MORROW, Ga. – For the first time in a decade, and only the third time overall, Clayton State men's basketball has been selected to the NCAA Division II Tournament and will be the No. 4 seed in the Southeast Region when they face No. 5 seed Carson-Newman (23-7, 14-6 SAC) on Saturday, March 10.
 
That game, and all others in the region, will take place in Harrogate, Tennessee as the top team in the country, No. 1 Lincoln Memorial (30-1), hosts the Southeast Regional from March 10-13. A quarterfinal victory will likely pit them against the Railsplitters in the semifinals.
 
The Lakers return to the tournament for the first time since the 2007-08 team went from a sub-.500 Peach Belt Conference Tournament participant to Southeast Region Runner-Up with a six-game win streak against some of the toughest teams in the country at the right time.
 
A No. 8 seed that year, Clayton State made their first appearance as a No. 3 seed in 2006-07. That season they earned a 72-69 victory over Catawba in their very first game before losing a narrow 71-70 overtime decision to 2006 NCAA Division II National Runner-Up Virginia Union in the semifinals.
 
Both previous appearances have come at regionals hosted by Augusta, making this the Lakers first NCAA trip outside the State of Georgia.
 
This year's team has been among the best in program history with a 23-6 overall record, 19-3 mark in the Peach Belt Conference, a second straight league regular season championship and a berth in the PBC Tournament Championship Game.
 
Oh, and a 14-game win streak that helped make most of those accomplishments a possibility. That stretch ranks as the second longest such streak in program history, trailing only the 2006-07 squad's 17 straight wins to start that season. They also enter the Field of 64 with a No. 25 national ranking, marking the first time they cracked a national poll since January 6, 2009.
 
Leading this year's team are senior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) and junior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.), both All-PBC First-Team selections, under the direction of PBC Coach of the Year Jimmy Link.
 
Powell is the Lakers floor general and enters "The Big Dance" averaging 12.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.9 steals. A force in the paint, Taylor has posted marks of 12.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals while shooting better than 52-percent from the floor and 70-percent at the foul line. Link becomes just the second coach in program history to lead a team to the NCAA Tournament, joining all-time wins leader Gordon Gibbons who directed the Lakers in both previous appearances.
 
Looking at the region field, the top half of the bracket features a matchup between No. 1 LMU and No. 8 seed King (19-10) followed by the Lakers against CNU. In the bottom part of the bracket, No. 2 seed Queens (28-3) takes on No. 7 seed Lees-McRae (23-8) and No. 3 seed UNC Pembroke (26-5) faces fellow PBC member and No. 6 seed Francis Marion (20-9) in a rematch of the PBC Tournament Semifinals.
 
The Lakers are a combined 2-4 against the Southeast Region field this year with a split with FMU, a 1-2 mark vs. UNC Pembroke and a loss to Queens to start the season. In their program history, Clayton State has never faced Lincoln Memorial or Lees-McRae.
 
All-time Clayton State has only faced Carson-Newman twice, both within the last three years. That series stands at 1-1 with a 62-58 Laker victory at The Loch on December 2, 2014 and an 83-66 decision by the Eagles in Jefferson City, Tennessee exactly a year later.
 
Stay tuned to www.ClaytonStateSports.com throughout the week for announcements on further developments concerning Clayton State's first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament in a decade.
 
NCAA Division II Tournament History
2008 (Augusta, Ga. – Augusta State)
March 18 – Augusta def. Clayton State 89-72
March 16 – Clayton State def. Lenoir-Rhyne 83-69 (OT)
March 15 - Clayton State def. No. 6 USC Aiken 60-58
 
2007 (Augusta, Ga. – Augusta State)
March 11 – No. 16 Virginia Union def. No. 25 Clayton State 71-70 (OT)
March 10 – No. 25 Clayton State def. Catawba 72-69