SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG claimed its second straight Southern Conference regular-season championship on Sunday, clinching the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
The tournament begins Friday, March 2, with a pair of first-round games. Four quarterfinal games follow on Saturday, with the semifinals on Sunday and the title game on Monday at 9 p.m. The championship tilt will air live on ESPN2, while every other contest will air on ESPN3.
The Spartans’ regular-season title and No. 1 seed are their second straight. UNCG finished the regular season with a 24-7 overall record and a 15-3 league mark, overtaking ETSU in the standings on the final day for the outright title. UNCG earns one of two first-round byes and will await either The Citadel or VMI at noon on Saturday.
No. 8 seed The Citadel and No. 9 seed VMI get the men’s tournament started with a 5 p.m. first-round bout Friday. The Bulldogs went 10-20 overall and 5-13 in league play to finish a game ahead of the Keydets (9-20, 4-14) in the standings, but VMI pulled off the sweep in a pair of regular-season matchups.
No. 7 seed Samford (10-21, 6-12) and No. 10 seed Chattanooga (9-22, 3-15) follow at 7:30 p.m. The squads split in the regular season, each winning on its home floor.
Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. contest features a rematch of the regular-season finale for Mercer (18-13, 11-7) and Wofford (20-11, 11-7). The teams finished tied for fourth in the league standings, but the Bears, winners of eight straight to end the regular season, took the tiebreaker and the No. 4 seed by completing the season sweep with Sunday’s 69-68 win.
ETSU, which held at least a share of the league lead every day since conference play started until the final day of the regular season, slipped to the No. 2 seed with its fourth loss in five games, this time a 79-76 defeat at the hands of Furman. The Bucs (23-8, 14-4) await the Samford-Chattanooga winner on Saturday at 6 p.m. ETSU swept both opponents during the regular season.
Furman won six straight games to end the regular season and lock up the No. 3 seed with a 22-9 overall mark and 13-5 league record. The Paladins will face No. 6 seed Western Carolina (13-18, 8-10) on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The Paladins swept the season series.
2018 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship schedule
Friday, March 2 (ESPN3)
Game 1 - (8) The Citadel vs. (9) VMI, 5 p.m.
Game 2 - (7) Samford vs. (10) Chattanooga, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 (ESPN3)
Game 3 - (1) UNCG vs. Game 1 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 4 - (4) Mercer vs. (5) Wofford, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5 - (2) ETSU vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 6 - (3) Furman vs. (6) Western Carolina, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 4 (ESPN3)
Game 7 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6 p.m.
Monday, March 5 (ESPN2)
Championship game, 9 p.m.
-www.SoConSports.com-