CHARLOTTE, NC — The Big South Conference office announced late Saturday night that Elon would be seeded fifth when it takes its first shot at the league's title in the 2002 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, Thursday-Saturday in Roanoke, VA.
Winthrop (10-4 Big South), the three-time defending champion, claims the top seed in the tournament and will meet eighth-seeded Liberty (2-12) on Thursday at noon. UNC Asheville (10-4), the regular season co-champion along with Winthrop, is the number two seed by virtue of a tiebreaker, and will battle seventh-seeded High Point (5-9) at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Radford (9-5) is the third seed and will square off against Coastal Carolina (5-9), the sixth seed, at 8 p.m. Thursday. Charleston Southern (8-6) earned the fourth seed, and will confront fifth-seeded Elon (7-7) at 2 p.m. Thursday.
The Winthrop-Liberty winner will advance to face the Charleston Southern-Elon winner at 6 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal contest. The UNC Asheville-High Point winner advances to play the Radford-Coastal Carolina winner at 8 pm on Friday in the second semifinal game.
Both semifinals will be televised on the Big South Television Network. The championship game, which will be televised live on ESPN2, will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. All games will be played at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, VA. The champion will receive the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Elon and High Point will both be playing in their first Big South men's basketball tournament. The two schools became eligible this year after serving an NCAA-mandated two-year waiting period after joining the Division I ranks.
2002 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Schedule
Thursday, February 28
Game 1: #1 Winthrop vs. #8 Liberty, Noon
Game 2: #4 Charleston Southern vs. #5 Elon, 2:00 p.m.
Game 3: #2 UNC Asheville vs. #7 High Point, 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: #3 Radford vs. #6 Coastal Carolina, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, March 1
Game 5 (Semifinal 1): Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 6 p.m.
Game 6 (Semifinal 2): Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 2
Game 7 (Championship): Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 5 p.m.
--ELON--
