2016 VisitSpaceCoast.com Gulf South Conference Basketball ChampionshipsROME, Ga. – Time and time again, they did what they had to do in order to extend the season.
On Tuesday night, the Shorter Hawks will be facing the same challenge when they head to Huntsville, Ala., to begin the postseason squaring off against the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in the opening round game of the 2016 Gulf South Conference Tournament.
The Hawks, now 14-14 overall, enters as the tourney's No. 8 seed thanks to a win in their regular-season finale last week against Lee and will tip off at 8 p.m. (ET) against the defending GSC champion Chargers, who claimed the regular-season crown and the tournament's top seed thanks to an impressive 21-6 record.
"We are very grateful for the opportunity to still be playing and competing for a championship," Hawks head coach
Tyler Murray, who has guided the Hawks to the postseason in his first year at the helm. "This team has done a great job of answering the bell and winning big games down the stretch to put us in position."
For the past three weeks, Shorter has responded to the challenges every time the team has taken to the floor, coming up with two victories in the final two games of the regular season, with the Hawks' sewing up the final tournament berth – coupled with a win by West Georgia last week – battling for a hard-fought 79-73 win over Lee's Flames.
"Thursday night was a fun environment and I can't thank our students and community enough for coming out and supporting us," Murray said about the Hawks' performance against Lee. "It was a huge win for us in that it was a 'must-win' game, but also because I thought we really shared the ball well offensively and played great team defense, both of which we will need again on Tuesday night."
Sharing the ball has become the trademark for the Hawks offensively this season as Shorter begins the postseason with five players averaging in double figures.
Junior
Phil Taylor heads up the list leading the team and the GSC averaging 25.3 points and dishes out 4.4 assists a game; senior
Trevor McDade contributes 14.0 points, along with 5.1 rebounds and a conference-best 71 steals; junior
Chris Daniels averages 13.2 points and 5.0 rebounds; and junior
Alijah Bennett and sophomore
Amonte Potter are connecting for 11.0 points an outing.
The Hawks, however, fully understand that they will have to execute in every facet of the game to slow down the Chargers – they're led by head coach (and former Shorter standout) Lennie Acuff – who have won 10 of their last 11 games and have downed Shorter in both regular-season meetings this year, taking a 100-97 decision in Huntsville last December and handing the Hawks a 96-78 setback at Shorter.
Seab Webster spearheads a balanced and deep Alabama-Huntsville lineup averaging 15.7 points and 5.2 rebounds, Brandon Roberts is scoring at a 13.8 ppg clip, and Greg Gardner directs the Chargers' backcourt setup averaging 11.2 points and 6.2 assists.
"Alabama-Huntsville is a great team that is playing very well right now especially at home," Murray said. "It will be a very loud and electric environment on Tuesday night and I'm sure our guys will be excited and energized for the opportunity to compete in post season play.
"Coach Acuff is a great coach who has won a lot of games over a long period of time. His guys will be ready and I am sure we will get their best effort."
"The key for us," the coach added, "will be making sure we are locked in and able to match their energy and effort for 40 minutes."
The winner advances to the GSC's Final Four that will be held at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., with the semifinals taking place Friday and the championship being decided on Saturday.
