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'Hounds will play No. 4 seed in first round
Region VI champion Fort Scott will take on fourth-seeded South Suburban, Ill., in the first round of the NJCAA Division II Men's National Basketball Tournament at 11 a.m. March 19 in Danville, Ill.
The Greyhounds (14-16) defeated defending Region 6 (also called District V by the NJCAA) champion Brown Mackie Saturday in Wichita, qualifying for their first national tournament at any level since 1948. South Suburban (28-5) won the District VI (Region 4B) championship at Elgin, Ill., on Saturday, defeating Triton, Ill., 93-75.
South Suburban, which finished sixth in the national tourney last season, is the only one of the top eight finishers which return this year.
Only the top 8 teams were seeded. The NJCAA then took the other eight qualifiers and divided them into "top" and "bottom" pods. Teams in the pods were drawn by lot into their positions on the bracket.
The tournament begins bright and early Tuesday morning with a 9 a.m. match with Carl Sandburg, Ill., taking on No. 2 seed Wayne County, Mich. That's followed by an 11 a.m. game between Potomac State, W. Va., and Seventh-seeded Wake Tech, N.C.
At 1 p.m., the third game of the tourney will pit St. Louis Community College against No. 3 Des Moines Area, Iowa. The 3 p.m. game features Dean, Mass. against No. 6 Essex County.
After a brief break, the night session begins with a 6:30 contest between Garrett, Md. and top-seeded Cincinnati Tech. Tuesday's final game pits John Wood, Ill., against No. 8 Central Nebraska at 8:30.
The Fort Scott-South Suburban game is the first game of Wednesday's session. That will be followed by the final first-round game between Lake Michigan and fifth-seeded Phoenix at 1 p.m.
There will be a consolation game at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Then the first two winner's bracket quarterfinals will be held at 6 and 8 p.m.
If Fort Scott wins, it would play the Lake Michigan-Phoenix winner at 8:30 Thursday night. If the Greyhounds lost, they would face the Lake Michigan-Phoenix loser at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
The tournament plays out to eight places with the final round on Saturday. The seventh-place game will tip off at noon followed by the fifth-place game at 2, the third-place contest at 5:30 and the national championship game at 7:30.
| Dist. | Champion | Record | District championship |
| I | Phoenix, Ariz. | 24-8 | def. Tohono O'odham, 87-69 |
| II | Dean, Mass.--a | 21-3 | def. Monroe, N.Y., 99-89 |
| III | Carl Sandburg, Ill. | 18-14 | def. Olive-Harvey, Ill., 73-69 |
| IV | South Suburban, Ill. | 28-5 | def. Triton, Ill., 93-75 |
| V | Fort Scott | 14-16 | def. Brown Mackie, 68-66 |
| VI | Wake Tech, N.C.-b | 23-10 | def. Louisburg, N.C., 85-82, OT |
| VII | Central Nebraska--c | 22-10 | def. Dakota-Bottineau, 92-77 |
| VIII | Des Moines Area | 28-5 | def. Iowa Lakes, 71-69 |
| IX | Lake Michigan | 20-13 | def. Lansing, Mich., 91-78 |
| X | Wayne Co., Mich. | 25-4 | def. Oakland, Mich., 77-76 |
| XI | Cincinnati State | 27-3 | def. Owens, Ohio, 79-78 |
| XII | Essex County, N.J.--d | 25-5 | def. Rartitan Valley, 99-74 |
| XIII | St. Louis--e | 20-10 | def. Mid-South, Ark, 91-77 |
| XIV | Potomac St., W. Va. | 20-8 | def. Howard, Md., 74-69 |
| XVI | John Wood, Ill. | 24-9 | def. Illinois Central, 79-74 |
Districts II, VI, VII, XII and XIII include more than one Region.
a -- Dean won the Region 21 championship, then defeated Region 3 champion Monroe in the District II playoff game.
b -- District VI combined regions 8 and 10 into one tournament.
c -- Central Nebraska won the Region 9 championship, then defeated Region 13 champion Dakota-Bottineau in the District VII playoff game.
d -- District XII combined regions 15 and 19 into one tournament.
e -- St. Louis won the Region 16 championship, then defeated Region 2 champion Mid-South in the District XIII playoff game.