It is officially “March Madness” as the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament is underway. The conference completed its 24th campaign as the ASUN, 47th overall, with Lipscomb and North Alabama sharing the regular season conference title.
Lipscomb and North Alabama finished with identical overall and conference records, 22-9 and 14-4. The Bisons and Lions also split their regular-season contests, but Lipscomb earned the top seed in the tournament based on tiebreakers. The ASUN regular season crown is the Bisons’ fourth, all shared, and the Lions’ first.
ASUN Conference Tournament: North Alabama Seeks To Cap Best DI Season With First NCAA Berth
This year’s 46th annual ASUN Tournament takes place from March 2 to 9. Like in 2024, the 2025 edition of the tourney has 10 teams, as Queens and West Georgia are ineligible. West Georgia (6-25) and Bellarmine (5-26) didn’t qualify for the conference tournament.
Each ASUN Tournament game will be played at the higher seed. Eighth-seeded Stetson is the defending conference tournament champion, though the Hatters have already been eliminated this year.
Belmont, currently a member of the OVC, has an ASUN record five conference titles. Florida Gulf Coast has the most tournament crowns of any current member, with three.
Bellarmine, Lipscomb, and North Florida have also won the conference tournament crown once. Jacksonville and North Alabama have reached the conference final but have yet to win a championship. Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, and Eastern Kentucky have yet to reach a tournament championship game.
ASUN Tournament Seeds
- Lipscomb Bisons 22-9
- North Alabama Lions 22-9
- Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 18-13
- Jacksonville Jaguars 18-13
- Eastern Kentucky Colonels 18-13
- Queens Royals 18-13
- Austin Peay Govenors 15-16
- North Florida Ospreys 13-18
- Stetson Hatters 8-24
- Central Arkansas Bears 9-23
With 10 teams in the ASUN Tournament, the top six seeds received first-round byes. No. 10 Central Arkansas defeated No. 9 Stetson 77-72, and No. 7 Austin Peay raced past No. 8 North Florida 90-67.
Lipscomb earned the top seed based on its victory over third-seeded FGCU, while NAU lost to the Eagles. Jacksonville and EKU finished with identical conference records, but the Dolphins earned the higher seed by sweeping the Colonels.
All ASUN Quarterfinals games and both Semis are carried by ESPN+. The championship game will be televised on ESPN2.
Quarterfinals Schedule ( Monday at campus sites)
No. 10 Central Arkansas at No. 1 Lipscomb, 8 pm
No. 5 Eastern Kentucky at No. 4 Jacksonville 7 pm
No. 7 Austin Peay at No. 2 North Alabama, 7 pm
No. 6 Queens at No. 3 FGCU, 7 pm
Semifinals (Thursday at campus sites)
Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed
Second-Lowest Remaining Seed at Second-Highest Remaining Seed
Finals ( Sunday at campus site)
Lower Remaining Seed at Higher Remaining Seed, 2 pm
About The Teams
Lipscomb Bears
Lipscomb enters the A-Sun Tournament with the second-best offense and top defense. The Bison average 79.2 and allow 67.2 points for a league-best +12 point differential. The Bears are 9-2 in their last 11 and are on a three-game winning streak. They have each of their previous six games by double-digits.
Lipscomb is the league’s best shooting team, topping the conference in field goal and free throw shooting percentage, and is second in the league with 9.8 treys a game. Jacob Ognacecevic (20.3 points and 8.0 rebounds) is the conference’s top player and leads four Bears in double figures.
This is the third straight season that Lipscomb has won at least 20 games. The Bears’ only conference tournament title came in 2018.
North Alabama Lions
NAU has set a D-I program record for most wins in a season and conference campaign this season, its seventh year in Division I. The Lions’ previous best season was 2022-23, totaling 15 wins, including 10 in conference play. They have a 100-112 record since moving to the NCAA’s top division.
North Alabama enters the conference tournament, having won nine of its last eleven. The Lions have the conference’s most efficient offense, producing 116.1 points per 100 possessions and the second-highest scoring at 79.3 points per contest.
NAU is not a great shooting team, but the Lions hit the glass hard, particularly on the offensive end. The Lions, the league’s top rebounding squad, outrebound their opponents by six boards a game. They also get to the charity stripe a lot, attempting 20 free throws a game, and don’t turn the ball over.
NAU has a well-balanced offensive, with seven players totaling eight points per contest. Jacari Lane leads the way with 16.9 points and a team-high 4.2 dimes. Six-foot-9 forward Corneilous Williams is the ASUN’s top rebounder at 8.8 per game.
The Lions are also pretty good on the defensive end, allowing a little over 70 points a game. They do an outstanding job guarding the 3-point line and don’t foul.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
FGCU, one of the conference’s top teams in the early to mid-2010s, turned in its best regular season in three years. The Eagles have won four straight games and have a five-point home victory over NAU.
The Eagles are an outstanding shooting squad, though they don’t launch many shots from deep. They do a solid job defensively but struggle on the perimeter. Dallion Johnson, who played at Penn State under head coach Patrick Chambers, leads four Eagles in scoring at 15.1 points. Six-foot-eight forward Keeshawn Kellman is excellent around the rim on both ends of the floor.
Jacksonville Dolphins
Like FGCU, Jacksonville has bounced back after a few down years to have a solid campaign. Jacksonville also has a win over NAU.
Jacksonville is the conference’s top 3-point shooting team, percentage-wise, and is one of the bigger teams. However, if Robert McCray isn’t cooking, the Dolphins struggle offensively. Turnovers are also an issue.
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Eastern Kentucky has posted at least 17 wins and picked up double-digit conference victories for the third straight season. Consistency has been an issue for EKU, as the Colonels have shown they can compete with top-level teams. EKU has two wins over Lipscomb and dropped a contest to Louisville by two.
Eastern Kentucky has won nine of its last 1o. The Colonels are a great shooting team, though they are at their best from beyond the arc. They don’t turn the ball over. George Kimbell and Devontae Blanton are two of the top scorers in the conference.
Queens Royals
Queens had its best conference season in its three-year Division I history, totaling 11 victories. The Royals, who are 3-4 in their last seven contests, also tied their win mark of 18.
Offensively, Queens share the ball well and get to the free-throw line. Leo Colimerio and Chris Ashby are the Royals in double-figures, but they do have 10 players who are averaging five or more points a game. Malcolm Watson (5.0 points, 5.5 rebounds) is the nation’s top shot-blocker at 3.5 a contest.
Austin Peay Governors
Austin Peay, who reached the conference tournament final last season, blew past North Florida in the opening round 90-68 last night. The Govenors shot 54.9% from the field, and three players scored 20 points — Isaac Haney, LJ Thomas, and Darius Dawson.
Central Arkansas Bears
Central Arkansas struggled under first-year head coach John Shulman. The Bears, who have never won more than seven ASUN games, went 4-14 in conference play—one fewer than a season ago. They have finished at the bottom of the conference standings in each of their four years in the league.
Central Arkansas is in the tournament’s second round after upsetting Stetson 77-72 behind a career-high 37 points from freshman forward Nehemiah Turner. It was the seventh straight game Turner, whose previous career-high was 24 points, scored in double figures.
Photo courtesy of © Jordan Prather, Imagn Images
