NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – Three teams that participated in last season’s NCAA Tournament will be among the eight-team field for the inaugural Islands of the Bahamas Showcase on Nov. 17-19, 2017 in Nassau. Defending conference champions of the America East Conference (Vermont), Horizon League (Northern Kentucky) and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Iona) are among the five 20-win teams in the field which will feature 12 total games over the three-day event. The field and pairings for the tournament were released Thursday by the event’s organizer, bd Global (www.bdglobalsports.com).
“We are excited to partner with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, National Sports Authority and Bahamas Basketball Federation to bring this tournament to Nassau,” said bd Global president Brooks Downing. “The participating teams and traveling fans will be blown away by the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, our official tournament headquarters, and the vibrant blue waters on Cable Beach. The action on the court will be tremendous given this field includes five teams that won 20 games last season and numerous conference champs.”
The field for the tournament features:
- Bradley (Missouri Valley) – 13-20 record last season
- Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) – 20-19 record
- Iona (MAAC) – 22-13 record | NCAA Tournament berth
- James Madison (CAA) – 10-23 record
- Northern Kentucky (Horizon) – 24-11 record | NCAA Tournament berth
- UTSA (Conference USA) – 14-19 record
- Vermont (America East) – 29-6 record | NCAA Tournament berth
- Weber State (Big Sky) – 20-14 record
All 12 games will be played at Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium with the teams staying at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar. The schedule for the opening round of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 17 is as follows:
- 11:00 a.m. ET – Vermont vs. Bradley
- 2:00 p.m. ET – Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA
- 5:00 p.m. ET – Northern Kentucky vs. James Madison
- 8:00 p.m. ET – Iona vs. Weber State
Consolation games will be played Saturday, Nov. 18 at 11:00 a.m./2:00 p.m. followed by the semifinals at 5:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. Sunday’s championship game will be at 8:00 p.m. ET.
bd Global is no stranger to the Bahamas as the firm launched two Web.com Tour professional golf events in the country this past January. bdG partnered with Tourism to create the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and Bahamas Great Abaco Classic and both events return at the start of next year’s Web.com Tour in January.
For complete information, visit www.thebahamasshowcase.com or follow on Twitter at @BahamasShowcase.
Ticket & Hotel Information
All-session passes are now on-sale at www.thebahamasshowcase.com and are good for entry to any of the 12 games of the event. Fans can book rooms Grand Hyatt Baha Mar at the tournament rate, starting at $189 nightly, by visiting www.thebahamasshowcase.com.
Campus Games
Nov. 10 – Bridgewater @ James Madison
Nov. 12 – East Central @ UTSA
Nov. 14 – West Coast Baptist @ Weber State
Nov. 22 – Missouri S&T @ Bradley
Nov. 22 – Maine-Fort Kent @ Vemont
Nov. 22 – St. Andrews @ Coastal Carolina