Nathan Menefee, the nation's No. 2 scorer, leads fourth-seeded Evergreen tonight in a quarterfinal game vs. No. 5 seed College of Idaho.
CCC Men's Tournament Tips Off Tonight at 4 Campus Sites
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Defending national champion Oregon Tech already knows it will be “Dancin’ in Branson” when the NAIA Tournament tips off next month, but seven other Cascade Collegiate Conference teams are salivating over the prospect of joining the Hustlin’ Owls as an automatic qualifier to the national tournament.
Those hopes begin in earnest tonight, as the eight-team CCC Tournament gets underway at campus sites in Klamath Falls, La Grande, Portland and Olympia. The eventual winner (or the runner-up, should OIT win the conference tournament) will secure the league’s second automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament. It's likely at least one other team, perhaps two, could receive at-large invitations, as well.
OIT shared the CCC regular season title with Eastern Oregon, as both teams completed the conference season with 15-5 marks. But the Hustlin’ Owls earned the top seed in the CCC’ s postseason tourney – and the automatic bid to nationals that goes to the regular season champion – by edging the Mountaineers in the league’s second tiebreaker (best record vs. teams that finished .500 or better in conference play).
No doubt that head coach Danny Miles and the rest of the Hustlin’ Owls would like to add a CCC tournament title to their 2008-09 resume, but they can rest assured that regardless of the outcome of the single-elimination tournament, OIT will be headed to Branson, Mo., for the 32-team NAIA Tournament March 11-17. Now it's a matter of determining who else from the CCC will be joining them.
Here is the tournament schedule:
CCC Tournament Pairings
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m.
#8 seed Corban at #1 seed Oregon Tech
#7 seed Southern Oregon at #2 seed Eastern Oregon
#6 seed Northwest Christian at #3 seed Warner Pacific
#5 seed College of Idaho at #4 seed Evergreen
Semifinals – Saturday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
Second lowest seed at second highest remaining seed
Championship – Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 p.m.
Lowest seed at highest seed