Concordia-St. Paul’s men’s basketball team earned its first NCAA Division II tournament bid on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Golden Bears (21-8) will face fourth-seeded Minot State (26-9) in Central Region quarterfinal Saturday in Topeka, Kan.

Concordia, who was ranked third in the final Region Rankings released last Wednesday, slipped one spot to fourth after falling to Minot State in the NSIC tournament quarterfinals last week. NSIC Tournament champion MSU Moorhead picked up the second seed in the tournament while regular season champions Concordia (No. 5) and Southwest Minnesota State (No. 6) each earned at-large berths.

2024-25 NCAA Central Region Tournament

Topeka, Kan., Lee Arena Tip times TBD.

Quarterfinals, Saturday: No. 1 Washburn (26-3) vs. No. 8 Harding (22-9); No. 4 Minot State (26-9) vs. No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul (21-8); No. 2 MSU Moorhead (23-8) vs. No. 7 Fort Hays State (22-9); No. 3 Winona State (21-10) vs. No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State (21-8).

Semifinals, Sunday: Washburn/Harding winner vs. Minot State/Concordia winner; TBA – MSUM/FHSU winner vs Winona State/SMSU winner.

Championship, March 18: Semifinal winners, TBD