Belton (February 25, 2013) -- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball will be making its sixth trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships in the last seven years after the Cru earned an at-large bid to the postseason tournament following a Championship Game loss in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament this weekend. And for the fourth straight year, the UMHB men will open the tournament at home. The Cru received a first round bye and will host a Second Round Game on Saturday, March 9th, at 7:00 PM.

The Cru will face a familiar foe in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. UMHB will host the winner of Saturday’s opening round game between Concordia Texas and Trinity University. That game is a 7:00 PM tip in San Antonio on Saturday, March 2nd. The Cru has faced Concordia Texas three times this season and also played Trinity during the regular season.

The Cru is 3-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and fell to Trinity University 68-66 at the Mayborn Campus Center in last year’s opening round. This is the first time the UMHB men have received a bye in the NCAA Tournament.

“When you think about the number of teams playing nationally in Division III,” Cru head coach Ken DeWeese said. “To be one of the 62 still playing, it is a very good feeling and we should be extremely pleased. We’ve never had two weeks off during the season before, so it will be interesting to see how we handle that.’”

UMHB is 23-5 on the season and is one of 20 at-large teams in the 62-team field for the NCAA Division III National Championships. Concordia Texas is also 23-5 and defeated the Cru 80-76 in Sunday’s ASC title game to claim the league’s automatic bid to the postseason. Trinity has a 20-7 record and won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship and automatic bid.

Ticket and broadcast information for the March 9th game will be posted once it becomes available.