Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum Earn Bids To NCAA DII Men’s Basketball Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS --- South Atlantic Conference tournament champion Catawba will be making its third consectutive trip to the NCAA Division II tournament and is one of three SAC teams to make the 64-team field.

The top four seeds in the Southeast Region come from the Peach Belt Conference, followed by Conference Carolinas champion Barton. The SAC teams took the final three spots in the eight-team regional.

For the second time in school history, the Tusculum College men's basketball team will play in the NCAA Division II postseason. The Pioneers have earned an at-large berth and are the No. 8 seed in the Southeast Regional, which will be in Augusta, Ga.

Tusculum (20-10) will face the top-seed and regional host Augusta State University, this Saturday (Mar. 14) at the Christenberry Fieldhouse on the ASU campus. Game time will be announced on Monday.

The Pioneers return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Tusculum was the No. 8 seed in the South Atlantic Regional that year as dropped a heartbreaking, 91-88 overtime loss to No. 1 seed and host Bowie State University in the Pioneers' only other NCAA postseason appearance.

Augusta State (25-4) earned an automatic berth by winning the Peach Belt Tournament. The Jaguars advanced to last year's national championship game. The winner of the Tusculum/Augusta State game will face either No. 4 seed Georgia College & State University or No. 5 seed Barton College. Barton earned the automatic bid by winning the Conference Carolinas title, while GC&SU received an at-large berth.

In the other half of the bracket, Catawba College is the No. 6 seed and will take on Armstrong Atlantic State University. Catawba won Sunday's SAC Tournament championship, by defeating Tusculum in a thriller, 63-61. Catawba has lost in the first-round of the NCAA tournament in overtime the past two years.

Also playing on Saturday will be No. 3 seed USC Aiken against No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne University. The Bears are making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs and fifth all-time in school history.

The semifinals will be held on Sunday with the Region championship slated to be contested on Tuesday (Mar. 17).

NCAA Division II Southeast Men's Basketball Regional
Christenberry Fieldhouse, Augusta, Ga.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
No. 1 Augusta State vs. No. 8 Tusculum, 6 p.m.
No. 2 USC Aiken vs. No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne, 2:30 p.m.
No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic vs. No. 6 Catawba, Noon
No. 4 Georgia College & State vs. No. 5 Barton, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 15, 2009
Semifinals
Armstrong Atlantic/Catawba winner vs. USC Aiken/Lenoir-Rhyne winner, 5 p.m.
Augusta State/Tusculum winner vs. Georgia College & State/Barton winner, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Regional Championship, 7 p.m.