[Men's Basketball] Men's Basketball is No. 4 seed in KCAC Tournament, hosts Ottawa on Wednesday
The No. 4-seeded Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes play fifth-seeded Ottawa in a quarterfinal game of Kansas Conference men's tournament on Wednesday at Mabee Arena. Tip-off is 7 p.m. The winner advances to the semifinals against either top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan or No. 8 Bethany at 2 p.m. Saturday, at the site of the higher seeded team. The championship game will be played at 6 p.m., Feb. 25, at Hartman Arena in Park City.
LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be available online through the KCAC Digital Network, powered by Stretch Internet, http://portal.stretchinternet.com/kcac. There will be a $7.95 pay per view fee to watch the stream. Live Stats will be available on the Stretch portal and on DakStats at www.dakstats.com/naia. Radio coverage will be on FM 104.9 in the Salina area and around the world at www.ksal.com. Pat Strathman will have the call with pregame starting at 6:45 p.m.
KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
Wesleyan is 17-11 on the season and finished KCAC play with a 15-9 record that included two victories over the Braves – 81-75 Dec. 8, in Ottawa, and 105-82 Jan. 30, at Mabee Arena. Jordan McNelly (JR/Salina, Kan,) scored 17 points, Darius Hammond (SO/Dallas, Texas) 13 and Brayden White (SO/Topeka, Kan.) 10 for KWU in the first game; James Brooks (JR/Cherokee, Kan.) had 24 points, McNelly 17 and A.J. Range and White 10 each in the second.
This season marks the first time that the Coyotes have hosted back-to-back home playoff games since the 2010 season. The Coyotes haven't won a conference tournament game since an 80-75 semifinal victory over Saint Mary on Feb. 28, 2009.
Wesleyan enters the contest having lost its last two games – 56-51 at York last Wednesday, and 54-53 to Bethany on Saturday at Mabee Arena.
The Coyotes lead the KCAC in scoring defense (68.2 points), lead the conference defensive 3-point field goal percentage (29.7) and are third in overall defensive field goal percentage (42.2). They also lead the KCAC in steals (8.3), turnovers forced (15.6) and rank third in rebounding margin (plus 3.3).
Their problems of late have been at the offensive end of the court. The Coyotes rank 13th in scoring in the KCAC (72.9 points), eighth in field goal percentage (44.3) and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (33.6). They're 11th in assists per game (13.2) and seventh in turnovers (14.0).
Brooks is the team's top scorer with a 16.2 average. He has a conference-best 91 made 3-pointers and is shooting 40.4 percent beyond the arc (fifth KCAC) – 45.4 percent overall. He's also fifth in steals (1.6) and averages 4.0 rebounds. Marquis Kraemer (SO/Aurora, Colo.) averages 10.2 points and McNelly 10.0. Kraemer's also third in steals in the KCAC (1.6) and 11th in assists (3.4) and McNelly averages 6.0 rebounds. Range averages 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds (11th KCAC).
OTTAWA AT A GLANCE
The Braves are 17-13 overall and were 14-10 in the conference. They're 4-4 in their last eight games and are coming off a 95-88 loss at Saint Mary on Saturday, but defeated KCAC champion Oklahoma Wesleyan 104-102 in overtime on last Wednesday in Ottawa. The Braves had the distinction of defeating the conference's top three teams – OKWU, Southwestern and Friends – during the regular season.
Isaiah Palmer leads Ottawa in scoring and is third in the KCAC (21.3 points), is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 74.3 percent from the free throw line. He's also sixth in the rebounding (8.5) and third in blocked shots (1.2). Indaiana Tasmania Jones averages 12.8 points and is seventh in rebounding (7.7) while Ryan Haskins averages 12.4 points. He's third in 3-pointers made (81) and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (39.3). Alex Greisen and Mason McDow average 9.7 points each.
Ottawa's fourth scoring in the KCAC (84.8 points), but 12th in scoring defense (84.9). The Braves are shooting 46.2 percent from the field (tied for third KCAC) while opponents are shooting 44.4 percent (seventh). They're shooting 33.6 percent from 3-point range (eighth) and opponents 35.9 percent (10th). Ottawa averages 14.8 turnovers and opposing teams 13.1. The Braves rank fifth in rebounding margin (plus 2.3).
THE TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Oklahoma Wesleyan, the No. 1 team in NAIA Division II, is the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament bracket after capturing the conference regular season title with a 22-2 record (28-2 overall). Conference runner-up Southwestern, ranked No. 6 in NAIA Division II, is the No. 2 seed after posting a 20-4 conference record. No. 22 ranked Friends is the No. 3 seed, KWU is the No. 4 seed, Ottawa fifth, Saint Mary is sixth, York is seventh and Bethany is eighth.
The higher-seeded teams in each quarterfinal and semifinal match-up will host those match-ups. Quarterfinals are Wednesday night starting at 7 p.m., semifinals are on Saturday at 2 p.m.
In the quarterfinals, Oklahoma Wesleyan hosts Bethany, Southwestern hosts York, Friends hosts Saint Mary and Kansas Wesleyan hosts Ottawa.
In the semifinals the winner between Oklahoma Wesleyan and Bethany will face the winner between Ottawa and KWU; and the winner between Friends and Saint Mary will face the winner between Southwestern and York.
Semifinal winners will meet in Monday at 6 p.m. at Hartman Arena in Park City for the KCAC Championship. The KCAC receives two automatic berths in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship field. The first berth is the tournament champion, the second berth is the highest remaining seed in the tournament, regardless of finish in the tournament.