Photo By Brad Tucker

Senior wing Phil Steffes drives the basket against Baldwin-Wallace.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After defeating Lake Erie College and Baldwin-Wallace College by a combined 54 points over the weekend, the Wittenberg University men's basketball team will again have a home court advantage in the sectional rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg has been selected to host one of four sectional sites on March 10-11.

Wittenberg is slated to play Hope College in a Round of 16 game at 8 p.m. Friday, March 10, at home in the friendly confines of the HPER Center. That will follow the conclusion of a game between Mississippi College and Transylvania University, which is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off, also in the HPER Center.

The winners of those two games will play in the national quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11, also at Wittenberg. The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the national semifinals on March 17 in Salem, Va. The national championship game is scheduled for March 18, also in Salem.

Ticket prices are $8 for adults and $5 for students with college ID, seniors and children, except those under the age of two, who are admitted free of charge. All tickets are general admission, although each team's fans will be asked to sit in designated sections upon arrival. Tickets for Friday's games are being distributed for pre-sale to each of the participating schools. One ticket gets fans into both games on Friday. At Wittenberg, pre-sale sessions are scheduled from noon-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, and noon-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 8. There will be a limit of six tickets per person.

Doors will open at 4 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. All remaining tickets will go on sale at that time each day. No passes of any kind are accepted during NCAA Tournament play.

The Tigers, North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament champions for a second straight year, are ranked third in the nation by d3hoops.com with a 27-3 overall record. Hope, the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament champions, are ranked second nationally with a 28-2 overall record. Mississippi College, regular season titlist of the American Southwest Conference (ASC) East Division and the ASC Tournament champion, is ranked eighth with a sparkling 29-1 overall record. Transylvania, regular season and tournament champions of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, is 26-4 overall and ranked 20th in the nation.