Experienced Broadcast Crews to Enhance SAC Basketball Championship Webcasts

ROCK HILL, S.C. - The South Atlantic Conference will once again provide free webstreaming of the 2012 Food Lion SAC Basketball Championship semifinals and finals, featuring a pair of talent crews that bring extensive basketball experience to the broadcasts.

Links to the webcasts can be found at SAC Championship Central.

For the men's webcasts, play-by-play duties will be handled by Jason Benetti, a current announcer for ESPN Regional Television, the AAA Minor League Baseball Syracuse Chiefs and High Point University men's basketball.

Benetti has also called games for DePaul University women's basketball, and the Salem Avalanche and Windy City Thunderbolts baseball clubs.

He will be joined on the men's broadcasts by color commentator Ralph Patterson, a current sports announcer for SportsSouth, ESPN Regional, ESPN3, MASN and CSS.

In addition to his on-air experience, Patterson coached college basketball for 18 years at Colorado, Appalachian St. and Erskine, and was also a scout for the NBA's Phoenix Suns for two years.

The SAC Basketball Championship women's webcasts will be led by play-by-play announcer Angela Mallen, who just completed her duties calling College of Charleston regular season games for ESPN3.

Mallen has also hosted various programming for ESPN3's ACC football coverage, and is an administrator with the annual Charleston Classic college basketball tournament.

Accompanying Mallen on the broadcasts will be color commentator Laney Crowder, who has been calling basketball games on CSS for six years. In addition, Crowder has experience as a sideline reporter on CSS and was a co-host and reporter for "Catch 22", a weekly cable sports show.

The broadcasts will be produced by the Wingate University Sports Network, under the direction of Ryan Brown.

The semifinals of the SAC Basketball Championship will take place at the Tarlton Complex at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C., on March 3, followed by the finals on March 4.

Men's semifinals begin at noon, while the first women's semifinal will tip at 5:30 p.m. The men's final will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday, followed by the women's championship at 4:30 p.m.