SIAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournament Set to Begin
Harry "Trae" Stinson III 03/02/09

Tucker, GA. – The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will officially begin the 76th edition of the men’s and 31st edition of the annual women’s basketball tournament on March 4, 2009. The brackets are now set and all roads will converge on Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, AL to crown the next champion.

Leading the crusade is Claflin University, making their SIAC Tournament debut with top four seeding in both the men’s and women’s division. The Panthers received the #1 seed in the men’s division and the #4 seed in the women’s division. The men’s team soared to an impressive 23-2 overall record with their only two losses in Division II coming to the #2 seed Benedict and #8 seed Miles. The women’s team finished with a 14-11 record giving them a #4 seed in the tournament. Benedict’s men’s team continues to play strong after returning many of their players from last year and receiving a #2 seed and finishing the season with an impressive 23-4 record. Both Benedict and Claflin are nationally and NCAA regionally ranked.

The women’s bracket is filled with a number of outstanding Division II teams including the perennial SIAC favorite Fort Valley State University, who went undefeated in the SIAC (22-0). Clark Atlanta Lady Panthers emerged as a strong SIAC team this year after their surprising run to the semi-finals in last year’s tournament. The Lady Panthers are led by Shantrell Moss who leads the SIAC in scoring averaging 24.1 ppg. She has propelled CAU to a 24-3 record with two of their losses coming at the hands of Fort Valley State. This sets up an interesting storyline for the tournament if both teams can prevail in tournament play. Fort Valley State and Clark Atlanta have both been nationally ranked and both are currently NCAA regionally ranked. 

The SIAC Tournament will be filled of community service events and community initiatives. The Tournament will begin March 4 with all of the SIAC women’s teams wearing pink uniforms or pink paraphernalia demonstrating their SIAC support of Breast Cancer Awareness and the WBCA Think Pink Initiative. Members of the Claflin men’s team and Fort Valley State women’s team will also visit the Children’s Hospital of Birmingham. The SIAC has also invited members of the community affected by Cancer to join us for free and will be commemorated at half time of the 6:00 pm game. The SIAC has also invited 250 Special Olympic athletes to attend the SIAC Tournament on Wednesday.

On Thursday of the tournament, Benedict’s Men’s team and Fort Valley State’s women’s team will visit Carver High School to speak to area students about the importance of attending college and especially HBCU’s. Kentucky State women’s team and Lane College’s Men’s team will also visit and lend a helping hand at the Ronald McDonald House.

The SIAC is proud to support the community of the areas where our championships are located. For more information about the SIAC Tournament please visit www.thesiac.com or www.siacbasketballtournament.com. 

The 76th Men’s and 31st Women’s Basketball Tournament brackets will culminate on Sunday, March 8, 2009 with both championship games being taped delayed on ESPNU. The women’s championship will air at 1:00 pm on Monday, March 9, 2009 and the men’s game will air at 10:30 pm on Sunday, March 8, 2009. The SIAC tournament will also broadcast the early rounds of the tournament live or on-demand on www.siacbasketballtournament.com. 

The SIAC Basketball Tournament is the oldest continuous post season basketball tournament in the history of the NCAA. The tournament was started by SIAC visionary, Cleve Abbott in Tuskegee, AL in 1934 and has blossomed into one of the cultivating events within the HBCU community.