SSU MBB earns No. 13 seed in NAIA National Tournament, to play No. 4 Roosevelt (Mich.) in Opening Round in Livonia, Mich.
The Shawnee State men's basketball program and national tournament appearances.
It's becoming a regular theme at this point.
For the fourth time in five seasons, the Bears earned a NAIA National Tournament bid when the NAIA announced Shawnee State as a No. 13 seed in the Liston Bracket.
Michael Hunter, who becomes the first men's basketball head coach in the history of the Shawnee State men's basketball program to lead a unit to a NAIA National Tournament berth in his first year, will, along with assistant coaches Chandler Fointno and Brent Gaither, guide the Bears into battle against No. 4 Roosevelt (Ill.) Friday, March 16 in Livonia, Mich. -- a northwest suburb of Detroit that sits 20 miles from the City of Detroit's downtown area.
Shawnee State (20-9) earned one of the 28 remaining at-large bids that were up for grabs as the field was announced Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The other 36 teams earned automatic bids from their various conference affliations into the NAIA National Tournament.
Roosevelt, who sits 25-4 overall, finished the season ranked No. 11 in the final NAIA Men's Basketball National Poll. The Lakers won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference's Regular Season Championship, going 18-2 in the conference to win the title by three games over Olivet Nazarene, Indiana-South Bend and Indiana-Northwest who each finished 15-5 in conference action.
However, in the CCAC Conference Semifinals, the Lakers were ousted by Indiana-South Bend by a 72-70 count. Shawnee State's lone contest against CCAC competition was against IU-South Bend, whom the Bears defeated in South Bend by a 73-72 margin after rallying from a five-point deficit with less than 25 seconds to play to win on a Tre Beard three-point field goal.
Shawnee State, who started the season 4-4, has won 15 out of its last 20 contests to emerge as not only a tournament qualifier but a unit that can put a serious scare into any opponent every time out. Four of the five losses that the Bears have suffered since that time have been by 10 points or less, and of the nine setbacks that Shawnee State has had this year, the Bears have lost by more than five points just twice.
As a team, the Bears showcased a top-notch scoring offense throughout the regular season and River States Conference Tournament, going 193-of-492 from three-point range for a 39.2 accuracy rate while also dropping in 831 of its 1,662 field goal attempts. Those marks are seventh in the entire NAIA in three-point field goal shooting percentage and 19th in the NAIA in field goal shooting percentage, respectively.
No. 13 SSU will play No. 4 Roosevelt on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m. at the Goodman Center in Livonia, Mich. The winner of that contest plays either No. 5 Madonna (Mich.) or No. 12 Dordt (Iowa) at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 16 for the opportunity to advance to the NAIA National Tournament's Final Site in Kansas City, Mo. beginning with the Round of 16 affairs.
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