KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oregon Tech heads to the desert in search of their first trip to Kansas City since 1987, as the Hustlin' Owls will compete in the first two rounds of the NAIA Championships in a 4-team pod hosted by Arizona Christian.
 
No. 9 seed OIT (22-7) will meet No. 8 seed Indiana Tech next Friday at 2:30 p.m. (PDT) in a first-round match-up inside the ACU Event Center, with the winner to meet either No. 1 seed Arizona Christian or No. 16 seed Westcliff on Saturday with a trip to Kansas City and the tournament final site on the line.
 
It marks the 24th-trip to the NAIA Tournament for Tech and the third trip in the past four seasons – with the Owls advancing to the tournament's second-round in each of their past two appearances.
 
IIT (23-7), from Fort Wayne, reached the tournament final in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference – with the club allowing just 69 points a game and holding a plus-seven rebound margin. The Warriors are paced by a pair of All-WHAC performers – Crew Gibson (14.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and Blake Davison (12.6 ppg, 4.3). It is the first meeting between the teams in 20 years, as the Owls topped their Indiana foes at the 2005 national tourney.
 
Tech looks for a potential rematch with top-seed ACU (26-4) – who defeated the Owls in November, 97-83. The Firestorm head into the tournament on a 12-game win streak, riding an offense that makes 51% of their field goals and a defense holding teams to 67 points a night. Both Ese Onakpoma (13.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and Anthony Howell (10.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) earned All-Great Southwest Athletic Conference honors.
 
Westcliff (14-8), from Irvine, Calif., earned a spot in the tournament by upsetting UC Merced in the California Pacific Conference title game. The Warriors average 72 points per game and are led by All-Cal Pac performers in Rayven Turner (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Micaiah Hankns (13.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg).
 
All games from Glendale will be streamed for free on the GSAC Sports Network, with OIT games carried live in the Basin on 92.5 KLAD-FM with Mike Safford on the call.
 
NAIA Tournament – First/Second Rounds, March 14-15 (Glendale, Ariz.)
Game 1 (March 14) – No. 8 seed Indiana Tech vs. No. 9 seed Oregon Tech, 2:30 p.m.
Game 2 (March 14) – No. 1 seed Arizona Christian vs. No. 16 seed Westcliff, 5 p.m.
Game 3 (March 15) – Winner 1 vs Winner 2, 5 p.m.