Furman at UNC-Greensboro, 2:00 PM Eastern, espn3
Chattanooga at East Tennessee State, 4:00 PM Eastern, espn3
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What is better than a game between the top two teams in a conference? How about when four teams, all tied for first place in the loss column, match up against each other in a pair of games that could be a sneak peek at the conference tournament semifinal round just over a month from now? That is exactly what we have today in the Southern Conference, as UNC-Greensboro, Furman, East Tennessee State and Chattanooga all enter play today with 2 conferences losses, 2 games up on the rest of the league. (Greensboro is 7-2 in league play while the other three teams are all 6-2). The two winners of today’s games will move a step ahead of the losers in the battle for the top seeds in the conference tournament. But with all the craziness that we saw in this league earlier this week, anything can and probably will happen.
Furman is currently 13-8 overall and has won three straight including beating East Tennessee State last week and crushing Western Carolina by 47 points earlier this week (yes, that says 47 points). Devin Sibley had 25 points in the WCU win while Kris Acox had a double-double for the Paladins. UNC-Greensboro is currently 16-6 overall, but had their six game win streak ended in an upset loss at Wofford earlier this week. Despite losing, RJ White had a great game for the Spartans, tieing his career high with 26 points. Chattanooga (15-5 overall) was the victim of an even more surprising upset earlier this week, falling at home to a VMI team that had only four wins on the season entering the game. Greg Pryor did score 23 points in that game but failed to get the help from his teammates to allow the Mocs to win. East Tennessee State (16-5 overall) barely survived an upset bid by Samford this week, pulling out a double overtime win. Five Buccaneers were in double figures in that game, including a double-double from Desonta Bradford. All four teams have done some very good and some very bad things this season, but the teams that will lead the way into the second half of conference regular season play should be decided today in what should be a very fun day in the SoCon.