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Eighth-seeded Clayton State (17-14) battles top-seeded USC Aiken (27-3) on Saturday in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional at Augusta State’s Christenberry Fieldhouse. Tip-off is 6 p.m. in the rematch of Sunday’s epic Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game, which was won by Clayton State 89-87 in triple-overtime at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center. This is the second straight trip to the “Big Dance” for head coach Gordon Gibbons’ Lakers. Last season, Clayton State advanced to the second round of the Regional before falling to Virginia Union 71-70 in a buzzer-beater in overtime. In addition to Clayton State and USC Aiken, the rest of the games on Friday in the first round has third-seeded Wingate (23-6) playing sixth-seeded and South Atlantic Conference rival Catawba (19-11) at 12 p.m., followed by host and second-seeded Augusta State (22-6) against seventh-seeded and CIAA Tournament champion Johnson C. Smith (21-9) at 2:30 p.m. The nightcap game features fourth-seeded Virginia Union (22-7) against fifth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne (22-6) at 8 p.m. Should Clayton State win in the first round, it would play the winner of Virginia Union and Lenoir-Rhyne in the semifinals on Sunday. The South Atlantic Regional championship game is set for Tuesday night at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
NCAA Division II South Atlantic
Men’s Regional
First Round –
Saturday (Mar. 14) 2:30 p.m. – No. 2 Augusta State vs. No. 7 Johnson C. Smith 6 p.m. – No. 1 USC Aiken vs. No. 8 Clayton State 8 p.m. – No. 4 Virginia Union vs. No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne
Semifinals –
Sunday TBA – USC Aiken/Clayton State vs. Virginia Union/Lenoir-Rhyne Championship – Tuesday TBA – Semifinal winners |
MORROW,
Ga.