LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
Play began Tuesday and will culminate Saturday with men’s and women’s championship games in MEAC Basketball Tournaments in Norfolk, Virginia and SWAC Basketball Tournaments in Birmingham, Alabama. Berths into the NCAA Div. I men’s and women’s tournaments will go to the winners.
MEAC
Three-time defending men’s tournament champion North Carolina Central got a big 86-80 win over rival North Carolina A&T Thursday in a showdown for the regular season title and top seed for this year’s tourney.
NCCU and head coach Levelle Moton are looking to be the first program to win four straight MEAC tournament titles since North Carolina A&T, under the late Don Corbett, was in the midst of winning seven straight tournament crowns from 1982-88.
Photo courtesy of wralsportsfan.com
NCCU is led by senior forward Jibri Blount who was named this week’s the league’s player of the year. Blount topped the scoring charts for most of the season and finished at 19.3 points per game, a slightly behind Delaware State guard John Crosby’s 19.4 ppg. Blount also finished third in rebounding (9.4 rpg.), third in field goal percentage (.532) and first in steals (2.2 pg.).
N. C. A&T had two first-teamers in junior point guard Kameron Langley (9.7 ppg., 7.7 apg.) and senior power forward Ronald Jackson (14.7 ppg., 10.3 rpg., .540 FG%).
The Eagles (17-13, 13-3 MEAC) and Aggies (16-15, 12-4) are seeded first and second respectively and opened play Wednesday in 6 and 8 p.m. quarterfinal games versus winners of Tuesday’s opening round games. On the women’s side, 23-5 Bethune-Cookman – the defending tour nament champion – is the top seed by virtue of its 15-1 conference record. Norfolk State (18-11, 12-4) is seeded second.
The Lady Wildcats had three players named to all-MEAC teams led by a firstteamer in junior forward Amaya Scott (13.1 ppg., 6.3 rpg.). Graduate senior Ashanti Hunt (8.0 ppg.) was named to the second team and junior guard Daniella Hatcher (11.7 ppg.) made the third team. MEAC scoring leader Chanette Hicks (20.1 ppg.) of Norfolk State was named the player of the year. The senior also led the league in assists (4.9 pg.) and steals (4.8 pg.). Teammate La’Deja James (14.1 ppg.) was named to the second team.
Photo courtesy of Norfolk State University
B-CU and NSU hosted quarterfinal games Wednesday at 12 noon and 2 p.m. vs. winners of Tuesday’s opening round games.
Teams seeded third through sixth face off Thursday in the other quarterfinal women’s (12 and 2 p.m.) and men’s (6 and 8 p.m.) match ups. Women’s semifinals are at 12 and 2 p.m. Friday with men’s semis to follow at 6 and 8 p.m.
Saturday’s title games have the men playing first at 1 p.m. followed by the ladies at 3:30 p.m.
SWAC
The Prairie View A&M men (18-13, 14-4 SWAC) and Jackson State women (18-10, 16-2) are top seeds for the SWAC Tournaments. They and seeds 2, 3 and 4 hosted quarterfinal games Tuesday.
Prairie View and head coach Byron Smith are looking to go back-toback with tournament titles. The Panthers knocked off Texas Southern 92-86 in last year’s title game.
Southern, under second-year head coach Sean Woods, comes in as the hottest team and the third seed after winning its last seven games to close out the season including wins over Prairie View and 2nd-seed Texas Southern in its final two games.
JSU narrowly lost to Southern (45-41) in last year’s women’s championship game. Second-year head coach Tomekia Reed, after a dominant 16-2 conference season, is looking to get the Lady Tigers back into the championship circle. TSU is seeded second and Southern third.
Tuesday’s winners will advance to Birmingham for semifinals and finals play on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14.
INDEPENDENTS
The Hampton women (18-11, 14-6) finished in a tie for third place with High Point in the Big South regular season and will open the women’s tournament this week as the fourth seed.
They will face fifth-seed Gardner-Webb Thursday at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N. C. at 8 p.m. The Lady Pirates split with G-WU in the regular season.