ALEXANDRIA, La.- The Middle Georgia State University men's basketball team will continue their historic season this weekend when they begin play at the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship First & Second Round presented by Ballogy.

The Knights were named the No. 9-seed in the Liston quadrant of the bracket and have traveled to Alexandria, Louisiana where they will do battle with No. 8-seed Nelson University (formerly known as Southwestern Assemblies of God University) on Friday, March 14^th at 6:30 pm (EST)/5:30 pm (CST).

Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8scm3F2HXKQ
Live Stats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=1061
Tickets: https://www.sidelinetix.shop/#/events/17019

The LSU-Alexandria Generals are hosting the four-team site as the No. 1-seed of the Liston quadrant where they will go to battle against former MGA conference-foe and No. 16-seed, Stillman College of Tuscaloosa, Ala. The winner of each game will face off on Saturday, March 15^th at 7 pm (EST)/6 pm (CST) with the victor moving on to the 87^th NAIA National Tournament final site in Kansas City, Missouri.

HOW THEY GOT THERE: MGA- The Knights finished in third place of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) East Division with a conference record of 13-5 and a 19-8 overall record after advancing all the way to the SSAC Tournament finals before falling to Life University. The Knights took down Faulkner University and No. 1-seed Dalton State College, both NAIA National Tournament teams in their own right, to take on Life for the Tournament title. The solid work of the Knights in the regular season coupled with their strong conference tournament showing helped lead the team to it's first ever NAIA National Tournament selection as an at-large bid.

HOW THEY GOT THERE: Nelson- The Lions boast a stellar 23-8 mark on the season while proving to be the top team in the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season standings with their 19-5 league record. Nelson finished their conference tournament run in a similar fashion as the Knights by finishing as the SAC tournament runner-up as they fell 65-62 to Langston University in a back-and-forth title matchup. The Lions knocked off the University of North Texas-Dallas and Wayland Baptist University in their conference tournament before falling short versus Langston in the tournament final.

WHO TO WATCH: MGA- Middle Georgia State boasts a balanced scoring attack under the leadership of long-time head coach Scott Moe as six players average at least 8 points per game. The Knights squad has utilized that balance and the leadership of their five seniors to lead them to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history. Juniors Milique Smith (14 ppg, 10.1 rpg, All-SSAC first-team) and Nick Cham (13.6 ppg, All-SSAC second-team) pace the Knights attack followed closely behind by seniors Trashawn Wilson (13 ppg) and Jamal Taylor (9.5 ppg). Wilson and Taylor have saved their best play for the stretch run with each earning SSAC All-Tournament honors for their play in the postseason thus far. The Knights average 79 points per game on offense while limiting their opponents to an average of 72.9 points per ballgame.

WHO TO WATCH: Nelson- Slowing down the Lions offensive attack will likely center around MGA's attempt to limit the effectiveness of senior guard CJ Hall. The Killeen, Texas native averages a team-best 19.1 points per game while dishing out 3.6 assists per outing as he earned SAC Player of the Year honors. Former University of North Alabama forward Micah Clark (All-SAC second-team) is next in the stat sheet with his 12.3 points per game while coming off the bench for Lions after making his season debut in early January. Junior JJ Boling (All-SAC third-team) is another key contributor to likely show up in the Knights scouting report after averaging 8.5 points per game while knocking down a team-high 62 three-pointers for the campaign. Nelson head coach Delton Deal was honored as the SAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to the regular season title. In what should be a very even matchup on paper, Nelson has produced similar team numbers as MGA by averaging 77.6 points per game while allowing their opponents to score 70.5 per game.