BEACONS IN BRANSON TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

EUGENE, Ore. – For the third time in four years, the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team is headed to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship tournament and for the second straight year they enter the tourney as a No. 3 seed.
 
No. 9 ranked NCU opens up tournament play on Wednesday at 11:45 am (PST) and will take on Midland University of Nebraska. The Warriors, ranked No. 21 in the NAIA, come in after a fourth place finish in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
 
Danny Havel and Corey Anderson will be on the call for the game live on Fox Sports Radio Eugene (AM 1050 or FM 95.7) with the pre-game starting at 11:25 am. NCU Athletics and Student Life will be hosting a watch party for the game in the Rug Room on campus.
 
Midland makes its fourth appearance at nationals in the past five seasons. The Warriors received the seventh of nine at-large bids to the qualifying field. Midland is 6-4 all-time at the tournament and were the NAIA National runner-up in 2014.
 
The last time Midland was in the tournament was 2015 when they lost an opening round game to Southern Oregon University. The Raiders went on to an appearance in the quarterfinals that season.
 
The Warriors have an experienced group with ten upperclassmen among their 15 players on the roster. The starting lineup boast four upperclassman and one freshman while the top three scorers are all seniors.
 
Leading that group is Damon Overton, averaging 16 points per game. The transfer from Ashford University earned First-Team All-GPAC honors and led the team with 126 assists.
 
Senior Alex Starkel also scored 16 points per game during the regular season and led the team with 59% shooting from the field and 24 blocks. He is a four-time All-GPAC selection and was a Second-Team All-American as a sophomore.
 
The Warriors have one of the best outside shooters in the country in the form of senior Diamontae McKinley, also a transfer from Ashford University. McKinley hit a school-record 110 three-pointers so far this season which ranks fourth in NAIA Division II.
 
Wednesday's game features a pair of teams that has been tried and tested this season, by virtue of playing in two of the toughest conferences in the NAIA. Between the CCC and the Great Plains are 9 of the 32 teams in the tournament.
 
The Beacons went 5-4 against tournament teams during the 2016-17 season and also boast a win over The University of British Columbia, one of the top-ranked teams in Canada. Midland went 3-5 against tourney qualifiers.
 
The winner of Wednesday's opening round game will take on the winner of the 2-7 matchup which pits No. 7 Indiana University East (26-7) against Reinhardt College (22-9). The second round game will be played at 8:15 a.m. (PST) on Friday.