ANDERSON, S.C. – Queens University of Charlotte clinched the No. 6 seed in the 2014 Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Championship with their 75-73 win over Anderson University on Saturday evening. They will travel to face the Trojans for the third time this season on Wednesday, March 5 for the quarterfinal round of the tournament. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Abney Center.
The Royals ended their first season in the South Atlantic Conference at 12-10 following two important conference wins in their final week of action. The victories helped Queens break away from a three-way tie at the bottom of the list of teams advancing to tournament play. Queens finished the regular season at 14-12.
Anderson earned the No. 3 seed after finishing tied with Lenoir-Rhyne for third in the league's regular-season standings, one game behind Carson-Newman and one game ahead of Newberry in the SAC standings at 15-7. AU is 20-8 overall, marking the Trojans' fourth 20-win season in the past five years.
The Royals lead the all-time series with the Trojans 20-8 after splitting with them during the regular season. Both games came down to the wire with the Royals falling 85-84 on the road before winning 75-73 at home.
Regular-season champion Lincoln Memorial will be the top seed after finishing the regular season 24-2 overall and 20-2 in conference play.
LMU's SAC title was its second-straight and third in four years under head coach Josh Schertz, and its conference winning percentage of 90.9-percent is the fifth-best in league history. The Railsplitters were ranked 13th in the nation this week and second in the latest NCAA Division II southeast region poll.
Up first in the tournament for the Lincoln Memorial will be a home quarterfinal against No. 8 seed Wingate, which has won the last two SAC Tournaments.
Carson-Newman won at Newberry on Saturday to clinch the bracket's No. 2 seed. The Eagles – 19-7 overall and 16-6 in the conference – will host seventh-seeded Coker in the quarterfinals. Coker and Wingate finished tied for seventh in the SAC standings at 11-11, but the Cobras earned the tiebreaker over WU for the No. 7 seed by virtue of their 2-0 head-to-head record.
Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne both finished 15-7 in the SAC and split their head-to-head meetings. Anderson claimed the event's No. 3 seed, however, because of its 1-1 record against LMU, while Lenoir-Rhyne went 0-2 against the Railsplitters and will be the No. 4 seed.
Lenoir-Rhyne will play host to fifth-seeded Newberry, which concluded the regular season 18-8 overall and 14-8 against the league.
Tickets for Wednesday's quarterfinal games at the Abney Center are $6 for adults, $3 for children and college students with college ID. Fans showing the Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the price of an adult ticket for the quarterfinals.
The AU ticket window will open at 6 p.m. and tickets may be purchased with cash only. No debit or credit cards will be accepted.
Following campus-site quarterfinals on Wednesday, the SAC Championship will move to Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. for Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's title game.
2014 Food Lion SAC Men's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals – March 5
No. 8 Wingate at No. 1 Lincoln Memorial, 8 p.m.
No. 7 Coker at No. 2 Carson-Newman, 8 p.m.
No. 6 Queens at No. 3 Anderson, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Newberry at No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne, 8 p.m.
Semifinals – March 8
No. 1/No. 8 vs. No. 4/No. 5, Noon
No. 2/No. 7 vs. No. 3/No. 6, 2:30 p.m.
Final – March 9
Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, 1 p.m.
