2/29/2008 - MEN'S BASKETBALL A-Sun Basketball Championships to be Webcast

MACON, Ga. - As the NCAA Division I basketball season comes to a close and March Madness is lurking around the corner, the spotlight moves to the conference tournaments to see who will earn automatic bids to the Big Dance. All of the action from the 2008 Atlantic Sun General Shale Brick Basketball Championships will be webcast live on ASun.TV and is available to new subscribers for only $9.99.

This year's tournament, hosted by Lipscomb University, will take place on March 5-8 in Nashville, Tenn at Lipscomb’s Allen Arena. ASun.TV, a product of PlayOn! Sports (a division of Turner Sports) will cover 13 of the 14 games from the men’s and women’s tournament, with the lone exception being the men’s championship game; that game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The tournament can be viewed live and via on-demand replay by all fans with high speed internet access. Fans may purchase a Single Event Pass ($5.99 per event), a monthly All-Event Pass ($9.99 per month), or an annual All-Event Pass ($69.99 per year). With the monthly All-Event Pass, fans can enjoy every ASun.TV webcast of the A-Sun Basketball Championships, in addition to selected baseball and softball contests during the month of March.

"We are proud to offer fans world-wide the opportunity to share the excitement of A-Sun tournament basketball," A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart said. "The ability to bring high-quality, live video from our conference championships is a fantastic way to broaden exposure for our outstanding student-athletes. ASun.TV has been a great addition to the conference, and we welcome everyone to join us for the intense competition and drama of the conference championships."

Play-by-play duties for the tournament will be handled by the "voice of the Nashville Sounds," Chuck Valenches. Valenches has called games for the Sounds for 10 years, and has also had stints with the Southern League’s Jacksonville Suns and the California League’s High Desert Mavericks. Valenches was also featured as half of the announcing team on 3DO Sports’ “High Heat Baseball” series for Xbox, Play Station 2 and PC from 2002-2004.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.