CIAA basketball tournament roundup: Lincoln’s Korey Williams scores 2,000th point in win; Johnson C. Smith women upset top seed Fayetteville State
With a 20-point lead late in the second half Wednesday, Lincoln men’s basketball coach Jason Armstrong left star Korey Williams in the game along with several other starters.
The reason became clear with 2:46 remaining when Williams made a layup and celebrated with his teammates for scoring the 2,000th point of his career. The senior guard finished with 14 points, seven of which came in the final minutes, to help lead No. 6 seed Lincoln to an 82-50 win over No. 11 Johnson C. Smith in the first round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament at CFG Bank Arena.
“I’ve known Korey since he was a freshman in [high school],” Armstrong said, noting that he and Williams both graduated from LaSalle Academy in New York City. “To see him come from then to the man he’s become now is a true testament of the work that he’s put in. To be a part and to coach him to 2,000, it’s a great feeling, and I’m happy for him. He deserves it.”
“It was cool. That wasn’t the main focus, it just happened,” said Williams, who was named an All-CIAA guard on Monday after scoring 17.2 points per game and being one of the conference’s top 3-point shooters and free throw generators. “When you have a good team and the team helps you and everybody wants you to succeed, it came easy.”
For much of the game, however, it was Williams’ teammates who carried the load. Bakir Cleveland, who shot just 22.5% from behind the arc this season, went 3-for-4 from deep — his first time making three triples in a game.
Guards Reggie Hudson and Freddie Young Jr. also scored in double figures for the Lions from Oxford, Pennsylvania, combining for 23 points and 12 assists. Johnson C. Smith center Augustine Ominu led all players with 17 points, while freshman All-CIAA guard Ezekiel Cannedy scored seven points on 2 of 9 shooting.
Johnson C. Smith (9-17) got out to an early 9-6 lead, but Lincoln (15-14) quickly responded with a 14-0 run that was bookended by a layup and 3-pointer from Cleveland. The Lions didn’t let up the rest of the game, as the Golden Bulls from Charlotte, North Carolina, never got within eight points before Lincoln pulled away in the final 10 minutes.
Lincoln will play No. 3 Virginia State (17-10) in the quarterfinals Thursday at 6 p.m.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer
No. 6 Lincoln 82, No. 11 Johnson C. Smith 50
L — Cleveland 15, Williams 14, Hudson 13, Young 10, Roberson 9, Coates-Sinues 7, Garita 6, Sorber 4, Hopkinson 4.
JCS — Ominu 17, Floyd 10, Patterson 9, Cannedy 7, Roberson 3, Boykin 2, Bates 1, Sherrill 1.
Halftime: 36-25, L.
Winston-Salem State men cruise to 65-49 win over Saint Augustine’s
The cliche that it’s difficult to beat a team three times in a season didn’t apply to Winston-Salem State on Wednesday.
After defeating No. 12 Saint Augustine’s twice during the regular season, the fifth-seeded Rams took care of business in the first round of the CIAA Tournament with a 65-49 win over the Falcons. Winston-Salem State never trailed, taking an early lead and extending it to double digits before halftime.
“We had an idea of what they wanted to do in their personnel, and I thought the first half showed that,” Hill said. “We came out and we were active. We rebounded the ball pretty well, and we contested a lot of shots.”
The Rams beat Saint Augustine’s (8-18) by 20 in January but nearly lost to the Falcons earlier this month, eking out a two-point win in overtime.
“This is the CIAA. I just don’t think that has any effect,” Hill said about playing Saint Augustine’s a third time. “These teams come out and play hard every night, and each coach knows that it’s a new season. It’s 0-0 when you come into the tournament.”
The Rams from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sport a four-headed offense with Jaylen Alston, Samage Teel, Isaac Parson and Jaylon Gibson all averaging between 10.7 and 13.1 points per game. While Teel didn’t attempt a shot and played just 17 minutes, the other three combined for 39 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Alston led all scorers with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Parson tallied 12 points and a game-high seven assists. Gibson, who was named an All-CIAA forward on Monday, chipped in 11, and Nathan Springs scored 12 off the bench.
Chance Jamison (14 points, four rebounds) and Nemo Johnson (13 points, nine rebounds) paced the Falcons, while Baltimore natives Kaleb Glasper and Kyshon Tate chipped in five and three points, respectively.
