GAMBIER, Ohio – Winners in six of their last seven regular-season games, the Kenyon College  Lords basketball team will host a first-round North Coast Athletic Conference tournament game for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The tournament tilt will be against Wabash College and will tip off Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Tomsich Arena.

The Lords (15-10, 9-7 NCAC) enter the contest as the No. 3 seed, while Wabash (9-16, 7-9 NCAC) is the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tournament. The four highest seeds in the tournament earned home-court advantage in the first round. The highest remaining seed after first-round play concludes will then host the semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday, respectively. 

Kenyon and Wabash split two games during the regular season. Kenyon was dominant in a 72-55 home win on January 19, while Wabash slowed things down a bit February 9 and took a 58-45 win in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Coincidentally, the last time Kenyon hosted a postseason game was against Wabash on February 26, 2008. The No. 5-seeded Little Giants pulled off an 86-73 upset of the No. 4-seeded Lords.

In order for the Little Giants to think upset again this season, they'll have to figure out a way to shut down Kenyon junior Ikenna Nwadibia, who averages 16.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He's heading into the tournament with great momentum, too. Nwadibia has hit double-digit soring figures in eight straight games and currently rides a streak of six consecutive double-doubles.

Kenyon's other top offensive players, Brian Lebowitz and Julian Pavlin, are also juniors. Lebowitz, a forward, averages 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and he's coming off a contest in which he scored a season-high 21 points. Pavlin, a guard, scores 10.8 points per game, dishes out 3.0 assists per game, and leads all conference players with 45 steals. He scored 17 and 18 in his last two games and was a perfect 15-of-15 at the free throw line.

At the other end of the court, Wabash will look to a pair of freshmen to lead the way. Guard Ross Sponsler averages a team-best 12.5 points per game, while 6-7 forward Daniel Purvlicis adds 11.0 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. The Little Giants don't bring much to the table in terms of offense, so they'll rely heavily on defensive play to move through the tournament. The Little Giants shoot just 38.1 percent as a team and average just 59.5 points per contest.

As mandated by the conference office, the price of admission for Tuesday's game is $7 for adults and $5 for children and students without a college identification card. Students from NCAC institutions will be admitted free provided they show proper identification.