Virginia Beach, Va., March 5, 2009 - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced the men’s pairings for the 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament, March 10-14 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (LJVM) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Morgan State Bears clinched their second straight regular-season title with a 13-3 conference mark and will begin tournament play as the No. 1 seed.
The Bears earned the early round bye and will play their first game on Wednesday, March 11 beginning at 7 p.m. They will face the winner of Florida A&M (No. 8) and Howard (No. 9), who will meet in the opening round, Tuesday, March 10 at 9 p.m.
South Carolina State secured the No. 2 seed with a 10-6 MEAC mark. The Bulldogs defeated Winston-Salem State 86-73 in a non-conference matchup tonight.
Competitive parity in the middle of conference standings resulted in two multiple ties with four-teams finishing with a 9-7 mark and three teams closing MEAC play at 6-10.
Norfolk State (9-7) rose to the top of the four-way multiple conference tie-breaker and will enter tournament play as the No. 3 seed after defeating North Carolina A&T (9-7) earlier this evening. The Spartans will face the winner of the No. 6 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats /No. 11 Maryland E. Shore Hawks slated for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11. Bethune-Cookman, who also held a 9-7 conference mark, slipped to the number six slot despite a 49-46 win over Florida A&M tonight.
North Carolina A&T (No. 4) and Coppin State (No. 5) round out the final slot of the four-way tie. The Aggies and Eagles will face off during the quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 12 beginning at 8 p.m.
The Hampton Pirates (8-8) defeated the Howard Bison, 54-48, to remain the seventh seed. Florida A&M, Howard and Delaware State finished with similar 6-10 conference marks and were seeded as a result of conference tie-breaking procedures. Florida A&M (No. 8) fell to Bethune-Cookman and will matchup against No. 9 Howard in the opening round Tuesday, March 10 beginning at 9 p.m. Hampton and Delaware State will face off also on Tuesday beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Maryland E. Shore Hawks finished with a 3-13 mark and will wrap up the conference standings with an 11th place finish and tournament seed.
The 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off Tuesday, March 10, and will conclude on Saturday, March 14 with the men’s and women’s championship games. The women will tip off at 12 noon. The game will air taped delayed on ESPNU, March 15 at 11 a.m. The men’s finale is set for 7 p.m. Saturday and will air live also on ESPNU. Check your local listings for channel information.
Click here for the 2009 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament bracket.