Today could mark the beginning of what could be a great tournament run or the end of the line for one of two teams from the Association of Independent Institutions.

Voorhees and Allen will open the NAIA Independents tournament tonight at 7 p.m. at Claflin University’s Jonas T. Kennedy Center as the eight and nine seeds respectively. The Tigers and the Yellow Jackets are hoping to earn the opportunity to play in Friday’s 10 a.m. quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Mountain State University.

Voorhees, the second seed in last year’s tournament, fell to Mountain State in the previous tournament championship game and hopes to get back to the title game this year. Even with that championship rematch as a possibility, Tigers head coach Francis Simmons and his team are focused on the task at hand.

“You don’t look ahead until you get past the hurdle that you got right now,” he said. “We’re just taking it one game at a time and our first hurdle is Allen.”

Allen, last year’s fifth seed, was also defeated by the Cougars in the semifinals.

Morris College will be the only other team from South Caroliina competing in the tournament. The Hornets have earned the seventh seed in this year’s tournament and will take on Park University.

In the women’s bracket, Voorhees earned the second seed and will not play until Saturday at 6 p.m.. The Lady Tigers will meet either Brescia University or Allen. Voorhees hasn’t played since last Saturday, but head coach Edward Glover believes the time off won’t hurt his team.

“We’ve just been working and trying to correct some of our mistakes,” he said. “The coaches have been here watching film and just trying to see what we can do to win on Saturday.”

Only Lambuth University, a former member of the TranSouth Atlantic Conference is this year’s top seed with an overall record of 23-5. They will face either Park or Morris at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

AII Tournanemt Schedule

MEN

March 5

#8 Voorhees (N/A) vs. #9 Allen (6-17), 7:30 p.m.

March 6

#4 Lambuth (17-11) vs. #5 Life (20-10), 10 a.m.

#3 Brescia (19-9) vs. #6 Crichton (18-11), 2 p.m.

#1 Mountain State (26-3) vs. #8/#9 Winner, 4 p.m.

#2 Park (15-13) vs. #7 Morris (7-14), 8 p.m.

March 7

Semifinals (4 & 8 p.m.)

March 8

Championship Game - 4:30 p.m.

WOMEN

March 6

#4 Park (5-21) vs. #5 Morris (11-15), Noon

#3 Brescia (9-22) vs. #6 Allen (2-12(, 6:00

March 7

#1 Lambuth (23-5) vs. Park/Morris, 2 p.m.

#2 Vorohees (8-14) vs. #Brescia/Allen, 6 p.m.

March 8

Championship Game, 2:00

 

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