2009 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament explained

Year:2009
Conference:Southland Conference
Division:I
Gender:Men's
Teams:8
Arena:Merrell Center
City:Katy, Texas
Champions:Stephen F. Austin
Titlecount:1st
Coach:Danny Kaspar
Coachcount:1st
Mvp:Matt Kingsley
Mvpteam:Stephen F. Austin
Television:ESPN2

The 2009 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place March 12–15, 2009 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Format

The top eight eligible men's basketball teams in the Southland Conference received a berth in the conference tournament. After the conference season, teams were seeded by conference record. The first round match-ups were as shown below.

Bracket

All times Eastern.

Championship game

In the title game, Stephen F. Austin won their first conference title and clinched their first birth to the Division I NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Matt Kingsley, a fifth-year senior, led the Lumberjacks with 20 points in the 68–57 win over Texas-San Antonio. Kingsley was named the tournament MVP. The Lumberjacks also got 16 points apiece from Eddie Williams and Josh Alexander.

Devin Gibson led UTSA with a game-high 23 points. While the game was close throughout, SFA never trailed in the first half, and led 37–28 at halftime. They closed the first half on a 20–6 run that culminated with a three-pointer from Walt Harris. Despite Gibson's best efforts, the Roadrunners never got closer than five points behind the second half.

The Lumberjacks became the fifteenth different team to win the Southland Conference Tournament.[1]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=18400&ATCLID=3693522 Championship game recap at Southland.org