March 4, 2009 - The stage is set, and Mountain State (WV), the highest scoring offence in the NAIA, is the number one seed for the 2009 A.I.I. Division I Men's Basketball Championships. The inaugural A.I.I. event is being held this season in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and begins on Thursday, March 5, 2009, with the play-in game between Voorhees and Allen at 7:30 pm.

The top seed Mountain State has been scoring at will this season, averaging an NAIA best 95-plus points-per-game and enters the tournament with a 26-3 record. Mountain State will open their tournament against the winner of the play-in game on Friday, March 6, at 4 pm. Featuring the prolific scoring of Andrew Lee (16.48 ppg) and Nick Aldridge (16.21 ppg), Mountain State has four players who average over 12 points-per-game, and seven players who average over eight points-per-game.

Park (15-13) is the second rated team in the A.I.I. and faces the seven seed from Morris (7-14). Jon Meriweather, an A.I.I. Player of the Week winner this season, is the go-to scorer on Park, and averages a double-double per-game, posting 21.42 points and 10.42 rebounds-per-game. Meriweather ranks fourth in the NAIA in rebounds-per-game and fifth in points-per-game. Morris features one of the best three-point shooters in the NAIA in Christopher Owens, who averages over 21 points and four three-pointers per-game in 21 games this season. Owens is tops in made three-pointers per-game in the NAIA, and fourth in NAIA scoring.

Third seed Brescia (19-9) challenges Crichton College (18-11) in the third quarterfinal. Brescia is the top free throw shooting team in the NAIA, and leading scorer Anthony Ingram doesn't miss many at the line, he is ranked eighth in the NAIA in free throw percentage (85.9 per cent). Ingram also leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.07 points and 6.71 boards-per-game.

On paper the best opening round match up takes place early on Friday when fourth seed Lambuth (17-11) challenges Life (20-10). A fantastic offensive rebounding team, Lambuth features three scorers who average over ten points-per-game in Antawn Coby (13.61 ppg), Tom Hammonds (12.96 ppg) and Youssoupha Sene (10.82 ppg). Sene averages nearly a double-double, posting 7.11 rebounds-per-game. In Life, the Eagles face a team that balances taking chances on defense with a high powered offense. Life leads the NAIA in steals-per-game with a 13.7 average and is second in the NAIA in scoring averaging 92.6 points-per-game and in turnover margin (6.133). Team leader Tay Barber is not only a prolific scorer, averaging 18.17 points-per-game, but can also distribute the ball with an NAIA high 6.828 assist-per-game average.

Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Play-in game - Voorhees vs. Allen - 7:30 pm

Friday, March 6, 2009
GM1 - Mountain State vs. Play-in winner - 4 pm
GM2 - Lambuth vs. Life - 10 am
GM3 - Park vs. Morris - 8 pm
GM4 - Brescia vs. Crichton - 2 pm

Saturday, March 7, 2009
GM5 - WGM1 vs. WGM2 - 4 pm
GM6 - WGM3 vs. WGM4 - 8 pm

Sunday, March 8, 2009
Championship Game - WGM5 vs. WGM6 - 4:30 pm