# 2015 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2015 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place March 11–14 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament. Two programs in their second year of the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word, were ineligible for the tournament. Three programs were ineligible for the tournament for failure to meet enhanced NCAA Academic Performance Rating (APR) requirements. Those teams were Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, and Lamar. The three teams are part of a group of nine NCAA teams ineligible for 2015 post season basketball play. With the departure of Oral Roberts to the Summit League, only eight conference teams remain eligible for the tournament.

## Seeds

Only the top eight teams advanced to the Southland Conference tournament. If a team ineligible for the NCAA Tournament should finish in the top eight, its seed will fall to the next eligible team. Teams were seeded based on conference record and then a tie breaker system was used. The top two seeds received a double bye, and the third and fourth seeds received a single bye.
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin‡* | 17–1 | 27–4 | |
| 2 | Sam Houston State* | 15–3 | 24–7 | |
| 3 | Texas A&M CC# | 13–5 | 18–12 | Played one game against Northwestern State. 1–1 vs. Stephen F. Austin |
| 4 | Northwestern St# | 13–5 | 18–11 | Played one game against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi. 0–2 vs. Stephen F. Austin |
| 5 | McNeese St | 8–10 | 14–15 | Incarnate Word and Lamar are ineligible. Starting with McNeese St, eligible teams move up. |
| 6 | Nicholls State | 7–11 | 10–18 | Houston Baptist ineligible. Starting with Nicholls State eligible teams move up. |
| 7 | New Orleans | 6–12 | 10–17 | 2–0 vs. SE Louisiana |
| 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 6–12 | 9–22 | 0–2 vs. New Orleans |
| ‡ Southland Conference regular season champions. * Receives a first-round and second-round bye in the conference tournament. # Receives a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Overall record as of end of regular season. |||||
Source:

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Score | Television |
| First round – Wednesday, March 11 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 pm | #5 McNeese State vs. #8 Southeastern Louisiana | 62–60 | SLC Digital |
| 1 | 2 | 7:30 pm | #6 Nicholls State vs. #7 New Orleans | 82–73 | SLC Digital |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 5:00pm | #4 Northwestern St vs. #5 McNeese State | 96–89 | SLC Digital |
| 2 | 4 | 7:30pm | #3 Texas A&M CC vs. #7 New Orleans | 61–58 | SLC Digital |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 5:00 pm | #1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #4 Northwestern St | 91–79 | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 6 | 7:30pm | #2 Sam Houston State vs. #3 Texas A&M CC | 70–67 | ESPN3 |
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 8:30pm | #1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #2 Sam Houston State | 83-70 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in CST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||

## Bracket

| First round Wednesday, March 11 SLC Digital | First round Wednesday, March 11 SLC Digital | First round Wednesday, March 11 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 SLC Digital | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 SLC Digital | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPN3 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPN3 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPN3 | Championship Saturday, March 14 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 14 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 14 ESPN2 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 91 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Northwestern St | 79 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Northwestern St | 96 | | | | | | |
| 5 | McNeese State | 62* | 5 | McNeese State | 89 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 60 | | | | | | | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 83 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Sam Houston State | 70 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Sam Houston State | 70 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Texas A&M CC | 67 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Texas A&M CC | 61 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Nicholls State | 73 | 7 | New Orleans | 58 | | | | | | |
| 7 | New Orleans | 82 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes an overtime game

## Game summaries

* SLC Digital Network
* Mar 11 5:00 pm
* Recap
McNeese State Cowboys 70, Southeastern Louisiana Lions 68 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 27–27, 28–28 Overtime: 7–5 |||
| Pts: Keelan Garrett 14 Rebs: Austin Lewis 10 Asts: Kevin Hardy 4 | Pts: Cedric Jenkins 27 Rebs: Onochie Ochie 11 Asts: Jimmie Duplessis 9 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,029 Referees: Brent Meaux; Gerald Williams; Mitchell Ervin
* SLC Digital Network
* Mar 11 7:30 pm
* Recap
New Orleans Privateers 82, Nicholls Colonels 73 :
| Scoring by half: 39–42, 43–31 |||
| Pts: Kevin Brown 24 Rebs: Kevin Hill 10 Asts: Tevin Broyles 5 | Pts: Amin Torres 17 Rebs: Sam McBeath 13 Asts: Liam Thomas 4 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,029 Referees: Rob Wolff; Dave Cusick; KB Burdett
* SLC Digital Network
* Mar 12 5:00 pm
* Recap
Northwestern State Demons 96, McNeese State Cowboys 89 :
| Scoring by half: 41–34, 55–55 |||
| Pts: Zeek Woodley 34 Rebs: Zeek Woodley 9 Asts: Jalan West 12 | Pts: Kevin Hardy 25 Rebs: Desharik Guidry 15 Asts: Kevin Hardy 5 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,213 Referees: Jeff Malham; Toby Martinez; Pat Boeh
* SLC Digital Network
* Mar 12 7:30 pm
* Recap
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders 61, New Orleans Privateers 58 :
| Scoring by half: 33–34, 28–24 |||
| Pts: John Jordan 22 Rebs: Rashawn Thomas 7 Asts: John Jordan 4 | Pts: Nate Frye 20 Rebs: Travin Thibodeaux 12 Asts: Christavious Gill 2 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 1,213 Referees: Brad Fowler; Brent Dugas; Ross Cullins
* ESPN3
* Mar 13 5:00 pm
* Recap
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 91, Northwestern State Demons 79 :
| Scoring by half: 45–41, 46–38 |||
| Pts: Ty Charles; Jared Johnson 16 Rebs: Jacob Parker 10 Asts: Thomas Walkup 7 | Pts: Jalan West 25 Rebs: Zeek Woodley 8 Asts: Jalan West 9 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 3,268 Referees: Mike Thibodeaux; Rodrick Dixon; Ryan McDaniel
* ESPN3
* Mar 13 7:30 pm
* Recap
Sam Houston State Bearkats 70, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders 67 :
| Scoring by half: 21–29, 49–38 |||
| Pts: Jabari Peters 19 Rebs: Michael Holyfield 14 Asts: DeMarcus Gatlin 4 | Pts: John Jordan 20 Rebs: Bryce Douvier 7 Asts: John Jordan 5 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 3,268 Referees: Sean Casey; Kelly Hunt; Marques Pettigrew
* ESPN2
* Mar 14 8:30 pm
* Recap
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 83, Sam Houston State Bearkats 70 :
| Scoring by half: 37–27, 46–43 |||
| Pts: Thomas Walkup 24 Rebs: Thomas Walkup 8 Asts: Thomas Walkup 5 | Pts: Michael Holyfield 18 Rebs: Michael Holyfield 12 Asts: 3 players for 3 |
* Merrell Center Katy, TX Attendance: 5,016 Referees: Keith Kimble; Brent Meaux; James Durham

## Awards and honors

Source: Tournament MVP: Thomas Walkup – Stephen F. Austin
All-Tournament Team:
   * Thomas Walkup – Stephen F. Austin
   * Jared Johnson – Stephen F. Austin
   * Michael Holyfield – Sam Houston State
   * Jabari Peters – Sam Houston State
   * Zeek Woodley – Northwestern State