No. 21 Oregon Tech to play No.11 Briar Cliff in First Round Tomorrow at 8:15 AM
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Sioux Falls. S.D. - The Oregon Tech Hustlin Owls will kick-off the 2018 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship Wednesday morning 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 are 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 tied 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.
Briar Cliff has three players averaging double-digits in scoring led by Erich Erdman and his 19-points, Jay Wolfe at 18-points, and Jackson Lamb 15 points. The three have combined for 236 made three-pointers and are averaging just over 40% combined.
Oregon Tech (22-10) 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).
The Owls are led by a trio of sophomore including Co-CCC Player of the Year Mitchell Fink and his 20 points per game along with Tyler Hieb and Seth Erickson and their 13 and 10 points each respectively.
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
Fans can follow along and stay updated by listening to Rob Siems from 92-5 KLAD-FM and the Wake-up Crew as they will be broadcasting live. Steve Matthies from the Herald and News will also be covering the action from Sioux Falls.
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 Thursday at 8:15 am, while College of Idaho earned the third overall seed and will meet Mayville State (N.D.) on Thursday afternoon at 1 pm.