1981 TAAC men's basketball tournament

The 1981 Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament (now known as the ASUN men's basketball tournament) was held March 4–8 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.^[1]

1981 TAAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1980–81
Teams	9
Site	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, LA
Champions	Mercer (1st title)
Winning coach	Bill Bibb (1st title)
MVP	Tony Gattis (Mercer)
TAAC men's basketball tournaments ← 1980 1982 →

1980–81 Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Houston Christian	9	–	3		.750			18	–	10		.643
NE Louisiana	8	–	4		.667			15	–	13		.536
Mercer †	7	–	4		.636			18	–	12		.600
Centenary	7	–	5		.583			16	–	12		.571
Arkansas–Little Rock	5	–	6		.455			13	–	13		.500
Samford	5	–	6		.455			10	–	17		.370
Northwestern State	5	–	7		.417			11	–	17		.393
Hardin-Simmons	4	–	8		.333			9	–	18		.333
Georgia Southern	2	–	9		.182			5	–	22		.185
† 1981 TAAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Mercer upset top-seeded Houston Baptist in the championship game, 72–67, to win their first TAAC/Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament. The Bears, in turn, received the TAAC's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament. This was Mercer's first appearance in the Division I NCAA tournament.

Bracket

	First round Wednesday, March 4					Second round Thursday, March 5					Semifinals Friday, March 6					Championship Sunday, March 8
												Houston Baptist	48
												Centenary	47
		Samford	73
		Georgia Southern	57
							Samford	69
							Centenary	76
																	Houston Baptist	67
																	Mercer	72
							Mercer	78
							UALR	69
												Mercer	59
												Northeast Louisiana	55
		Northwestern State	91
		Hardin–Simmons	88
							Northwestern State	73
							Northeast Louisiana	79

References

1. . sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.