NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – Defending Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament champion Liberty leads a field that includes George Washington from the A-10, East Carolina from the AAC and Rice from Conference USA for the third-annual “The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase” on Nov. 22-24, 2019 in Nassau. The event will feature 12 total games during the three-day event. The field and pairings for the tournament were released Thursday by the event’s organizer, bdG Sports.
“The Bahamas has had the pleasure of welcoming major sports organizations from around the world to our shores for exciting tournaments such as The Island Of The Bahamas Showcase,” said Bahamas Minister of Tourism & Aviation, Dioniso D’Aguilar. “We are pleased to team up with bdG Sports to again bring the NCAA to Nassau for a weekend of top-notch basketball and enjoyment on our island.”
Liberty finished 29-7 last season and won the Atlantic Sun to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. The Flames upset No. 5-seeded Mississippi State 80-76 in the First Round before falling to Virginia Tech. During the regular season, Liberty beat 11-time NCAA Champion UCLA 73-58 at famed Pauley Pavilion. In its first two years, The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase includes NCAA Tournament mainstays Vermont, Northern Kentucky, Iona and Montana in its fields with each of those teams making NCAA Tournament appearances since 2017.
“We are excited to once again bring NCAA Division I basketball to Nassau which has embraced this tournament as a community event,” said bdG Sports president Brooks Downing. “Hosting this tournament has truly been a team effort between our staff, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, National Sports Authority, Bahamas Basketball Federation and Baha Mar. From the sapphire blue waters that define The Bahamas to the world-class accommodations at Baha Mar, this event provides an unbelievable experience for the participating teams.”
The field for the tournament features eight NCAA Division I teams:
- East Carolina (American Athletic Conference)
- Evansville (Missouri Valley Conference)
- George Washington (Atlantic 10 Conference)
- Liberty (Atlantic Sun Conference)
- Milwaukee (Horizona League)
- Morgan State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
- Rice (Conference USA)
- UMKC (Western Athletic Conference)
All 12 games will be played at Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium with the teams residing at the exclusive Baha Mar resort.
The schedule for the opening round of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 22 is as follows:
- 11 a.m. ET – Liberty vs. Morgan State
- 2 p.m. ET – Rice vs. Milwaukee
- 5 p.m. ET – UMKC vs. George Washington
- 8 p.m. ET – Evansville vs. East Carolina
Consolation games will be played Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m./2 p.m. followed by the semifinals at 5 p.m./8 p.m. Sunday’s championship game will be at 8 p.m. ET.
bdG Sports is no stranger to the Bahamas as the firm currently manages two Web.com Tour professional golf events in the country each January. bdG partnered with Tourism to create the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in 2017 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.