KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second straight season, the Raven Men's Basketball team has earned a trip to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Div. I Basketball National Championship tournament and for the second time in three games, the Ravens will face off against a Frontier Athletic Conference opponent.
No. 16 Benedictine (24-8) takes on No. 19 Montana Western (22-9) who earned a second-place finish in the Frontier this season at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.
Benedictine is one of 18 repeat qualifiers from the 2014 tournament while Montana Western returns to the tournament after missing last season's tournament.
Montana Western finished their conference schedule with a 9-5 record. They lost out in their conference tournament as they fell to Lewis & Clark State College in the tournament championship game.
Benedictine, after going 12-6 in the Heart, earned the conference's host berth to the NAIA Tournament after Missouri Valley College took the Heart Tournament Championship berth.
Head to Head Stats:
Scoring – Benedictine: 2,210. Montana Western: 2,522
Field Goals – Benedictine: 46.8 percent (743). Montana Western: 47.8 percent (873)
3-Pointers – Benedictine 38.2 percent (247). Montana Western: 35.7 percent (214)
Free Throws – Benedictine: 70.5 percent (477). Montana Western: 73.4 percent (562)
Rebounds – Benedictine: 1,097 (32.3 per game). Montana Western: 1,187 (38.3 per game)
Assists – Benedictine: 363. Montana Western: 456
Steals – Benedictine: 182. Montana Western: 288
Turnovers – Benedictine: 454. Montana Western: 441
About the Bulldogs: Montana Western returns to the NAIA tournament after missing last season, which snapped a four-season streak of qualifying for the tournament. ... The Bulldogs rank ninth in the NAIA in free throw percentage (73.4) and are 10th in total steals (288). ... They also rank in the top 15 in defensive rebounds per game (27.9, No. 11), steals per game (9.3, No. 11), field goal percent (47.8, No. 12), field goal percent defense (40.0, No. 13) and total blocks (119, No. 15). ... Stephen McCall leads the NAIA in free throw percent at 92.5 percent. He has knocked in 99 of 107 free throws heading into the tournament. ... The Bulldogs have three players averaging double figures, led by the 15.9 ppg average of Dexter Williams Jr. while McCall is close behind at 15.7.
About the Ravens: The Ravens are making just the second back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearance in program history this season. They previously qualified for back-to-back NAIA tournaments in 1952-'53 and again in 1953-'54. ... They rank fourth in the NAIA in scoring defense per game at 61.2. They also rank eighth in total rebound defense (31.2) and ninth in field goal percent defense (39.1). ... Two-time Heart of America Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jallen Messersmith ranks in two statistical categories for the Ravens. He is second in total blocks (73) and sixth in blocks per game (2.3). ... Jake Schannuth is also ranked fifth in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percent (47.8). ... First-team All-Heart selection Jon Harris Jr. leads the Ravens at 13.5 ppg while honorable mention selection Jonathan Anaekwe and Messersmith average 10.8 and 10.2 points per game respectively.
Wednesday's winner advances to the Second Round where they will play the winner of No. 1 Hope International (Calif.) and West Virginia Tech at 6:15 p.m. on Friday.
