With the final games of the 2016-17 regular season completed, the Peach Belt Conference has announced the field for the 2017 men's and women's basketball tournament. The event will begin on Saturday, Feb. 25, with eight quarterfinal games (four women and four men) hosted on campus by the higher seeds. Both UNG squads will enter the event as the West Division's third seed.
The Nighthawk women (20-9) will travel to Florence, S.C. to take on East No. 2 Francis Marion with tip off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The UNG men's team (15-13) will also head east to play East Division No. 2 UNC Pembroke in Pembroke N.C. with game time set for 3:30 p.m.
The UNG women are making their fifth straight tournament appearance with a 20-8 overall record after beating rival Young Harris on Wednesday night.
The defending South Region champions, the Francis Marion women (17-11) have won eight straight and have not lost in the month of February. FMU will be hosting a PBC Tournament game on campus for the first time since 2010, which was also the last time they reached the championship game.
In the lone meeting this season, UNG defeated Francis Marion 63-59 in Florence on Jan. 14.
The North Georgia men (15-13) are making their first appearance in three years with the last tournament dance coming in 2014 when the Nighthawks fell in the quarterfinals at then-Georgia Regents. The PBC Tournament appearance is the sixth in program history since joining the league in 2006.
North Georgia finished with an 11-8 record in the Peach Belt Conference's West Division and finished in a five-way tie for first place along with Clayton State, Montevallo, Young Harris and Columbus State. It was the first time since the 2007 women's basketball season that a division had finished in a five-way tie for first place.
After all tiebreakers were applied, the Nighthawks were awarded the third seed from the West. Clayton State earned the top seed, and was followed by Columbus State, UNG and Montevallo.
In the lone meeting this season, UNC Pembroke (21-7) defeated the Nighthawks, 89-71, on Jan. 16 in Pembroke, N.C.
