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STARTING FIVE: WEDNESDAY'S KEY GAMES
NOTE: As of 2:45 p.m. EST, the NCAA Regional Rankings had not been released. Key games to watch may be updated depending on how the rankings play out.
The East Coast, Lone Star, South Atlantic and Sunshine State conference tournaments begin today with quartefinal action in both leagues. Meanwhile, the Northeast-10 Conference semifnals take place tonight. Here are the key games to watch:
NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE
It's an all Northeast Division semifinal round headlined by a cross-town rivalry in New Hampshire as round Three of the "Battle of Manchester" tips off at 7:00 p.m. when BR-51 Southern New Hampshire, the fifth seed from the Northeast Division, crosses the Merrimack River to face BR-17 St. Anselm in a semifinal showdown inside Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Despite being long-time conference rivals, the two teams have never faced in the Northeast-10 Tournament; St. Anslem joined the NE-10 (when the league was known as the Northeast-8) in 1983-1984 while Southern New Hampshire joined the league in 2000-2001 from the disbanded New England Collegiate Conference. St. Anslem won the first meeting this season, 76-58, at Stoutenburgh Gym on Nov. 17 while the Penmen outlasted the Hawks 70-68 in a double-overtime thriller at the SNHU Fieldhouse last Tuesday.
The winner of this cross-town rivalry will face either BR-33 Stonehill or BR-35 Bentley in Saturday's championship game. Top-seeded Bentley, who hosts the Skyhawks tonight, would host the title tilt with a win regardless of the outcome of the SNHU-St. Anselm game. Third-seed Stonehill would host the game if fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire wins, but second-seed St. Anslem would host if the Hawks beat the Penmen and Stonehill defeats the Falcons.
SUNSHINE STATE CONFERENCE
We could be on the verge of crowning a new king of D2 men's basketball in Frisco, Texas later this month as BR-194 Florida Southern, the defending national champions, sit as the eighth seed in the SSC with their only way of returning to the NCAA tournament being a SSC tournament title win. The task is rather daunting as the Mocs travel to top-seed BR-29 Barry in Miami Shores tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST. The Mocs defeated Barry 74-72 on Nov. 18 in Lakeland while the Bucs avenged that loss with a 101-63 win on Jan. 27 in Miami Shores.
SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
BR-76 Lenoir-Rhyne current sits in seventh in the NCAA's Southeast Regional Rankings, so it's safe to say that the Bears are on the bubble. L-R faces a BR-118 Newberry team with whom they split the season series with during the regular season in a 7:00 p.m. EST tipoff. The Wolves defeated L-R 133-122 in overtime back on Jan. 6 in Newberry, S.C. while the Bears returned the favor on Feb. 17 in Hickory, N.C. with an 86-83 win.
LONE STAR CONFERENCE
The first half of the LSC quarterfinals take place today at the Allen (Texas) Event Center with second seed BR-38 Angelo State facing BR-152 Texas A&M Kingsville in the afternoon session at 2:30 p.m. CST; top seed BR-13 Midwestern State faces BR-241 Eastern New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. CST tonight. Midwestern and Angelo also hold the top spots in the South Central Regional Rankings.
