Master’s to Play Concordia in Opener of NCCAA Basketball Tournament Final 8

Like a report card, the catch is in the extra C.

The Master’s College basketball team will open play today in the final eight of the NCCAA tournament. Read it fast, and it appears impressive, but that’s NCCAA, not NCAA.

The tournament is for the National Christian College Athletic Assn. and, extra C or not, Master’s is happy to be in Cleveland, Tenn., with a chance to extend its season three more games.

“We would look on this in the college division as being our NIT,” Master’s Coach Mel Hankinson said. “This is a chance to put some icing on a season that has really been a good season.”

Master’s (20-11), seeded second, will play Concordia (Ore.) College (16-15) in the first round today at 7 p.m. PST at Bradley Fieldhouse. The victor will play the winner of the game between Tennessee Temple (17-13) and New York’s The King’s College (26-6) in the second round Friday. The championship game will be played Saturday. Malone (Ohio) College (32-5) is the top-seeded team in the tournament.

Master’s has never qualified for the final eight of the 53-member NCCAA in basketball but has won two titles in men’s soccer.

Master’s advanced to the tournament by defeating Christian Heritage, 95-74, Friday night. Tom Bruner leads the Mustangs with 14.6 points and 6.1 rebounds a game.

Stuart Epperson averages 12.0 points, and Jason Webster averages 11.8. Nine players average more than five points a game.

“I think our depth will show in a three-day tournament like this,” Hankinson said. “I do think we stand a chance of winning it.”