Buccaneers battle Dolphins for Atlantic Sun Tournament title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The title game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament is set to take place in Nashville, as the top-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins will take on the second-seeded East Tennessee Buccaneers as expected. Awarded to the winner of this clash will be a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Only two of the current members of the Atlantic Sun have ever won the league tournament, and our two participants in tonight's championship game are still in search of their first crown.

East Tennessee State beat Stetson in the first round and Belmont in last night's semifinal round, and both of those victories came by 14 points. The Bucs are 22-10 overall and ended Belmont's three-year run of Atlantic Sun titles.

As for Jacksonville, it rolled to an 88-72 decision over Lipscomb on Friday. The Dolphins lost to Belmont in the title game a year ago and hope for a better outcome tonight.

East Tennessee State owns a 5-4 series edge over Jacksonville, and the two teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season.

Senior guard Courtney Pigram stole the show for East Tennessee State last night, as the standout poured in 30 points to pace the Bucs. He eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his career and is now the third-leading scorer in program history. Kevin Tiggs tallied 21 points for ETSU against Belmont, and Mike Smith posted 19 points. Adding further balance to the lineup was Tommy Hubbard with 10 points for the Bucs, who earned a 38-30 rebounding advantage and a 26-11 edge in points from the foul line. Overall this season, Pigram is scoring 17.9 ppg to go along with 131 assists and 55 steals. As for Smith, he checks in with 15.3 ppg and 7.6 rpg. They both take a back seat to Tiggs, however, who is pouring in 21.5 ppg on 53.9 percent shooting from he floor. Thanks mostly to the efforts of those three players, ETSU is scoring 78.4 ppg.

All five starters for Jacksonville reached double figures in scoring in the victory over Lipscomb last night. Lehmon Colbert led the way with 20 points, and Ben Smith pitched in 19 points. Ayron Hardy and Marcus Allen added 12 points apiece, while Travis Cohn pitched in 11 points. The Dolphins only turned the ball over six times and earned a 43-31 rebounding advantage. They also grabbed an 18-9 edge in points from the foul line. Smith is the team's leading scorer with 16.8 ppg, and he has dished out 120 assists. Colbert posts 12.1 ppg, while Hardy and Allen pitch in 10.2 ppg apiece. The Dolphins are scoring 74.4 ppg while allowing 68.0 ppg, and they own the same exact field goal percentage as their opponents (.451).

Imustlottto NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.