HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College men's basketball team will open up the 2015 South Atlantic Conference tournament on Wednesday (Mar. 4) on the road against the Carson-Newman University Eagles in a quarterfinals matchup. The Navy and Yellow enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed, while the Eagles are the No. 2 seed.

This scenario is a familiar one for Coker as they entered last season's SAC tournament as the No. 7 seed and facing Carson-Newman. They would go on to upset the Eagles 80-72 to advance to the tournament semifinals.

This season, the Cobras swept Carson-Newman by an average of 10 points in the two victories.

Errick Bethel finished the regular season leading the Navy and Yellow in scoring, averaging 19.9 points per game, which also ranked first in the SAC. Donte Samuels comes in averaging 13.8 points on 51.1-percent shooting from the field and pulling down 5.2 rebounds per game. Trey Marshall's 2.4 steals are a conference best and his 3.6 assists per game is tied for fifth. Trey James averages 7.1 rebounds per game, which is sixth in the conference.

Carson-Newman finished the regular season with a 15-13 overall and a 13-9 in conference record. They are led by Carson Brooks and his 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

Tip is set for 7 p.m. in Jefferson City, Tenn. Live stats and video can be found at www.cokercobras.com.

Story by Aaron Beebe '15 sports information intern