By: by Scott Lipsky
Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Basketball Championship official website
Game Notes Postseason Supplement
Watch Live (ASun.tv- Free of charge)
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MACON, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls will be the number eight seed in the 2011 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Basketball Championship. They will take on the number one seed and regular champions, the Belmont Bruins, on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University.
The winner of the tournament will earn the Atlantic Sun Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
The Owls (8-22, 6-14 A-Sun) were locked into the number eight seed by way of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, 81-65, win over the USC Upstate Spartans on Monday evening. Their win put the Owls into a three-way tie for the seventh seed with Campbell and Stetson, as FGCU, despite finishing the season 7-13 for seventh place in the conference, are ineligible for postseason play due to their still going through NCAA Division I re-classification.
Kennesaw State was the number eight seed last season, and made the most of it, upsetting number one seed Lipscomb, 72-69, in the quarterfinals, before falling, 69-64, to East Tennessee State in the semifinals. In beating Lipscomb, they became the first number eight seed to defeat a number one seed in the A-Sun Championship since 2000.
"We know after what we were able to accomplish in the A-Sun Tournament last season that we won't be able to sneak up on anyone," Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. "It's important to impress upon our players that this time of year, it's win or go home, and that anything can happen. We're focused on winning three straight games and getting to the NCAA Tournament. That journey begins on Wednesday."
The Black and Gold were 3-1 this season against Stetson and Campbell, having swept Stetson and split with Campbell. Campbell also swept Stetson during the regular season, eliminating the Hatters from the eight-team tournament. Campbell will be the seven seed, as the highest-finishing team that they beat in the conference was number five seed Mercer, with the Owls highest-finishing opponent that they beat having been FGCU.
Belmont (27-4, 19-1 A-Sun) swept the season series against the Owls, winning, 87-60 in Nashville on Dec. 16 and 88-41 in Kennesaw in the two teams’ regular season finale on Feb. 26. In winning the A-Sun regular season title, they have already locked up a spot in the NIT should they not earn an automatic or at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls feature the conference's leading scorer and the leading rebounder in Markeith Cummings and LaDaris Green, respectively. Cummings finished the season averaging 18.2 points per contest, good for 54th in the nation and eighth nationally among sophomores. Green led the league with 8.4 boards per game, and posted 11 double-doubles on the season.
Owls junior Spencer Dixon finished the season 10th in the A-Sun in scoring at 13.0 points per game and sixth in assists, handing out 3.5 per contest. Aaron Anderson, the Owls sophomore, averaged 6.3 rebounds per contest to finish ninth in the league.
Depth has been then name of the game for the Bruins this season. While their leading scorer, sophomore guard Ian Clark, averaged just 12.5 points per game, head coach Rick Byrd's squad always has fresh legs out on the floor, as 11 of their players average at least 10 minutes a game. On the glass, they are led by junior forwards Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders, who average 5.8 and 5.5 rebounds per game while playing just 21.7 and 17.5 minutes per contest, respectively.
Collectively, the Bruins lead the league in scoring (80.4 ppg) and in scoring defense (62.3 ppg).
Ticket information for the tournament is available at the A-Sun’s official website, www.atlanticsun.org.
Wednesday’s game will be available free of charge on ASun.TV, the Atlantic Sun Conference’s internet video streaming service. The home of Owls basketball, Talk 920 AM, will broadcast the game on tape delay at 7 p.m., with the voice of the Owls, Craig Corbin and color analyst and Owls great Scott Webb calling all the action. Live stats will also be available.
