UMO earns at-large bid to Southeast Regional

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 9, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Conference officials, through conversations with the NCAA selection committee, assured Joey Higginbotham that his team had satisfied "body of work" criteria to earn a postseason bid.

Higginbotham remained skeptical after his University of Mount Olive squad dropped a 68-66 decision to North Greenville in the Conference Carolinas tournament finals just a few hours earlier Sunday afternoon.

His concerns were laid to rest later Sunday evening.

The No. 9-ranked Trojans (28-3 overall) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional and will face fifth-seeded Georgia Regents University Augusta next Saturday. UMO won their regular-season meeting at Kornegay Arena on Nov. 30, 2014.

"Until our league gets some respect, I can't ever feel super confident about the situation," Higginbotham said moments after the loss to NGU. "I like to think that we do it the right way, go play teams that are nationally (ranked) on a yearly basis. They come here, we go travel.

"We're not dodging anybody."

The committee noticed and awarded UMO, which makes its first postseason appearance since 2010 and sixth overall since 2004.

Top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University is the regional host and will oppose eighth-seeded North Greenville. Peach Belt champion Montevallo, the No. 2 seed, meets SAC champion Carson-Newman (Tenn.). The final quarterfinal-round game pits third-seeded UNC Pembroke against sixth-seeded Columbus State.

North Greenville's win bumped King (Tenn.) out of tournament consideration. The Tornado were ranked No. 7 in the final Southeast Region poll, but lost to NGU in the Conference Carolinas tournament semifinals.

"I'm excited for the guys and I'm excited to see them excited to play after a tough loss today," Higginbotham said. "It was a hard-fought loss today, but we've got new life and an opportunity to play some more basketball."

Editor's note: David Shulimson, UMO Media Relations Director, contributed to this story.