Men's, Women's Teams Compete in Gulf South Conference Tournament

Sports Editor

    Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams participated in the Gulf South Conference Championship Tournament in Southaven, Miss. last Wednesday through Sunday. Both teams experienced very different levels of success.

Montevallo

   The Weevils opened tournament against Montevallo. This match-up had special meaning for the Weevils. In recent years, the Weevils have experienced much difficulty when facing the men from Montevallo, going all the way back to the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Montevallo defeated the Weevils in the Sweet 16 in overtime.

   Wednesday’s match-up proved to be the revenge the Weevils were seeking.  The Weevils lead practically the entire game.

   Bernard Seymour led all players with 22 points.  Derek Easter contributed 7 rebounds in the 76-63 victory over Montevallo to during the first game of the tournament. Other big contributions included Deron Brown with 18 points, Derek Easter with 16 and Raymond Wright with 9.

   Montevallo’s Nate Flowers lead his team in a losing effort with 16 points and nine rebounds while playing 32 minutes.

North Alabama

   Thursday, the Cotton Blossoms opened tournament play against the Lions of North Alabama.  UAM and UNA met earlier in the season with the Blossoms winning by a final margin of 64-61. This march up proved much different than the January meeting.  The Blossoms led by as many as 18 in the second half.  

   The Blossoms gave all in attendance a scare in the second half when they allowed the Lions to cut the lead down to only 3 points.  Coach Ratcliff used a time-out to rally the team.  From that point on, the Blossoms dominated the Lions until the final horn sounded.

   Monica Perkins-Miller lead the way for the Blossoms with 10 points and 21 rebounds.  Erika Brown scored 18 points for the Blossoms.  Three other UAM players scored in double digits.  

   The Blossoms defeated North Alabama by a final score of 84-69.

Valdosta State

   Friday afternoon saw a match-up between the Weevils and the Valdosta State University Blazers. The Blazers were the No. 1 seed from the east division of the GSC while the Weevils were the No. 4 seed from the west division.

   The Weevils fought hard to win the game.  UAM player Raymond Wright was plagued by fouls early in the contest and finished the game with no points. 

   The Weevils trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half. They managed to cut the lead down to 5 points, but were not able to regain the lead. The team eventually lost the contest by the final score of 66-53.

   The Weevils were eliminated from the tournament with this loss and ended their season with a final record of 20-9. They will not be participating in this season’s NCAA Division II Basketball Championship Tournament.

West Georgia

   Saturday, the Blossoms took on the women from West Georgia in what turned out to be the game of the tournament.  The Blossoms trailed most of the game and were down 5 points with only 15 seconds left in the contest.

   Seniors Erika Brown and Andrea Dubose carried the team toward the end of regulation play.  Brown scored 22 points in the contest to lead all scorers. Andrea Dubose hit a highly contested clutch 3-point basket with 0.6 seconds left in the second half. This forced the Blossoms into their seventh overtime game of the season.

   Gulf South Conference Commissioner Nathan Salant said, “The clutch shot by Andrea Dubose will go down as one of the greatest shots in GSC Tournament history."

   As the game progressed into overtime, senior Addie Lees hit a 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes left to give the Blossoms a lead that they would not relinquish. Lees sustained an injury in the second half but toughed it out to help lead her team in overtime.

   This emotional win put the Blossoms in the Conference Tournament Championship Game for the first time in UAM’s 100 year history against Delta State University.

Championship Against Delta State

   Entering the Championship game on Sunday afternoon were two teams with two drastically different histories. UAM was in the championship game for the first time while Delta State was coming into the game with 14 Conference titles under their belt and hoping to win number 15.

   The championship game proved to be just as thrilling as the semi-final against West Georgia. It took an overtime  to determine who would be crowned GSC Women’s Basketball Champion. Andrea Dubose would prove invaluable again as she hit a 3-point basket to send the game to overtime for the second straight game. This made the eighth overtime game for the Blossoms this season.

   Junior Monica Perkins-Miller lead all UAM players with 16 points in the losing effort to Delta State. Perkins-Miller, Dubose, and Brown were all named to the GSC All-Tournament Team, along with three players from Delta State and one from West Georgia.

   The end of the game was an emotionally difficult time for the entire team, coaching staff and fans who supported the team all five days. Many eyes filled with tears as the team was cheered off the court for the final time in this year’s tournament. 

   Salant commended every person, from the players and coaches to the fans and pep-band members, for their impressive support for this up-and-coming collegiate basketball program.

   The Blossoms will enter the NCAA Regional Tournament in Cleveland, Miss. as a No. 5 seed and will play this Friday against No. 4 Rollins at 8 p.m. With a victory over Rollins, the Blossoms could face Delta State for the fourth time this season.  The last two meetings have been decided by a combined five points with both contests having to be decided in overtime.   

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