Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Valparaiso University has earned the second seed for this weekend's Toshiba Mid-Continent Conference Tournament to be held in Tulsa, Okla. and will face UMKC on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

The Crusaders split a pair of meetings with the seventh-seeded Kangaroos this season, falling 47-35 in Kansas City on January 15 before rebounding to post an 80-56 win at the Athletics-Recreation Center on Monday night (February 28).

Saturday's other quarterfinal finds top-seed Western Illinois meeting eighth-seeded IUPUI beginning at noon at the John Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC. On Sunday, #4 Oral Roberts and #5 Chicago State meet at noon with #3 seed Oakland and #6 Southern Utah tangling at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinals will take place on Monday, with the Valpo-UMKC winner meeting the Oakland-Southern Utah victor at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of the day. The first semifinal will match the Western Illinois-IUPUI winner against the Oral Roberts-Chicago State winner at noon.

The championship is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.