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Tuesday,
August 13, 2002 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
RETURNING TO HICKORY, N.C. ROCK HILL, SC – The
2003 South Atlantic Conference men’s and women’s
basketball tournament will be held March 8-9 at the
Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Facility
in Hickory, N.C., it was announced today by SAC
Commissioner Doug Echols. “Catawba
Valley Community College has been a wonderful place to
host the South Atlantic Conference basketball
tournament,” Echols said. “We are excited to return
and expect the fans of South Atlantic Conference
basketball will see another exciting tournament. We hope
to continue to build this into an outstanding event for
the SAC and the Hickory area.” This
will be the fourth consecutive year the tournament will
be played at CVCC. However, one change this year will
have the four semi-final games on Saturday, and the
men’s and women’s championship games on Sunday. “This
change will give more fans an opportunity to come to
Hickory and support their teams,” Echols said. First-round
tournament games will be played at the home court of the
higher seeded team on Wednesday, March 5. The winning
teams will advance to the semi-finals. Game times on
Saturday, March 8 will have women’s semi-final games
at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. The men’s semi-final games will
be 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. On Sunday, the women’s final will
be 2 p.m., and the men’s final following at 4 p.m. The
winning men’s and women’s teams earn automatic bids
to the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament. The South
Atlantic Conference is home to some of the top teams in
NCAA Division II. Last year, Carson-Newman College won
the men’s tournament, while Mars Hill College won the
women’s title. Carson-Newman finished the season
ranked 18th nationally, while Mars Hill
advanced to the Women’s Elite Eight and finished 8th
in the final poll. An
awards banquet honoring the top players for the 2002-03
season will be Friday, March 7 at the Holiday Inn Select
in Hickory. The
tournament is expected to draw nearly 1,000 people,
including players, coaches and staff, administrators,
tournament officials and fans to the Hickory Metro area
for the weekend. “The
Hickory Metro Sports Commission welcomes the return of
the South Atlantic Conference Basketball championships
to the Hickory Metro in March of 2003,” said Jerry
Hodge, Executive Director of the Hickory Metro Sports
Commission. “This championship basketball event is a
good fit for the SAC and the Hickory Metro in many ways.
We look forward to working with the SAC and its eight
schools.” |