March 8, 2011

Contact: Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Sports Information & Media Services,  cwaller@naia.org  

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - (Press Book PDF) (Live Stats) (Live Video) Starting on Wednesday, the 20^th Annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship will commence as 32 teams converge on Point Lookout, Mo. College of the Ozarks (Mo.) will host the event for the 12^th-straight season with 31 games scheduled. Eight games will be played on each of the first three days, with the quarterfinals set for Saturday, the semifinals on March 14 and the National Championship on March 15 at 9 p.m. CST, televised live on CBS College Sports.

The tournament kicks off with No. 12 Davenport (Mich.) and Briar Cliff (Iowa) facing each other at 8:30 a.m. CST on Wednesday. Reserved seating is $15 per session and general admission is $10 per session. To purchase tickets or receive more information, please call 417-335-NAIA (6242).

For the second-straight season, Walsh (Ohio) earns the No. 1 seed with a 29-1 overall record. The Cavs will face newcomer Union (Ky.) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Walsh, who is appearing in its 11^th National Championship, leads the country in scoring offense (93.6 ppg) and total rebounding (46.6 rpg). Walsh becomes the seventh team all-time to enter the National Championship with one loss, and the first since 2007 when Bellevue (Neb.) was 31-1. Only one of those six programs (Evangel (Mo.)) has won the title, doing so in 2002. Last year, the Cavs lost 67-66 to Saint Francis (Ind.) in the National Championship final.

Defending national champion Saint Francis (Ind.) opens up its postseason against Northwest (Wash.) on Wednesday at noon. The Cougars are the 13^th-seed and will look to become the second squad to repeat since the event started in 1992. Bethel (Ind.), who did not qualify this year, won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998. Overall, there have been 15 different schools to win the Division II National Championship and eight of those programs will be in Point Lookout.

College of the Ozarks, who is competing in its NAIA-record 15^th National Championship and 12^th-straight event, will battle No. 16 Sioux Falls (S.D.) on the opening day at 8 p.m. The Bobcats stand 22-13 all-time in the Championship and have advanced to at least the quarterfinal-round in four of the past five events.

Keep an eye out for No. 2 Northwood (Fla.). Appearing in their fifth-consecutive National Championship, the Seahawks have earned the No. 1 ranking on two occasions in the Coaches' Top 25 poll this year. Northwood is coached by former Villanova legend Rollie Massimino. The Seahawks take on Fisher (Mass.) Thursday at 4 p.m. With a NAIA-season best 30-3 overall record, Northwood has won 22 of its last 23 games.

Joining Union as the other newcomer to the field is Indiana East. The Red Wolves become the 165^th Division II program to qualify for the National Championship. On Wednesday at 5:45 p.m., Indiana East squares off against No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan.

The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) and Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) both send four teams apiece to the National Championship. The CCC also landed four programs in last year's event. Northwestern (Iowa) from the GPAC and Oregon Tech out of the CCC are the only teams in the field that have won multiple National Championships with two. Northwestern boasts the most victories in the National Championship with 28.

In this year's 32-team field, seven teams are competing in their 10th-or-more National Championship and eight programs sport at least 10 victories. A few teams in this group to pay attention to are No. 4 Bellevue, No. 3 Cornerstone (Mich.) and No. 6 Embry-Riddle (Fla.). All three advanced at least to the quarterfinals last season and were ranked in the top 10 in the Coaches' Top 25 Poll for the duration of the 2010-11 season.

The 32-team field is comprised of 20 automatic qualifiers from NAIA affiliated conferences and association of independents, plus 12 at-large selections, which are determined by the final Top 25 rating released on March 2.

Thirty-one games will be played in Point Lookout. 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. In order to view the streaming, click here.

For more information on the National Championship, click here.