June 26, 2007
Spartanburg, S.C. - Following a vote of the league's 11 athletic directors, the dates of the 2008 Southern Conference men's and women's basketball tournament, which will be played at the North Charleston (S.C.) Coliseum, were announced.
The men's tournament will be played March 7 (Friday) through March 10 (Monday). The women's tournament will be played from March 6 (Thursday) through March 10 (Monday), 2008. The championship game of the men's tournament will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The women's championship game will be televised on SportSouth.
"We believe the change to Monday night for our two championships will accomplish a number of positive things for us, Iamarino said. "It will push more of the tournament games into the weekend, which should lead to better attendance for the earlier rounds. It should reduce the amount of classes most of our student-athletes will miss. And it has the potential of giving us a wider, larger viewing audience for the title games, particularly the men's game which is played during prime time."
A total of 27,722 fans (5,542 per game) attended the 2007 men's tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum, the third largest attendance in the last decade. The total represents an increase of nearly 2,000 fans per session from the previous year.
Davidson topped the College of Charleston before a building-record basketball crowd of 8,009 in the championship game to earn the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. On the women's side, Chattanooga beat Western Carolina to win the conference tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The Charleston Metro Sports Council serves as host of the highly-successful event.
For more information, log onto www.SoConSports.com.
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