Unlikely winners in MEAC
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Mike Gillespie's fifth-seeded Florida A&M Rattlers (14-16) knocked off the numbers 1, 2 and 4 seeds, capping it off with a 55-51 win over second-seeded Coppin State for the men's title.
On the women's side, at least the top two seeds, No. 1
Delaware State and Hampton made into the finals, but the
second-seeded Lady Pirates (17-12) under Patricia
Cage-Bibbs took their second straight tournament title
with a 65-50 win.
By virtue of the titles, Hampton and Florida A&M received the conference's automatic bids to the respective NCAA Div. I tournaments that begin this week.
Hampton received a 16th seed in the women's East Regional and will play top-seeded Penn State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Blacksburg, Va.
Florida A&M played Lehigh Tuesday in Dayton in the play-in game for the right to play Kentucky, the top seed of the St. Louis Regional on Thursday.
Saturday's win was the culmination of a scintillating run for the Rattlers through the men's draw.
They got a 30-foot three-pointer from eventual tournament MVP Terrence Woods with eight-tenths of a second left to get past fourth-seeded Hampton 72-71 in Thursday's quaterfinal round.
They then harassed conference Player of the Year Thurman Zimmerman inside and held South Carolina State to 0 of 24 shooting from three-point range to get a 65-53 semifinal win over the top-seeded Bulldogs in Friday's semis.
The final game was a chess match between Gillespie and veteran Coppin State head coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell, who played both the semifinals and finals without freshman swingman Kelvin Green (11.7 ppg.), who sat out for religious reasons.
FAMU point guard Tony Tate had his season high, 20 points that included five three-pointers, and the Rattlers' pressure defense forced Coppin State (18-14) into five of 20 shooting and just 19 points in the second half after the Eagles led 32-28 at the break. Woods had 13 and Demarcus Wilkins 10 for the Rattlers. Coppin State was led by 12 points from Nicholas King and 10 from Jimmy Boykin.
"That's what's so funny about this game," said Gillespie. "We came within seven seconds (in the quarterfinals) of not even participating. We were given a break and we took advantage of the break we got. We came back and beat a very good South Carolina State team and we beat a very good Coppin State team. It isn't like we backed into this thing. We earned this championship."
The Lady Pirates' stifling half-court trapping defense disrupted the DelState offense and forced 26 Lady Hornet turnovers en route to their near-blowout win.
Down 30-20 at the break, the Lady Hornets began the second half on a 11-2 run to cut the lead to one at 32-31 and force a Hampton timeout.
The Lady Prates responded with a 23-1 run of their own fueled by their defense that completely frustrated DelState. MEAC Player of the Year Mandy Clark and head coach Ed Davis drew second half technicals, the second during the run that put Hampton up 54-33 with seven minutes left and all but put the game away.
Nicole Braithwaite led the Lady Pirates with 17 points and was named the tournament's outstanding player. Kiesha Beard had 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Brendy Ellis added 13. Clark's 16 points led the Lady Hornets (21-9) while Najmah Fauntleroy had 12 and Terrelle Waller 11.
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.