The Tribune

NCAA Division II basketball heads into its respective conference tournaments and several Bahamians are poised for a postseason run.

Malachi McCoy and the Benedict College Tigers will be the No. 2 seed in the SIAC Tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and received a bye to the quarterfinals.

The Tigers are scheduled to play at 4:45pm on March 2 either LeMoyne- Owen, the third seed from the West Division, or the winner between Clark Atlanta, the No. 6 seed from the East and Central State, the No. 7 seed from the West.

On the season, the 6’7” junior forward averaged career highs across the board at 10.7 points, a team leading 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He shot 58 percent from the field and also finished with five double doubles on the year.

As a freshman he averaged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and last year in the COVID-shortened season he averaged just 5.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Lathaniel Bastian and the Angelo State Rams will begin postseason play tonight hosting UT Permian Basin at home at the Junell Center in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament.

This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season, in the previous two meetings, the away side took home the victory.

Bastian had nine points and seven rebounds in the January 6 win, but just two points and three rebounds in the February 1 loss.

The Rams finished the season 19-8, 9-6 in the LSC.

They were the third highest-scoring offence in the LSC, averaging 79.1 points per game.

Bastian, a 6’8” junior forward, is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game while leading in both rebounding at 8.1 boards per game and blocked shots at 1.5 per game.

The Rams are the second-highest rebounding team in the Lone Star with 38.8 rebounds per game and individually Bastian ranked third.

Malik Joseph, Sherman Robinson, and Newberry College will take on Tusculum University in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament,

Joseph recently posted double figures for the second time this season with 15 points off the bench in a 76-64 win over Catawba College.

His best performance of his freshman season was a 17 point performance in just 14 minutes off the bench of a November 23 win over Wingate.

Robinson scored 16 points on 6-11 from the field in 22 minutes off the bench in an 82-64 loss to No.15 ranked Lincoln Memorial.