LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
Hoops tournament season is in full swing with four involving black college teams going at it this week.
The CIAA had the stage to itself last week as it crowned its champions in Baltimore Saturday. The top two seeds on both the men’s and women’s sides made it to the championship games. The top- seeded men of Fayetteville State came out with the second championship in school history with a win over second-seed Virginia Union while top-seed Lincoln (Pa.) cut down the nets for the first time in a win over second-seed Elizabeth City State in the women’s tournament.
SIAC Tourney
The first to tip off this week was the SIAC Tournament in Rock Hill, S. C. that began play on Monday.
The top seeds for the men and women will get into action in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s quarterfi- nal rounds.
The men’s top seeds, Miles (23-3, 17-1) and Morehouse (20-6, 15-2) will play on Wednesday at 2:15 and 7 p.m. Benedict is the second seed on both the men’s (20-6, 14-3) and women’s (20-7, 12- 3) brackets and will see action on Thursday at 4:45 and 7 p.m.
The SIAC named its top men’s and women’s players over the weekend.
Benedict senior Tahj Green took home the men’s player of the year award. Green averaged 14.4 points (7th) and 8.1 rebounds (4th) to help the Tigers post a 20-6 overall mark and 14-3 conference record.
Ashiala Jackson of Tuskegee won the women’s top award. Jackson topped the SIAC scorers at 20.4 points per game and was the third best rebounder at 10.4 per game. The Lady Tigers finished 21-4 over- all, 14-3 in the SIAC.
Big South Tournament
Tuesday at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, the 7th-seeded Hampton women (12-15, 8-9) took on 10-seed Radford (7-22, 3-15) at 6 p.m. The NC A&T women (14-14, 11-7) are seeded sixth and met 11th-seeded UNC Asheville (8-21, 3-15) in a first round game at 8 p.m.
Campbell, Longwood, USC-Upstate and High Point are the top four women’s seeds and received byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals.
On Wednesday in Charlotte, the 9th-seeded men of NC A&T men (6-10, 11-19) took on 8th-seed Radford (11-17, 7-9) to open the tournament at 11:30 a.m. The Hampton men (9-18, 5-11) are seeded 10th and faced 7th-seed High Point (13-17, 7-9) at 6 p.m.
Longwood, Winthrop, Gardner-Webb and USC- Upstate are the top four men’s seeds that have a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
OVC Tournament
The Tennessee State women (11-18, 6-1) are seeded eighth and met 5th-seed E. Illinois (5-26, 3-15) on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Tennessee State men (13-17, 8-10 OVC) are seeded fifth and faced 8th-seed SIU-Edwardsville (11-20, 5-13) Wednesday at 6:30 pm in Evans- ville.
Murray State with a perfect 18-0 OVC mark is the men’s top seed. Belmont (16-2) is the top women’s seed.
Mountain East Tournament
West Virginia State (17-10, 13-9) began play in the women’s Mountain East Conference tournament on Wednesday as the 7th-seeded Yellow Jackets took on 10th-seed Davis & Elkins (8-19, 5-17) at noon.
The WVSU men (23-6, 18-4) are the second seed and play Friday at noon in the quarterfinals vs. the Alderson-Broaddus/Davis & Elkins winner.
West Liberty (20-2) is the top men’s seed. Glenville State (22-0) is the top seed for the women.
MEAC
There’s just one short week of work before next week’s MEAC Tournament at the Norfolk, Va. Scope Arena. The Tournament will run from Wednesday, March 9 through Saturday, March 12.
Headed into this final week, Norfolk State (20- 6, 11-2) has clinched the top seed on the men’s side. The Spartans close out with a date Thursday hosting second-place Howard.
The Bison (16-11, 9-4) have moved past N. C. Central (14-14, 7-5) into second place. Howard got big home wins this week over NC Central Saturday 77-67 and came back Monday to knock off S. C. State (72-62).
On the women’s side, Howard (11-2) has a slim one-game lead over Morgan State and Norfolk State, both 10-3 headed into the final showdowns this Thursday. Howard is at Norfolk State and Morgan
State plays at cross-town Baltimore rival Coppin State.
SWAC
The SWAC has remaining dates on Thursday and Saturday before its tournament begins in Birmingham’s downtown Bartow Arena on March 9.
Alcorn State (12-4) got big road wins over Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M to seize the top spot on the men’s side. Alcorn closes at home Thursday with Miss. Valley State (7-22) and at home Saturday with Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-24), teams at the bottom of the conference standings.
Jackson State (16-0) is cruising along atop the women’s race. The Lady Tigers host UAPB on Thursday and MVSU on Saturday to close out the regular season with an unblemished record in SWAC play.