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Focus sharpens for ASUN men's women's basketball tournaments in Jacksonville
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- Focus sharpens for ASUN men's women's basketball tournaments in Jacksonville
With one week and two games remaining for all ASUN men's and women's basketball teams, some things can be penciled in for the conference tournaments, March 3-9 in Jacksonville .
And get the ink ready as the final week will determine seedings, first-round games and half the quarterfinal bracket for the games at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
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The top four teams who will get first-round byes in the men's tournament are set, if not the actual order. So Austin Peay , Central Arkansas, Queens and Lipscomb, relax: you're getting a rest after this week's games and as balanced as the conference is (first-place APU almost got swept by 10 th -place JU and 11 th -place UNF last week), it likely won't matter much who's the first or fourth seed.
How to get ASUN tickets: Men's and women's games will be at UNF, JU and VyStar Veterans Arena
Only Eastern Kentucky has a top-four spot clinched in the women's standings, but the Jacksonville University Dolphins , the hottest team in the league with nine victories in a row, have the second spot all but sewn up and still can catch EKU for the regular-season championship and the top seed in the tournament.
It won't be easy, but it's doable. JU is at Stetson and home against North Florida in its final two games, while EKU is at Austin Peay and has a virtual 2-foot putt to close the season with a home game against winless Bellarmine .
Jacksonville University freshman guard Tatum Brown joins an official in signaling a 3-point basket during the Dolphins 70-61 victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 21 at Swisher Gym.
Either way, the Dolphins need only one more victory to secure the second seed.
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The only other given in the final week is that both UNF teams will play opening-round games at Jacksonville University. The UNF men are projected to be the 11th seed and the women No. 10. The conference rules don't allow the Ospreys to play first-round games at UNF Arena so they'll take those games to JU's Swisher Gym.
Here are the projected first-round and quarterfinal matchups in the men's and women's tournaments, based on current standings and tie-breaker procedures:
Men: Austin Peay keeps rolling
The Governors had some tense moments in Duval County last week, beating North Florida 77-76 at UNF Arena on Anton Brookshire's basket with 0.6 seconds left, and prevailing over Jacksonville 65-61 at Swisher Gym. APU (20-6, 15-1) has a two-game lead over Central Arkansas (18-11, 13-3) and can put the regular-season title away at home on Feb. 26 against the Bears.
Jacksonville University guard Jalen Jones passes the ball off during the Dolphins' 65-61 loss to Austin Peay on Feb. 21 at Swisher Gym.
Queens (17-12, 12-4) leads Lipscomb (18-11, 11-5) by one game for the third seed. Both teams are on the road this week: Queens vs. Eastern Kentucky and Central Arkansas and Lipscomb against West Georgia and Eastern Kentucky.
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UNF (6-23, 4-12) is currently the 11th seed after its last-second loss to Austin Peay on Feb. 19, and a 76-71 loss at Stetson on Feb. 21. Senior guard Kamrin Oriol led the Ospreys with 17 points, graduate guard Dalton Gayman had 14 and sophomore guard Mason Lee had 12 points and nine rebounds.
JU (10-19, 5-11) has now lost six of seven after battling Gulf Coast and Austin Peay at home to what proved to be bitter ends.
Junior forward Jason Thirdkill Jr., hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in Fort Myers on Feb. 19 to get the Dolphins within a basket of the Eagles, 82-80 but FGCU made 4 of 6 free throws in the final seconds to win 86-84. Freshman guard Hayden Wood led the Dolphins with 23 points and Thirdkill and junior forward Donovan Rivers had 16 each.
In the loss to Austin Peay, JU battled back from a 10-point deficit and senior forward Allen Udemadu converted a 3-point play with 3:50 left to tie the game 59-59. However, the Dolphins failed to score again until four seconds left on a layup by junior guard Jaylen Jones.
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Projected ASUN men's tournament seeds, first round, quarterfinals
March 4, at the University of North Florida
No. 8 West Georgia (12-16, 6-10) vs. No. 9 Stetson (10-19, 6-10), 12 p.m.; No. 5 Florida Gulf Coast (14-15, 8-8) vs. No. 12 North Alabama (8-19, 3-13), 2:30 p.m.; No. 7 Bellarmine (11-17, 6-10) vs. No. 10 Jacksonville (10-19, 5-11), 5 p.m.
