TOT
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, March 13, 1997
For the Week of March 11 through March 17, 1997
MORE
OF THE
SAME
Jackson State Sports Photo
STOGUN: Gets Jackson
State shot at #1 Kansas
in Southeast Regional.
T BLACK COLLEGE TEAMS DRAW TRA
DITIONAL JUGGERNAUTS IN NCAA
UNDER THE BAKNER
WHATS GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS
WHEN IT RAINS . . The NAIA has
partially lifted a ban that two weeks ago would have barred
any of the Central State University's athletic teams from
competing in national playoffs. "Every team except for
baseball this year and football next year can compete in the
postseason," NAIA spokesman Kevin Henry said. The ban
had been placed because CSU reportedly used 15 ineligible
players during the 1996 football season. The team's baseball
team was found guilty of infractions last year. However, the
entire sports program remains on probation, a less severe
sanction, through the spring of 1998. Ohio black legislators
along with men's basketball coach Michael Grant had said
the ban punished innocent student/athletes. Grant's basket
ball team had posted a 7-20 record this year. "NAIA infrac
tions are so far down the list of priorities right now, it's not
worth discussion," Fred Ransier, chairman of the school's
board of trustees said. "The main issue is our financial status.
We're not focusing on the football program. The NAIA may
end up suspending a football team that may not exist in the
near future." Since 1990, Central State football teams have
won three NAIA national championships. Additionally, the
school's women's basketball team had compiled a 23-2
record this year. The women were not invited to the NAIA
playoffs but there was some discussion about the team
receiving an at-large berth. The NAIA sanctions came as
legislators are trying to decide whether to continue to fund
Ohio's only historically black public university beyond July
1! State Inspector General Richard Ward said Friday that his
investigation has uncovered numerous instances of fraud,
waste and abuse at Central State. The school has been
plagued by financiajprob.lemsand may be as much as'.$2p
million in debt, according to state estimates.
D-2 TRACK: St. Augustine's Shanaka Walker,
a freshman, won the national title in the women's long jump
edging teammate Nicole Irving by two inches. Walker's
best jump was her sixth and final try of 6.00 meters (19'8 1/
4 ") after fouling on her two previous attempts. "1 can't
believe it", Walker said after winning the event. "I wasn't
jumping well coming in and I was just thinking 'Lord help
me' on that last jump." Walker and Irving also finished
fourth and fifth in the triple jump to give the Lady Falcons
24 of their 61 total points. Lincoln's Bev Grant and NC
Central's Elisha Marshall provided some excitement in
the women's 55 meter dash. After overtaking third place
finisher Delloreen Ennis of Abilene Christian, Grant and
Marshall battled from 40 meters in. Grant won by 2/lOOOth
of a second. She was timed at 6.903 to Marshall's 6.905. "I
got a bad start. I stumbled a bit out of the blocks, so I had to
catch up after that", Grant said. "I was pretty confident that
I had won, bu wasn't sure until they flashed the results on the
screen." Grant's teammate Lorraine Graham defended her
national title in the 400 meter dash setting a new meet record
at 52.22 seconds. "I'm very pleased", she said following the
awards ceremony. "lamsurprisedby the time, of course. I
didn't know what to expect, but I usually go out very fast and
did that today." Grant and Graham joined Yvonne Andrews
and Shelly Berth to capture the 4X400 meter relay, Lincoln's
third title of the day. Morehouse College maximized its
participation in the men's competition as Charlie Thomas
captured the 55 meter hurdle crown and Gregory Roberts
finished first in the high jump setting a meet record in the
process. Thomas recovered from a poor start and pulled
even with the leaders by the second hurdle. He took the lead
at the third hurdle and held on to the finish. "I have been
working on strength with my coach so when 1 crashed the
first hurdle, I was able to run through it", he said. " It altered
my step pattern a little, but I feel good about my race. It was
a personal best." Roberts broke a nine year old meet record'
for the high jump, clearing 7 3" on his first attempt at that
height. He missed all three attempts at 7'5". "I didn't feel as
consistent today as 1 like", he said. "I had a lot of misses at
lower heights. I really wanted 7'5". Maybe it's a mental
block."
BLACK COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEAC, SWAC and NCAA Div. II Regional Tournament Results)
27th Annual
Athletic Conference BaSKETBALL TOURNAMENT
MEN
Play-In
UMES 76, Howard 60
Quarterfinals
Coppin State 90. UMES 88 OT
Beth-Cookman 70, Fla. A&M 61
SC State 85, Delaware St. 82, OT
NC A&T , Morgan State
Semifinals
Coppin St. 76, Beth-Cookman 60
NC A&T 54, SC State 49
Championship
Coppin State 81, NC A&T 74, OT
Most Valuable Player
Terquin Mott, Coppin State
Ail Tourruiment
Mott, Reggie Welch, Antoine Brockington,
Coppin State; Marcus Williams. NC A&T;
Roderick Blakney, SC State
Outstanding Coach
Ron "Fang" Mitchell. Coppin St.
