Central’s men’s basketball team will get its own dose of March Madness starting today as they take on the defending conference champions, Seattle Pacific (SPU), in the first round of the GNAC tournament.

The Wildcats split their regular-season games with the Falcons, winning at home and losing on the road. This time, however, both teams will be on a neutral court, vying for an opportunity to compete in the finals.

Central hasn’t had much success at the tournament in recent years, only advancing to the second round one time in the past three years.

Central’s rival, Western Washington University, have made it to the championship three years in a row, losing to SPU all three times.

Despite the competitive nature of the championship, the players still embrace one another and the atmosphere the tournament provides.

“Everybody pretty much liked each other,” senior guard Gary Jacobs said. “It was us and Western that hung out a lot. We were kickin’ it with Jeffrey Parker and Ricardo [Maxwell] mostly.”

According to Jacobs, the GNAC set up accommodations for a game room where all the players could hang out. The room had TVs, video games and food—a perfect combination for any college student.

Central’s athletes also went out to elementary schools in Billings and read to local students.

Every player welcomes the off-the-court activities during the tournament, but it’s still business as usual for head coach Greg Sparling.

“You don’t want to be happy to be there,” Sparling said. “You wanna try and go over there and kick the door in… For the seniors it’s one and done. We are going over to win the thing.”

With the majority of the players from last year’s tournament returning, Central has the advantage of experience.

“I think the guys got a little bit of a taste last year in Montana,” Sparling said. “Fast forward, I think our guys know what it takes.”

Sparling wants his players to understand the importance of each possession heading into the tournament.

“You gotta make sure we are taking care of the ball,” Sparling said. “We gotta make sure we are taking good shots [and] turning good shots into great shots. We gotta make sure we are defending and rebounding especially against a team like SPU.”

Last year, Central was the third seed going into the tournament and was beaten by sixth-seeded Northwest Nazarene.

Senior guard Joey Roppo attributes the team’s unsuccessful run in last year’s tournament to not rebounding.

This year, it won’t be much easier, as SPU is the best rebounding team in the GNAC. The Falcons are plus 12.5 in the rebounding margin on the season.

“SPU is obviously a great rebounding team,” Roppo said. “We can’t let them get in there and get second chance points. And us getting in there and getting second chance points is going to be a big deal for us.”

Central hasn’t won the GNAC tournament since 2011. Both the players and coaches are on the same page when it comes to the common goal.

“Our mindset, we are coming in to win it,” senior forward Joseph Stroud said. “We’re not happy to be there, we want to win it. We will be satisfied when we win.”

The Wildcats first game against SPU is on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash. If Central beats SPU, they will play again on Friday against Western Oregon University.