Barton, Erskine advance to Men’s Basketball Developmental Championship
BRISTOL, Tenn./WILSON, N.C.– Barton and Erskine A won their respective brackets in the Conference Carolinas Developmental Men’s Basketball Championship preliminary round to advance to the championship final at Belmont Abbey on Monday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
The event, which is a unique championship opportunity for developmental teams within Conference Carolinas, consisted of a preliminary round at King and Barton with the championship final to be played at Belmont Abbey.
In the King bracket, Erskine B and Converse won the first round games with the Flying Fleet defeating Southern Wesleyan, 90-44, and the Valkyries defeating King, 70-60. In the semifinals, Emmanuel defeated Erskine B, 70-61, while Erskine A defeated Converse, 79-44. The host Tornado defeated Southern Wesleyan in the consolation match, 77-40. In the bracket championship, Erskine A booked their ticket to the championship final with a 76-55 victory over Emmanuel.
In the Barton bracket, Mount Olive defeated Francis Marion in a thrilling first round, 77-75, while the host Bulldogs defeated Belmont Abbey B, 88-55. The Bulldogs won their semifinal game over Chowan, 84-60, and Mount Olive won another thriller in the semifinals as they defeated Belmont Abbey A, 89-84, in double overtime. In the consolation round, Belmont Abbey B defeated Belmont Abbey A, 61-57, while Francis Marion defeated Chowan, 57-53. In the championship, Barton earned its second-trip to the championship final with an 85-80 win over Mount Olive.
More information can be found on the tournament webpage here.
Earlier this fall Conference Carolinas announced that a developmental championship will be held in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s basketball and baseball. The developmental teams will be composed of student-athletes that have either not competed at the varsity level in 2022-23 or have competed sparingly at the varsity level by the time of the championship.