Men's Basketball | 3/12/2017 9:27:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Despite falling short of making the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, the Texas State men's basketball team will be playing in a postseason tournament for the first time since 1997. The Bobcats have accepted a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and will host a first round game against Lamar on Thursday, March 16 in Strahan Coliseum at 7:30 p.m.
 
"While we are disappointed in not getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, we are happy to be participating in the CollegeInside.com Tournament. Our players deserve a chance at postseason play," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "The CIT is a very well run and organized event. We are also happy to host a first round game and I hope our fans will support the team as they did during conference play."
 
Monday afternoon tickets for the game will go on sale for the game. Prices for seats will be $10 for general admission, $15 for reserved seats and $25 for floor seats. Student will be able to attend the game for free with a valid school ID. Season ticket holders will have an opportunity to renew their seats for the postseason up until Thursday at noon. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets online at TXStateBobcats.com/tickets.

The CIT will be the first postseason tournament for the Bobcats (20-13) since playing in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. It will be just the third postseason appearance since the program moved up to Division I, the first being the NCAA Tournament in 1994. The Bobcats are one of two Sun Belt Conference teams playing in the tournament, being joined by Georgia State.

This season Texas State recorded the program's first winning season in 14 years and first 20-win campaign since 1993-94. The Bobcats finished the regular season in a three-way tie for third in the SBC standings and received the fourth seed in the conference tournament after being picked to finish last in the preseason poll.

Kavin Gilder-Tilbury posted the first 500-point season under Kaspar, was the first Texas State player to earn the conference's Player of the Week honor that he did twice and is the first Bobcat to be named First Team All-SBC. Freshman Nijal Pearson cracked the 400-point mark and was named the league's Player of the Week following the last weekend.

Now in its' ninth year, the CIT is selected by a 10-member selection committee consisting of current Division I athletic directors, who select the tournament field. The tournament invites will be officially announced today and the first round begins on Monday, March 13.

All first round, second round and quarterfinal matchups will be broadcast nationally on Facebook Live. This enables the CIT to bring the excitement of postseason basketball to Facebook's global community of sports fans, which includes more than 650 million people connected to at least one sports Page on the platform.

For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.