Tourney Central 3/13/2008 (Day 10)Bullet Points
Brackets Northeast
Three teams battled it out atop the NEC with gaudy records -- none of them were Mount Saint Mary's, which took out top seed Robert Morris and No. 3 Sacred Heart -- on the road, no less. The Mount's road warriors end their conference season with an 11-7 record away from Emmitsburg, Md..
[4] Mount Saint Mary`s 68, at [3] Sacred Heart 55 | GameFlo Big Sky
Portland State won the regular season championship three years ago, but couldn't seal the Dance deal. This year, the Vikings are NCAA-bound for the first time in the school's 11-year Division I history after a cruise to the title. Senior guard Deonte Huff was the team's leading scorer in both tourney games, and had 17 last night.
at [1] Portland State 67, [2] Northern Arizona 51 | GameFlo MEAC
Coppin's surprise win was its second in less than a month over the Pirates, closed by late free throws by Tywain McKee. Hampton's previously promising season ends with a 1-3 record against the MEAC's Baltimore schools.
[6] Florida A&M 70, [11] Maryland-Eastern Shore 61 | GameFlo SWAC
Top seeds moved on in Birmingham, and both will take a day off.
[2] Mississippi Valley State 79, [7] Grambling State 73 | GameFlo Big West
A minor upset in the Big West's first round, with the Highlanders taking down last year's runner-up Mustangs.
[5] California-Irvine 77, [8] Long Beach State 63 | GameFlo Atlantic 10
Saint Louis dropped a 13-4 run in the last four minutes of regulation to force overtime, but eventually fell thanks to a Marcus Johnson pop in the lane with 32 seconds left in OT. URI blew a five-point lead with 1:49 remaining, tumbling from nationally ranked to broken 11-seed in just 11 weeks. Duquesne couldn't hold on to a seven-point lead with 5:42 left. Saint Joe's, on the other hand, dominated.
[8] Dayton 63, [9] Saint Louis 62 (OT) | GameFlo Mid-American
Few surprises on the final scoreboard in Cleveland, but Buffalo gave Miami everything it possibly had before falling late.
[7] Eastern Michigan 59, [10] Ball State 55 | GameFlo On Tap Tonight Atlantic 10 The top four seeds begin play in the city that's "always turned on." Two dream local rivalries today with X and UD representing Ohio, and Temple and La Salle renewing their Philly Big 5 battle.
12:00 pm ET - [1] Xavier 26-5 (14-2) vs. [8] Dayton 21-9 (8-8) | Preview Mid-American No surprises in the first round means that that top eight will square-dance today at the "Q" in Cleveland.
12:00 pm ET - [2] Western Michigan 18-11 (11-4) vs. [7] Eastern Michigan 14-16 (8-8) | Preview Southland
A special welcome to the Southland, which will get its tourney tipped off in Katy, Tex. Co-regular season champions Stephen F. Austin and Lamar anchor either side of the bracket.
1:00 pm ET - [2] Lamar 19-10 (13-3) vs. [7] Texas-Arlington 18-11 (7-9) | Preview MEAC Two games today, but we're not at the semis yet. The two final quarters feature the last two champions, FAMU and Del-State.
6:00 pm ET - [3] Norfolk State 15-14 (12-6) vs. [6] Florida A&M 15-16 (10-8) | Preview SWAC Two quarterfinals in the SWAC as well. Defending champion Jackson State will try to repeat out of the No. 4 seed.
3:30 pm ET - [3] Alabama A&M 14-14 (11-7) vs. [6] Arkansas-Pine Bluff 12-17 (8-10) | Preview Western Athletic
It's a mental adjustment preparing for this tourney and not using the "Team X has to get to at least Round Y" logic -- after over two-decades of consistent multi-bid performance, this event is a fight over a single Dance card.
2:00 pm ET - [4] Boise State 22-8 (12-4) vs. [5] Hawaii 11-18 (7-9) | Preview Big West This is the second round of the BWC, as seeds three and four make their first appearance on the staggered bracket. The two winners today will be reseeded going into tomorrow's semis. Before the games, check out the 7th Annual Big West mascot challenge at the ESPNZone near Disneyland. Here's your bracket for that.
9:00 pm ET - [3] Cal State Fullerton 21-8 (12-4) vs. [7] California-Riverside 9-20 (4-12) | Preview |
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