1988 American South Conference men's basketball tournament

1988 American South Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1987–88
Teams	6
Finals site	Montagne Center Beaumont, TX
Champions	Louisiana Tech (1st title)
Winning coach	Tommy Joe Eagles (1st title)
American South Conference men's basketball tournaments

1987–88 American South Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Louisiana Tech †	7	–	3		.700			22	–	9		.710
New Orleans	7	–	3		.700			21	–	11		.656
Lamar	5	–	5		.500			20	–	11		.645
Arkansas State	4	–	6		.400			21	–	14		.600
Pan American	4	–	6		.400			14	–	14		.500
Southwestern Louisiana	3	–	7		.300			12	–	16		.429
† 1988 American South tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1988 American South Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–6 at the Montagne Center at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.^[2] This was the inaugural edition of the tournament after the league's establishment in 1987.

Louisiana Tech defeated New Orleans in the championship game, 69–66, to take home the first American South men's basketball tournament.

The Bulldogs, however, did not receive an automatic invitation to the 1988 NCAA Tournament. They ultimately participated in the 1988 NIT.

Format

All six of the conference's founding members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records. The top two teams were given byes into the semifinals while the bottom four teams were placed and paired into the initial quarterfinal round.

All games were played at Lamar's home court at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Friday, March 4					Semifinals Saturday, March 5					Championship Sunday, March 6
						1	Louisiana Tech	63
						4	Arkansas State	61
	5	Pan American	62
	4	Arkansas State	67
											1	Louisiana Tech	69
											2	New Orleans	66
	3	Lamar	76
	6	Southwestern Louisiana	75
						3	Lamar	59
						2	New Orleans	75

References

1. sports-reference.com 1987-88 American South Conference Season Summary
2. "1987-88 American South Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.