March 4, at Jacksonville University
No. 6 Eastern Kentucky (11-18, 7-9) vs. No. 11 North Florida (6-23, 4-12), 7:30 p.m.
March 6, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
No. 1 Austin Peay (21-6, 15-1) vs. West Georgia-Stetson winner, 12 p.m.; No. 4 Lipscomb (18-11, 11-5) vs. Florida Gulf Coast-North Alabama winner, 2:20 p.m.; No. 2 Central Arkansas (18-11, 13-3) vs. Bellarmine-Jacksonville winner, 5 p.m.; No. 3 Queens vs. Eastern Kentucky-North Florida winner, 7:30 p.m.
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March 7, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Semifinals, 5 and 7:30 p.m.
March 8, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Championship, 2 p.m.
Edward Waters drops last two
Edward Waters (14-14, 12-12 SIAC East):The Tigers fell in their final two games and will be the fifth-seeded team in the SIAC East. EWU is projected to play at LeMoyne-Owens, the fourth-seeded West team, on Feb. 28.
The Tigers lost 75-55 on Feb. 21 at Tuskegee and to Miles (Ala.) 83-73 on Feb. 19. Jayvon Johnson scored 17 points in each game, and had six rebounds against Miles. Cyrus Huggard-Noel led Edward Waters with 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting against Miles. Jahil Green scored 16 vs. Tuskegee. Keshawn Evans and Myles Hoston each scored 14 points in a 60-55 victory over Benedict (S.C.) on Feb. 16.
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Flagler (15-11, 9-9 Peach Belt):The Saints dropped a pair of games last week, losing at home to USC-Beaufort 83-80 on Feb. 18 and 77-57 at North Georgia on Feb. 21. Flagler had a chance to tie the game in regulation against Beaufort but a shot at the buzzer by graduate guard Tarig Daughton was off the mark. Daughton led the Saints with 16 points and graduate guard Rahdir Hicks had 13. Hicks and junior center Tymoteusz Pszczola had 11 points each in the loss at North Georgia.
Trinity College (14-9, 7-3 NCCAA Region II South):The Eagles closed the regular season on a roll, winning all three games last week to run their winning streak to four in a row. Senior guard Diego Fernandez had 23 points and six rebounds in a 74-60 victory at Pensacola Christian on Feb. 21, threw in 27 points with 12 rebounds and seven assists in a 103-79 victory at Southeastern Baptist (Miss.) on Feb. 20, and had 22 points and eight rebounds in an 84-72 triumph at Baptist University (Graceville, Fla.) on Feb. 17. Sophomore guard Tayden Owens had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists vs. Baptist and 25 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists against Southeastern Baptist.
This week's games
Feb. 25:Clayton State (Ga.) at Flagler, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 26: Florida Gulf Coast at North Florida, 7 p.m.; Stetson at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
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Feb. 28:Georgia College at Flagler, 3:30 p.m.; Jacksonville at North Florida, 6 p.m.
Women: EKU looks to finish
The Colonels need only split their final two games to clinch the ASUN regular-season title and they've already beaten both opponents, topping Austin Peay 67-60 and Bellarmine 90-46.
JU (20-7, 12-4) beat Florida Gulf Coast 70-61 on Feb. 21 to sweep the season series for the first time in school history against the Eagles and get to 20 victories for the first time since 2017-18. The Dolphins now need to take care of business at Stetson and UNF. They beat both teams by six points earlier this month, 76-70 over the Hatters and 56-52 over the Ospreys.
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UNF (9-18, 4-12) beat Queens 62-51 on Feb. 21 and is currently the 10th seed. With road games at FGCU and JU, it's possible the Ospreys could sink to 11th.
The Dolphins extended their winning streak with their second victory over Gulf Coast in two weeks and an 84-49 rout of Queens, both at home. Freshman guard Tatum Brown had 20 points, eight rebounds and four steals against the Eagles, and senior guard Makiya Miller added 15 points. Senior guard Priscilla Williams led the rout over Queens with 25 points.
