MEAC TOURNAMEI
North Carol
By ROBERT ELLER
Staff Writer
Eric Boyd didn't blow out the
candles on his birthday cake March 3.
The 6-4 junior guard was too busy turning
out the lights on Howard Univer
sity in the finals of the MEAC basketball
tournament.
For his efforts, the Charlotte, N.C.,
native picked up the same three
presents he received last season while
celebrating his 21st birthday on the
same Greensboro Coliseum floor.
The first two came in a package that
included his third straight MEAC
tourney title and another shot at the
NCAA tournament after disappointing
showings the past two seasons. The
third was his second straight Most
Valuable Player award in the event.
"This is the second straight year
we've won the MEAC tournament and
I've gotten the MVP award on my birthday,"
said Boyd, grinning as his
mother planted a congratulatory kiss
on his cheek. "I always seem to play
well in the tournament and 1 like to
play Howard because they are so
cocky. They always talk a lot and are
sure thev can beat us.'*
The Bison looked neither cocky nor
sure in the early going of the championship
contest. They managed to
lead 2-1 when Kevin Scott drilled a
baseline jumper after a Jimmy Brown
free throw only four seconds into the
game.
From there, however, the Aggies
took charge, rolling to a 19-9 advantage
less than eight minutes into the
game as the crowd of 4,085 mostly
A&T supporters roared its approval.
The Aggies held a 21-11 lead before
Scott, a 6-5 senior who led all scorers
with 21 points, personally outscored
A&T 8-2 over the next two minutes.
it fL r i i i tt'ii i
wnen rresnman guara rrea miii dropped
one in from the key, the Bison had
narrowed the Aggie lead to 23-21 at the
8:07 mark.
A&T gradually built the lead back to
10 with a little more than three minutes
left, scoring four straight transition
baskets in less than a two-minute span.
But Scott's rebound basket eight
seconds before the horn cut the Aggies'
halftime lead to 35-28.
Howard, seeded second in the event
with a 7-3 league record that included
the Aggies' only conference loss of the
XiieHlsiPmrwETltd flttTg rirgr
five points to again pull to within a
baskets
A&T roared back to go up by nine at
the 15:18 mark. But A.B. Williamson's
squad, despite starting three freshmen,
hung tough. The Bison cut the Aggie
lead to three on three occasions, and
got to within a point (59-58) with four
minutes left.
Three-time MEAC Player of the
Year Joe Binion, who was held to 11
points, but had a game-high 12 rebounds,
missed the front end of a one
ina A&T, Boy
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The South Carolina State women's he
La trice Wallace, whose missed layup
the MEAC tournament title (photo b\
and-one with 3:35 left. Howard had a
chance to take the lead five seconds
later but Hill also failed to convert
tar ?
Aggie Coach Don Corbett, who obviously
didn't want to lose what was
left of his lead, then went to a spread
offense and his team knocked in five of
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cigiu iicv uiiuws wiiiic nuwciru missed
three times from the field as the clock
ticked away the final moments of the
65-58 Aggie win. i
Corbett, whose team had drawn a
first-round bye as the regular-season i
champ and advanced to the finals with
a 70-62 win over Delaware State, said
his third consecutive tourney title was
\4 I 4 4 1 II4t S
d Celebrat<
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artbreaking 62-61 loss to Bethune-i
with 18 seconds left in overtime co
i Brian Branch-Price).
special.
"This one is special because of the
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$fay?rjT*e ISSlTasfseasoru jrobddyiar^;
ticipated us having this type of season,
not even myself. But this group has
worked hard. This may not be my most
talented group, but they sure as hell are
the best team 1 have had."
For Williamson, the Howard mentor
who may have performed his best
coaching job in coaxing a winning
season out of his very young Bison, the
ending was not a happy one. And
Williamson wasn't in the mood to
reflect on either the game or the season
after suffering his third straight tour
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I
bookman was just that to sophomore
uld have given her team the lead and
nament final loss to the Aggies.
"I don't want to talk about it (the
game). I have no comment,'Mie said en
.route ar4 ~k*<&3?-oom
following the post-game awards
ceremonies
Howard, which ended the season at
15-14, had also drawn a bye in the first
round since Florida A&M was ineligible
to participate because of disciplinary
measures taken against the school by
league Commissioner Ken Free. In the
semifinals, the Bison had easily whipped
South Carolina State, 73-59.
In first-round action, Delaware State
topped Maryland-Eastern Shore 67-52,
while South Carolina State advanced
mmSSSmmmSSS^SSSSSm March. 1984-Page 9