Thursday, March 1, 2012

CIAA Tournament: Livingstone 60, Virginia State 58: Thomas wins it for Blue Bears

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — After losing an 11-point lead in the final three minutes Wednesday, the Livingstone men’s basketball won a thriller 60-58 over Virginia State to advance to the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament hosted at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Down 58-57 in the final seconds, Mark Thomas’ steal and eventual 3-point play was the difference. Junior Nasir Austin led the Blue Bears with 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Trone Jackson finished with 10 points and also had seven boards.

With the victory, the Blue Bears will now face the Bowie State Bulldogs at 3 p.m. today. The Bulldogs are the top seed out of the Northern Division and are yet to play in the tournament.

The Blue Bears held a 55-44 lead with 3:15 to play after Jackson converted two free throws. Virginia State started its comeback with an old-fashioned 3-point- play and Livingstone aided the Trojan run by converting only 2-of-6 free-throw attempts in the final two minutes.

READ MORE

Fayetteville State men beat Saint Augustine's 65-53 in second round of CIAA tournament

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  -  The Fayetteville State Broncos had to span two days to do it, but they managed to fight their way into the third round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

The Broncos used a burst in the final five minutes to pull away from Saint Augustine's for a 65-53 second-round victory that began Wednesday evening but wasn't complete until Thursday morning.

Fayetteville State (10-16) outscored the Falcons (14-14) 14-1 over the final 4:42 to advance to today's third round where they'll meet top-seeded Shaw at 9 p.m. in Time Warner Cable Arena.

Playing in the last of six games on day two of the CIAA Tournament, the Broncos didn't take the floor for their scheduled 9 p.m. tap off Wednesday until almost 10:45. The final buzzer didn't sound until 12:38 a.m. Thursday.

READ MORE

VSU falls to Bowie State in double OT in CIAA

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The double overtime women's game between Virginia State University and Bowie State University Wednesday exemplifies what the CIAA Tournament is all about. Clutch shots, big plays, thrilling action.

In the end, Bowie State prevailed 72-67 at Time Warner Cable Arena to reach the semifinals on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs (9-15 overall) will meet the Shaw University-Saint Augustine's College winner at 1 p.m.

For most of the game, the contest was intense. Neither team gave an inch as lead switched back and forth. The seven-point final margin was the largest lead of the game. The lead changed 17 times and the score was tied 14 times.

The Lady Bulldogs, seeded second in the Northern Division, finally finished off the Lady Trojans (17-13) with a 10-5 run in the final 2:14 of the second overtime.



CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  -  After a pair of overtime periods, the Bowie State University women’s basketball team defeated Virginia State 72-67 in the quarterfinals of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.

Bowie will play defending conference champion Shaw on Friday, March 2, in a semifinal game at 1 p.m. Shaw defeated St. Augustine 80-73 Wednesday in another quarterfinal matchup. Chowan will play Johnson C. Smith at 3 p.m. Friday in the other semifinal.

Neither Bowie (9-15) or Virginia State (17-13) could pull away in what was a tight battle from start to finish.

The Trojans held the biggest lead during regulation when they took a five-point, 8-3 advantage early in the first half. But Bowie quickly wiped that advantage out with a jumper by Kim Jones (10 points) and a three-pointer from Baynard Cortney (four points) to tie the score 8-8.

READ MORE 

TSU's Covington and Thornton Pick Up OVC Honors


NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State University's Robert Covington and Kellen Thornton garnered Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball All-Conference accolades as announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.

Covington, a junior forward from Bellwood, Ill., was a first team All-OVC selection, while Chicago native Kellen Thornton earned All-Newcomer status.

Covington showed his all-around game by ranking in the Top-10 in seven different OVC stat categories. The junior ranked second in the OVC in rebounding (8.1/game), third in scoring (18.1/game), third in 3-point percentage (45.0%), fourth in blocks (1.3/game), fifth in steals (1.6/game), sixth in field goal percentage (52.6%) and eighth in 3-pointers made (2.0/game). Covington also led the OVC with nine double-doubles in 30 total games and helped Tennessee State to its first winning season since 1995-96.

He was named OVC Player of the Week twice during the season, including on Feb. 13 after helping the Tigers to a victory at No. 7 Murray State in which he scored 17 points and had eight rebounds including hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the contest. That game was the only blemish an opponent put on Murray State record during the regular season.

A year ago, Covington earned second team All-OVC honors. He also earned All-Newcomer status as a freshman. Prior to the regular season, Covington was a preseason All-OVC selection.

In his first year on the court for the Tigers, Thornton came off the bench to average 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. The Illinois State transfer garnered Newcomer of the Week honors on three occasions this season. He averaged a double-double, notching a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Murray State last Thursday.

