BILLINGS — The brackets for the NAIA men's and women's national basketball tournaments were announced Thursday, and four teams from the Frontier Conference learned their first-round destinations and matchups.
Montana Tech's men, champs of the Frontier tourney and the league's automatic qualifier, are the No. 4 seed in the Cramer Quadrant. The Orediggers will host a first-round "pod" in Butte and will face Westmont (Calif.) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The pod will include a matchup between Thomas More (Ky.) and Eastern Oregon, the latter of which boasts Cascade Collegiate Conference MVP Phillip Malatare from Arlee.
On the women's side, Frontier tournament champion Carroll, the No. 2 seed in the Liston Quadrant, will face Rochester (Mich.) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. as part of a first-round "pod" in Helena that will also include a matchup between Jamestown (N.D.) and Indiana University South Bend.
At-large qualifier Montana Western, runner-up at the Frontier tourney and the No. 3 seed in the Cramer Quadrant, will travel to Park City, Kansas, to play Philander Smith (Ark.) on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Mountain time. Rocky Mountain College, an at-large qualifier and the No. 11 seed in the Duer Quadrant, will play Menlo (Calif.) on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Mountain in Lewiston, Idaho.
