No. 4-Seeded Whits Draw Howard Payne In Opener

Whitworth College will carry the No. 4 seeding into the fifth annual NAIA Division II men’s national basketball tournament March 6-12 in Nampa, Idaho.

The Pirates (22-4), Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges champions, will face unseeded Howard Payne of Texas (14-12) in their first-round game Thursday at 8:45 p.m. PST. It’s the final game of the first round.

Half the field in the 32-team event, including top-seeded, defending champion Bethel, Ind. (34-1), play first-round games Wednesday.

The tournament is single-elimination.

Whitworth, one of 12 schools making its first appearance in the Division II final, last was in a national tournament in 1991, being eliminated in the first round of the NAIA Division I event that year.

Four other Northwest schools and their first-round opponents: third-seeded Albertson of Caldwell, Idaho (26-3) vs. Northland, Wis. (26-3); NCIC runner-up Lewis & Clark of Portland (16-9) vs. No. 14 Taylor, Ind. (23-12); host Northwest Nazarene (17-12) vs. No. 5 Concordia, Neb. (24-5); and Western Oregon (22-7) vs. No. 6 St. Joseph’s, Maine (24-3).

Northwest Nazarene plays Wednesday, the others all Thursday.

Walsh, Ohio (28-4) is the No. 2 seeded team.

, DataTimes