CIAA tips off Tournament season
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Upsets marked early round games as the CIAA tipped off its tournament and the basketball tournament season Monday with women's play at Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte, N. C.
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Over 100,000 spectators are expected to come to North Carolina's Queen City for the ultra-successful week-long affair which mixes the excitement of black college basketball with a full menu of things to do and places to be.
That package of activities has been enhanced this year as the
conference celebrates its 63rd Men's and 33rd Women's Tournaments.
Virginia Union and Virginia
State, seeded tenth and ninth respectively at the bottom of
the women's bracket, got things going Monday with wins over
higher-seeds Elizabeth City State and Livingstone
to advance to Tuesday's quarterfinal round.
The Shaw (18-11, 15-3) Lady Bears of head coach Jacques Curtis are at the top of the women's bracket but should have plenty of competition as they try to win their fifth tournament crown in the last six years.
Schedule of Events |
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Thurs., Feb. 28
Career ExpoCIAA Old School Party CIAA Ford Fan Experience Black Magic Film Premier Fri., Feb. 29
Steve Harvey Morning ShowJMI Telecom CIAA Inv'l Golf Tournament CIAA Ford Fan Experience CIAA McDonald's Step Show CIAA & NASA Education Workshop Sat., March 1
McDonald's Superstar SaturdayLeRoy Walker 5K Fun/Walk A Thon/UNCF CIAA Fashion Show presented by EBONY CIAA Ford Fan Experience CIAA & NASA Education Workshop CIAA Post Tournament Party Sun., March 2
Gospel Explosion |
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Two teams, second seed Bowie State (21-5, 14-4) and third-seed Johnson C. Smith (18-8, 14-4), finished a game behind Shaw, followed closely by St. Augustine's (18-9, 13-5) and Fayetteville State (16-11, 12-6).
On Wednesday, men's play begins with two opening round evening games. On Thursday, men's top-seed Virginia Union (21-6, 14-4) takes the court against the winner of Wednesday's opening round (7 p.m.) matchup of Virginia State and St. Paul's.
After a 13-game win streak, defending men's tournament champion Elizabeth City State (20-6, 13-5) dropped its final two regular season games (to VUU and Bowie State) to fall out of first place and into a second-place tie with BSU. The Vikings then lost Sunday's coin-flip and will enter the tournament seeded behind VUU and BSU. ECSU opens tournament play Thursday at 1 p.m. vs. fifth-seed Fayetteville State.
Both men's and women's teams are playing for the league's automatic berth into the South Atlantic Regionals that goes to the tournament champion. Live scores and statistics of all tournament games are available on the CIAA website (theciaa.com) and the men's tournament quarters, semis and championship and the women's championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN Classic.
Off the court, the CIAA has its usual plethora of activity with its hub at the downtown Charlotte Convention Center. Floor space of 150,000 square feet will accommodate the "CIAA Fan Experience," which begins with Thursday afternoon's (2 p.m.) Career Expo and ends Sunday morning (11 a.m.) with a Gospel Explosion, all free and open to the public.
The Convention Center will host concerts with Old School (Philly Intruders, Bloodstone, CeCe Winans, John P. Kee), New School (Faboulous, Rick Ross, BowWow, Omarion) and spoken word recording artists, comedians, talent and cooking shows, the Steve Harvey Morning Show on Friday morning and a host of corporate and consumer booths with gifts and prizes for visitors and competitors.
In addition to a packed line-up at the CCC, this year the newly named "Superstar Saturday" will feature a (12:30 p.m.) high school game at Bobcats Arena between prep super squads Oak Hill (31-4) and Montrose Christian (see BCSP Notes). The Arena will also host a Cheerleading Exhibition, a Battle of the Bands, the Miss CIAA crowning and a Slam Dunk Contest.
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