March 1, 2014
Peach Belt Announces Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has announced the
2014 men's basketball tournament bracket from the league
office in Augusta, Ga. The top four teams in the east and
west division will convene on Columbus, Ga., starting this Friday,
March 7, with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals will be
held on Saturday, March 8, with the championship game on Sunday,
March 9, at 4:30 pm. The tournament is presented by
Jani-King.
Friday's first quarterfinal game will feature the
top-seeded team in the west: the Montevallo Falcons. UM
claims the top spot in the division for the third straight year and
have played in the last two championship games, winning the title
in 2012. The Falcons finished the regular season with a
15-4 league mark after beating Young Harris 74-66 on Saturday on
the road. UM has won four of five heading into Columbus and
will face Francis Marion, the #4 seed in the east.
FMU returns to tournament play for the first time since
2011. The Patriots may be playing their best ball at the end
of the season as they have won four in a row including an 88-74 win
over Lander in Saturday's regular-season finale. FMU
and Montevallo met back on Jan. 18 with the Falcons taking the win
88-64.
Friday's second quarterfinal features Georgia Regents
University, the #2 seed in the east, taking on North Georgia, the
#3 seed in the west. Georgia Regents has been
nationally-ranked twice this season and are looking for their third
tournament title in the last six years. The Jaguars defeated
Flagler 88-77 in Saturday's finale and have won five of seven
heading into Columbus. The Jags have also beaten North
Georgia in their only matchup this year; a 97-71 win in
Augusta.
North Georgia reached the PBC tournament semifinals for the
second time in school history in 2013. The Nighthawks fell in
their season finale on Saturday to Georgia Southwestern, but have
won five of their last eight heading to the tournament.
The 5:00 pm quarterfinal game matches #2 west seed Georgia
Southwestern against east #3 Lander. GSW makes their second
consecutive tournament appearance, third in the last four years,
and have their highest seed since capturing the top seed in
2011. The Hurricanes beat North Georgia in Saturday's
finale to 11-8 in conference play, 19-9 overall.
Lander finished the regular-season with an 11-8 league record in
the tough east division. The Bearcats, 2007 tournament
champions, return to tournament play after a one-year absence and
won six in a row and nine of 10 during the season, including a
62-58 win over GSW on Jan. 30.
Friday's last quarterfinal brings host Columbus State, the
#4 seed in the west, against USC Aiken, the top seed the
east. Ranked #8 in the nation, USCA is the defending PBC
tournament champion and won their third-straight PBC regular-season
championship with a win over UNC Pembroke on Saturday. The
Pacers made their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance last
season and are the top-ranked team in the latest NCAA regional
poll. The Pacers beat the Cougars 82-70 on Jan. 4 in
Aiken.
Columbus State makes their return to the PBC Tournament. The last
time CSU played in the league tournament on their home floor was in
2012 where they advanced to the championship game and reached the
NCAA Tournament. The Cougars are 10-5 on their home court
this season and come in with a win over Clayton State in
Saturday's regular-season finale.
Every game of the PBC Tournament will be covered with live stats
and a live video feed through UStream, the official streaming
partner of the Peach Belt Conference. The league will also
provide a stream of every post-game press conference. Links
to all the live coverage along with ticket information can be found
on the official tournament website here. A PDF bracket can
be found here.