With one more victory the Tigers will reach the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 1978-79 season. TSU is the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament - the first since the 1995-96 season.

Tennessee State will play in the OVC Tournament semifinal on Friday, March 2. The Tigers will face either No. 3 Morehead State, No. 6 Austin Peay or No. 7 Jacksonville State. Friday's tip time is at 8 p.m. ESPN carries the semifinal round as Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla call the action.

Robert Covington and Kellen Thornton
Courtesy: Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Robert Covington, Tennessee State
Kevin Murphy, Tennessee Tech
Donte Poole, Murray State
Jud Dillard, Tennessee Tech

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Jaron Jones, Eastern Kentucky
Tyler Stone, Southeast Missouri
John Fraley, Austin Peay
Jeremy Granger, Eastern Illinois
Ivan Aska, Murray State
Mark Yelovich, SIUE

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Tyler Stone, Southeast Missouri
Myles Taylor, UT Martin
Mike DiNunno, Eastern Kentucky
Kellen Thornton, Tennessee State
Jerome Jones, SIUE

OVC Player of the Year: Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Jewuan Long, Murray State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Myles Taylor, UT Martin
OVC Coach of the Year: Steve Prohm, Murray State

OVC Men's Basketball Release

COURTESY: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
VISIT: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
VISIT: TSUTIGERS.COM

Lady Tigers fall to EKU in first round of OVC tournament

Nashville, Tennessee --- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team fell to Eastern Kentucky, 70-55, in the first round of the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Wednesday afternoon in the Municipal Auditorium.

Tennessee State finishes the season with an overall record of 9-20.

Jasmin Shuler was the only Lady Tiger to score in double-digits. She finished the game with 13 points while Simone Hopes and Rachel Allen each scored nine points. Kim Haynes registered a team-best nine rebounds.

Raechele Gray and Jade Barber led EKU with 16 points while Alex Jones added 15. Marie Carpenter notched 11.

At the first media timeout, TSU was trailing EKU, 7-4. Out of the break buckets by Chelsea Hudson and Kim Haynes gave the Lady Tigers an, 8-7 lead. 

At the 10:23 mark, TSU went on top 12-7 following a lay-up by Rachel Allen but six straight points from Jade Barber gave the lead right back to EKU, 13-12. The Lady Colonels moved ahead, 16-12, after nailing a triple from the corner and later stretched their advantage to double-digits.

TSU pulled within four before going into the halftime break trailing, 26-20.

In the second stanza, TSU was outscored 8-2 in the opening four and a half minutes and fell behind, 34-22.

The Lady Tigers saw the deficit increase to 13 before forcing a turnover and scoring a lay-up to cut the deficit down to single digits. EKU, however, scored on the next possession to go back up, 39-29.

TSU continued to fight and began to chip away at EKU's lead behind its defensive pressure.
A couple of free-throws by Jasmin Shuler chopped the EKU lead down to four before another freebie by Shuler pulled TSU within three with about five minutes left to play.

The Lady Colonels, however, answered with an 8-1 run that put them back on top by double-digits, 57-47, one minute later. TSU called a timeout in an effort to slow EKU down.

On TSU's next possession, Jasmin Shuler nailed a triple from the top of the key to make the score, 57-50.

Five consecutive free-throws by EKU gave the Lady Colonels, a 62-50, lead with 1:54 left on the clock.

The Lady Tigers were unable to forge a comeback.

COURTESY: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Scores That Matters!!

February 29, 2012

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

SIAC Tournament (2/28)
Miles College 60, Paine 53
Clark Atlanta 62, Lane 47
Albany State 57, Claflin 51
(2/29)
Benedict 60, Clark Atlanta 38
Fort Valley State 99, LeMoyne-Owen 64

OVC Tournament
Eastern Kentucky 70, Tennessee State 55

CIAA TOURNAMENT (2/28)
Virginia State 72, Livingstone 54
Saint Augustine's 49, Elizabeth City State 46
Chowan 51, Fayetteville State 50
Winston Salem State 79, Lincoln (Pa.)
(2/29)
Bowie State 72, Virginia State 67 (2OT)
Chowan 52, Virginia Union 38
Shaw 80, Saint Augustine's 73
Johnson C. Smith 75, Winston Salem State 70

MEN'S BASKETBALL

SIAC Tournament (2/28)
Claflin 73, Lane 57
Fort Valley State 86, Miles 80
(2/29)
Stillman 93, Claflin 69
Albany State 63, Kentucky State 60
Paine 63, Morehouse 60
Fort Valley State 80, Tuskegee 77

CIAA Tournament (2/28)
Livingstone 67, Chowan 52
Saint Augustine's 50, Lincoln (Pa.) 49
(2/29)
Livingstone 60, Virginia State 58
Fayetteville State 65, Saint Augustine's 53

2012 CIAA Tournament History