KANSAS CITY, MO: The Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (28-7) will meet the Life University Runnin' Eagles (26-10) in the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship Game at 7:02 p.m. tonight. The game will be played in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium and will also be carried live on
ESPN3.
The Matchup
The Rams are seeking their second title in their 15th tournament appearance, while the Eagles are seeking their fourth title in 16 tournament appearances. The conference matchup of the Sooner Athletic Conference (Texas Wesleyan) and Mid-South Conference (Life) is a rematch of last year's title game when Mid-America Christian University (OK) of the SAC defeated Georgetown College (KY).
Life is looking to become the first team with double-digit losses to win the championship since John Brown University in 2005. The Runnin' Eagles are 3-1 all-time in championship games. The Rams are making their second appearance in the title bout.
How They Got Here
Texas Wesleyan
The Rams received an automatic bid to the tournament as the SAC Regular Season Champion. Their opening round win over Cumberlands (KY) was the program's first national tournament victory since 2010. The rams defeated The Master's (CA) in round two and Dalton State (GA) in round three. In the Fab Four, Texas Wesleyan erased a 16-point second-half deficit and used overtime to defeat top-seed William Penn (IA) 83-82 thanks to a base-line jumper from
Dion Rogers with 2.3 seconds remaining. Including their four tournament contests, the Rams have played an incredibly tough schedule and are currently 10-3 against teams from the tournament field.
Life
Life is looking to improve on a 3-1 record in the championship game. The Eagles won titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000 after finishing as the runner-up in 1994. The Eagles were also an automatic qualifier as the Mid-South Conference Tournament Champion. They played the very first game of the tournament, defeating Martin Methodist (TN) in a 9:00 a.m. tip-off on Wednesday. Wins over Hope International (CA) and Carroll (MT) put the eagles into the Fab Four where they topped the previously undefeated and No.1 overall seed LSU-Alexandria.
Life is coached by Keith Adkins who directed Campbellsville (KY) to a first round win over Texas Wesleyan last year. Campbellsville went on to a Fab Four appearance, making Adkins the first head coach in the tournament's 80 years to make consecutive Fab Four appearances with different teams.
The Tournament
In its 80th rendition, the tournament continues its distinction as the oldest national championship basketball tournament in the country preceding both the NIT and NCAA Tournaments. This marks the 73rd year that the tournament has been played in Kansas City and the 53rd year at Municipal Auditorium.