UNF split their games last week, beating Queens 62-52 at home on Feb. 21 and losing at Stetson 73-68 on Feb. 19. Junior guard Alonya Waldon led the victory over the Royals with 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench and sophomore guard Alexa Washington also added a double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Waldon had 27 points against Stetson and freshman Dezuray McGill had 17 points and nine rebounds.
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Projected ASUN women's tournament seeds, first round, quarterfinals
March 3, at the University of North Florida
No. 8 Austin Peay (15-11, 7-9) vs. No. 9 Lipscomb (9-17, 6-10), 12 p.m.; No. 5 North Alabama (14-12, 10-6) vs. No. 12 Bellarmine (2-27, 0-16), 2:30 p.m.; No. 6 West Georgia (17-10, 10-6) vs. No. 11 Queens (9-18, 3-13), 7:30 p.m.
March 3, at Jacksonville University
No. 7 Florida Gulf Coast (13-14, 9-7) vs. No. 10 North Florida (9-18, 4-12), 5 p.m.
March 5, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
No. 1 Eastern Kentucky (22-7, 13-3) vs. Austin Peay-Lipscomb winner, 12 p.m.; No. 4 Stetson (18-9, 11-5) vs. North Alabama-Bellarmine winner; No. 2 Jacksonville (20-7, 12-4) vs. Florida Gulf Coast-North Florida winner, 5 p.m.; No. 3 Central Arkansas (18-10, 11-5) vs. West Georgia-Queens winner, 7:30 p.m.
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March 7, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Semifinals, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
March 9, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Championship, 5 p.m.
EWU clinches SIAC East
Edward Waters (23-5, 21-3 SIAC East):The Tigers, who have climbed to third in the NCAA South Region, clinched the division title and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament after three victories last week, all on the road, to run their winning streak to 14 games.
Graduate guard Amelya Hatch averaged 15 points per game for the week, with 17 points in a 51-43 victory over Benedict (S.C.), 12 in a 60-52 triumph at Miles (Ala.) and 16 points in a 53-41 victory over Tuskegee (Ala.).
Edward Waters finished the regular season as the SIAC East champions, with the help of (from the left) Nia Brown, Shcira Fowles and Tan Brown.
Junior guard Tan Brown had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists against Miles and graduate forward Zahra Daniels had 12 points in leading the Tigers to a 31-6 advantage in bench points. Senior forward Shcira Fowles had seven points and 13 rebounds against Tuskgee.
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The Tiger will get a first-round bye and will play on March 4 at the Clayton Country Convocation Center in Morrow, Ga., against the winner of Kentucky State (No. 4 seed SIAC West) and Albany State (No. 5 East).
Flagler (10-16, 5-13 Peach Belt):The Saints treaded water with a split last week. Sophomore forward Gabby Bush scored six points in overtime and senior guard Natalie Herrin made three of four foul shots in the final 22 seconds in a 75-72 victory over USC-Beaufort on Feb. 18 at home and despite 23 points and 11 rebounds by senior forward Marley Smith, the Saints lost 82-66 at North Georgia on Feb. 21.
Herrin's layup with 16 seconds left tied the game against Beaufort in regulation. She finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Bush had 17 points and senior forward Carleigh Grimm added 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Trinity College (14-11, 5-3 NCCAA Region II South):The Eagles split their final two regular-season games, beating host Southeastern Baptist (Miss.) 89-59 on Feb. 20 and losing 92-84 at Pensacola Christian on Feb. 21. Senior guard Emma Parrish had a combined 55 points and 13 rebounds in the two games, scoring 22 and adding seven rebounds, four assists and seven steals against SE Baptist, then hitting for a season-high 33 points (making 15 of 15 from the foul line) in the loss to PBC. Sophomore forward Travesha Giddens posted two double-doubles, with 22 points and 11 rebounds against SE Baptist and 25 points and 13 rebounds against PBC.
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This week's games
Feb. 25:Clayton State (Ga.) at Flagler, 5:30 p.m.; Jacksonville at Stetson, 7 p.m.; North Florida at Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.
Feb. 27:North Florida at Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 28:Georgia College at Flagler, 1:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: With a week left, ASUN basketball tournament seeds come into sharper focus
