Atlantic Sun Basketball: 2021 Conference Tournament preview, predictions

Teams to look out for

FAVORITE: Liberty Flames

The Liberty: Flames enter the tournament with the number one seed and a conference record of 11-2; their only losses being a six-point loss to Lipscomb in early January and a six-point loss to Stetson in mid-January. Liberty has shown to be an apt defensive team. Some of their success may be due to the quality of opponents but, in defense of Liberty, their players still have to execute and they have done so. Currently, Liberty is only allowing 58.1 points per game which ranks third in the country.

The Flames are led by Blake Preston, who leads the team in PER at 32.3 across 24 games, and Daris McGhee, who leads the team in points, steals and is a prolific three-point shooter. Sophomore Forward Blake Preston worked his way into the lineup by mid-December after being a terrific bench player.

Although Preston has shown times of inconsistency with as many single-digit point totals as double-digit point totals since becoming a starter, he has also shown bouts of promise with 7-11 shooting effort against Kennesaw State which saw him accumulate 17 points. Preston’s 6.4 rebounds per game lead the Flames.

Junior guard Darius McGhee is the offensive star of the Flames. McGhee is shooting 45.1% from the field including 39.6% from 3-point range on 8 attempts per game and 84.8% from the charity stripe. McGhee continually fills up the stat sheet with almost 4 rebounds, two assists, and one steal per game. In three of the four previous games for McGhee, he absolutely went off against North Florida and North Alabama twice.

Starting with North Florida, McGhee dropped 22 points on 8 of 15 shooting followed by a 29-point performance against North Alabama. McGhee ended his three-game 20-point game streak with 24 points on 6 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc against conference foe North Florida. McGhee is accelerating his game at exactly the right time; a sign of a true competitor and winner.

Liberty hopes to complete a three-peat of Atlantic Sun conference tournament championships dating back to the 2018-19 season.

BIGGEST THREAT TO FAVORITE: Bellarmine

The Bellarmine Knights, in their first Division I season, are ready to bring the ruckus to the Atlantic Sun. Currently tied for first in the tournament, the Knights’ first season could lead to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. In their inaugural season, the Knights and head coach Scott Davenport racked up 13 wins including 10 conference wins.

The Bellarmine Knights are led by junior forward Pedro Bradshaw, junior guard Dylan Penn and senior guard CJ Fleming. Bradshaw is the team’s best defensive player and highest scorer. Bradshaw has a 92.7 DRtg which is tops on the team for the rotation players. The forward also happens to be the most efficient player in the entire conference with a PER of 30.6.

Meanwhile, Penn is the assist leader and second on the team in points. Penn is shooting 50% from the field on a team-leading 10.9 field goal attempts per game. Fleming is one of the most efficient players for the Knights, if not the most efficient. From three-point range, Fleming is hitting 42.9% shots on five attempts per game. Fleming’s 139.6 ORtg is best on the Knights and is accompanied by a 46.2% field goal percentage on only 7.8 shot attempts per game. Fleming, an efficient shooter, has a true shooting percentage of 63.8%; best in the conference.

Bellarmine’s biggest competition, besides Atlantic Sun powerhouse Liberty, will come from the Atlantic Sun dark horse team; Lipscomb Bisons. The Bisons, in two matchups against the Knights, won both by an average of six points.

DARK HORSE: Lipscomb

The dark horse of the tournament is the Lipscomb Bisons. The Bisons are 2-0 against Bellarmine with both wins at Bellarmine’s home court. Their first win, on January 8th, was by five points and the Bisons delivered a seven-point win the next night. Lipscomb also has a seven-point win against Liberty on January 1st but followed that up with a 16-point loss the next night against the Flames. Lipscomb has proven they can hang and beat the two best teams in the conference. Others cannot say the same this year.

Lipscomb is led by one of the best players in the Atlantic Sun Conference; guard Ahsan Asadullah. However, the Bisons also have two solid guards in Senior Romeao Ferguson and sophomore KJ Johnson. Together, these two guards average 26.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. Johnson and Ferguson are also two of the Bison’s best three-point shooters. Ferguson is hitting 39.4% of his 3 three-point attempts per game while Johnson is sitting right around the same success rate.

Do not sleep on guard Greg Jones. Jones is the Bison’s volume three-point shooter, leading the team with almost six three-point attempts per game. Jones will exceed his previous career-high of 3-point field goals made in a season of 41 and has already exceeded his career-high in field goal attempts (118) in eight fewer games than all of the 2019-20 basketball season. His three-point prowess will be one of the keys if Lipscomb makes a run in the conference tournament.