NCAA Championship South Region Home Page
(links to video/audio and live stats included)
Video Preview
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – When interviewing seniors
Woody Taylor and
Darrien Mack yesterday in an empty McArthur Center, Eckerd College men's basketball assistant coach
Kendrick Wilson made an astute observation as his words pierced the air.
“
The most the seniors can play will be six more games. Will you get the most of our opportunity?”
The statement is simple, yet resonates with a hollow ring of permanency.
The six-game reference, of course, refers to cutting down the nets as the NCAA Division II national champion when it's all said and done on April 7 in Philips Arena in Atlanta.
Eckerd's senior class has certainly enjoyed their last ride, but there's more work to be done.
For Taylor, Mack, fellow senior
Walade Wade and company, their already impressive legacy will continue to be defined by what is accomplished this weekend in Lakeland at the Jenkins Field House as part of reaching the ultimate postseason destination, the NCAA Championship.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the 2002-03 squad reaching the Elite Eight of March Madness (of which Wilson was a member), a unit that went 25-7 and defied expectations, while advancing through the bracket by beating Morehouse (Ga.) College and Rollins College before bringing down Henderson State (Ark.) University in the “Sweet 16.”
The Tritons have assembled a 20-7 record overall and have high ambitions coming off of Sunshine State Conference Championship semifinal qualification to begin the postseason.
With well over 300 wins in his career, respected Eckerd Head Coach
Tom Ryan is taking a team to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in his 17-year tenure and the first time for back-to-back seasons since 2007-2008.
This is a seasoned group with that vital experience needed on the national stage after upsetting No. 3 University of West Georgia as the No. 6 seed last year in Huntsville, Ala., and giving Christian Brothers (Tenn.) University all it could handle in the next round.
In South Region opening-round action tomorrow morning, the script is flipped as the third-seeded Tritons have their dancing shoes on for the 11th time in the program's history and await sixth-seeded and No. 12 nationally-ranked Benedict (S.C.) College.
The Tigers roared to another Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) tournament crown and enter this weekend on a current 12-game winning streak.
The last time Eckerd and Benedict met, it was in a similar situation at the NCAA Championship South Regional in 2008. This will be just the fourth meeting all-time between the respective schools.
Mack was just named a Daktronics First-Team All-South Region selection and his ledger is just as impressive as anyone vying for additional All-American consideration.
By leading the league in scoring and rebounding, he was a near-unanimous pick for First-Team All-SSC honors and finished runner-up by just two votes in the SSC Player of the Year balloting.
Junior guard
Alex Bodney is averaging nearly 15 points per game in the postseason and SSC Freshman of the Year
Jerrick Stevenson is right around his regular-season average with 8.4 figured in two contests so far.
Wade produced a career-high 24 points in the opening-round of the SSC Championship, but was injured early against Florida Southern College in the semifinals.
Also on the Daktronics All-South Region Second Team headlined a pair of Benedict standouts, Xavier Collier and Marcus Goode. Collier and Goode have imposed their will on the SIAC, combining to average nearly 30 points per game.
At 5-11, Collier is a dynamic playmaker while Goode's 6-10 frame with deep three-point range makes the Tigers (23-6 overall) a handful on the defensive end of the floor. Collier was named the SIAC Player of the Year after Goode retained the title for consecutive seasons.
Tip-off inside the Jenkins Field House is set for 12 p.m. EST. Live video and audio featuring the broadcast team of Ryan Halstead and Taylor Young will be transmitted through South Region host Florida Southern College's tournament central page found
here.
The winner will advance to the second round to take on either No. 2 University of Alabama-Huntsville or No. 7 Christian Brothers, both from the Gulf South Conference. That contest is set for Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.
