Conference Office Announces Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 2015 Sun Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Olympus Insurance Company will begin on Tueday, Feb. 24 with a pair of play-in games and conclude on March 3 with the tournament title game. The second of the league's two automatic bids to the 2015 NAIA II Men's Basketball National Tournament is up for grabs as all 10 league schools that sponsor men's basketball will compete for the tournament crown.
Following the pair of play-in games, there will be four quarterfinal contests on Thursday, Feb. 26. The highest remaining seed will then host the semifinals and finals on March 2-3.
The Embry-Riddle Eagles, ranked No. 2 for the last seven NAIA II Coaches' Top 25 Polls, won the regular season for the ninth time and earned the first automatic bid to the NAIA II National Tournament, with a 17-1 record in league play. The Eagles have lost just one game in 2014-15 and concuded the regular season with the best record in program history (29-1). The Blue and Gold will be the No. 1 seed and have home court advantage throughout the 10-team event.
ERAU is led by sophomore Dalton Barnes and seniors Cesar Pastrana and DeForest Carter. The trio average 13.9, 13.7 and 12.7 points per game, respectively, while Pastrana grabs 8.0 rebounds and Carter collects 3.6 steals and 6.5 assists per game.
The Eagles will await the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup between Webber International and Ave Maria.
The No. 2 seed and 2014 tournament runner-up is the St. Thomas Bobcats. STU finished the league schedule at 11-7, including a streak of six straight wins from Jan. 29 - Feb. 12. St. Thomas owns at least one win over every conference team except Embry-Riddle and Webber International.
Michael Walker leads four Bobcats averaging in double-figures at 13.8 ppg, followed by David Santiago's 12.9 ppg, Chuckie Becton (12.1 ppg) and Lorel Beckford (11.0 ppg). St. Thomas forces nearly 15 opponent turnovers per game.
The Bobcats will host the winner of No. 7 Johsnon & Wales and No. 10 Florida Memorial in a Thursday quarterfinal.
The Southeastern Fire finished the 2014-15 TSC season at 10-8 and will be the No. 3 seed for the tournament. SEU will take on No. 6 Thomas on Thursday.
Southeastern is led by newcomer Andre' Winston. Winston leads the conference with 21.4 ppg on 49 percent shooting from the floor. Timothy Mitchell averages a double-double for the Fire at 14.0 ppg and 10.1 rpg while also turning away nearly three shots per contest.
No. 4 Northwood, the defending tournament champions, will host the fifth-seeded Warner Royals on Thursday. The Seahawks went 10-8 in league play and ended the year on a four-game winning streak.
Chris Solomon, the 2013-14 TSC Player of the Year, averages 14.9 ppg for Northwood while Fred Mattison brings 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds to the Seahawk effort each contest. Newcomer Marcus Hardy is at 11.0 ppg with a 53 percent shooting clip from the floor.
Warner, one of four teams that finished tied at 9-9 in Sun Conference action, won the tiebreakers to become the No. 5 seed. The Royals have a nice 1-2 punch in Warren Hall and Eddie Delegal. Hall averages 19.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while Delegal averages 14.3 points and 6.9 boards for the Royals.
The Night Hawks of Thomas are the tournament's sixth seed and boast the only victory over the top-seeded Eagles with a 77-70 win back on Jan. 20. The Night Hawks claimed at least one victory over each TSC squad in 2014-15, save Ave Maria.
Alan Love averages 17.0 ppg for Thomas to go along with 7.0 rebounds per contest. Adonai Rogers (13.2 ppg), Max Grace (12.5 ppg) and Marcos Humose (11.3 ppg) all average in double-figures for TU.
Johnson & Wales will be the No. 7 seed after dropping the final six games of the 2014-15 schedule. Ricardo Suarez is averaging 16.7 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Wildcats while Jumaoke Smith has connected on 56 threes this year.
The Webber International Warriors are the eighth-seeded team and will rely on senior Brian Pace (19.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.8 apg) and Dewaine Lyals (12.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.1 bpg).
Ave Maria will be the No. 9 seed and boasts one of the best defenses in the nation. The Gyrenes allow just 57.8 points per game and 40.7 percent from the field.
The 10th and final team in the tournament is the Florida Memorial Lions. Samuel Dorismond leads FMU with 18.6 ppg on 47 percent shooting, including a 44 percent clip from three.
Check out the
Tournament Headquarters for all your 2015 Sun Conference Men's Basketball Tournament information.