# 2019 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2019 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2018–19 season in the Southland Conference. The tournament was held at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas from March 13–16, 2019. The tournament winner, Abilene Christian, received an automatic invitation to the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

## Seeds

Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Only the top eight teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. The top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds received single byes to the quarterfinals. Sam Houston St clinched a double bye, and won the 2019 Southland regular season title on February 27. Because of this, the Bearkats clinched the 1 seed. New Orleans, Lamar, Abilene Christian, and Southeast Louisiana qualified for the tournament. Abilene Christian and Southeastern Louisiana clinched the 2nd and 3rd seeds respectively with wins on March 6.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker 1 |
| 1 | Sam Houston State | 16–2 | |
| 2 | Abilene Christian | 14–4 | |
| 3 | Southeastern Louisiana | 12–6 | 2–1 vs. Lamar/New Orleans, 1–1 vs. Abilene Christian |
| 4 | New Orleans | 12–6 | 2–1 vs. SELA/Lamar, 0–1 vs. Abilene Christian |
| 5 | Lamar | 12–6 | 0–2 vs. SELA/New Orleans |
| 6 | Texas A&M–CC | 9–9 | |
| 7 | Central Arkansas | 8–10 | 1–1 vs. Sam Houston State |
| 8 | Houston Baptist | 8–10 | 0–2 vs. Sam Houston State |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Score | Television |
| First round – Wednesday, March 13, 2019 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 pm | No. 5 Lamar vs. No. 8 Houston Baptist | 81–79 | ESPN+ |
| 1 | 2 | 7:30 pm | No. 6 Texas A&M–CC vs. No. 7 Central Arkansas | 53–73 | ESPN+ |
| Second round – Thursday, March 14, 2019 ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 4 New Orleans vs. No. 5 Lamar | 76–72 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 4 | 7:30 pm | No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 7 Central Arkansas | 79–65 | ESPN+ |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 15, 2019 ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 5:00 pm | No. 1 Sam Houston State vs. No. 4 New Orleans | 76–79 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 6 | 7:30 pm | No. 2 Abilene Christian vs. No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana | 69–66 | ESPN+ |
| Championship – Saturday, March 16, 2019 ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 8:30 pm | No. 4 New Orleans vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian | 60-77 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in CDT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||
Source

## Bracket

| First round Wednesday, March 13 ESPN+ | First round Wednesday, March 13 ESPN+ | First round Wednesday, March 13 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 14 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 14 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 14 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 15 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 15 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 15 ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 16 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 16 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 16 ESPN2 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Sam Houston State | 76 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | New Orleans | 79 | | | |
| | | | 4 | New Orleans | 76 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Lamar | 81 | 5 | Lamar | 72 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Houston Baptist | 79 | | | | | | | 4 | New Orleans | 60 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Abilene Christian | 77 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Abilene Christian | 69 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Southeastern Louisiana | 66 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Southeastern Louisiana | 79 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Texas A&M–CC | 53 | 7 | Central Arkansas | 65 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Central Arkansas | 73 | | | | | | | | | |

## Awards and honors

Tournament MVP: Jaren Lewis (Abilene Christian) All-Tournament Team:
* Jaren Lewis (Abilene Christian)
* Jaylen Franklin (Abilene Christian)
* Payten Ricks (Abilene Christian)
* Scott Plaisance Jr. (New Orleans)
* Josh Nzeakor (Lamar)
Source: