can purchase the All-Tournament pass, which includes every event offered on College Sports Direct from all four basketball tournaments for $39.95. Each of the four basketball tournaments can be purchased separately for $24.95 and any single day can be purchased for $9.95.
