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Winthrop Takes Top Seed for Advance Auto Parts Big South Championship

           

Winthrop Takes Top Seed for Advance Auto Parts Big South Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Big South Conference tonight announced the pairings for the 2002 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, Feb. 28-March 2, 2002 in Roanoke, Va.

Winthrop (10-4 Big South), the defending Conference champs, will claim the top seed in the tournament and will face eighth-seeded Liberty (2-12) on Thursday, Feb. 28 at noon. UNC Asheville (10-4) will be second by virtue of a tiebreaker, and will face seventh-seeded High Point (5-9) at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Radford (9-5) will be the third seed and will square of against Coastal Carolina (5-9), the sixth seed at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Charleston Southern (8-6) earned the fourth seed, and will play fifth-seeded Elon at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.

The Winthrop-Liberty winner will advance to face the Charleston Southern-Elon winner at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 1 in the first semifinal. The UNC Asheville-High Point Winner advances to play the Radford-Coastal Carolina winner at 8:00 pm on Friday in the second semifinal. Both semifinals will be televised on the Big South Television Network. The championship, which will be televised live on ESPN2, will be played Saturday, March 2 at 5:00 p.m. All games will be played at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Va. The winner will receive the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Elon and High Point will be playing in their first Big South Basketball Tournament. The two schools became eligible this year after serving a NCAA mandated two-year waiting period after joining the ranks of Division I.

2002 Big South Conference Advance Auto Parts Men’s Basketball Tournament

Thursday, February 28
Game 1: #1 Winthrop vs. #8 Liberty, Noon
Game 2: #4 Charleston Southern vs. #5 Elon, 2:00 p.m.
Game 3: #2 UNC Asheville vs. #7 High Point, 6:00 pm
Game 4: #3 Radford vs. #6 Coastal Carolina, 8:00 p.m.

Friday, March 1
Game 3 (Semifinal 1): Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:00 p.m.
Game 4 (Semifinal 2): Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 4
Game 5 (Championship): Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:00 p.m.

The Big South is a NCAA Division I Conference with nine member institutions throughout the Southeast. Birmingham-Southern College, Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, Elon University, High Point University, Liberty University, Radford University, UNC Asheville and Winthrop University comprise the 18-year-old-league, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. The Big South is online at www.BigSouthSports.com.