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REVIEW OF CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES FROM
THE MEAC, SWAC AND
NCAA DIV. II SOUTH ATLANTIC REGION TOURNAMENTS MEAC (Men) Hampton 70, S. C. State 58
The top-seeded Hampton Pirates ran out to a ten-point halftime lead and were never headed as they knocked off the defending champion South Carolina State Bulldogs to capture their first ever Mid Eastern Athletic Conference men's tournament championship Saturday in Richmond, Va. SCSU trailed 30-20 at the half and closed at 60-52 with 4:54 left. From their Hampton senior LeSean Howard would score eight of Hampton's final ten points, including a key drive for a layup and subsequent foul shot that put the lead back at double digits, 66-54 with 1:59 left. Hampton center Tarvis Williams led the Pirates with 18 and was named the tournament's MVP, while Howard had 15 and point guard Marseilles Brown had 12 and eight assists. SCSU (19-13) was led by Vincent Whitt's 15 points, 12 from John Shivers and 11 from Andre Riviere. MEAC (Women) Howard 63, Delaware State 44
The top-seeded Howard Lady Bison (21-9) made up a three-point (26-23) halftime deficit and used a 21-2 second half run to put away the Delaware State Lady Hornets (15-15) in the MEAC women's championship game. HU Freshman Essence Coggins came to life in the second half scoring all 12 of her points, ten of them during the decisive run including a layup to tie the score at 34 and two three-pointers that started the Lady Bison on their way. Junior center Andrea Gardner led Howard with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Tournament MVP Chanell Washington had 11 and Asia Petty added 13. The Lady Hornets got 15 from Ashley Etheridge and 13 from senior Chavonne Stewart. SWAC (Men) Alabama State 64, Alcorn State 52
Alabama State earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, rallying from a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Alcorn State, 64-52, in the Southwestern Athletic Conference men's championship game. Alabama State (22-8), the regular-season champion in the SWAC, went scoreless for nearly five minutes at the start of the second half and fell behind, 41-28, with 15:25 remaining but held Alcorn State (15-15) to only 16 points in the second half. Junior guard Joey Ball led five players in double figures for Alabama State with 14 points. Keith Gamble and Tyrone Levett scored 12 apiece while center Alvin Pettway sparked the comeback getting all 10 of his points in the second half. Walter Harper and Justin Shelwood both scored 11 points for Alcorn State. SWAC (Women) Alcorn State 86, Grambling State 74
Top-seeded Alcorn State earned the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament by downing Grambling State 86-74 in the conference tourney final. Tournament MVP Cherea Wood hit 14 of 17 shots and all six of her free throws to lead the Lady Braves with 34 points. Queriston Haynes followed with 16 and Daisha Reed added 11. Wood had 11 rebounds. Chovanique Kibble hit 11 of 21 shots for 30 points to pace the Tigers. Shrieka Evans had 15 and Veronica Cobb 10. Div. II South Atlantic Regional (Men) J. C. Smith 64, Winston-Salem State 52
The rubber match between CIAA rivals Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State for a spot in the NCAA Div. II national quartefinals turned out to be a defensive slugest as the Golden Bulls prevailed by virtue of sinking 33 of 47 free throws. CIAA champion JCSU, the top seed in the region and host of the tournament, shot just 30.6% (15 of 49) while WSSU, the second seed, was nearly as bad connecting on only 31.7% of their shots. One decisive factor was the JCSU defense which forced 24 turnovers that the Bulls turned into 22 points.The game was such a defensive struggle that JCSU senior wingman Wylie Petty had no field goals but sank 13 of 15 free throws and was named the region's most vauable player. CIAA Tournament MVP guard Antoine Sims added 14 points but connected on only 5 of 15 shots. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc. |
