Courtesy the CIAA
2022 CIAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket
2022 CIAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket
BALTIMORE, MD – The 2022 CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament tipped off on Tuesday, February 22. Check out recaps from the first day of action inside Royal Farms Arena.
Women’s – #12 Livingstone 49, #5 Fayetteville State 38 (Opening Round)
Jamiah Lane played an excellent all-around game as the No. 12 seed Livingstone women shocked No. 5 seed Fayetteville State 49-38 in the opening game of the CIAA Tournament at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
The Lady Blue Bears entered the tournament with a 4-12 conference record, including their only Southern Division win this past Saturday. The Broncos, who were the defending CIAA champions, tied for the best conference record (10-6) in the Southern Division coming into the tournament.
Lane finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead the Lady Blue Bears (6-19 overall) to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they will face No. 4 seed and Southern Division champion Johnson C. Smith at 12 p.m.
Daijah Turner added 11 points and Andresia Alexander dished out six assists for the Lady Blue Bears, who seized control late in the first period. They led 22-15 at halftime and maintained their advantage in the third and fourth periods, increasing their lead to double digits. The Lady Broncos (13-12 overall) got within single digits in the second half but never mounted a serious rally.
Alyssa Boyce collected nine rebounds and Alexis Lake finished with seven rebounds for the Lady Blue Bears, who outrebounded the Broncos 47-38 including an 18-9 edge in offensive rebounds. They also outscored their opponent 30-4 in bench points.
Morgan Graham recorded 16 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks for the Broncos. Rasheka Simmons added 14 points and three steals.
The Broncos defeated the Lady Blue Bears twice during the regular season, 61-40 and 50-45.Women’s – #10 Claflin 68, #7 Virginia Union 56 (Opening Round)
The No. 10 seed Claflin women continued the string of upsets at the CIAA Tournament by upending No. 7 Virginia Union 68-56 in a first-round contest at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
Claflin’s victory was the second by a lower seeded team in the tournament’s first two games. In the opening contest, No. 12 Livingstone stopped No. 5 Fayetteville State.
Claflin (8-18 overall) will take on No. 2 seed Elizabeth City State in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at 2:20 p.m. Virginia Union ends its season at 10-14 overall.
Food Lion MVP Destiny Coleman tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks for Claflin, which opened a 33-12 halftime lead and never looked back. Lauren Scott added 15 points and seven rebounds and Janelle Sample chipped in 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Claflin clamped down defensively, forcing Virginia Union to shoot 13.8 percent and commit 13 turnovers in the first two periods. The turnovers led to 13 points for Claflin, which shot 50 percent in the first half.
Despite cold shooting in the first half, Virginia Union made a run in the fourth period to pull within eight points after trailing by 22 in the third period. Claflin fended off VUU for the win after Sample swished a deep three-pointer from the right corner to push the lead back to double digits with under two minutes left.
Olivia Lynch paced Virginia Union with 13 points and Ny Langley added 10.
Women’s – #8 Winston-Salem State 67, #9 Saint Augustine’s 54 (Opening Round)
The No. 8 Winston-Salem State Rams advanced to the 2022 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women’s Basketball Quarterfinals with a 67-54 win over the No. 9 Saint Augustine’s Lady Falcons Tuesday afternoon at Royal Farms Arena.
The Rams will face the No. 1 seeded Lions of Lincoln (PA) Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m.
Amaya Tucker of WSSU was named the Food Lion MVP of the game with 10 points, six assists and two rebounds while Kennedi Simmons and Tyliah Burns added 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Rams.
As for the Lady Falcons, SAU was led by Jada Swafford’s game-high 15 points (6-11) while Taniyah Greene chipped in 12 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
After taking an 18-12 advantage in the first quarter, the Rams stretched its lead to double-digits over the Lady Falcons in the second stanza on a 11-3 run at the 5:39 mark. Saint Augustine’s hit its final of the half on a jumper from Bre’cha Byrd but WSSU closed out the half on a 5-0 spurt to lead 32-19 at halftime.
