Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals Recap: Florida Gulf Coast and Mercer Roll, Lipscomb has the Brain Fart of the Year

Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals

#1 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles: 77
vs
#8 Stetson Hatters: 55

Florida Gulf Coast certainly looked like a one seed tonight as they rolled in "Dunk City" to a 22 point win over in-state rival Stetson. Chase Fieler paced the Eagles with 17 points and 5 boards, while Bernard Thompson and Eric McKnight were right behind him with 16 and 15 points respectively. Brett Comer also had an impressive night with 9 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds.

#4 East Tennessee State Buccaneers: 89
vs
#5 Lipscomb Bisons: 88

So this was certainly the game of the night as ETSU outlasted Lipscomb 89-88 in double overtime. Unfortunately the game will be overshadowed by the brain fart of the year from Lipscomb's Josh Williams. I'll just let Twitter explode:

Good job Josh Williams. Way to have your head in the game. #AreYouKiddingMe? #Bisons

— Brandon Beall (@bsbeall) March 5, 2014

Josh Williams what are you thinking?!?!

— Nate Werkheiser (@natew4041) March 5, 2014

Freshman mistake.. fouled with a tie game and we lost.. thanks josh williams #seasonisover

— Will Connelly (@WillConnelly4) March 5, 2014

Josh Williams fouls Merriweather with 1.5 left.. for no reason. going to line for two.. tied 88

— Collin Brooks (@CollinBrookslsu) March 5, 2014

So you can probably gather by now that Josh Williams intentionally fouled ETSU's A.J. Merriweather wth 1.5 seconds remaining in a TIE GAME. Meriweather nailed the second free throw and ETSU escaped with a quarter final win.

¿Qué se le ha pasado a Josh Williams para hacer esa falta? ETSU pasa a las semifinales tras ganar a Lipscomb después de dos OT.

— David (@BullsDerrick) March 5, 2014

umm...what he said...

Beyond the epic Williams screw up, Jalen Riley had quite the night for ETSU posting 27 points, 16 at the line, and 10 boards. Malcolm Smith dropped 24 points for Lipscomb but fouled out in the first overtime.

It's going to be a long offseason in Nashville...

#2 Mercer Bears: 85
vs
#7 Jacksonville Dolphins: 64

Mercer looked just a little shaky on their home floor in the first half but the Bears ended up blowing out seventh seeded Jacksonville. Usually its Langston Hall doing the heavy lifting for the Beats but tonight it was all about Anthony White Jr. who finished with a career high 29 points and added 7 rebounds. To win a tournament like this you're going to need these kind of performances from a secondary option like White.

Hall only had 3 points on the night but he did have 10 helpers for the Bears. Bud Thomas also had a solid outing with 18 points and 9 boards, with all of his points coming from beyond the three point line a 6-for-10 performance.

Mercer will now look to exercise some demons on Friday night when they host #3 USC Upstate, a team that beat them by 19 just over a month ago.

#3 USC Upstate Spartans: 80
vs
#6 North Florida Osprey: 74

Much like the Mercer game, it wasn't the usual suspect who provided the offensive production for the winning team in this one. Torrey Craig had an atrocious night from the field posting 6 points on a 1-for-11 shooting performance but his teammates, mainly Ricardo Glenn, picked him up. Glenn finished the night with 22 points and 9 rebounds to help the Spartans barely edge the Osprey by 6 points. North Florida gave their all, especially Chris Davenport who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Osprey.

The Spartans can now take a deep breath and get ready for their Friday night showdown versus #2 Mercer.

Atlantic Sun Semifinals Schedule:

March 6, 6:30 PM
#4 East Tennessee State at #1 Florida Gulf Coast

March 6, 8:30 PM
#3 USC Upstate at #2 Mercer

*Both games can be seen on Comcast Sports South or ESPN3.