ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson men's basketball team is set to
host a quarterfinal round of the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic
Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday at the home arenas of
the higher seeds.
The Trojan men will square off against Queens at 7 p.m. at the
Abney Athletic Center, while the AU women's team will travel to
Harrogate, Tenn. to square off against Lincoln Memorial at 6
p.m.
Tickets for Wednesday's quarterfinal games at the Abney Center are $6 for adults, $3 for children and college students with college ID. Fans showing the Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the price of an adult ticket for the quarterfinals.
The AU ticket window will open at 6 p.m. and tickets may be purchased with cash only. No debit or credit cards will be accepted.
Following campus-site quarterfinals on Wednesday, the SAC Championship will move to Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. for Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's title game.
Tickets for the semifinal rounds on Saturday at Furman's Timmons Arena are $13 for adults and $6 for children and college students with college ID. Fans showing the Food Lion MVP card can save $2 off the price of an adult ticket for the semifinals.
Tickets for the finals on Sunday at Furman's Timmons Arena are $11 for adults and $6 for children and college students with college ID. Fans showing the Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the price of an adult ticket for the finals.
Despite falling in its regular-season finale at Queens on Saturday, Anderson finished tied with Lenoir-Rhyne for third in the league's regular-season standings, one game behind Carson-Newman and one game ahead of Newberry in the SAC standings at 15-7. AU is 20-8 overall, marking the Trojans' fourth 20-win season in the past five years.
Regular-season champion Lincoln Memorial will be the top seed in
the tourney after finishing the regular season 24-2 overall and
20-2 in conference play.
LMU's SAC title was its second-straight and third in four years,
with Anderson claiming the 2012 championship and eventually making
the Trojans' second consecutive appearance in the NCAA's Southeast
Region title contest. The Railsplitters were ranked 13th in the
nation this week and second in the latest NCAA Division II
southeast region poll, while the Trojans were fifth in the regional
rankings.
Up first in the tournament for the Lincoln Memorial will be a home
quarterfinal against No. 8 seed Wingate, which has won the last two
SAC Tournaments.
Carson-Newman won at Newberry on Saturday to clinch the bracket's
No. 2 seed. The Eagles, 19-7 overall and 16-6 in the conference,
will host seventh-seeded Coker in the quarterfinals. Coker and
Wingate finished tied for seventh in the SAC standings at 11-11,
but the Cobras earned the tiebreaker over WU for the No. 7 seed by
virtue of their 2-0 head-to-head record.
Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne both finished 15-7 in the SAC and split
their head-to-head meetings. Anderson claimed the event's No. 3
seed, however, because of its 1-1 record against LMU, while
Lenoir-Rhyne went 0-2 against the Railsplitters and will be the No.
4 seed.
Lenoir-Rhyne will play host to fifth-seeded Newberry, which
concluded the regular season 18-8 overall and 14-8 against the
league.
If the Trojans advance, the semifinal game is scheduled for 2:30
p.m. on Saturday, while the championship game is on Sunday at 1:30
p.m.
The tournament winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Quarterfinals - March 5
No. 8 Wingate at No. 1 Lincoln Memorial, 8 p.m.
No. 7 Coker at No. 2 Carson-Newman, 8 p.m.
No. 6 Queens at No. 3 Anderson, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Newberry at No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne, 8 p.m.
Semifinals - March 8
No. 1/No. 8 vs. No. 4/No. 5, Noon
No. 2/No. 7 vs. No. 3/No. 6, 2:30 p.m.
Final - March 9
Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, 1:30 p.m.
