ROCK HILL, SC – The Carson-Newman Eagles are the No. 7 seed for the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament and will travel to No. 2 Tusculum College on Wednesday evening.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Pioneer Arena in Greeneville, Tenn.

Carson-Newman finished the regular season 10-17 overall and 5-11 in SAC play, while TC closed the year at 16-11 overall and 10-6 in SAC play.

The Eagles and Pioneers split their two regular-season meetings, with the road team winning both games. Carson-Newman won at TC in January, 62-58, while the Pioneers exacted revenge in February, 77-51, in Jefferson City.

The Catawba College men’s basketball team, which beat Brevard College for the conference championship on Saturday, is the top seed.

The Catawba Indians (11-5 SAC, 18-9 overall), the defending Food Lion SAC Tournament champions, will face eighth-seed Newberry College (5-11 SAC, 10-17) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Newberry, Carson-Newman College and Lenoir-Rhyne University finished in a three-way for seventh place with 5-11 conference records. Carson-Newman and Newberry earned the final two berths per the conference’s tie-breaking process.

In the head-to-head comparison, Carson-Newman was 3-1 against Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry and earned the seventh seed. Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne split their head-to-head matchup. Both teams split against top-seed Catawba, and both were 0-2 against second-seed Tusculum and third-seed Brevard.

Newberry was 1-1 against fourth-seed Mars Hill, while Lenoir-Rhyne was 0-2, including Saturday’s season-ending 80-62 loss to the Lions.

Tusculum and Brevard tied for second with 10-6 records. The Pioneers and Tornados split their regular-season series. Tusculum earned the second seed by going 1-1 against top-seed Catawba, while Brevard lost both meetings with the Indians.

Brevard is the third seed. The Tornados (10-6 SAC, 18-9) are participating in their first Food Lion SAC Basketball Tournament, and will host sixth-seed Wingate University (7-9 SAC, 14-13) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Mars Hill is the fourth seed. The Lions (5-3 SAC, 10-9), will host fifth-seed Lincoln Memorial University (9-7 SAC, 19-8) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

On Friday it was decided that Mars Hill will nullify its first eight conference games after it was determined that one of its men’s basketball student-athletes was deemed ineligible for participating in organized competition prior to his initial collegiate enrollment. Specifically, per NCAA Division II bylaws, a

student-athlete must serve an academic year of residence upon enrollment at any Division II institution if they compete in organized competition that occurs subsequent to the date of their high school class graduation and prior to their initial collegiate enrollment. Mars Hill withheld the individual from competition for the remainder of the season and continues to work with the NCAA and the SAC office to seek reinstatement for the student-athlete.

Quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals, which will be held at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. on Saturday. The men’s semifinals will be at noon and 2:30 p.m., with the championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets for quarterfinal games are $6 for adults, $3 for children, students and college students with ID. Tickets for semifinal and championship rounds are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students and college students with ID.

The men’s and women’s winners of the tournament will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

2010 SAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 3
Food Lion SAC Tournament, Quarterfinals, Home of Higher Seed
No. 8 Newberry at No. 1 Catawba, 7 pm
No. 7 Carson-Newman at No. 2 Tusculum, 8 pm
No. 6 Wingate at No. 3 Brevard, 7 pm
No. 5 Lincoln Memorial at No. 4 Mars Hill, 7 pm

Saturday, March 6
Food Lion SAC Tournament, Semifinals, CVCC Arena, Hickory, NC
Newberry/Catawba winner vs. Lincoln Memorial/Mars Hill winner, Noon
Carson-Newman/Tusculum winner vs. Wingate/Brevard winner, 2:30 pm

Sunday, March 7
Food Lion SAC Tournament Championship, CVCC Arena, Hickory, NC
Semifinal winners, 2 pm

-SAC-