February 18, 2021 – Jacksonville, FL –
It’s officially tourney time across the nation. Kicking off the post-season is the 2021 Bible College National Invitational Tournament (NIT). This three-day event will be hosted by Trinity Baptist College (TBC) in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, Feb. 18, the tournament will kick-off at 1 p.m. and last through Saturday afternoon.
This year six colleges across the southeast will participate. The colleges include Appalachian Bible College (Mount Hope, WV), Blue Lights College (Apex, NC), Southeastern Baptist College (Laurel, MS), Toccoa Falls College (Toccoa, GA), and Trinity College of Florida (Trinity, FL) along with TBC.
Kicking off the tournament the first game will be the women of Southeastern Baptist vs. Toccoa Falls at 1 p.m. The game will be the perfect way to begin play as the teams are very evenly matched. Both teams only have two wins under their belt, meaning that the teams will need to focus to find team rhythm. The similarities in teams’ structure this year will likely show for a tight game that will battle right up to the buzzer.
The next women’s game will be at 7 p.m. Thursday as Appalachian Bible takes on TBC. The Eagles of Trinity Baptist are expected to perform fantastically in the tournament after going 6-6 overall and 5-3 in conference this season. TBC currently is No. 12 for power rating in DII women’s basketball in the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA). Along with the team success, being the host of the NIT the Eagles are predicted to do well in the tournament. This matchup against Appalachian, who is unrated, is expected to have a far wider score gap.
From there the teams that lost in the first round will play Friday at 1 p.m. for third place overall. Following that, the Women’s Championship Game will be at 7:00 Friday night.
To get the ball rolling on the men’s side of the Bible College NIT will kick-off at 3 p.m. Thursday where Southeastern Baptist Chargers will take on Appalachian Bible Warriors. This will be another evenly skilled match with both teams only having one win at this point in the season. Southeastern has however, played nine total games while Appalachian has only played seven. If nothing else the Chargers have had more on court exposure this year which they will undoubtedly hope to utilize. That being said this really could be anybody’s game.
Directly after that game the men of Toccoa Falls College will face the men of Blue Lights College. The Thoroughbreds of Blue Lights are 4-3 this season while the Toccoa Falls Eagles are 4-16. This game will be yet another game of similar skill making it one to watch. Both teams have a lot to prove and will be looking to put their best out on the court this weekend.
Friday, Trinity College of Florida will face the winner of the Southeastern vs. Appalachian Bible game. Trinity College has been fairly quiet all season and it’ll be interesting to see how they perform in the NIT. That game will be held at 3 p.m. EST.
Right after Trinity College’s game will be Trinity Baptist’s game. The men of Trinity Baptist will fact the Toccoa Falls vs. Blue Lights winner at 5 p.m. on Friday night. This game should be an exciting one to watch. The Eagles of TBC have gone 10-7 this season which not only is game experience but success for the team. They have been explosive on the court the entire season so being the host team of the NIT, one should expect nothing less than an explosive, high-energy game.
Moving to Saturday, all three games will be men’s. To begin the day, the men’s fifth-place game will be at 11 a.m., sequentially the third-place game at 1 p.m. Then finale of the 2021 Bible College NIT will be held at 3 p.m., it will be the Men’s Championship Game.
This tournament will certainly be a window into the upcoming post-season. The men’s side of this tournament is entering its 16th Annual Bible College NIT and has a tradition of excellence. The women’s will be the 4th Annual one and although it’s fairly new, be prepared to expect the unexpected. This weekend will be a good tell of a team’s potential success in the post-season, a culmination of teams’ hard work. On the flip side it has the potential to expose weakness and show room for improvement going into next season for others.
