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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Year of Firsts and Fourths continues on Thursday. 

The Carroll College men's basketball team's voyage for a national championship starts with a first-round matchup against St. Thomas of Houston, Texas, on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. MST. 

The Saints, after finishing first in the Frontier Conference regular season and finishing as a runner-up in the postseason, earned the No. 3 seed. St. Thomas, meanwhile, finished fourth in the regular season of the Red River Athletic Conference before going on a tear to claim the postseason title. 

As first-year Carroll College Fighting Saints coach Kurt Paulson makes his debut on the sidelines at the national tournament (he played for two Saints teams that went to nationals), the Saints seniors will be making their fourth consecutive trip. 

The group -- Matt Wyman, Match Burnham, Ife Kalejaiye and Alejandro Santos Piqueras -- has found success at the national tournament, winning their first-round games every season and making a push to the quarterfinals in 2017 before falling by two in a game that came down to a last-second shot. 

Carroll's equipped to do damage once again. 

Perhaps no team benefited more than the Saints entering nationals. The team that began the season 11-0 and 14-1 in its first 15 games, racked up bumps and bruises toward the finish line. The Saints battled through season-ending injuries to starters -- Santos and sophomore center Brad King -- and saw Wyman leave the lineup for five games with a knee injury. 

Now, entering the tournament with 15 days since their last competition, the Saints (25-7) are ready. 

Burnham leads the group with 19.9 points per game, while Wyman adds 17.3, Dane Warp scores 17.1 and Ife Kalejaiye scores 12.6 points per game. Burnham earned Frontier Conference Player of the Year, while Wyman and Warp were first team all-conference and Kalejaiye was second team all-conference.

Rounding out the Saints' starting unit is Shamrock Campbell, who's steady play (nine points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists) earned him Freshman of the Year honors in the Frontier. 

Carroll brings Jovan Sljivancanin, who started in place of Wyman and now leads the team in rebounding, off the bench. Carroll also gest steady play from Thomas Austefjord, Eetu Villa and Chase Burnham in the second unit. 

If the Saints are to make another run into the tournament, Carroll will rely on its NAIA-leading shooting skill. Carroll leads the NAIA in three-point percentage (43), field-goal percentage

The Celts (23-10) are are already riding high. The team won its conference tournament in its final season in the NAIA. Next year, UST will move up to the NCAA D-III level. 

Anthony Medina, a former UST player, leads an athletic, and perhaps slightly undersized, Celts team. It's the first and only appearance the Celts will make under Medina, and breaks a four-season drought for the program. 

If the ball bounces Carroll's way, the Saints could be starting the run to another program first: A national championship.