2010 Southland Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eight Southland Conference teams will gather in Katy, Texas this week to compete for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The quarterfinal round, featuring all eight teams, will take place on Wednesday, followed by semifinal action on Thursday. After a day of rest, the last two teams standing will compete for the tournament title on Saturday afternoon.

There are 12 teams in the league, and the bottom four (Northwestern State, McNeese State, Central Arkansas and Lamar) missed the cut for this event. Sam Houston State enters as the top seed after winning 14 of 16 conference tilts during the regular season, three games better than second-seeded Stephen F. Austin. Third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and fourth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana were 10-6 versus league foes, so they certainly have to be viewed as threats. As for fifth-seeded Texas State, sixth-seeded Texas-San Antonio and seventh-seeded UT-Arlington, all were at least .500 in league play. In fact, the only participant in the tournament that lost more league games than it won during the regular season is eighth-seeded Nicholls State. Last season, Stephen F. Austin won the title, and eight different programs have captured the crown over the last eight years, making this tournament one to watch.

The first of four quarterfinal-round matchups pits the second-seeded Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks against the seventh-seeded UT-Arlington Mavericks. The Lumberjacks won the only regular-season meeting with the Mavericks by a 72-65 final on January 20th. As mentioned, Stephen F. Austin won the title a year ago by beating Texas-San Antonio by 11 points in the championship game. That crown was the first for the Lumberjacks, who are a modest 10-11 all-time at this event. They are coming off a loss to Texas-San Antonio in the regular- season finale and need to bounce back strong. As for the Mavericks, they closed out the regular season with a three-game losing skid and are just 13-23 all-time in this tournament. However, they did win the championship in 2008, so the taste of success still lingers. UT-Arlington is scoring 74.6 ppg, significantly better than Stephen F. Austin's 66.9 ppg, but the Lumberjacks are the best defensive team in the league (60.1 ppg), while the Mavericks rank near the bottom (73.4 ppg). Marquez Haynes is the man to watch in this matchup, as he is UTA's best player and the league's leading scorer (22.8 ppg).

Another quarterfinal pairing features the third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders against the sixth-seeded Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners. UTSA is the best free-throw shooting team in the conference (.756) and tops in three-point percentage defense as well. As for Corpus Christi, it leads the conference in rebounding margin (+5.3 rpg). The Islanders, a relative newcomer to the league, captured their lone Southland Tournament title in 2007 and is 4-1 at this event. The Roadrunners have won this event twice, most recently in 2004, and are 14-13 in Southland Tournament tilts. Corpus Christi and San Antonio split a pair of meetings during the regular season and are evenly matched. Neither team possess an individual ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring.

The top-seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats are obviously favored in their quarterfinal matchup with the eighth-seeded Nicholls State Colonels, but it should be pointed out that the lone regular-season encounter between the two teams resulted in a rather narrow 75-69 victory for SHSU. The Bearkats have won this event only one time (2003) and are 8-11 all-time in Southland tourney games. As for Nicholls State, it has captured the crown twice, most recently in 1998. The Colonels are far from pushovers, as they possess the league's second-leading scorer in Anatoly Bose (20.4 ppg), as well as the ninth-leading scorer in Fred Hunter (14.1 ppg). Sam Houston State boasts the fourth and fifth top point producers in the league in Clavell Gilberto and Corey Allmond, who are generating 16.9 ppg and 16.3 ppg, respectively. The Bearkats are the top scoring team in the league (80.8 ppg), and Nicholls State (65.9 ppg) ranks 11th.

Rounding out the quarterfinals is a clash between the fourth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana Lions and the fifth-seeded Texas State Bobcats. These teams met just once during the regular season, and Southeastern Louisiana won that showdown by a 75-66 final. The Bobcats closed out the regular season with three straight victories and figure to enter this event with some confidence. They have won this tournament twice, but the most recent title came back in 1997, and the club is just 9-13 all-time at the event. Texas State is second in the conference in scoring (77.1 ppg), but the club is next-to-last in scoring defense (77.8 ppg). Cameron Johnson paces the Bobcats with 14.3 ppg, and he is fifth in the league in rebounding (7.9 rpg). The Lions pride themselves on strong defensive play, as they are yielding only 65.8 ppg while holding foes to a league-best 39.5 percent shooting from the floor. Patrick Sullivan paces Southeastern Louisiana with 15.7 ppg, and he is shooting 53.1 percent from the field while ripping down 8.7 rpg.

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Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt

Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.

The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.

Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.

"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.

The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.

But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.

The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.

Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.

The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.

The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.

Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."

Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.

"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."

Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.

It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.

"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."

Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.

"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."

At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.

According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.

Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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