DEFIANCE, Ohio – One week after topping Anderson, 70-65, to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, the Defiance College men’s basketball team is eyeing its fourth trip into the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball National Tournament.

Defiance will begin its NCAA Tournament run on Friday at 6:00 pm against the No. 8 Warhawks of Wisconsin-Whitewater (22-5). DC’s game will be followed by Grove City (19-8) and No. 17 Wooster (23-5) at 8:00 pm. Friday’s winners will then square off on Saturday at 7:00 pm, with a bid into the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen on the line.

All three games will be held inside of the College of Wooster’s Timken Gymnasium. Tickets will be sold at the gate, with sales beginning at 4:30 pm on Friday. The price is $6 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students.

The 23-5 Yellow Jackets have won eight-straight games behind an improved defense that has limited opponents to 65 points or fewer in all but one game during that stretch. During those eight contests, Defiance is holding foes to 63.6 points per game on 41.8-percent shooting from the floor. On the offensive side of the ball, DC is scoring 79.2 points per night this season behind 15.2 points a night from HCAC Player of the Year, Nick Sales, and 11.0 points and 5.5 assists from Mike Floyd.

UW-Whitewater hails from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and earned at at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Warhawks spent the entire season with a top-10 national ranking and are making their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance. WIAC Player of the Year, Dustin Mitchell, paces the team with 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per night.

Wooster won its sixth-straight North Coast Athletic Conference Championship to punch its ticket into the NCAA Tournament and boast a No. 17 national ranking. The Fighting Scots shoot 37.4 percent from behind the three-point line and are led by Ian Franks, who garnered NCAC Player-of-the-Year honors by scoring 17.4 points per game.

Grove City will round out the field and make its fourth NCAA Tournament showing, after claiming the President’s Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The Wolverines are holding foes to just 63.8 points per night and are led by Andy O’Keefe, who was named the PAC’s Player of the Year by netting 17.8 points per contest.

Fans not making the trip can follow the action through DC’s audio broadcast, which is set to begin at 5:00 pm on Friday with Jim Funderburg and Jim Bellamy calling the action. Links to the audio broadcast, as well as the live stats broadcasts are available on the Defiance College men’s basketball website.

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