Bradley Jamison has been attending UT Arlington basketball games on and off all season, and nothing was sweeter Wednesday than taking his usual seat five rows from courtside, smack dab in the middle, within the midst of post-tournament March Madness. So it wasn't the NCAA's Big Dance. Or even the National Invitational Tournament, where the Mavericks played last season.

It was the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), made up of 32 mid-major sports schools such as UC Irvine, Northern Iowa and Air Force. Yet post-season is post-season, said Jamison, and with this being the first one played inside College Park Center, it took on a different kind of significance.

"This is such a great arena and call me idealistic or romantic or whatever, but I just think this is going to be one of those you build-it-they-will-come situations,' Jamison said. "I've watched this program get better and better, and with this new place, I think it's going to really get going.'

On the court, the Mavericks didn't get going until the fourth quarter Wednesday and ended up on the south end of an 84-76 score against Oral Roberts. The Mavericks got into the post-season tournament after reaching the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference where they lost to New Mexico State, which is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second consecutive appearance for the Mavericks in post-season play, a third time under Head Coach Scott Cross and fourth in the program's history. The Mavericks competed in the NIT in 2012 and the NCAA Tournament in 2008 with Cross at the helm.

The team's bid to the CIT, which is in its fifth year, was also a first for the men's team. More importantly, this was the first post-season tournament game played at the 7,000-seat arena, which opened in February of 2012 and has become a campus crown jewel.

"It's just a good indication of where we're going with the program,' said Athletic Director Jim Baker. "It's for the future and getting our program better every day, getting our team in the post season two years in a row, and having a home game in the post-season just shows the progress this program is making.'

The tournament game took on a festive atmosphere as the UTA band and cheerleaders kept the fans on their feet, particularly in the fourth quarter. Coach Cross said he was thrilled to have the game in the College Park Center and envisions more - but with better outcomes. "We were flat for too long,' Cross said of the game.

Still, he sees the center as the program's sixth man.

"This gives us a different kind of recruiting tool,' said Cross, who ends the season at 19-14. "It's pretty clear that some student athletes who wouldn't have thought much of coming here are now taking a serious look. That's a step in the right direction.'