Judson prepares for NAIA tourney

Making its first NAIA National Tournament appearance in program history, the Judson University men's basketball team will face No. 4 seed Walsh University on Thursday, March 13th, at 10:15 a.m. in Branson, Mo. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

"This is a great honor for our players," said Judson 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 tournament with a No. 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 No. 1 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (44 percent) and second in the nation for assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and scoring margin (16.4).

This will be the eighth time that Walsh has made an appearance in the NAIA tournament. It won the 2005 national championship.

Judson 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.

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 a.m.