SALEM, Va. – The Roanoke College men's basketball team earned the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament and will open play Friday against Rhodes College (Tenn.) at Emory University in the Woodruff PE Center Area at 4:45 p.m.

The other half of the four-team bracket has Emory facing the Mississippi University for Women, with the two winners competing on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. for the right to advance to the round of 16.

The Maroons, ranked No. 25 in last week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, are 22-6 on the season. Roanoke defeated the top-ranked team in D3, Randolph-Macon College, 59-58 in the ODAC Championship Game Saturday night.   

Roanoke earns its 15^th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in program history and the second straight. The Maroons defeated Pfeiffer University and Christopher Newport University in last year's NCAA Tournament but fell to Catholic University in the round of 16 in overtime. RC is 15-16 all-time in NCAA play and advanced to the national semifinals in 1983.

Rhodes (23-4) earned the automatic bid with a victory over Trinity in the Southern Athletic Association Tournament Championship Saturday.

Click here for ticket information.