The Choice for African-American Win
. The Chronicle __
Sports Week. _
?^ ' ? - ' ^ ^ * march 7 , 2002
Lady Rams a win
short in bid for first
CIAA tourney title
BY SAM DAVIS
RALEIGH - Monique
Kirkland supplied the fuel for
a Winston-Salem State come
back, hitting three 3-pointers
in the final 2:16, but it was tooC
little, too late for the Lady
Rams, who lost to Virginia
State in the championship
game of the CI AA Tournament
last Saturday night in the
Entertainment and Sports
Arena in Raleigh.
The Lady Rams, who were
picked to finish next to last in
the regular season, pulled off a
major upset on Friday night to
get into the championship
game. WSSU defeated N.C.
Central 65-53 to earn the berth
in the title game. However.
WSSU ran out of steam in its
bid to capture its first-ever
tournament championship.
The Lady Rams had not been
in the championship game
since 1985.
WSSU started out strong
and led for much of the first
half behind the play of Kame
See Lady Rams on B3
Monique Kirkland gave Winston-Salem State a lift off the
bench, but the Lady Rams came up short in their attempt to
capture the CIAA Tournament for the first time.
Lori Shelby goes past a Virginia State defender in Winston
Salem State University's loss to the Trojans in the CIAA Tour
nament championship game.
Davis, former
Deacon, settles
into his new job
BY SAM DAVIS
RALEIGH - It's taken some getting used to
hut Charlie Davis is finally beginning to feel com
fortable in his role as the athletic director at
Bowie State.
Since taking over the program the Bulldogs
have experienced a resurgence in their football
and basketball programs. The men's team fin
ished in second place in the CIAA's Eastern Divi
sion and established school records by winning 20
games and advancing to the semifinals of the
CIAA Basketball Tournament.
Davis said those accomplishmeVits are just a
taste of things to come.
"Certainly the thing that we want to do is to be
among the best in the conference in every sport
that we field." Davis said. "To do that the admin
istration must make a strong commitment to hav
ing a successful program."
The first step in that process was upgrading
the men's basketball coach's position from part
time status to full-time. Davis did that in one of
his first major moves after coming aboard the
program.
Since then he's tried to settle into his role at
Bowie. It was tough at first because Winston
Salem is the place that Davis had called home for
so long. A native of New York City. Davis first
came south in 1967 to attend Laurinburg Institute.
The following year he was at Wake Forest, where
he played basketball for the Demon Deacons from
1968-71.
At Wake. Davis established himself as one of
the program's most revered players after being
named an All-ACC first-team performer in each
of his three years. He set a host of records at Wake
Forest, six of which he still holds. In 1971 he
became the first African-American player in the
conference's history to be named the ACC Player
of the Year.
Davis was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers
and finished his NBA career with the Portland
See Davis on B2
. . ?? a
Russell English (left) and Devonaire Deas try to hold off Steve Bynes in the semifinal round
of the CIAA Basketball Tournament. WSSU's inside game was no match for the Bears.
Talent still abundant
in CIAA, says Jones,
former NBA star
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
RALEIGH - Times sure have changed since
Sam Jones played in the CIAA Basketball Tour
nament. Jones, who played at North Carolina
College (now N.C. Central), went on to stardom
in the NBA with the Boston Celtics.
But it was at NCCU where he honed his skills
to make it to the NBA. As an Eagle. Jones helped
the school to its finest days in basketball. Jones
also developed his patented bank shot that helped
him become a fixture in the Celtics' lineup as the
team captured NBA titles and helped Jones earn
a spot in the NBA Hall of Fame.
Jones was one of many CIAA graduates who
attended this year's tournament. While in
Raleigh, Jones was asked by Phil Spence
(NCCU's basketball coach) to give the Eagles a
pep talk before their battle against Shaw Univer
sity on Friday night.
Photos courtesy of www.hoophall.com
Sam Jones played his college basketball at
NCCU and went on to become a Hall of
Fame inductee after an illustrious career
with the Celtics.
See Jones on B2
Winning regional would
make up for Rams' loss
From The Press Box
^ Sam Davis
RALEIGH - Winston-Salem State's sen
iors have already come short of one of their
goals for this season. But they hope to earn
three victories this week to help them make
amends. The Rams dropped an 80-65 decision
to Shaw University in the semifinals of the
CIAA Tournament on Friday night at the
Entertainment & Sports Arena, which ended
their hopes of capturing another CIAA Tour
nament title.
However, the Rams still have a chance of
realizing their No. 1 goal for the season - a
berth in the NCAA Division II Elite 8. The
Rams have earned a berth in the South
Atlantic Regional, where they will be the
fifth-seeded team. WSSU needs a victory
over Wingate on Thursday night to advance
to the semifinal round, where they would
take on Shaw. A win there and on Saturday
night would, more than make up for the
Rams' shortcomings in the CIAA Tourna
ment.
That might be the only way the Rams can
consider the 2001-2002 season another step
up for the program. The Rams, who have cap
tured 20 victories in each of the past four sea
sons. came into the season with high expecta
tions.
The Rams, with eight seniors, five of
whom played on WSSU's tournament cham
pionship teams in 1999 and 2000, had little
trouble putting away Elizabeth City on Thurs
Sec Press Box on B2
Parkland, Carver head east;
Reynolds, West, East west
BY SAM DAVIS
Surprising Parkland is
one of five teams from
Forsyth County that went
into this week still alive in
the race for state high school
basketball championships.
The Mustangs, with two vic
tories in the sectionals last
week, advanced to the Class
3-A East Regional in
Greenville, where they will
take on Kinston on Thursday
night.
The Carver girls, who
captured a state champi
onship in the 3-A ranks last
season, headed to Greenville
on Wednesday for a battle
against Pikeville Aycock at
Rose High School.
The remaining Forsyth
County teams are headed
west to pursue state titles.
Reynolds, the two-time
defending 4-A champion,
and West Forsyth will travel
to Hickory on Friday for
semifinal games.
Reynolds (23-5) will take
on Charlotte Vance (22-6) in
Friday night's First semifinal
game at Lenoir-Rhyne. In the
nightcap. West Forsyth (25
3), led by Chris Paul, who is
among the state's leading
scorers, will battle Charlotte
Independence (22-8).
See Playoffs on B2 I
Sean "P Diddy" Combs waves to well-wishers at the CIAA
Basketball Tournament in Raleigh last weekend.
St. Aug's will field
speedy grid squad
COMPII.F-D BY SAM DAVIS
Although the action on the
basketbalf fcourt was the main
attraction for fans at the CIAA
Basketball Tournament, there
was a lot of buzz in the air
about the 2002 football sea
son.
Much of that had to do
with the fact that all 12 CIAA
teams will field football teams
this fall.
When the St. Augustine's
football team hits the field for
its 10-game schedule next fall,
there's one thing you can be
assured of: The Falcons will
probably be the CIAA's fastest
team. The Falcons have
claimed the CIAA indoor and
outdoor track championships
for more than a decade now
and some of the athletes
whom coach George Williams
recruited to run for St. Augus
tine's will appear on the foot
ball field.
"We've got a whole lot of
guys who run 4.2's and 4.3's
in the 40," said Williams,
whose team has captured con
secutive NCAA track titles.
"Now our head football coach
Sec CIAA Notebook on M
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