INDIANAPOLIS – The 15^th-ranked and third-seeded UNC Pembroke men's basketball team will make its seventh appearance in the last decade at the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament when it takes on sixth-seeded Catawba in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday in Harrogate, Tenn.
 
The Braves (24-6) are one of three Peach Belt Conference teams that earned a berth into the NCAA postseason as fourth-seeded Augusta (21-8) will play fifth-seeded Lander (23-8) in the opening round as well. The Bearcats earned the league's automatic berth with a comeback victory over Columbus State in Sunday's PBC Tournament championship game.
 
Top-seeded and second-ranked Lincoln Memorial (32-1) will face eighth-seeded Belmont Abbey (21-10) in one of the other two quarterfinal games, while the winner of the matchup between the Braves and Catawba will take on either second-seeded and 23^rd-ranked Queens (24-7) or seventh-seeded Southern Wesleyan (20-11). First-round action inside the B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University is set to begin on Saturday. The semifinals will take place on Sunday, while the championship game will be contested on Tuesday.
 
The Braves are 17-25 all-time against Catawba (20-10) in a series that dates all the way back to the 1965-66 campaign. UNCP has captured seven of the previous 10 matchups with the Indians, including a 95-90 overtime triumph in November at the Francis Marion-hosted PBC/South Atlantic Conference Challenge. The Braves scored the last 10 points in regulation of that contest to force overtime.
 
The two sides split a pair of matchups last season. The Black & Gold won an 80-75 overtime contest on Nov. 10, 2018, at the PBC/SAC Challenge, while the Indians avenged that setback with a 19-point win in the opening game of the NCAA Southeast Regional in Charlotte.
 
Game times and ticket information for the 2020 NCAA Southeast Regional will be announced later this week.