CCAC News
Posted by Adam Ledyard - Wed, Mar 5, 2008 - [ Men’s Basketball – DII ] - Viewed 318 times
NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
 

Elgin, Ill.- Making their first NAIA National Tournament, Judson University will face the #4 seed Walsh University on Thursday, March 13th, at 10:15 a.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

“This is a great honor for our players,” says head coach Jim Cook. “They have worked hard all season for this moment and I know they are excited about coming to Missouri to play in the national tournament.”

Walsh University comes into the NAIA National Tournament with a #4 national ranking and a 25-4 record. The Cavaliers won the American Mideast Conference Tournament for the automatic bid and were also AMC South Regular Season Champions with a 12-2 record. Brandon Reems was named the AMC South “Player of the Year” and head coach Jeff Young was the “Coach of the Year.”

Walsh currently is #1 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (44%) and second in the nation for assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and scoring margin (16.4). They started the season off 11-2 before entering AMC South Play on January 8th. In the AMC, they went 12-2 with losses Urbana University and Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Along with Walsh from the AMC, Cedarville University and Mount Vernon Nazarene University both made the NAIA National Tournament.

This will be the eighth time that Walsh has made an appearance in the NAIA Tournament. They are 12-6 overall in the tournament and won the 2005 National Championship. In 2006 they finished in the Elite Eight and last year they were in the Sweet 16.

Judson is making their first trip to the NAIA Tournament and won their first-ever CCAC regular season and tournament championship. JU recorded a 19-8 record and finished with a 10-2 record in the CCAC. Dewayne Robinson was named the CCAC Player of the Year and Jim Cook was the CCAC Coach of the Year. Judson also had two other players on the All-CCAC First-Team in Justen Boyd and Ilija Bojanic along with Joe Gonnam on the All-CCAC Honorable Mention team.

Judson will show the game via the internet in Herrick Chapel on the big screen on Thursday, March 13th. The game is open to the public and is a free viewing. Doors will open at 10:00 a.m.