Monday, March 14, 2016

NSU to Play Columbia Wednesday in CIT

NORFOLK, Virginia – The Norfolk State men's basketball team will make its fifth straight postseason appearance and third straight in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) when the Spartans play at Columbia on Wednesday at  7 p.m. in New York City.

NSU will face a Columbia squad that finished 21-10 overall and 10-4 in the Ivy League. The Lions are making their second CIT appearance in three years. They posted their best conference record in 22 years and their most regular season wins since 1950-51.

The Spartans own a 17-16 overall record this season after finishing in a tie for second in the MEAC at 12-4. NSU advanced to the MEAC tournament semifinals for the third straight year. The Spartan program is the only one in the league to advance to the postseason in each of the last four years, much less five. NSU competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the NIT in 2013 and the CIT in 2014 and '15 in addition to now this season.

"We are honored and excited to be chosen for postseason for the fifth straight year," said head coach Robert Jones. "In a one bid league, being chosen for any sort of postseason is a bonus. A postseason bid acknowledges the overall body of work throughout the whole season. Our seniors can get at least one more game together and our underclassmen can continue to grow and develop for next season."

Live video of the game against Columbia at Levien Gymnasium will be available on www.CollegeInsider.com. The game will also be broadcast locally on Hot 91.1 FM and Star 1310 AM with Ross Gordon on the call.

To order tickets or for more information, visit www.GoColumbiaLions.com.

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was created in 2009. Invitations to the 32-team postseason tournament are extended only to teams outside of the BCS power conferences. There is no formal bracket for the tournament. The match-ups for each round are determined after the preceding round is completed.

The first round of the tournament will be played on Monday through Wednesday. Second-round CIT games will be played Friday through Sunday, quarterfinal games on March 22-24 and semifinal games March 27. The championship game will be played on March 29. The semifinals and the championship game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
 
Mike Bello, Asst. SID
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

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