TAMPA, Fla. – With the second half of the 2019-20 conference season tipping off on Thursday, teams are starting their final pushes for spots in the six-team fields in both the men’s and women’s post-season basketball tournaments in The Sun Conference.
 
Highlighting Thursday’s league slate are two games designated as The Sun Conference “Games of the Week.” The men’s battle pairs up St. Thomas at Webber International (7:30 p.m.) and the women’s matchup features Coastal Georgia at Ave Maria (5:30 p.m.)
 
The Webber men won their first meeting with St. Thomas, knocking off the Bobcats in Miami Gardens by a 79-72 score back on Nov 23. Webber enters Thursday’s contest on a bit of a roll, as the Warriors won a pair of Sun games last week. Webber knocked off Thomas in overtime at home last Thursday by an 84-79 score and then traveled to Brunswick, Ga., and defeated Coastal Georgia, 100-94. The two wins pushed the Warriors’ conference record to 4-5 and got them right back in the mix for a top-six finish and a berth in The Sun Conference tournament.
 
St. Thomas enters Thursday’s game with a 5-4 league record and a 12-4 overall mark. While they sit three games out of first place at the midway point of the season, one bright spot for STU is a very home-heavy schedule in the second half. Following Thursday night’s game at Webber, the Bobcats play six of their final eight games at home and the only two road games are at neighboring Florida Memorial and Johnson & Wales.
 
The women’s “Game of the Week” features a pair of teams in a battle for second place in the conference behind No. 1-ranked and league unbeaten Southeastern. Coastal Georgia finds itself at 7-2 in Sun play and tied with Johnson & Wales for second. Ave Maria is 6-3 and just one game behind those two in fourth. With Southeastern firmly in control of first place, the second-place spot in the final regular-season standings gains great importance. Not only does it provide a first-round bye in the conference tournament, but it also secures the Sun’s second automatic berth into the NAIA Division II Championship tournament if Southeastern wins both the regular season crown and the conference tourney title.
 
Fans can follow the men’s “Game of the Week” via stream or live stats at Webber’s stream at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/webber/. The women’s “Game of the Week” on Saturday can be followed via stream or live stats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/avemaria/.