College Sports

Texas Wesleyan hoops to face Graceland in opening round of NAIA Tournament

By Peter Dawson
It’s been a long year of no championship NAIA basketball for Kansas City and Municipal Auditorium, but the field is set for a return to the tournament March 18-23 in KC. Opening-round games take place March 12-13 around the country in a format change instituted for this season.
It’s been a long year of no championship NAIA basketball for Kansas City and Municipal Auditorium, but the field is set for a return to the tournament March 18-23 in KC. Opening-round games take place March 12-13 around the country in a format change instituted for this season. Texas Wesleyan athletics

The Texas Wesleyan men's basketball team (22-10) is a week away from defending its national title at the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Kansas City.

The NAIA revealed Tuesday that the Rams would enter this year's 32-team, single-elimination tournament as a No. 4 seed. They will play Graceland (Iowa), a No. 5 seed, March 15 at 5:45 p.m.

In order to repeat, head coach Brennen Shingleton's bunch will once again need to win five games in six days.

This season, the Rams finished with the second-best record in the Sooner Athletic Conference (14-6) and were ranked No. 15 in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Last week, the team lost to Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the semifinals of the SAC Conference Tournament (89-79). SAGU is the No. 6 seed in Wesleyan's portion of the bracket.

This will mark the program's 16th appearance at the event. Texas Wesleyan also won the title in 2006.

This story was originally published March 7, 2018 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Texas Wesleyan hoops to face Graceland in opening round of NAIA Tournament."

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