The Central College men’s basketball team will face Illinois Wesleyan in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The pairing was announced Monday morning, and will send the Iowa Conference champions to St. Louis, where Washington University will host three days of competition.

Central Head Coach Mike Boschee says the team is excited and says they were never too concerned about where the game would be held, adding they’re looking forward to playing a quality opponent. Central is 23-4 overall this season and faces a Titans squad on Friday night that is 20-7 and received an at-large bid out of the strong CCIW Conference.

Washington University, the two-time defending national champions will host Westminster in the first round, with the winner of that game facing either Central or Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday. 92.1 fm KRLS will broadcast Friday’s opening round game live, with Eric Gotschall providing the play-by-play for the 6:00 p.m. contest.