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UNDER THE BANNER What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
TOURNEY FINALS RECAPSCIAA (Men)Shaw 82, J. C. Smith 68  A
record crowd of 20,432 in Raleigh (NC) watched Shaw (25-4) use all
its weapons a brilliant floor game by CIAA Player of the Year Ronald
Murray (12 points, eight assists), a dominant inside performance by
six-nine forward Kenyon Booker (8 points, 16 rebounds) and an awesome
shooting display by guard Gerald "JR" Raymond (27 points,
seven-of-11 3-pointers) to dethrone defending champion Johnson
C. Smith (22-7) and earn its first CIAA title ever. Second-year coach
Joel Hopkins's hometown Bears built a 43-21 first half lead and held
on down the stretch. Last year's tournament MVP, Antoine Sims of
JCSU, struggled through a 4 for 14 shooting night and finished with just
10 points. Murray was named the tourney's MVP. CIAA (Women)  Virginia
St. 64, Winston-Salem St.57 Underdog Virginia State (20-9) held Winston-Salem State (16-13) to 29.2% (21 of 72) shooting and placed four players in double-figures to earn its first CIAA tournament title since 1990. Fifth-year coach Peggy Davis's VSU squad got 16 points and 12 rebounds from tourney MVP Becky McKee, 16 points from Tommia Bess, 14 from Alona Marble and 10 from Rolynda Contee while WSSU's Monique Kirkland was the only Lady Ram to reach double digits with 17. VSU led 51-37 in the second half before Kirkland fueled an 18-8 run to get WSSU within 59-55 with 1:16 left. But the Trojanettes sank five of eight free throws in the final minute to preserve the win. WSSU, who finished third in the West Division, upset W. Div. champ N. C. Central in the semifinals. SIAC (Men) Paine 52, Morehouse 49 Second-seeded Paine (17-12) survived a nip-and-tuck battle with top-seeded Morehouse (20-9) to take the SIAC championship in Birmingham. The Lions, who led for nearly the entire game, went down 49-48 with 2:14 left before heroics from Colin Jamerson and Amos Brittain bailed them out. Jamerson's follow of a missed free throw by tourney MVP Yari Scott (18 points) put Paine back on top 50-49 and Brittain first blocked a shot and then forced Morehouse's Darius Goodwin into a miss from close range. Jamerson converted two free throws for the final margin. SIAC (Women) Fort Valley St. 110, Tuskegee 106, 2 OT A roller coaster of emotions was on display as second seed Fort Valley State (24-6) needed two overtimes to knock off top seed Tuskegee (17-11) in the women's SIAC title game. FVSU made up a 50-33 halftime deficit and then needed a buzzer-beater from Crystal Hill to send the game into overtime tied at 84. The Lady Wildcats thought they had won the game in the first overtime on Joi Jones' 14-footer with 7.5 seconds left and a travelling call on TU's Martina McCloud with 5.4 to play. But LaQuanda Nichols stole the inbounds pass and laid the ball in at the overtime buzzer. The officials first waved off the basket then conferred before allowing it and sending the game to a second OT with the scored knotted at 98. April Love's layup started FVSU in the second OT and never trailed again. Maria Wills had 40 in the final game to win tourney MVP honors. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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