The California Baptist Lancers men's basketball team represents

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Baptist Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organiz ...

in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

. The team made the jump into Division I basketball on July 1, 2018. They are currently led by head coach

Rick Croy Richard K. Croy (born July 19, 1977) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the California Baptist Lancers men's basketball team. Croy has been a basketball coach since 1999 and has held his current position at ...

and play at the

Fowler Events Center The Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center (formerly known as CBU Events Center) is a sports arena in Riverside, California. It opened in 2017 and has a capacity of 5,050. The 153,000-square-feet facility is home to the Cal Baptist Lancers ...

, which opened in 2017 and replaced the Van Dyne Gym. The men's basketball program was ineligible to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament during their transition period, although they were eligible for other tournaments such as the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

. The 2022-23 season was the first season the Lancers were eligible for the NCAA tournament.

History

The men's basketball program began playing at the NAIA level in 1969 and stayed at that level until 2010, competing in the

Golden State Athletic Conference The Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC), formerly known as the Golden State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is M ...

. In 2010, California Baptist Lancers moved up in all sports to the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

, joining the

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. T ...

in all sports on July 1, 2011. In January 2017, the California Baptist Lancers announced their transition to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

, joining the

on July 1, 2018, in all sports. The school became eligible for the NCAA Division I postseason tournament in the 2022–23 season.

Postseason results

College Basketball Invitational (CBI) results

The Lancers have appeared in the

(CBI) twice. Their record is 0–2.

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Lancers have appeared in 5 NCAA Division II Tournaments. Their combined record is 7–5.

NAIA tournament results

References