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Lake City’s Bradley gets taste of NCAA postseason
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| Alvin Bradley (left) of Florida Southern celebrates the Sunshine State Conference championship win over the University of Tampa with teammates Eric Fernandez (12) and Cameron Wooten (25). COURTESY PHOTO |
Florida Southern wins Sunshine State Conference championship.
By TIM KIRBY
tkirby@lakecityreporter.com
Former Columbia High player Alvin Bradley got a taste of postseason basketball when Florida Southern won the Sunshine State Conference tournament.
The Moccasins (24-9) also were conference champions in the regular season, going from last place in 2006-07 to winning it all.
Florida Southern was installed the No. 1 seed and host school for the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament in Lakeland, but was upset by No. 8-seed Ouachita Baptist University of Arkadelphia, Ark., 74-69.
“We had a bad game,” said Bradley, a red-shirt sophomore for the Moccasins. “We didn’t score in the first six minutes and couldn’t hit any free throws and couldn’t get any loose balls.”
Florida Southern came back to lead by one at the half, but again came out flat.
“We were waiting to click and go, but we started off the second half bad again,” Bradley said. “We had to end up fouling and lost by five.”
Despite the regional
hiccup, Florida Southern had an outstanding season and coach Linc Darner was named Coach of the Year for the conference. The 83-81 conference tournament win over the University of Tampa came on a last-second shot in overtime.
“It was real sweet — they are our main rival,” Bradley said. “We are the first team to go from worst to first in the conference. It is sad we didn’t make it farther. We just had an off game, but we had an
awesome year.”
Bradley suffered a separated shoulder on Oct. 18, but got ready for the regular season and played in 13 games before re-injuring the shoulder. Florida Southern played UCF and Miami in exhibition games and the team made a trip to Hawaii during the season.
Bradley played in 22 games and scored 51 points with 19 assists and 11 steals.
“At the beginning of the year, coach said I was the most improved and would get more minutes,” Bradley said. “I played in every game until I re-injured it (shoulder) and then got out of the rotation.”
After a two-week break, Bradley said he would begin lifting weights and re-habbing his shoulder under personal trainer Terry Brown, four days a week.
As defending conference champions, the Moccasins will not be able to sneak up on teams next year, but Bradley said making the NCAA tournament was the first for his group and they will be ready.
The Moccasins (24-9) also were conference champions in the regular season, going from last place in 2006-07 to winning it all.
Florida Southern was installed the No. 1 seed and host school for the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament in Lakeland, but was upset by No. 8-seed Ouachita Baptist University of Arkadelphia, Ark., 74-69.
“We had a bad game,” said Bradley, a red-shirt sophomore for the Moccasins. “We didn’t score in the first six minutes and couldn’t hit any free throws and couldn’t get any loose balls.”
Florida Southern came back to lead by one at the half, but again came out flat.
“We were waiting to click and go, but we started off the second half bad again,” Bradley said. “We had to end up fouling and lost by five.”
Despite the regional
hiccup, Florida Southern had an outstanding season and coach Linc Darner was named Coach of the Year for the conference. The 83-81 conference tournament win over the University of Tampa came on a last-second shot in overtime.
“It was real sweet — they are our main rival,” Bradley said. “We are the first team to go from worst to first in the conference. It is sad we didn’t make it farther. We just had an off game, but we had an
awesome year.”
Bradley suffered a separated shoulder on Oct. 18, but got ready for the regular season and played in 13 games before re-injuring the shoulder. Florida Southern played UCF and Miami in exhibition games and the team made a trip to Hawaii during the season.
Bradley played in 22 games and scored 51 points with 19 assists and 11 steals.
“At the beginning of the year, coach said I was the most improved and would get more minutes,” Bradley said. “I played in every game until I re-injured it (shoulder) and then got out of the rotation.”
After a two-week break, Bradley said he would begin lifting weights and re-habbing his shoulder under personal trainer Terry Brown, four days a week.
As defending conference champions, the Moccasins will not be able to sneak up on teams next year, but Bradley said making the NCAA tournament was the first for his group and they will be ready.
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