Keelhaulers to Face #9 Mt. Mercy

The Cal Maritime men's basketball team will take on Mt. Mercy University from Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the first round of the NAIA Division II National Championships on March 12, as the bracket was released on Wednesday.

The Keelhaulers (19-9), who won the California Pacific Conference regular season and tournament title for the fourth straight season, will play at 7:15 p.m. Pacific Standard time.

The tournament is at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo.

Mt. Mercy is the No. 9-seeded team in the tournament. They are ranked No. 13 in the latest NAIA Division II poll.

The field includes 32 teams for the 24th annual event and the tournament runs March 11 through March 17. Nineteen programs return to the field in 2015.

The field is comprised of 23 automatic qualifiers, one host berth awarded to College of the Ozarks, and eight at-large selections. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up depending on the league.

Defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan takes a 31-2 overall record into the field. The Wildcats look to become the second Division II program in history to repeat as champs, which would join Bethel (Ind.) (1997-98).

All of the national championship action will be video-streamed live on NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA's official video-streaming platform provided by Stretch Internet.