Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals Recap: Almost Chalk

The Atlantic Sun kicked off quarterfinal action tonight and blowouts reigned supreme beyond an overtime thriller in the 4-5 game between Northern Kentucky and Lipscomb.

#1 North Florida-81, #8 Stetson-67

A display from beyond the arc via 14 three pointers lead North Florida to a rather easy victory over Stetson in the late game of the quarterfinals Tuesday night. Beau Beech lead the way with 5 of those three pointers and 19 points total on the evening. Fellow ASun 1st teamer Dallas Moore was not far behind him with 16 points of his own and Chris Davenport and Trent Mackey also finished in double-figures.

Kentwan Smith and Divine Myles both finished with 19 points each and were the only Hatters in double-figures. Corey Williams finishes his second year in DeLand improving the Hatters win total from 7 to 9 but actually winning less Atlantic Sun games than last year.

The Osprey will stay in the comforts of the Coop to host a Lipscomb team they beat twice during the regular season.

#4 Northern Kentucky- 73, #5 Lipscomb- 76 (OT)

The only upset of the night came just outside Cincinnati with Lipscomb taking down Northern Kentucky 76-73 in overtime. ASun first teamer Josh Williams nailed a jumper with 37 seconds left in overtime to put the Bisons up for good and punch a ticket to the semifinals. Williams finished the night with 12 points and 5 rebounds for Casey Alexander's squad. Martin Smith also posted a team high 13 points in the Lipscomb victory.

Tyler White was the Player of the Game for NKU with 19 points but ultimately it was the Norse giving up 24 points from the free throw, versus 8 of their own, that was the difference.

The Bisons will now head to Jacksonville to take on a North Florida squad they lost to by a combined margin of 24 points this year.

#3 USC Upstate-90, #6 Kennesaw State-54

Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Ty Greene and the USC Upstate Spartans absolutely embarrassed Kennesaw State tonight with a nearly 40 point win over the Owls. Greene posted 21 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds in the Spartans humongous victory in Spartanburg. Michael Buchanan also had a solid night with a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards.

Meanwhile on the other side of things Kennesaw State guard Nigel Pruitt had to feel like he was a long on the court. Pruitt had 26 points and 6 rebounds while the rest of the Owls starting five posted just 16 points and 10 rebounds.

With tonight's win the Spartans will head to Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday still looking for their first win over the Eagles this year.

#2 Florida Gulf Coast-81, #7 Jacksonville-63

When Kori Babineaux banked in a three pointer at the end of the first half to cut the Florida Gulf Coast lead to just four at the break Eagles' fans had to be thinking about Saturday's loss to Jacksonville. This time around the Dolphins folded and surrendered 43 points to FGCU in the second half.

Brett Comer, Demetris Morant, and Julian DeBose were the stars for the Eagles as all three posted double-doubles. Comer put up 14 points and 11 assists while DeBose and Morant both crashed the glass hard grabbing 10 boards each and combining for 26 points.

Babineaux had the high watermark for the Dolphins and the game with 20 points and was the only starter for Tony Jasick to finish in double-figures. Jasick closes his first campaign in Jacksonville going 10-22 and will return basically all of his key contributors for next season.

Dunk City will host a USC Upstate squad they swept the regular season against on Thursday night in Fort Myers.