ETSU wins Atlantic Sun for second straight year

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Macon, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Tubbs led a balanced scoring attack with 18 points, and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers secured their second consecutive Atlantic Sun tournament championship with a 72-66 victory over Mercer.

Tommy Hubbard added 14 points and six rebounds for the Bucs (20-14), who will make their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and ninth in school history. ETSU lost a hard-fought battle with top-seeded Pittsburgh last year, 72-62, in a first-round matchup.

Micah Williams contributed 13 points and nine boards, Isiah Brown had 12 points and Adam Sollazzo posted 11 points for East Tennessee State, which, as the fifth seed, beat fourth-seeded Campbell in the quarters before knocking off second-seeded Jacksonville in the semis.

The Bucs had lost both regular season games to Mercer this season.

E.J. Kusnyer led the Bears (16-17) with 16 points, but Mercer was unable to capture its first conference championship since 1985. Brandon Moore added 13 points in the loss.

A Daniel Emerson tip shot and Jeff Smith free throw helped the Bears tie the game, 60-60, with just over two minutes to go.

ETSU, though, went ahead for good on a pair of Williams free throws that were followed by a Tubbs three-pointer for a 65-61 advantage with under 1 1/2 minutes remaining.

Sollazzo padded the lead with two free throws for a six-point edge with a minute to play, although Kusnyer answered with a three for Mercer to make it a one-possession game.

Emerson brought the Bears to within 68-66 with 35 seconds left with a pair from the line, but Tubbs was able to hit both of his shots after a foul to restore a four-point lead. Mercer was unable to respond.

ETSU held an 11-point lead, 21-10, after a Jocolby Davis dunk midway through the first half, but Mercer battled back and faced only a two-point deficit at halftime, 37-35.

The Bears grabbed a 42-41 lead with 15 minutes left on a James Florence three, but the Bucs answered with the next seven points and held a slim lead down the stretch.

Game Notes

Mercer, the sixth seed, beat third-seeded Belmont in the quarterfinals and eighth-seeded Kennesaw State in the semifinals...ETSU had won the first eight games in this series before getting swept by the Bears in the regular season...The Bucs have won this tournament only twice -- 2009 and 2010...East Tennessee State is 2-9 all time in the NCAA Tournament, with its last win coming in 1992 over Arizona...Emerson and Florence each finished with nine points.

Starlcukcasino NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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