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Interview with Cru head coach Ken DeWeese
Interview with Cru senior guard Marlon Miller
Interview with Cru senior forward Greg Wiernas
Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball will be making its fifth trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships in the last six years after the Cru earned an at-large bid to the postseason tournament following a semifinal loss in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament this weekend. And for the third straight year, the UMHB men will host in the tournament's opening round. UMHB will host a First and Second Round, four-team pod that also includes ASC rival McMurry University, Trinity University and Whitworth University.
The Cru will open the tournament with a 7:30 PM first-round game on Friday, March 2
nd, following a 5:30 PM contest between McMurry and Whitworth. The winners will then meet at 7:00 PM on Saturday for the chance to advance to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16. All of those games will be played at the Mayborn Campus Center.
The Cru is 3-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 last season before falling to Augustana (IL) College 70-57. The UMHB men will be hosting an NCAA first-round game for the third straight season, but this is the first time the Cru has played host to a four-team pod.
“It is a serious goal for us every year to get into the tournament,” Cru head coach
Ken DeWeese said. “We did not get the automatic bid, so we are delighted to get in to the tournament and we are absolutely thrilled to be hosting. Our mantra now is, 'It's time to go to work.'”
UMHB is 25-2 on the season overall and is the only at-large team in the pod. Trinity University has a 20-8 record and advances as the champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. McMurry won the ASC title and has a 20-8 mark on the year. Whitworth went 24-3 on the year and won the Northwest Conference Championship to claim that league's automatic bid.
Tickets will be $6 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. More ticket information will be posted once it becomes available.
