Mercer basketball making fourth straight postseason appearance

MACON, Ga. (MERCER ATHLETICS) – For the fourth consecutive season, the Mercer men’s basketball team has secured a postseason berth as the Athletic Department announced the team has accepted an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational. The Bears are set to host their CBI first round game against Stony Brook on March 18 at 7 p.m.

Mercer went 18-15 (12-6 SoCon) during the regular season and fell to Furman in the semifinal round of the Southern Conference tournament. The Bears have now landed bids to all four postseason tournaments, winning the College Insider Tournament in 2012, advancing to the National Invitation Tournament round of 32 in 2013 and advancing to the NCAA Round of 32 last year.

The CBI is a 16-team tournament hosted at on-campus arenas throughout the country. The tournament is single-elimination leading up to the final round, which is a best-of-three series between the last two remaining teams.

The 16-team field consists of teams not selected for the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. In addition to Mercer and Stony Brook, the 2015 field includes Gardner-Webb, Colorado, Vermont, Hofstra, Pepperdine, Seattle, Radford, Delaware State, Rider, Loyola Chicago, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana Monroe, UC Santa Barbara and Oral Roberts.

The College Basketball Invitational is produced by The Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting.

Stony Brook is 23-11 after falling to Albany in the semifinal round of the America East Tournament. The Seawolves are No. 109 in the latest ESPN Daily RPI and finished second in America East play with a 12-4 record.