WINONA LAKE, Ind. -- The Crusaders' Men's Basketball team was rewarded with a No. 9 seed in the 2023 NAIA National Tournament for their spectacular season and winning the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament Championship. Madonna was placed in the Duer Quadrant of the bracket, which features 64 teams competing for the national title. 

The Crusaders (24-7) will face off against receiving votes and the No. 8 seeded Tigers of Olivet Nazarene University (23-7) Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at Grace College's Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The Tigers are out of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and received an automatic bid as they were the CCAC Regular-Season Champions for the fifth year in a row.
The Tigers are averaging the fourth most points per game in the NAIA at 88.1 and as a team, they shoot 40.9% from three. ONU is led by junior guard Tyler Schmidt who is averaging 23.5 points per game which is the sixth best average in the NAIA, and was the unanimous CCAC Player of the Year. Schmidt's best game came against Judson (Ill.) where he finished with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steal

Landon Pflederer is another go-to player for the Tigers. The 6-1 guard had a very solid year for the Tigers averaging 12.1 points per game and 4.7 assists per game this season, both second-best marks for the ONU team.

The Tigers' last All-Conference player was sophomore Caleb Swearingen who averaged 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He received an honorable mention from the CCAC. He scored in double figures 10 times, including a season-best 21 points in the season finale against Saint Xavier to help ONU clinch the regular-season championship.

Players to watch for Madonna are the big three of Mark Mettie, Henry Speight, and Brendan Young who combine for 45.5 points per game. Mark Mettie might have the most favorable matchup tomorrow. Mettie stands at 6-10 and will have a size mismatch against the Tigers. ONU does have two players above 6-7, however, they both only average around one minute per game. The tallest Tigers that do play are Sam Emich, Braydon Flagg, and Griffen Andricks who all are 6-6. 

The winner between Madonna and ONU will take on the winner of No. 1 seeded Grace College (Ind.) and No. 16 seeded Columbia International University (S.C.). That game will take place on Wednesday, March 8th at 6 p.m. Wednesday's winner will advance to the NAIA Final Site in Kansas City next week, beginning on March 13th. 

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