Oregon Tech Men to play Briar Cliff in Tourney Opener
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Kansas City, MO. - The official bracket for the 2018 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship was released Wednesday afternoon. Oregon Tech (22-10) as expected picked up an At-large bid and will be the No. 6 seed in the Naismith Bracket. The Owls' first round contest will be on Wednesday, March 7th, at 8:15 am (PST) against No. 11 and three seeded Briar Cliff (24-7) at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Chargers of Briar Cliff are out of the Great Plains Athletics Conference (GPAC) and also picked up an At-large bid, making this their fourth straight and 12th overall appearance at the National Tournament. They have a record of 5-11 in the Tournament. They finished second in their conference at 13-5, just behind No. 6 Morningside. The Chargers enter the National Tournament losers of three out of their last five games.
Oregon Tech is heading into the national tournament for the 16th overall time and second year in a row. OIT is 33-12 all-time at the tournament including three National Championships (2004, 2008, 2012).
Briar Cliff and Oregon Tech have met at the National Tournament just one time back in 2000; the Owls beat the Chargers in the 2nd round 96-85.
All Oregon Tech games will be broadcast locally on 92.5 KLAD-FM with Bobby Thompson and Mike Garrard on the call.
Full coverage from the national tournament will be available at www.oregontechowls.com
Two other Cascade Conference teams will compete in the tournament – as Warner Pacific earned a No. 3 seed and will meet Southeastern (Fla.) in the first round, while College of Idaho earned the third overall seed and will meet Mayville State (N.D.) on Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Press release from Oregon Tech Sports Information, Mike Garrard - Director of Sports Information and Marketing