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One year after winning its third NCAA Div. II national title, head coach Dave Robbins' Virginia Union basketball team was right back in Saturday's championship game.

Unlike last year however, the Panthers could not get it done. They lost to Winona State (see ELITE EIGHT RECAPS), Robbins' first loss in four championship appearances to return to Richmond this year as national runners-up. They finished the season at 30-4, the identical record as in last year's title run.

But the loss didn't stop the Panthers from winning their fourth top spot in the final BCSP Top Ten ranking of black college men's basketball teams. They won their third straight CIAA Tournament title, Robbins' 14th, and their eighth South Atlantic Regional crown. Under Robbins, the Panthers are 8-0 in regional finals. It is the fourth time VUU has been selected as the BCSP's top team, adding to titles in 1996, '98 and 2005.

Finishing behind the Panthers this season is SWAC champion Southern, who won both the regular season and tournament championships under new coach Rob Spivery. The Jaguars (19-13) clinched the runner-up spot with an outstanding performance against ACC champion and NCAA Div. I Tournament top seed Duke in the first round of the Atlanta Regional in Greensboro, N.C. That 70-54 loss stamped Spivery's influence on a program that had not won a SWAC title since 1993.

Delaware State won its second straight regular season title but was upset in the finals of the conference tournament. By virtue of their regular season title, the Hornets (21-14) earned automatic entry to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) where they distinguished themselves with a road win over Northern Arizona. They lost in the second round to top seed Louisville. After finishing behind Va. Union last season, the Hornets are third this year.

While the top three teams made some noise on the national scene, the rest of the Top Ten was just outside the limelight. CIAA West Division titleist and Tourney runner-up Johnson C. Smith (23-8) is fourth. The Golden Bulls bowed out in the first round of the South Atlantic Regional. West Virginia State (27-7), who won the WVIAC Tournament and advanced to the semifinal round of the Div. II East Regional, is fifth.

SWAC regular season runner-up Grambling State (16-13) leads the second five, followed by SIAC regular season champ and South Regional participant Benedict (22-6), high-scoring CIAA W. Div. runner-up St. Augustine's (19-7), SIAC regular season runner-up and Tournament winner Stillman (21-9) and MEAC regular season runner-up Coppin State (12-18).

WOMEN
Derek Brown's Coppin State women's basketball team is less than halfway toward matching Jacques Curtis's Shaw Lady Bears' incredible 76-game win streak against CIAA competition, but the Lady Eagles have overtaken the Lady Bears in the final BCSP women's basketball rankings.

Coppin State, whose MEAC win streak is at 29 games, swept to its second straight regular season and tournament crown this season en route to a 22-9 finish. But what vaulted the Lady Eagles past the Lady Bears is somewhat of a breakthrough on the national scene.

One year after being drubbed by North Carolina in an NCAA Div. I first round tournament game, Brown's Lady Eagles gave national power Connecticut fits this year, leading for most of the first half before falling 77-54 to the Huskies in an opening round game. That performance helped Brown's troops nudge out the Lady Bears and end their four-year stranglehold on the top spot.

Shaw (29-5) continued its dominant ways in the CIAA, winning its unprecedented fourth straight tournament title and repeating as South Atlantic Regional champs. Their national championship quest again came up short, just as it did a year ago, with an Elite Eight first round loss (see ELITE EIGHT RECAPS).

Fort Valley State (28-3) was nearly as dominant in the SIAC and earns a third-place designation this year. The Lady Wildcats posted a 20-0 regular season mark before falling to Paine in the tournament finals. FVSU lost a first round heartbreaker in the South Regional. Paine (22-8), who also lost in the first round of the Regional, finished tenth.

Southern (20-11) tied with Jackson State (17-14) for the SWAC regular season title and then knocked off Alabama State for the tournament crown. The Lady Jags, unlike the men's team, had a much harder time with Duke's women in the NCAA Tournament setting a record for scoring futility in a 96-27 loss. Southern is fourth with Jackson State fifth.

Delaware State (21-9) finished behind Coppin State in both the MEAC regular season and tournament. The Lady Hornets hold down the sixth spot.

Johnson C. Smith (20-11), North Carolina Central (23-7) and Elizabeth City State (20-9), all played second fiddle to Shaw in the CIAA and hold down spots seven thru nine. JCSU finished as CIAA Tournament runner-up to Shaw, NC Central lost to the Lady Bears in the CIAA Tournament semifinals and the semifinals of the South Atlantic Regional. ECSU finished behind Shaw in the CIAA East.