The Westminster College Blue Jays learned on Monday that they will face the nationally-ranked Hanover College Panthers in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Hanover, Ind.
The Panthers - who are ranked No. 16 in the country - enter the tournament with a 22-3 overall record. Hanover won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament after it defeated Mount St. Joseph 58-51 on Sunday. The Panthers also won the HCAC regular-season title with a 16-2 conference record.
Hanover will host two rounds of the tournament. The winner of Friday's game will face either Wooster (Ohio) or North Central (Illinois) College in the second round at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Fighting Scots and Cardinals play each other in a first-round game at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Hanover.
Westminster (19-8) qualified for the tournament after it defeated the Greenville Panthers 128-121 to earn its second-straight St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship on Saturday night in Greenville, Ill.
The Blue Jays' 128 points ties a program record for points scored in a game.
No. 2 seed Westminster - who were swept by top-seeded Greenville (21-6) in the regular season - were tied 64- all with the Panthers at halftime.
The Blue Jays trailed 105-103 with 6 minutes, 36 second to go before it went on a 14-4 stretch- capped off by a free throw by sophomore guard Carter Wands - to take a 117-109 advantage with 3:08 left.
The Panthers cut Westminster's lead to 123-119 after Michael Hohm knocked down a 3-pointer with :55 left. The Blue Jays then scored four-straight points to stretch their lead to 127-119 with :22 to go.
Junior center Sean O'Brien recorded an impressive double-double - a game-high 34 points and 18 rebounds - to lead Westminster, which shot 63 percent (45-of-72) from the field and dominated the boards 60-40.
Junior guard Jimmy Villalobos went 14-of-15 from the free-throw line to come up with a career-high 31 points as the Blue Jays shot 77 percent (36-of-47) from the line. Junior forward Romo Tabb provided 20 points, while junior forward Stu Hollandsworth tallied 13.
"I'm proud of the guys," Westminster head coach Matt Mitchell said. "We played through a lot of adversity, fatigue, injuries and foul trouble."
Elmo Smith led Greenville - which went 39 percent (41-of-of-104) from the floor - with 29 points. Shane Smith tallied 21 points, while Michael Hohm scored 12. Kenny Greene came up with 11 points and Stevonte Young and DeAndre Brown added 10 apiece.
Junior guard Tanner Cochran was named the tournament's most valuable player and O'Brien earned all-tournament honors.