2021 SSAC Tournament Bracket
Quarterfinals
February 25th
10:45 am | No. 6 William Carey vs. No. 3 Loyola
2:15 pm | No. 7 Brewton-Parker vs. No. 2 Stillman
6:15 pm | No. 8 Blue Mountain vs. No. 1 Faulkner
9:45 pm | No. 4 Middle Georgia vs. No. 5 Mobile
Semifinals
February 26th
| 3 pm | Winner of Game 1 v Winner of Game 2
| 7 pm | Winner of Game 3 v Winner of Game 4
Finals
February 27th
Championship Game | 6:30 pm
League Notes:
The top seed: #7 Faulkner
NAIA Locks: Faulkner, Stillman, Loyola
NAIA Bubble Teams: None
Best chances to win this tournament: Faulkner, Stillman Loyola
Possible sleeper: William Carey
KEY PLAYERS:
Trey Petty – Stillman: 20.6ppg, 4.3rpg
From the 1st game of the season Trey Petty has proven why he’s one of the nations best players. He’s got elite scoring ability and has the ability to completely take over a game. We are expecting him to have a BIG tournament.
CJ Williamson – Faulkner: 18.75ppg, 7.1rpg, 2.6apg
It will be interesting to see who wins the SSAC Player of the Year this year. So many deserving players and CJ is on that list. Faulkner uses him in so many ways and he is so tough to guard off the bounce.
Zach Wrightsil- Loyola: 16.1ppg, 9.5rpg, 4apg
Wrightsil has quietly been going about his business for the past few seasons. The All-American is long and athletic and plays as hard as anyone in the country. He’s a great playmaker who is the heart of this Loyola team.
KEY TEAMS:
#1 Faulkner – This Faulkner duo of Williamson and Jordan Hamlette has been quite the show to watch these past few weeks of the season. Hamlette has been a great complimentary piece to the All-American CJ Williamson.
#2 Stillman – Trey Petty and Devin Merriweather will look to lead Stillman to the SSAC Tournament. This team plays hard and with a lot of fight. They won’t be an easy out for anyone.
#3 Loyola – Loyola has the talent and experience to make a run and win the SSAC Tournament. Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil will look to win their 2nd SSAC Title in the past 3 years.
UPSET SPECIAL:
#6 William Carey – Steve Knight is a HoF coach who has plenty of tournament wins under his belt. While the Top 3 teams in the league are heavy favorites don’t count out this William Carey team.
Quarterfinal Game Notes
10:45 am | No. 6 William Carey vs. No. 3 Loyola
Season Series Tied at 1-1
These two teams have had some great battles already this season. Only 1 game has been decided by double figures. With four games against one another, these two teams are no strangers and it will be fun to see what adjustments are made! Wouldn’t be surprised to see the winner of this game win the SSAC Tournament.
2:15 pm | No. 7 Brewton-Parker vs. No. 2 Stillman
No games played against each other
The structure of the SSAC schedule means you, mostly, either played teams 4 times or zero times. Brewton-Parker has lost 9 of it’s last 11 games and even though it’s a neutral court, they have their hands full today trying to get this win!
6:15 pm | No. 8 Blue Mountain vs. No. 1 Faulkner
No games played against each other
Blue Mountain has lost 13 straight coming into this one. While anything can happen this time of year, this would be quite the upset. Faulkner is just too good and you expect them to show up ready to play.
9:45 pm | No. 4 Middle Georgia vs. No. 5 Mobile
No games played against each other
This is a really intriguing game as both teams are very similar. You also get a great player matchup in this one with RJ Kelley of Mobile and Jordan Willis of Middle Georgia battling it out to keep their season alive.
OTHER NOTES:
The SSAC is a (2) bid league. They switched the auto-bids around because of going two divisions with Covid.
Best Opening Round Matchup: #6 William Carey vs #3 Loyola.
Our Pick To Win It: Loyola – Won the tournament in 2019 and the combination of Wrightsil and Burns makes them really tough to beat! They lead the NAIA in offensive rebounding, which creates a ton of 2nd chance points for this group. They also are 2nd in the NAIA in total rebounds per game and are 6th in rebounding margin per game. All of those are major factors in postseason success!
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