The Eastern Mennonite men's basketball team won't have to leave Harrisonburg to play its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament game.

The Royals learned Monday morning that they will host Centre College, of Danville, Kentucky, in the first round of the 61-team tournament.

The game will be played at 8 p.m. Friday.

"This is almost like a fairy tale. It's like we're living a dream," coach Kirby Dean said after Monday's announcement. "I think we have the talent to compete with anybody in the country, and now we're going to get the chance to find out."

"It's going to fill up," said junior Todd Phillips. "I hope they get more bleachers or something in there, because it's going to be a big crowd."

"It's going to be crazy, like nothing we've ever seen before," said junior Todd Phillips. "We're undefeated at home this year, so hopefully we can keep it going."

Centre enters Friday's game at 18-8. The Colonels won their second straight SCAC championship Saturday with a 60-56 win over DePauw.

Wilmington College and Lycoming College will meet in the other first-round game to be played Friday at Yoder Arena. That game will be played at 5:30 p.m.

Dean and some players and others gathered in a classroom Monday morning to watch the live web stream of the Division III selection show.

"I was nervous," Hinson said. "I'm glad we came up quick, so I didn't have to wait too long, because I would have been real nervous if they called us toward the end."

"The ODAC is a tough conference, and I wasn't sure if they were going to pick us, or pick Macon or Virginia Wesleyan to get in over us," said Phillips. "But they gave all four of us the chance to prove what we've got."

"I'd seen that stuff on CBS my whole life, these teams that are on the bubble, so to speak," Dean said. "And now I know how they feel. When they see their name pop up there, it's like one of the greatest feelings in the world."