HILO & HONOLULU, HI – The Dixie State (20-6/13-3 PacWest) men’s basketball team used an 85-68 victory at Hawai‘i Hilo on Saturday afternoon, March 5, to clinch a share of the Pacific West Conference Men’s Basketball title and secure a berth in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.

A few hours later on Saturday evening in Honolulu, Chaminade (20-8/13-3) claimed a thrilling 84-82 win over BYU-Hawaii (17-8/12-4) to earn a share of the PacWest Championship. Both the Silverswords and BYU-Hawaii now await their fate on Selection Sunday when the 64-team NCAA II Men’s Basketball Tournament field will be announced.

The live announcement of the Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament is set for Sunday, March 6, at 8 p.m. MST/5 p.m. HT and can be seen at: http://www.ncaa.com/live/2011-03-05/dii-mens-basketball-selection-show.

As the automatic qualifier, Dixie State has claimed one of the eight spots in the NCAA II West Region bracket that will begin play on March 11 with quarterfinal action at a site to be announced. The semifinals will be held on March 12 with the West Region Championship set for March 14.

The winner of the D-II West Region crown will travel to Springfield, MA, for the eight-team championship round beginning March 23.

The West Region bracket will feature the champions of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), the Pacific West Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), as well as five at-large squads that could include as many as two more teams from the PacWest in Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii.

Although Dixie State and Chaminade shared the PacWest Championship, the Red Storm claimed the league’s automatic qualifier by sweeping Chaminade in its two conference’s games this year.

Chaminade, meanwhile, posted a 3-0 mark vs. BYU-Hawaii during the 2010-11 campaign. The Silverswords swept the conference contests and also captured the Hawaii Challenge title on Dec. 10.

For more information on the National Championship, check out the NCAA website at: http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/d2