The Cougars, who are 27-6, secured their berth after beating Concordia, 80-72, in the Golden State Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament championship game Tuesday evening. It was the Cougars’ second straight GSAC Tourney title, and it enhanced the Cougars’ NAIA Tournament seeding.
“We’re excited to be heading back to Kansas City,” said Cougar coach Bill Odell, who has guided Azusa Pacific to the dozen consecutive NAIA appearances. “It’s a difficult tournament to win because you have to win 5 games in 6 days, but it really is a lot of fun for the players and the coaches.”
The NAIA Tournament is the largest and oldest collegiate championship tournament, pitting 32 schools in one location for one week, all vying for the national championship. The first 3 days of competition at Municipal feature 8 games a day, starting at 9 a.m. in the morning and typically ending some 15 hours later. The quarterfinals are schedule for Saturday (March 17). After a day off, the tournament resumes Monday (March 19) with the semifinals with the championship game the following night.
Azusa Pacific is 20-14 all-time in 14 previous trips to the NAIA Tournament. They’ve advanced to the “Fab Four” 4 times in the past 9 years, including the program’s first-ever championship game appearance in 2005 (Azusa Pacific lost to John Brown, 65-55).
Owners of a modest 4-game winning streak, the Cougars head to Kansas City playing their best basketball of the season, having won 7 of their past 8. In the process of winning the GSAC Tournament, Azusa Pacific downed 3 teams who also received word today that they too were advancing to the NAIA Tournament – Westmont, San Diego Christian and Concordia. In fact, the GSAC is sending a conference record 5 teams to the NAIA Championship Tournament. California Baptist received an at-large berth as well.
“The fact that 5 GSAC teams have qualified for the NAIAs is a testimony to the talent and strength of the GSAC,” said Odell. “It’s a great conference, and to win in this conference means that you’re ready to compete in Kansas City. I think all 5 teams will make a strong showing.”
LSU-Shreveport is 25-7 on the season after winning the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship last night. The Pilots are making their third straight appearance at the NAIAs, a rather significant accomplishment considering the program was reinstated just 4 years ago.
Both teams are athletic and engineer high-scoring offenses that average over 82 points a game. The Pilots are looking to get past the second round for the first time and make amends for bowing out of the first round last year after taking a No. 2 seed into the tournament. Azusa Pacific moved into the “Elite Eight” last year as the No. 6 seed before falling to Robert Morris College in overtime.
Among this year’s NAIA Tournament field, Azusa Pacific’s 12 consecutive tourney appearances is bettered only by Georgetown’s 15 straight.
The NAIA released the entire 2007 NAIA Tournament Bracket earlier today while announcing that the first 30 games of this year’s tournament will be video streamed.
Azusa Pacific’s student-run radio station KAPU will broadcast all Cougar games in Kansas City with Rob Schwandt and Casey Robeson calling all the action live from courtside at Municipal.
