Virginia State, the No. 3 seed in the North, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 CIAA men’s basketball tournament with a 66-56 win over Johnson C. Smith University in opening-round action Wednesday.
The Trojans (15-14, 9-9) will take on No. 1-seeded Claflin College in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament. Johnson C Smith’s season ends at 14-12, 9-9 in the CIAA.
Junior guard Jared Clauson, who scored 15 points, led a quartet of Trojans players scoring in double figures. After a rough start to the beginning of a game in which the Trojans were down by 15 points, Virginia State fought back and eventually took a 34-31 into the intermission.
Early in the second half, Virginia State took control of the game. In the second stanza, the Trojans outscored the 11-3 and took an 11-point lead (45-34) with 17:01 left in the half.
Johnson C. Smith didn’t go away quietly and they came to within five points of Virginia State at 60-55 with 2:09 left. The Trojans put the game away for good on an 11-1 scoring run.
For the game, Virginia State’s defense held Johnson C Smith to just 32 percent shooting. Ashton Sherell led the Golden Bulls with 19 points and Avery Huggins scored 15 points and pulled 11 rebounds.