Published on February 27, 2011 by Philip Poole  

Samford University’s basketball teams will participate in the 90th renewal of the Southern Conference basketball tournament March 3-7 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Games will be played at McKenzie Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. 

By finishing second in the league standings, Samford earned a first-round bye in the tournament. The Bulldogs will play on Friday, March 4, at 8 a.m. (CST) against the winner of Thursday's game between No. 7 Georgia Southern and No. 10 Western Carolina. Samford split the season series with Georgia Southern, with the home team winning each game. Samford swept Western Carolina in the seasons series. 

Samford finished the regular season with a record of 22-7 overall and 15-5 in Southern Conference play. This marks the third-straight season Samford has been the No. 2 seed in the SoCon Tournament. Last season, the Bulldogs reached the tournament finals, falling to Chattanooga, 72-67.  

The Samford men, seeded 6th in the North division, will open tournament play at 6 p.m. (CST) on Friday, March 4, against rival Furman University, the third seed in the South division. Furman swept the regular season series with Samford. The winner of the Samford-Furman game will play Chattanooga at 7 p.m. on Saturday. 

The Samford men finished the regular season with a 12-18 overall record and 4-14 in SoCon play. 

The women’s semifinals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon, March 6, followed by the men’s semifinals that evening. The women’s final is at 3 p.m. (CST) on Monday, March 7, followed by the men’s final at 8 p.m. (CST). All semifinals and the women’s final will be televised regionally by SportSouth. The men’s championship will be televised on the ESPN network. 

All Samford games can be heard live on WVSU 91.1-FM and via the Internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Mike Grace, director of athletics multimedia services and the “voice of the Samford Bulldogs” will call the play-by-play, with Andy Parrish, director of broadcast services, hosting halftime interviews. 

A “Live at the SoCon Tournament” blog at www.samford.edu will be updated regularly by Philip Poole, Samford’s executive director of marketing and communication, assisted by sports information directors Joey Mullins and Zac Schrieber. Mullins and Schrieber also will be posting news updates at www.samfordsports.com and on Facebook. 

Games also can be viewed live on SoCon TV. 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.