Claflin to face Clark Atlanta in opening round of the NCAA Tournament

Orangeburg, SC—The Claflin University men’s basketball team earned the No. 3 seed in the South Region of the 2017 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship and will face number No. 6 seed Clark Atlanta University also out of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in first round action the NCAA announced Sunday.

Links for Live Stats and Live Video will be available prior to the game.  Check the Panthers basketball schedule at athletics.claflin.edu for the links.

The regional round of the single-elimination tournament will run Saturday-Tuesday, March 10-13, 2018.

Joining Claflin and Clark Atlanta in the South Regional, are No. 1 seed and host Morehouse College, No. 2 seed West Florida, No. 4 seed Eckerd, No. 5 seed Valdosta State, No. 7 Barry, and No. 8 Florida Southern.   West Florida and Valdosta play in the Gulf South Conference while Florida Southern, Barry and Eckerd are members of the Sunshine State Conference.

“We are grateful and blessed to have three teams in the region representing the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC),” head coach Ricky Jackson said.  “As far as the matchup against Clark Atlanta, we are looking forward to it.  Both teams are familiar with each other and I’m sure it will turn out to be another barn burner.”

Claflin, who received the SIAC automatic bid after defeating Clark Atlanta Saturday in the championship game in last week’s tournament, will enter with a 26-5 overall record, while Clark Atlanta comes in with a 24-5 overall record.

This will be the fourth time the teams meet.  Both teams won on their home court during the regular season with Claflin winning the rubber game capture the Championship.

If Claflin wins its opening round game, they will face the winner of the West Florida/Barry game in the second round.

Claflin Athletics contributed to this article.