Saturday afternoon in the VSU men’s basketball team will take the court for the first time since their 57-48 loss to Arkansas Tech in the Gulf South Conference tournament semi-finals.
The Blazers were tabbed the fourth seed for the South region tournament, which makes up the first three rounds of the NCAA Division II tournament, which is set to begin on Saturday.
The fourth seed is the lowest the Blazers have been in the rankings since the regional rankings started coming out midway through the season.
“This is a very strong regional,” Helfer said. “There are very good teams and this has to be one of the strongest regions in the country.”
The Blazers are set to take on the fifth-seeded Clark Atlanta University. Clark Atlanta has the nation’s top rated defense. Last season the Blazers were ousted in the conference championship game to Arkansas Tech and fell in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. “If you don’t prepare for and play well against your first round match-up, then you’re going to be out,” Helfer said.
The Blazers enter the NCAA tournament with a 25-4 overall record; however VSU is just 2-2 against teams that make up the South region tournament.
“Obviously it helps when you played them, but it is also hard when you played a team three or four times,” Helfer said.
The Blazers enter the tournament averaging 82.2 points per game while allowing 68.1 points per game.
All-American and GSC East Player of the Year Tyrone Curnell enters the game as the leading scorer for VSU, averaging 17.7 points per game, despite scoring just two points in the loss to Arkansas Tech.