The Moundbuilders knew they were dancing in March again after capturing the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference conference tournament title Monday night in Wichita, now the Southwestern College men’s basketball team knows the details.
The No. 22 Builders were selected as the No. 7 seed in the Duer quadrant and will face the Northwestern Red Raiders out of Iowa Tuesday night in Langston, Oklahoma.
The four 16-team brackets, making up the 64-team field, are comprised of 16 different regionals that house four teams each.
Northwestern enters the tournament as an at-large bid as 10-seed, having finished the season in fourth place in the Great Plains Athletic Conference with a 20-9 overall record and a 13-7 tally inside the conference, which is one of the most competitive leagues in the NAIA, according to a news release from SC Friday.
The Builders boast an impressive resume, having knocked off both the No. 1 seed in the KCAC Championship Semifinals (No. 7 Oklahoma Wesleyan), and the No. 3 seed Bethel College Threshers in the final to become KCAC tournament champions. Both those opponents earned bids to the national tournament, as well.
Oklahoma Wesleyan was selected as the No. 2 seed in the Cramer quadrant and will play No. 15 seed Concordia (Neb.) in Park City for the first round.
Bethel made the field as a 15-seed in the Duer quadrant. They will play No. 3 Jamestown (N.D.) in Jamestown.
Kansas Wesleyan was the fourth and final KCAC team to be selected for this year’s tournament. The Coyotes were tabbed a 5-seed and will play No. 12 IU Kokomo (Ind.) in Wichita.
If you missed the live stream of the Moundbuilders’ watch party inside Stewart Field House in Winfield Thursday night, click HERE to watch back for interviews by Bob FM/KSOK’s Curt Caden (Voice of the Moundbuilders) of head coach Matt O’Brien, assistant coach Jimmy McSorley, and athletes Deng Bol, Andrew O’Brien, Cooper Pierce and Cevin Clark.
The Builders are looking to one-up last year’s trip to nationals, in which they were also tabbed a No. 7 seed.
The remainder of the Langston regional consists of No. 2-seeded Langston University and the No. 15-seeded Raiders of Southern Oregon University. Langston is tabbed as the No. 5 team in the nation in the final Top 25 Coaches’ Poll of the 2022-23 campaign.
Southwestern (25-6, 16-6 KCAC) is looking to survive and advance, as their season will be on the line in the battle against the Red Raiders at 8 p.m. on March 7 in Langston, Okla. Live stream and stats links will be posted as soon as they are made available.
The game will will also be broadcast on 95.9 Bob FM and streamed via the listen live links at the top of this page.