The Lady Falcons cut the deficit to seven (43-36) after a 14-13 scoring spread, yet a pair of free throws from Kendra Ross, followed by back-to-back layups built a 50-38 lead at the end of the third quarter in favor of WSSU.
The final period was highlighted by a 15-6 run from the Rams that stretched WSSU’s lead to 19-points – the largest in the game before layup from Swafford solidified any chance of a comeback for the Lady Falcons.
Women’s – #11 Virginia State 62, #6 Shaw 38 (Opening Round)
Natalia Leaks scored 20 points as the No. 11 seed Virginia State women downed No. 6 seed Shaw 62-38 in the first round of the CIAA Tournament at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
The Trojans (11-16 overall) advanced to the quarterfinal round where they will play No. 3 seed Bowie State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Lady Bears’ season ended at 11-14 overall.
Kaaliya Williams added 13 points and Shayla Sweeney scored 12 points for the Trojans, whose defensive pressure was too much for the Lady Bears.
Shaw shot 20 percent from the floor and were forced into 23 turnovers. The Trojans took advantage of the miscues as they outscored the Lady Bears 22-0 in turnover points.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half. The Trojans led 7-5 after the first period and 18-11 at halftime. VSU heated up in the fourth period to pull away from the Lady Bears.
Shooting 46 percent in the fourth period, the Trojans outscored the Lady Bears 25-14. Their lead ballooned to 27 points late in the game.
Makenzie Pollard paced the Lady Bears with 12 points. Tanayja London collected 10 rebounds.
Men’s – #8 Virginia State 71, #9 Claflin 58 (Opening Round)
Virginia State was able to outscore Claflin, 43-28, in the second half to take the round one win, 71-58.
Leaders
Antwan Miles earned MVP of the game as he scored 18 points shooting 8-of-16 from the field in the contest. Francis “BJ” Fitzgerald added 16 points with three steals while Michael Melvin scored 11 points with five dimes in the contest. Terrence Hunter-Whitfield led the game with 12 boards while contributing nine points. Donell Frayer, put up 11 points while Allen Hatchett swatted four shots along with eight points. VSU shot 48% from the field and outrebounded the Panthers 38-31 in the contest.
How It Happened
Dajour Rucker was able to get on the Board early in the game but Allen Hatchett was able to score back-to-back buckets to give the Panthers the early lead, 6-2. Michael Melvin was able to answer back with a three-pointer on the following possession. The Panthers would score consecutive buckets to go up 10-7 with 12:37 left to go in the first half.
The two teams would go back-and-fourth until Donell Frayer, Jr. converted an and-1 play to put CU up by four. The Panthers would go on to score five unanswered points to go up 21-13. The Trojans would come fighting back with a run of their own as they went on a 5-1 run to make the score 22-18 with 5:46 left to go in the half.
As Fitzgerald would score back-to-back buckets, Isaiah Jennings hit a layup to keep the Panthers up by two possessions. The tandem of Antwan Miles and Fitzgerald would allow the Trojans to knot the game at 28. The tie ball game would not last for long as Romero Hill hit a layup as time expired to give the Panthers the lead, 30-28, headed into the locker room at the half.
Donell Frayer and Francis “BJ” Fitzgerald had eight points each at the half. HowVante Hucherson and Terrence Hunter-Whitfield cleaned up the glass with seven rebounds apiece. Romero Hill led the game with two assists. VSU shot 40% from the field and 33% from downtown while Claflin shot on identical 40% from the field and 14% from beyond the arc. The two teams each forced four turnovers in the first half of play.
The first five minutes of the second half saw three ties and six lead changes as Fitzgerald gave the Trojans the lead for the first time in the first half. Hatchett would follow-up with four points in a row to give CU the lead 41-38 with 15:33 left in the second half.
