Tournament Begins Friday at 11:30 a.m.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference has announced the pairings for the 2013 Men’s Basketball Tournament, slated to begin Friday in Asheville, N.C., at the U.S. Cellular Center. 

The tournament will begin when eighth-seeded Wofford faces No. 9 Georgia Southern at 11:30 a.m.  That game will be followed by the fifth-seeded Samford Bulldogs taking on No. 12 seed Furman. 

Friday’s evening session begins at 6 p.m. when No. 7 Chattanooga squares off against No. 10 UNCG.  The final game of the day will pit No. 6 Western Carolina against No. 11 The Citadel.

Davidson captured the No. 1 overall seed and earned a bye to Saturday’s quarterfinals.  The Wildcats will face the Wofford-Georgia Southern winner.  Elon, by virtue of winning the North Division, is slotted as the No. 2 seed and will play Saturday at 6 p.m. against either Chattanooga or UNCG. 

College of Charleston (3) and Appalachian State (4) earned the final two byes.  The Cougars will play Saturday at 8:30 p.m. against either Western Carolina or The Citadel.  The Mountaineers clinched the final bye Saturday afternoon.  Appalachian State will face the Samford-Furman winner.

Friday’s opening round, Saturday’s quarterfinals and Sunday’s semifinals can all be seen on ESPN3.  Monday’s championship game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.