Sun Belt Conference Tournament Recaps
by Ryan Glenn
First Round
No. 4E Arkansas State 84, No. 5W North Texas 76
Arkansas State, led by J.J. Montgomery with 25 points, was able to win pretty easily against North Texas. Arkansas State was just on fire from behind the arc, hitting ten three-pointers in the game. North Texas tried to make a run in the second half, as Leonard Hopkins scored 20 of his in 26 points the half, but it wasn’t enough to get the win.
No. 5E Florida International 60, No. 4E South Alabama 57
Florida International was able to contain Mario Jointer, South Alabama’s leading scorer, as they earned a spot in the quarterfinals. Though Florida International had just one scorer in double-digits, it seemed to be all they needed. Ivan Almonte, the first-team All-Sun Belt selection, was able to put 19 points on the board and pull down 14 rebounds to lead the Golden Panthers to the win. South Alabama’s leading scorer was Carlos Smith, who scored 14 points, as Jointer was held to eight.
No. 3E Middle Tennessee 77, No. 6 New Mexico State 63
In one of the more lopsided games in the first round, Middle Tennessee State was able to get by New Mexico State fairly easily, 77-63. The Blue Raiders were led by Steve Thomas, who scored 17 points and had 17 rebounds in the win. Marcus Morrison added 17 off the bench. The Aggies’ leading scorer was Josh Jenkins with 18 points.
Quarterfinals
No. 1W Denver 64, No. 4E Arkansas State 57
Eric Benzel scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half as the west favorite earned its way into the semifinals. Arkansas State just could not seem to get things under control, as they had 19 turnovers in the game. Yemi Nicholson had all 13 of his points in the second half for Denver. Issac Wells and J.J. Montgomery had 13 points apiece to lead scoring for Arkansas State.
No. 2E Western Kentucky 78, No. 3W New Orleans 67
Bo McCalebb just could not keep his New Orleans team in the game against Western Kentucky. The freshman star for New Orleans had 23 points, but it wasn’t enough as Western Kentucky took home a 78-67 win. Antonio Haynes led the Hilltoppers with 22 points and Anthony Winchester added 19. New Orleans had a first half lead of five points, but after Western Kentucky went on an 11-0 run, the Privateers couldn’t recover.
No. 5E Florida International 69, No. 1E Arkansas-Little Rock 64
In the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, Florida International was able to knock of the number one seed from the east. Junior Matias scored a game-high 26 points, as the Golden Panthers earned their first Sun Belt semifinal birth since 1999. The game was close for about 30 minutes, but Ismael N’Diaye got a layup midway through the second half to give Florida International a lead they would not give up. Arkansas-Little Rock was lead by Brandon Freeman and Zack Wright, who had 15 and 13 points respectively.
No. 2W Louisiana Lafayette 71, No. 3E Middle Tennessee 57
In what was supposed to be a highly competitive game, Louisiana Lafayette came out and controlled the boards and tempo of the game en route to a 71-57 win over Middle Tennessee. Middle Tennessee shot just 35% from the field and had 19 turnovers in the loss. Tiras Wade scored 27 points for Louisiana Lafayette and Orien Greene added 13. Middle Tennessee did not get much from production from Steve Thomas, their star center, who sat most of the game with foul trouble. Mike Dean was the leading scorer for the Blue Raiders with 17 points.
Semifinals
No. 1W Denver 77, No. 2E Western Kentucky 68
Denver, still hoping for their first ever NCAA Tournament birth, was able to edge Western Kentucky in the semifinals. Neither team led by more than six until about midway through the second half, when Denver went on a decisive 15-4 run. Eric Benzel was able to net six during the run and finished with a game-high 19 points. Western Kentucky was led by Courtney Lee with 18 points.
No. 2W Louisiana Lafayette 80, No. 5E Florida International 69
The Cinderella of the Sun Belt Tournament, Florida International, could not make it any further after beating the No. 1 seed, Arkansas-Little Rock. The Ragin’ Cajuns jumped out to a 10-2 lead just four minutes into the game and did not look back. Tiras Wade once again led the way for Louisiana Lafayette with 25 points. Junior Matias was Florida International’s leading scorer with 17 points.
