2009 Southland Men’s Basketball Tournament Predictions
Written March 10, 2009 by Jason Lowry
On Thursday, March 12 the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament will get underway with first round action. The tournament will be held at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, with the championship game being played on Sunday, March 15. Only top 8 teams advance to the tournament, so the bottom four teams are sent packing till next season. While the Southland conference is not your typical college basketball powerhouse conference, the winner of the conference tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and a chance to make history. Here is a look at the 3 teams I am favoring in this tournament, plus a sleeper that could wind up giving the top teams problems. Bet Southland Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.
1. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (21-7, 13-3 Southland)
The Lumberjacks come into the tournament as the No.1 seed, and are riding a 5 game winning streak. The Lumberjacks have been up and down against some of the top teams in the Southland this season, as they beat Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-CC, but have key losses to Nicholls State and Texas-Arlington. The Lumberjacks are led by Matt Kingsley and Josh Alexander, as the two combined to average 30 points and 13 rebounds this season.
2. Sam Houston St. Bearkats (18-11, 12-4 Southland)
The Bearkats have been up and down in conference play, as they started the season going 7-1, but were just 5-3 during the second half of conference play. The Bearkats are riding a 2 game winning streak into tournament play, and will be a big threat to any team they play. For the Bearkats to win this tournament they are going to need a big time performance from Corey Allmond, who leads the way with 15.4 points a game.
3. Nicholls St. Colonels (19-10, 12-4 Southland)
The Colonels have won 6 of their last 7 games, and that includes wins over Sam Houston State, and Texas-Arlington. They split the season series with the Lumberjacks, so they know they can beat them if they meet up in the tournament, and this team has two solid scorers in Ryan Bathie and Anatoly Bose. Bathie averages a team best 15.6 points with 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while Bose is close behind with 14.7 points a team best 5.4 rebounds.
Sleeper: Texas-Arlington Mavericks (16-13, 9-7 Southland)
While the Mavericks come into the tournament not playing their best basketball of the season, as they are losers of 3 of their final 4 games, this is a team that has some really nice wins this season, including wins over Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. The Mavericks can score the basketball, as they have four players averaging more than 12.5 points per game, including a team best 17.7 points per game from senior forward Anthony Vereen.
Prediction: Nicholls St. Colonels
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