Winston-Salem State (18-8) held the Falcons from Raleigh, North Carolina, to 17.9% shooting in the first half, taking a 30-15 lead into halftime. Saint Augustine’s scored the first six points of the second half to cut its deficit to nine, but the Rams bounced back with an 8-0 run and then went up 20 with about 10 minutes remaining. The Falcons’ offense came alive late, but Alston’s and-one layup with 3:17 remaining sealed the win.
Alston is one of three Rams who were on the Winston-Salem State squad that won the 2020 CIAA Tournament.
“The experience of being on a championship team definitely gave me a little bit of an idea of how it would be coming into the tournament,” Alston said. “So it definitely gave me a great feel and allowed me to show my teammates and talk to them about how important these games are.”
Winston-Salem State will play No. 4 Claflin (19-6) in the quarterfinals Thursday at 8 p.m.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer
No. 5 Winston-Salem State 65, No. 12 St. Augustine’s 49
WS — Alston 16, Parson 12, Springs 12, Gibson 11, Hicklin 5, Wilkins 4, Bland 3, McLeod 1, Shaw 1.
SA — Jamison 14, N. Johnson 13, Wingard 8, Glasper 5, J. Johnson 3, Tate 3, Richard 2, Jones 1.
Halftime: 30-15, WS.
Johnson C. Smith women upset top-seeded Fayetteville State, 62-54
Despite losing to Fayetteville State twice during the regular season, Shaniya Jones and the rest of her Johnson C. Smith women’s basketball teammates were confident going into their third meeting against the Broncos.
The Golden Bulls played aggressively and controlled most of the game as Fayetteville State struggled to make shots.
Jones took over the game and scored 27 points, leading the eighth-seeded Golden Bulls past the No. 1 Broncos, 62-54, in the first quarterfinal of the CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena on Wednesday.
Johnson C. Smith plays the winner of No. 5 Elizabeth City and No. 4 Bowie State in the semifinals Friday.
“I just think we struggled a little bit playing against them in the regular season,” said Jones, who led the league in scoring (16.4 points per game) and 3-pointers made (53). “I think we coming into the tournament, we just decided to lock in and figure out what our weaknesses were during the regular season and try to capitalize.”
Le’Zarea Bowens had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Johnson C. Smith, which shot 17 of 29 from the free-throw line.
Fayetteville State junior guard Aniylah Bryant, who was named to the All-CIAA Team on Monday, finished with nine points, while Imani Elliott scored 13.
However, the Broncos shot just 28.1% (16 of 57) from the field and lost the rebound battle, 46-30.
“The adjustment we were trying to make was to get to the basket but they were collapsing in the middle and we wanted to kick it out,” Fayetteville State coach Serena King-Coleman said. “We never kicked it out to take a different kind of shot. They were packing it in the paint and kept their taller post players there.”
Fayetteville State (18-7) earned the top seed after finishing 14-2 in the conference.
The Broncos opened the fourth quarter with eight consecutive points and a 3-pointer by Rasheka Simmons to take a 52-45 lead with 4:46 remaining. However, Johnson C. Smith fought back and Jones made a three that tied the game at 52 with 3:04 left.
A layup by Bowens and a pair of free throws by Alexis Daley-Ellis boosted the Golden Bulls’ lead to 56-52 with less than a minute remaining. Elliott could not convert on the other end and Johnson C. Smith put the game away from the free-throw line.
Fayetteville State freshman Talia Trotter (Marriotts Ridge) had nine points.
The Golden Bulls controlled most of the first half and led 30-29 at the break. Fayetteville State shot just 35.3% (6 of 17) but was 15 of 17 from the free-throw line in the opening two quarters.
“Today was another team-effort win for us, another get-back game because we lost to Fayetteville twice this season,” Johnson C. Smith coach Dante Travis said. “We were looking forward to this game. This tournament is the new season.”
— Todd Karpovich, For The Baltimore Sun
No. 8 Johnson C. Smith 62, No. 1 Fayetteville State 54
JCSU — Jones 27, Bowens 14, Bagley 8, Reid 4, Daley-Ellis 4, Lane 3, Howard 2.
FSU — Elliott 13, Bryant 9, Trotter 9, McLaughlin 8, Miles 6, Simmons 4, Graham 3, Thompson 2.
Halftime: 30-29, JCSU.
