Claflin heads to Atlanta for NCAA tourney matchup

Claflin junior and senior guards Triston and Tyler Thompson load the team bus ahead of the scheduled departure time Thursday morning. Triston Thompson was voted to the SIAC Tournament All-Conference team. (Panther photo by Bradley Harris)

Atlanta is the newest destination for the 2017 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Claflin men’s basketball team as the Panthers travel to play in the Division ll Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The Panthers are fresh off of a road trip to Alabama where they claimed the SIAC championship. Claflin departed from the Jonas T. Kennedy Center Thursday morning.

This will be the first time the Panthers will be in the tournament since the 2008-09 season. The Panthers are playing in the South Region of the tournament and are the #3 seed.

The opening round matchup will pit the Panthers against a very familiar opponent.

Clafin will face the sixth-seeded Clark Atlanta Panthers, a fellow SIAC school and a team they have faced three times this season.

The two schools faced off five days ago in Birmingham with the SIAC championship on the line.  Claflin came out with the conference crown, its first in program history. In their previous two meetings, the teams split games at home.

Claflin could also face another SIAC foe if they were to meet Morehouse in the third round. Morehouse is the #1 seed and host school of the region.

The Panthers will tip off at noon in the Forbes Arena on Saturday.