Wayland Baptist's opening-round opponent in the Oklahoma Ford Dealers Sooner Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament has changed.
Because of another in a series of recent game forfeits due to an ineligible player by the University of North Texas at Dallas, which was the Pioneers' initial quarterfinal opponent, the Jaguars have dropped from the No. 7 to the No. 9 seed and out of the eight-team tournament. Now, Southwestern Christian (12-13, 10-12), which originally had not qualified for the post-season, moves into the No. 7 position and will travel to Plainview to take on second-seeded Wayland (21-7, 16-6) at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The game will follow the fourth-seeded Flying Queens' 6 p.m. game against fifth-seeded John Brown.
The Pioneers swept Southwestern Christian during the conference regular-season, winning at home on Dec. 1, 85-71, then on Jan. 28 in Bethany, Okla., 84-78.
If the Pioneers win Thursday, they'll advance to the SAC semifinals to be held Monday at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma and face either third-seeded Oklahoma City or sixth-seeded Texas Wesleyan.
In Thursday's other quarterfinal games, top-seeded, fifth-ranked Langston entertains eighth-seeded John Brown while fourth-seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God hosts No. 5 seed USAO.
The championship game will be Tuesday at MACU.
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