ET's not going to be happy

[Triple B]

Ouachita Baptist 74, Florida Southern 69

March 15, 2008

Eighth-seeded Ouachita Baptist got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Memo Rodridguez and upset the host school and top seeded team, Florida Southern 74-69 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament played Saturday in Lakeland.

Ouachita Baptist, 20-9, advances to the semifinals Sunday at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the #4 North Alabama/#5 Christian Brothers game. Florida Southern finishes its season at 24-9.

Florida Southern went scoreless for the first 5:28 falling behind 9-0 but recovered to lead 30-29 at intermission. The Moccasins opened the second half with a 7-2 run to take a 37-33 lead at 16:20, but Antonio Benjamin nailed a three point shot and Ed Keyes added a dunk as the Tigers grabbed the lead  for good.

Antonio Benjamin and Daniel Maddox each pumped in 15 for the Tigers while Rodriguez and Jaranimo Marks each grabbed 10 rebounds as Ouachita Baptist out-rebounded Florida Southern 48-35.

Florida Southern was led by Rion Rayfield's 22 points, 21 coming from the three-point arc. Braxton Williams and Brandon Jenkins contributed 15 and 13, respectively.

On a happier note ....

Tampa 86, Harding 77

March 15, 2008

LAKELAND, Fla. - Senior forward Jeremy Black scored 29 points to lead Tampa to an 86-77 victory over Harding in the first round of the 2008 NCAA II Men's Basketball Tournament. Harding's Matt Hall scored 27 points in his final game as a Bison.

Harding, which entered the tournament as the #6 seed, completed its season with an 18-13 overall record. It was the Bisons' second trip to the NCAA Tournament. In 2004, Harding 67-59 to Henderson State in the first round.

Harding trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half but rallied to cut the halftime margin to 40-35. In the second half, the Bisons continued to cut into the lead and pulled ahead 46-45 on Chris Dixon's layup with 15:19 remaining and held its last lead at 48-47 with 14:16 left.

Tampa (21-8) then went on an 12-3 run with six of the points coming on a pair of three-pointers by Rashad Calloway. The Spartans led 59-51 with 11:07 left and maintained at least a five-point lead the rest of the way.

Hall completed his Harding career with 2,227 points, second only to Butch Gardner (2,255) in Bison history.

Sophomore Trent Morgan was the only other Bison in double figures with 19 points. Steven Barnett scored six points and led all players with nine assists.

Tampa capitalized on 28 Harding fouls. The Spartans shot 28-of-36 from the line. Black alone made 13-of-16, and Johnathan Ball made 10-of-12. Harding shot 17-of-24 at the stripe with Hall connecting on 10-of-16.

Black played all 40 minutes and added a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Tampa starting five scored all 86 points for the team. Ball had 19 points, Chris King 17, and Callaway added 15. The Spartans shot 50 percent from the field.

In addition to Hall, the game was the final contest for Harding seniors Chris Dixon, Jesse Bynum, and Jacob Thies.

[E.T.]

Sunshine State Conference has great basketball.

[TyBull]

How do you find out when and where UTampa plays next?

[TyBull]

How do you find out when and where UTampa plays next?

Nevermind they lost on Sunday

[Triple B]

Benedict Downs Tampa, Advances To South Regional Championship

March 16, 2008

LAKELAND -  Bennie Lewis scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as #2 Benedict downed #3 Tampa, 73-59, to advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II South Regional Men's Basketbal Tournamenrt tobe played Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Jenkins Field House on the campus of Florida Southern College.

Lewis scored 13 of his points in the final period as the Tigers (28-4) defended a 31-24 halftime lead. After the two teams traded the lead six times, Benedict went on a 13-2 run to take a 31-21 lead with 1:08 left in the opening period.

In the second half, the Tigers expanded their lead to 17 points while Tampa could not get any closer than nine points over the final 20 minutes despite Chris Evans valant effort, scoring 18 of his 20 points in the last half.

In addition to Lewis, Charles Gibbs and Zachary Barron added 15 and 14 points, respectively for the Tigers while Darius Lane added 10. Martinis Woody led the Tigers with 12 rebounds - all defensive as all of Benedict's 30 rebounds came ont he defensive end.