UAPB makes push for SWAC tourney
If the Southwestern Athletic Conference basketball tournaments began today, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s and women’s teams would be on their way to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
As it stands, the Golden Lions and Lady Lions, both of whom are enduring sixgame losing streaks, are far from having secured berths.
UAPB’s men’s team (3-14, 2-6 SWAC) has one fewer loss than ninth-place Alabama State (2-7, 2-7 SWAC), the last team it defeated, and two more wins than Mississippi Valley State (0-15, 0-7). The Golden Lions have nine games remaining, but today’s game – like their first meeting with the Hornets – could go a long way toward determining the top eight that advance to the SWAC tournament.
UAPB’s men’s team beat Alabama State 91-82 on Jan. 9 behind Shaun Doss’ 31 points and Joshuwan Johnson’s 25, and was to host Alabama A&M two days later, only for covid-19 issues impacting the Bulldogs to force postponement.
Today, the Lions will continue a four-game stretch of road games by visiting Alabama State for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff in Montgomery and are scheduled to play A&M in Huntsville on Monday.
UAPB and Alabama State will tip off the women’s game at 2 p.m. today. Alabama State (7-1, 7-1) leads the conference, but UAPB (2-11, 1-6) has one more win than Prairie View A&M for eighth place.
The SWAC has announced a change to its tournament format. In recent years, the higher-seeded team would host a firstround game, with the winning teams advancing to a neutral site, where the semifinals
and finals would be held. In light of the pandemic, the conference decided to move the 2021 quarterfinals to this year’s tourney site, UAB’s Bartow Arena.
The tournaments are scheduled for March 1013, and each game will be streamed live on ESPN3. com, with the exception of the men’s championship televised on ESPNU. A limited number of general admission tickets will be available to the public based upon covid-19 facility capacity standards, the conference said in a news release. The number was not specified.
SWAC Commissioner
Charles McClelland said moving the tournaments to one location “is in the best interest of the health and safety” of student-athletes and team staff members.
“Hosting athletic events in the midst of a global pandemic has without a doubt presented an unprecedented number of unique challenges,” McClelland said. “It has truly been impressive to witness how our student-athletes and teams have responded and acclimated to what is our new normal. The sincere amount of understanding and the flexibility they have collectively exhibited on a daily basis must be
commended.
“The Southwestern Athletic Conference will remain steadfast and committed to providing our student-athletes with the safest possible environments to compete and we look forward to hosting an exciting slate of games that will ultimately end with the hoisting of two championship trophies for Men’s and Women’s Basketball.”
Bartow Arena was to host the final two rounds last year but they were canceled due to the onset of the pandemic. The Lady Lions lost at second-seeded Texas Southern in the first round, and the Golden Lions did not qualify.
UPCOMING GAMES
Today — At Dunn-Oliver Acadome, Montgomery, Ala.: women’s team (2-11, 1-6 SWAC) vs. Alabama State (7-1, 7-1), 2 p.m.; men’s team (3-14, 2-6) vs. Alabama State (2-7, 2-7), 4:30 p.m.
Monday — At T.M. Elmore Gymnasium, Huntsville, Ala.: women’s team vs. Alabama A&M (5-2, 3-1), 5 p.m.; men’s team vs. Alabama A&M (4-2, 2-2), 7:30 p.m.
Audio — KPBA-FM 99.3, uapblionsroar.com and UAPB athletics app (broadcast begins 15 minutes before tipoff)
Video — uapblionsroar. com and UAPB athletics app.