In a quarterfinal matchup between Fayetteville State and Bluefield State, Aniylah Bryant was the standout performer with 25 points and seven rebounds to guide the Broncos to the 59-45 win on Wednesday afternoon.
The Broncos turned a three-point deficit late in the first into an 11-point lead at the half. From that point, they held on to their lead and never looked back.
FSU led by as much as 17 when Keyana McLaughlin layed the ball in with about six minutes left in the third. The Big Blue tried to string together a comeback in the fourth, but came up short.
Bluefield State trailed by eight (48-40) off a layup from Azariah Binford with three minutes left in regulation, but that was the closest they would get before FSU extended its lead back to double digits on their way to the victory.
FSU impproves to 26-2 overall with the win while BSU drops to 15-13 to conclude its first season back in the CIAA. Junior forward Alexyss Newman led the Big Blue with 19 points and nine boards.
Next, the Broncos will face the winner of Virginia State and Johnson C. Smith on Friday at 6 p.m. The match between the Trojans and the Golden Bulls will tip off Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
ECSU 64, SAU 60
Elizabeth City State, the 2023 defending champion, escaped with a close coomeback win on Wednesday afternoon.
Dy’Jhanik Armfield scored 16, Alanis Hill scored 11 and Rashauna Grant poured in 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the Vikings to a closely contested win over St. Augustine’s in the quarterfinals.
SAU was up 15-14 after the first, and extended its lead to 31-25 by halftime. But the third quarter was when things turned around for ECSU; in fact, it was the only quarter the Vikings outscored the Falcons.
Hill and Armfield led a 23-4 scoring run to start the third. By the end of the period, the Vikings led 48-41.
ECSU went up by 14 at one point in the fourth quarter until SAU stormed back to within one point, 61-60, off of two free throws from Lauren Banks with 22 seconds left in regulation.
Free throws by Hill and Armfield, along with a crucial offensive rebound off a missed free throw with 12 seconds to go, helped clinch the win for the Vikings as they continue their quest for a repeat conference title.
Janiya Reed finished with a team-high 16 points and juniors Lauren Banks and Taniyah Greene recorded double-doubles. Banks registered 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Greene pitched in with 13 points and 13 boards in the hard-fought loss.
Next, ECSU will play in the semifinals on Friday at noon against the winner of Claflin and Shaw. The Falcons fall to 15-13 with the defeat.
Men’s results
Fayetteville State 77, Bowie State 53
With Bowie State’s disheartening quartefinal loss to Fayetteville State, both of the CIAA Tournament’s host teams have been eliminated.
FSU forward Caleb Coleman shot an exceptional 6 of 8 from beyond the arc for 21 points and Tairell Fletcher had an efficient night with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting as the Broncos sailed to a 77-53 win over Bowie State on Wednesday night.
Coleman sparked FSU offensively with 17 first-half points while Fletcher chipped in with 12.
Trailing 37-25 at halftime, the Bulldogs never recovered. The Broncos stretched their lead to 17 a few minutes into the second half that led to a timeout by Bowie State Coach Darrell Brooks.
FSU’s defense was able to force the Bulldogs into contested, difficult shots to maintain a double-digit cushion for the duration of the second half.
At the midway point of the second half, BSU trailed 49-36. The Broncos won the rebounding duel 31-19 and their bench outscored Bowie’s, 24-9.
BSU would trim the deficit to 11 when Amare Winbush got a steal and layup in transition with 15:34 left in the game, but FSU responded with relentless defense and consistent shot-making to eventually inflate its lead 65-41 off a triple by Fletcher with 4:36 remaining.
By that point, the Broncos essentially put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Out of the timeout Fletcher drained another 3 as the Broncos began to run away with the win. The club sustained a lead of 20 points or more over the next few minutes, bleeding the clock every time they got possession on their way to the 24-point win.
With the loss, the Bulldogs finish their season with a 12-17 overall record. Warren Mouganda and Joel Webb led BSU with 10 points apiece.
The Broncos, who are the No. 1 seed in the Southern Division, advance to the semifinal round on Friday at 8 p.m. where they are scheduled for a faceoff against the winner of Virginia State and Bluefield State.
Lincoln 76, ECSU 62
The Lions were the runners-up last year after dropping a close 62-57 match to Winston-Salem State. It was clear that they entered this year’s tournament with a chip on their shoulders.
The Lions struggled offensively early on, going more than four minutes before guard Aidan Anderson scored their first basket.
An and-one play by Bakir Cleveland followed by an Ethan Garita layup off a feed from Freddie Young gave Lincoln a 10-7 lead with 13:39 remaining in the first half. From that point, Lincoln never relinquished its lead.
Reggie Hudson was the lead facilitator with seven assists in the first half. The 6-foot-1 junior guard recorded 17 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to lift Lincoln to a 76-62 quarterfinal round victory over Elizabeth City State on Wednesday night.
The Lions used a balanced offensive effort generated by ball movement and astute play-making to take control of the game. Besides Hudson, four other Lincoln players scored in double digits: Anderson (10), Cleveland (14), Garita (13) and Peter Sorber (10).
Over the course of the first period, also posted a solid defensive effort to build a double digit lead toward the end of the half. Forward Ethan Garita scored an and-one layup to put Lincoln on top, 42-28, at intermission. At that point the team was shooting an efficient 50% from the field.
Five minutes into the second half, the Lions were ahead 46-32. Though both teams had slow starts to begin the second half, an aggressive defense and timely shot-making helped Lincoln prevent an ECSU comeback rally down the stretch.
With 10 minutes left in regulation, Lincoln was ahead 55-40. As the game drew to a close, the Broncos gradually chipped away Lincoln’s lead.
Michael Eads Jr. made two straight 3s – one from the left wing and another from the right wing at the 4:45 mark – bringing the score within single digits (64-55) for the first time since 2:49 was left on the clock in the first half.
Though the Lions only connected on seven field goals in the second half, they made 17 of 26 free throws.
Hudson was able to draw fouls and capitalize at the foul line to push Lincoln’s lead back to double digits late in the contest. However, ECSU wouldn’t yield. With about a minute-and-a-half left, a free throw by Jayden Beloti cut ECSU’s deficit to 70-62.
The Vikings were unable to put together a run as Lincoln got stops, grabbed rebounds, drew fouls and knocked down free throws on the other end to cruise to the 14-point win.
Eads Derrell Jones scored 12 points each for the Vikings, whose season ends at 11-19 overall.
The Lions advance to the semifinals on March 1at 2 p.m. and will play against the winner of Virginia State and Claflin, who will square off on Thursday afternoon.