Dillard men, women have top seeds in GCAC hoops

The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments begin Friday and run through Sunday with action at all three GCAC home venues in New Orleans.

The men’s opening round begins Friday at noon at Dillard’s Dent Hall, while the women’s opening round is played at the same time at The Castle on SUNO’s campus.

Semifinal action in both brackets begins at noon Saturday at Xavier’s Convocation Center, which will also host Sunday afternoon’s championship games.

Dillard is the No. 1 seed in both brackets and both teams have a bye into the semifinals.

The Dillard men tied for the top spot in the standings with Xavier, each with 9-3 league records, but the Bleu Devils got the top seed by virtue of a season sweep of the Gold Rush. The Dillard women won their first GCAC regular-season title in 14 years, also finishing 9-3 in league play, one game ahead of No. 2 seed Edward Waters.

The full schedule of 12 games over the next three days:

MEN
Friday’s Games
at A.W. Dent Hall, Dillard
(4) Philander Smith vs. (5) Tougaloo, noon
(3) Talladega vs. (6) SUNO, 2 p.m.
(2) Xavier vs. (7) Edward Waters, 5 p.m.

Saturday’s Games
at Convocation Center, Xavier
(1) Dillard vs. Philander Smith-Tougaloo winner, 2 p.m.
Talladega-SUNO winner vs. Xavier-Edward Waters winner, 7 p.m.

Sunday’s Game
at Convocation Center, Xavier
Semifinal winners, 3:30 p.m.

WOMEN
Friday’s Games
at The Castle, SUNO
(4) Talladega vs. (5) Philander Smith, noon
(3) Xavier vs. (6) Tougaloo, 2 p.m.
(2) Edward Waters vs. (7) SUNO, 5 p.m.

Saturday’s Games
at Convocation Center, Xavier
(1) Dillard vs. Talladega-Philander Smith winner, noon
Xavier-Tougaloo winner vs. Edward Waters-SUNO winner, 5 p.m.

Sunday’s Game
at Convocation Center, Xavier
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.