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PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- For the sixth straight season, the University of Pikeville men's basketball team is heading to the NAIA Div. I National Championship at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

This time around the Bears will break new ground as they earned their first No. 1 seed in program history and will play eighth-seeded Langston (Okla.) in the first round at 3:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 15. This will be the first meeting between the two programs.

All of the action can be streamed live on a pay-per-view basis through the NAIA Network, while local radio station Z105FM will also be on hand with Rick Bentley doing play-by-play. Be sure to follow UPIKE on all social media platforms for constant coverage from Kansas City.

UPIKE's at-large bid to the tournament extends a program-record of consecutive appearances that started in 2013. This is the Bears' 12th trip to the national tournament overall with seven of the bid coming under head coach Kelly Wells, who is in his 12th season at the school.

Wells, who was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 2011 and MSC Coach of the Year just last week, led UPIKE to its only national title in 2011.

There will be plenty of familiar faces at the tournament as the Mid-South Conference got a nation's best six teams into the field. Those teams include No. 1 seed UPIKE, MSC Tournament Champion and No. 7 seed Lindsey Wilson, No. 3 seed Georgetown, No. 5 seed Cumberlands, No. 7 seed Campbellsville and sixth-seeded Life (Ga.).

UPIKE heads to Kansas City as winners of 12 of its last 14 games, including an 8-2 record against those team in the tournament field. Most recently, the Bears had a four-game winning streak snapped in a 67-65 loss to Campbellsville in the semifinals of the MSC Tournament last weekend.

Still, the Bears (28-4) moved up a spot to No. 2 in the latest release of the NAIA top-25 poll and played well enough to earn one of four No. 1 seeds in the tournament.

The trio of Jayvian Delacruz, Jordan Perry and Darrion Leslie lead the way as all three average right at 14 points per game. Leslie was named the MSC Player of the Year last week, while all three earned a spot on the all-conference teams.

UPIKE ranks in the top 10 of 10 different statistical categories, including first in scoring margin (+22.6), second in field goal percentage (52.5) and fifth in scoring per game (91.6.).

Even as a No. 8 seed, Langston offers a huge test for UPIKE as it is one of the toughest offensive teams in the nation. The Lions (20-11) are making their third straight national-tournament appearance and sixth overall. They have made the past three appearances under head coach Stan Holt who is in his fourth season. Langston is 2-5 all time at the national tourney.

The Lions finished as the runner-up in the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament, allowing it to grab an at-large bid. They have scored at least 90 points in 12 games and are 4-1 in their last five games, last losing to LSU-Alexandria by seven over the weekend.

Langston ranks seven nationally in free-throw percentage (75.2), ninth in 3-point percentage (39.3) and scores 86.1 points per game, which is 14th in the NAIA. Dante Bailey is the team's leader at 15.7 points per game as he is one of four Lions to hit at least 30 3s this season.

The Lions don't have a player taller than 6-7, but are an experienced bunch with six of their 10 players being seniors.

Last season, UPIKE and Langston both advanced all the way to the national quarterfinals. While the Lions are 2-5 all time in the tournament, the Bears are 13-10.

The national tournament field is comprised of 14 automatic berths, 17 at-large selections and one host berth. Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, conference regular-season runners-up, tournament champions or tournament runners-up, depending on the league.

At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

-UPIKE-