SPOKANE -- Northwest Conference champion Whitworth University does not have to leave Spokane to have a chance to reach the NCAA Division III men's basketball round of sixteen.
The fifth-ranked Pirates have been given one of three first round byes in the 2010 NCAA Division III tournament and will host a second round contest against the winner of Thursday's game between Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Chapman University.
Saturday's second round game will start at 7pm in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. Tickets will cost $6 for adults; $3 for students, youth and senior adults.
The Pirates are 25-2, riding a 24-game winning streak. Whitworth is making its fourth straight NCAA Division III tournament appearance and fifth all-time. It will be the third year in a row that the Pirates will host a national tournament game.
Chapman will host the first round match-up with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Chapman Panthers are 23-2 and received one of two places in the tournament reserved for independent schools. The CMS Stags (21-6) won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference regular season and tournament titles for the second year in a row.
