LAKELAND, Fla. – The Benedict men's basketball team's surprising run in the SIAC Tournament allowed them to continue their postseason. Now the Tigers must face the No. 1 team in the country in the first round.

Benedict, 19-11, will face the Florida Southern Moccasins, 30-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Region tournament, played on the campus of Florida Southern. Benedict is making its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

Despite what may appear to be long odds, the Tigers are optimistic heading into Saturday's 5 p.m. contest. That game will be video streamed here. Live stats will be available here. The Florida Southern audio broadcast is available here.

The last time Benedict made the NCAA Tournament, in 2013, the Tigers were the sixth seed and upset third-seed Eckerd in overtime. The Tigers lost to second seed University of Alabama-Huntsville by four points in the second round. That tournament was also played at Florida Southern, which is hosting the South Region tournament for the third year in a row. Also, last year, Tuskegee won the SIAC tournament and won the South Region tournament as the eighth seed, upsetting Florida Southern in the opening round. Tuskegee advanced to the Elite Eight before eventually losing to Metropolitan State.

The Mocs are led by All-American guard Kevin Capers, a two-time Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. Capers led the SSC in scoring at 20.8 points per game and is the second-leading active scorer in Division II. Capers was also named the Daktronics South Region Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

But the Mocs are not a one-man show. Forward Stephen Battle was named a second-team All-Region selection after earning second-team All-SSC honors. Senior guard Tyler Kelly was also named to the All-SSC second team and junior guard Dylan Travis was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

"They're very deserving of their No. 1 ranking in the country. They're a really talented team and well-coached," Benedict coach Fred Watson said. "Our guys have an opportunity to do something special here. It's a great honor to play the No. 1 team because the alternative is not being here."

The Tigers will look to shut down the potent Florida Southern offense with their aggressive defense. Coach Fred Watson has been focusing primarily on defending the Moccasins during their team practices for the last several days.

"They've got multiple scorers, so we've got to do a really good job of trying to cover a lot of things up," Watson said. "There's no one guy you can focus on. That's part of the reason why they are so good. Every guy they play can score, and every guy plays with a lot of energy, and we just have to match it."

Watson said the key will be rebounding and keeping the bigger Florida Southern players off the glass.

"They've got a ton of athletes and a ton of energy and they get a lot of second chances. In order for us to stay in the game and be competitive, we're going to have to defend every play, every day, and everybody rebound the ball. We can't turn the ball over and we have to make shots."

Benedict junior guard Brennan Reynard was named the SIAC tournament MVP after leading the Tigers to the championship, while Jordan Smith, Andrew Crawford and Allen Elmore all were hot from the 3-point line during the tournament. Watson hopes the Tigers can continue their accurate outside shooting against Florida Southern. That is something that worries Florida Southern head coach Linc Darner.

"They're coming in here as hot as anybody," Darner said about Benedict. "Winning their conference tournament, winning four games in five days, and we've played them the last couple of years so we know how good they're going to be and how good their guards are."

Benedict and Florida Southern have met twice in the last few seasons. Benedict lost to Florida Southern in Columbia early in the 2013-14 season. Benedict traveled to Lakeland to play the Mocs during the 2012-13 season and had a 14-point second-half lead before eventually falling 78-71.