Posted: Mar 02, 2011
Tournament Website
The Bellevue University men's basketball team earned the No. 4 seed in the 2011 NAIA Men's Basketball Division II National Championship, which will be held on Mar. 9-15 in Point Lookout, Mo. on the campus of College of the Ozarks.
The Bruins (27-5), who earned an automatic berth into the tournament after winning the MCAC Tournament last Saturday, will face Ashford (Iowa) University in the first round at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9.
Bellevue will be making its 12th overall and ninth-straight appearance in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The Bruins finished second in 2004 and 2008.
Head coach Shane Paben, who is in his third season at Bellevue, has guided the Bruins to three-straight NAIA National Tournament appearances. The Bruins reached the semifinals in 2010 and the quarterfinals in 2009 in Paben's first season.
In addition to the 2011 MCAC Tournament title, the Bruins were the MCAC co-regular season champions with Oklahoma Wesleyan, finishing with a 12-2 league record.
Bellevue owns a 17-11 all-time record at the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.