The game was tied at 42 until Daryl Mackey, Jr. put on his cape and scored eight points unanswered with two three’s and a layup to give the Trojans their largest lead of the game, 50-42. After Miles hit a jumper to add to the lead, Frayer was able to stop the bleeding with a three-pointer. After Shamarie McLeod hit another three, VSU decided to take a timeout with the score at 52-48 with 10:55 left in the half.
Claflin continued to fight to bring the game back to one possession, they achieved their goal with 6:21 left to go in the game as the Romero Hill was able to bring the score to 57-54 with 6:21 left to go in the game.
Miles continued to make his presence felt as back-to-back buckets brought the score to 61-56. The Trojans would go on to close the game out 71-58.
Next Up
The Trojans will have a date with the number one seed, Fayetteville State in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 23. Tipoff is set for 6:40 p.m.
Men’s – #10 Bowie State 60, #7 Elizabeth City State 52 (Opening Round)
Bowie State allowed their first half lead to help them cruise to victory against Elizabeth City State, 60-52.
Leaders
Anthony Carpenter earned MVP of the game as he shot a miraculous 5-of-7 from down town, which got him 17 points. He was also able to grab five rebounds in the matchup. David McCollough was not far behind Carpenter with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots. Zaccheus Hobbs scored a team-high 13 points for the Vikings and knocked down 5-of-6 of his free throws. Dexter Turner led the game with five assists while Shykeef Daniels led with four steals. BSU was able to acquire 12 dimes while ECSU was only able to get one assist.
How It Happened
Dexter Turner and David McCullough got Bowie State off to a fast start, as the two were able to give their squad at five-point lead early in the first half. Jahmahis Barnhill helped his squad tie the ball game at seven. Although, points were hard to come by in the defensive battle, BSU was able to hit two three-pointers to go up 12-7 with 14:14 left to go in the first half.
As Bowie State attempted to build on to their lead, stout defense from the Vikings turned into their offensive as the squad scored five unanswered points to bring the score to 15-14 in favor of BSU with 9:37 left to go in the half.
McCullough was able to give the Bulldogs the momentum after converting his and-one. After the and-one, BSU went on a 5-0 run to bring the score to 23-14 with 6:11 left to go in the first half. Even, ECSU would bring the deficit to just five, the Bulldogs got hot late, which allowed them to take a 28-18 lead into the half.
Great defensive efforts from both sides forced an abundance of turnovers and abysmal shooting percentages. The Bulldogs forced 10 turnovers in the first half while ECSU forced nine. The Bulldogs shot just 36% from the field yet, shot 7-of-9 from the free throw line. ECSU held the slight edge in the rebounding category, 21-20.
The Bulldogs added to their lead early in the second half as Khalil Williams scored the first four points of the half to put BSU up, 32-18. Quinton Drayton was able to find consecutive buckets to bring the score to 36-21 with 14:33 left to go in the contest.
ECSU felt the pressure of the game slipping away and responded with a 6-2 run to bring the score to 38-27 prior to a BSU timeout. Zaccheus Hobbs and Shykeef Daniels would keep the Vikings within striking distance as two were able to help make score make the score 43-31 with 9:34 remaining in the contest.
While Anthony Carpenter hit a three-pointer to nearly put the game out of reach for the Vikings, Jayden Beloti was able to convert an and-one to cap an 8-0 run to bring the score to 48-39. BSU took a 51-42 lead into the final media timeout with 4:53 left on the clock.
Charles Page was able to turn a steal into two points to bring the VSU lead to just seven. After McCullough, scored a bucket to put his squad up by double digits again, Jayden Belotti finished through contact to bring the score to 54-46. Carpenter was able to get in front of a pass late, which turned into a dunk for McCullough to essentially put the game out of reach for the Vikings. Bowie State would go on to close the round on matchup out at 60-52.
Next Up
The Vikings will have a date with the number two seed, Virginia Union in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 23. Tipoff is set for 8:50 p.m.
