RICHARDSON, Texas –– The No. 15-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor posted a league mark of 19-2 to win the American Southwest Conference West Division title and the right to host the 2008 ASC Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament at Mayborn Campus Center in Belton, Texas, beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday (February 29-March 2).

The entire eight-team, single elimination event will be available for fans through free live video webcasting with audio on www.SummitTicket.com. Live statistics will be available through UMHB’s athletics website, www.umhb.edu/athletics/. Both features can be linked to through the conference website.

Head coach Ken DeWeese and Mary Hardin-Baylor (22-3), winners of the last two West Division titles, will be making their fifth straight trip – eighth overall – to the ASC tournament. This will be the Cru’s first time to host. UMHB, which enters on a league-high 11-game winning streak, will begin quarterfinal action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against East Division No. 4 seed East Texas Baptist (9-16). The Tigers return to the tournament after one season’s absence.

Head coach Mike Jones and two-time defending ASC champion Mississippi College (19-5) enter as the East Division champion, a crown the Choctaws have had for five straight seasons. MC, which has qualified for all 10 of the ASC’s basketball tournaments and has won five of them, is in the first quarterfinal on Friday when it tips off at noon against West Division No. 4 seed Howard Payne University (13-12). The Yellow Jackets missed the tourney last year but reached the title game in 2006.

Concordia University Texas (17-8) enters as the West Division’s No. 2 seed and will open play at 2 p.m. on Friday against the East’s No. 3 seed, the University of Texas at Dallas (17-8). CTX is making a repeat trip to the tourney after its first in program history last season. UTD, the 2005 ASC champion, is on its fifth straight appearance since its first trip in 2004.

The University of Texas at Tyler (14-11) qualified in its first season eligible for postseason play after serving the past four years as an NCAA Division III provisional member and will serve as the East’s No. 2 seed. The Patriots will battle West Division No. 3 seed Hardin-Simmons University at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Cowboys reached the championship game last season.

The semifinals are scheduled to tip-off Saturday at 2 p.m. (HPU-MC winner vs. CTX-UTD winner) and 4 p.m. (HSU-UTT winner vs. UMHB-ETBU winner), with the championship game coming Sunday at 2 p.m.

The ASC championship tournament winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.

NOTES:
- Admission prices for each day will be $7 for adults, $3 for students and $3 for senior citizens. Tournament passes will be $15.

- Official tournament website to be linked through www.umhb.edu/athletics/
- Before viewing live video webcasts on www.SummitTicket.com, you must go through a quick, free registration. Start out by clicking “Live” under Sports on the bottom left of the site’s main page, then click ASC-Conference.

- All video webcasts will be archived for one year on www.SummitTicket.com and available to view for free.

- This is the 10th anniversary of the ASC’s basketball tournament.

- The hosting rights of the tourney rotate from West to East each year.

- Team from the East Division holds a 6-3 advantage on ASC titles won.