The Missouri Baptist University Department of Athletics announced the return of the Spartan Tuition Shot on Thursday, which will be awarded to three lucky students to take their shot as a free semester at Missouri Baptist in the Fall of 2015.

The department ran the same promotion in 2013, which allowed three students the same opportunity and after careful consideration, and has decided to bring it back in 2015.

“We absolutely loved this promotion when we did it a couple of years ago,” said Brad Cygan, Director of Sports Information at Missouri Baptist University. “It is a great way to not only promote the great Athletics programs we have here at MBU, but is a way to give some deserving students a chance to enjoy a free semester of their college education.”

A free semester, that is, if they can hit a half-court shot at halftime of the final women’s basketball conference game of the year on Feb. 28, 2015 against William Woods University.

The students will have an opportunity to fill-out a raffle ticket at each home MBU Athletics event beginning tonight in the basketball doubleheader against Freed-Hardeman. The more events a student attends, the better chances they have at winning one of three shots at the big prize.

Three students will be chosen from the group on Thursday, February 26 at random draw and will be notified that day. From that point forward, they will have a little over 24 hours to prepare for the pressure shot in front of what is estimated to be a large crowd.

The rules state that the individual cannot cross the half-court line at any time until after the ball hits the rim.

Only students currently enrolled at MBU are eligible to participate, but students on a basketball scholarship will not be eligible to compete. Otherwise, the competition is completely open to the entire student body.

The Missouri Baptist University Department of Athletics supports 26 varsity athletics programs and five junior varsity sports. The University is a proud member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and is an NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Award winner. Spartan Athletics also encompasses several non-NAIA teams to its credit.