The CIAA Basketball Tournament’s opening day lived up to its name as both matchups came down to the wire.
Monday night in CFG Bank Arena certainly exuded a suspenseful, tournament-like atmosphere with outcomes in the men’s and women’s game being decided by only one possession.
Women’s results
WSSU 64, Bowie State 61
Winston-Salem State women’s basketball guard Amaya Tucker, the reigning CIAA Player of the Year last season, showed why she is still one of the conference’s top players in a nail-biter against Bowie State in the tournament opener.
The 5-foot-6 graduate student led all scorers with 25 points that included a go-ahead layup and free throw to lift the Rams to a 64-61 win over the Bulldogs on Monday night in the CFG Bank Arena.
The Bulldogs ended the first with a slim 13-12 lead before their opponents began to take control.
By halftime, the Rams led 31-21 largely due to Tucker’s playmaking down the stretch as she led the way with 14 points at intermission. The Rams stormed back from a 19-16 deficit in the second to extend their lead toward the end of the quarter, outscoring Bowie State 15-5 en route to a double-digit halftime lead.
Entering the matchup, the Rams were 8-19 overall while the Bulldogs had a 13-14 record.
BSU opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run, trimming the deficit to two. Anii Harris nailed a triple from the left wing to tie the score, 40-40, around the two-minute mark of the third, before getting a steal that turned into another 3 at the top of the key from Jayla Irvin.
Tucker laced a 3-pointer to tie the knot at 45-45 entering the fourth as the contest turned into a nip-and-tuck ball game for the rest of the way.
Irvin scored twice to open the fourth quarter, but the Rams matched both buckets to keep the game close. The score was tied, 55-55, with 4:42 remaining in the contest before the Rams went on a 9-0 run to take a 59-55 lead at the 3:00 mark.
Several possessions later, Beulah Odiong hit a jumper from the elbow, giving Bowie State a 61-59 edge with a minute left in regulation. WSSU responded with a layup on the other end to even the score at 61 with 57.3 seconds remaining, forcing a timeout by BSU Head Coach Shadae Swan.
After coming up empty on the possession out of the timeout, BSU forced a turnover and the ball ended up in the hands of Harris who pushed it in transition and split the defense for an open layup but missed, leaving the crowd in shock.
WSSU regained possession with 20 seconds left and a chance to win – and the club capitalized on that opportunity.
Tucker got the ball, drove right and put in a contested layup with contact, completing a three-point play to give the Rams a 64-61 lead with 4.1 seconds on the game clock.
Out of a timeout, the Bulldogs quickly worked the ball around the perimeter into the hands of Irvin for a decent look at a game tying 3-pointer on the left wing which bounced off the back iron and was rebounded by Winston-Salem State’s Tolisha Walker as the buzzer sounded.
Bowie’s season ends at 13-15 overall as the Rams improve to 8-20. Irvin recorded 24 points and five rebounds, and Harris had 16 points and five assists to lead the Bulldogs.
Next, WSSU will face Johnson C. Smith on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.
Men’s results
Bluefield State 50, St. Augustine’s 48
A relentless defensive effort in the second half, along with a big night from guard Jordan Hinds, lifted Bluefield State to a narrow 50-48 win over St. Augustine’s on Monday night to kick off the CIAA Tournament.
Hinds scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down a team-high seven boards, finishing the night with a heroic performance to help the Big Blue — the CIAA’s newest member — pull off the tight coomeback victory.
Bluefield State jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on before SAU answered with a 10-2 run and took a 10-8 lead. Most of the first half was charactized by physical play and intense defensive battles on both sides.
The score was 17-17 with 8:35 left in the first half before SAU began to take control toward the end of the period.
A 3-pointer and layin by guard Jawan Browder ballooned the Falcons’ lead to 26-17 late in the first half and a turn-around jumper by Nate Youngblood gave SAU a 32-22 advantage at the break.
In the first half, the Falcons held their opponents to 30.8% percent shooting while shooting better than 50% (13 of 23). However, things would shift for St. Augustine’s in the second half.
Browder led the way with 16 points in the first half for SAU and Jordan Hinds had 13 points to lead the Big Blue offensively.
BSU scored six straight to trim its deficit to 32-28 two minutes into the second half. A breakaway lay-in by Hinds evened the ball game at 35-35 with 12:30 remaining.
While both teams had slow offensive starts in the second half, SAU was held to one field goal for about the first five-and-a-half minutes of action, which was snapped by Kaleb Glasper’s midrange jumper.
Though the Falcons outrebounded the Big Blue, 37-27, they also committed 26 turnovers to BSU’s nine. SAU shot 6 of 20 from the field in the second half.
A free throw by Hinds tied the game, 44-44, with about four minutes to go. A few possessions afterward, his putback pushed Big Blue’s lead to 48-45 with 1:18 left.
A triple by Browder reduced the Falcons’ deficit to 49-48 with 30 seconds on the game clock. SAU’s Ja’Mere Redus missed two shots from the charity stripe that could have given his team the lead.
However, the Falcons had another crack at taking the lead when guard Jordan Love drove to the basket and missed a contested layup as Bluefield State gained control of the ball and iced a free throw on the other end to secure the 50-48 win.
Travon Cooper poured in 12 points for Bluefield State. Browder finished the night with 21 points and six rebounds to lead the Falcons.
The Big Blue (8-21 overall) will square off against defending champion Winston-Salem State on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. in the quarterfinals. St. Augustine’s season ends at 12-17 overall
The Big Blue (8-21 overall) will square off against defending champion Winston-Salem State on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. in the quarterfinals. St. Augustine’s season ends at 12-17 overall.