WOMEN
Quarterfinals
Howard 83, Hampton 59
UMES 60, NC A&T 49
Morgan State 54, Coppin St. 48
Horida A&M 78, Delaware St. 58
Semifinals
Howard 88, UMES 63
Rorida A&M 64, Morgan State 49
Championship
Howard 84, Florida A&M 53
Most Valuable Player
Alisha Hill, Howard
All Tournament
Hill, Amanda Hayes, Oenique
Graves. Candice Hynes, Howard;
Delicia Walker, Florida A&M
Outstanding Coach
Sonya Tyler, Howard
Athletic Conference
MEN
Quarterfinals
Tex. Southern 90, Pr. View 74
Alcorn St. 78, Alab, St, 72, OT
Jackson St. 82, Southern 77
Miss. Valley 81, Grambling 54
Semifinals
Jackson State 72, Alcorn St, 68
Miss. Valley 87, Tex, Sthrn 78
Championship
Jackson St. 81, Miss. Valley 74
Most Valuable Player
Trent PulUam, ^Jackson State.
All Tournament
1st Team - Pulliam; Randy Bolden,
Tex. Southern; Mark Jennings, Miss.
Valley; Karl Jones, Alcorn State;
Kenyon Ross, Miss. Valley
2nd Team - Fairley, Jackson St;
Anyanwu, Tx. Southern; Fourche,
Southern; Williams, Jackson St.;
Phillips, Miss, Valley
26th Annual
Basketball Tournament
WOMEN
Quarterfinals
Grambling 106, Tex. Southern 48
Miss. Valley 65, Southern 56
Alcorn St. 57, Prairie View 37
Jackson State 69, Alabama St, 31
Semifinals
Grambling 89, Miss. Valley 72
Alcorn State 79, Jackson State 54
Championship
Grambling 66, Alcorn State 55
Most Valuable Player
Shiakiea Carter, Grambling State
All Tournament
1st Team - Carter; Alesha Causey,
Alcorn St.; Frederica Wills, Grambling;
Tamika Mitchell. Grambling; Tenicka
Strown, Miss. Valley
2nd Team - Spann, Jackson St.;
Martin, Jackson St.; Frost, Alcorn St.;
James, Grambling: Glover, Alcorn St.
NCAA Div. II
(Men)
SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL
First Round-
Elizabeth City 77. Elon 70
St. Aug's 93, Ga. College 87
Semifinals
Ellz. City 76, Presbyterian 64
St. Aug's 78, NC Central 66
Finals
Ellz. City 90, St. Aug's 73
SOUTH REGIONAL
First Round
Delta State 88, Albany State 64
Semifinals
Alabama A&M 81, Delta St, 60
Finals
Lynn 87, Alabama A&U 82
(Women)
SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL
Rrst Round
Fayv. State 85, Fr. Marion 83
Semifinals
Bowie St. 75. Ga. Coll. 63, OT
KennesawSt. 99, Fayv. St. 64
Finals
Kenn. St. 74, Bowie State 68
SOUTH REGIONAL
Rrst Round -
Ky. State 78, Alabama A&M 63
Ft. Valley 70, Valdosta St. 58
Serhlfinals
Delta St. 83, Ky. State 61
Ft. Valley 67, Florida Tech 59
Finals
Delta State 81, Ft. Valley 58
Slim chances for conference champs
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
For three of the four coaches ad
vancing to the NCAA Div. I champion
ship field it's a case of-been there, done
that.
For Howard's Sonya Tyler
(MEAC women), Grambling's
Patricia Bibbs (SWAC women) and
Coppin State's Ron "Fang" Mitchell
(MEAC men) the routine is pretty fa
miliar. Win your conference tourna
ment and await a match-up against
Goliath.
And that's exactly what thdy got as
Tyler's Lady Bison (24-5), tourney-
bound for the third time, drew a last
place 16th slot in the West Regional and
will travel to play #1 Stanford (30-1) on
the Cardinal home floor.
Mitchell's Eagles(21-8), who will
make their third appearance, were
seeded 15th in the East Region and will
travel to Pittsburgh to battle #2 South
Carolina (24-7).
Gibbs’ Lady Tigers (24-5), seeded
14th in the Midwest, also dancin' for the
third time, get perennial women's power
Tennessee (23-10), a third seed this
year on their home court in Knoxville.
The scenario has to be particularly
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM?:
Grambling's Patricia Bibbs (top left),
Coppin State's "Fang" Mitchel and
Howard's Sonya Tyler lead their team
to the NCAA Div. I tournament for the
third time. Tyler may have a beef, with
her team seeded 16th and travelling to
the West Coast to face Stanford.
troubling for Howard and coach Tyler.
The Lady Bison's five losses are all road
losses to teams in the 64-team field (Mary
land twice, Vanderbilt, Carolina and
Marshall). And Tyler's troops hold a win
over St. Peters, a #15 Mideast Region
seed, in that team's own regular season
tournament.
"It seems like they are penalizing
Howard for sweeping their conference
instead of rewarding them for their non
conference schedule," said Howard Sports
Information Director, Ed Hill.
Mitchell, after his MEAC tourna
ment win Saturday, said he knew what to
expect.
"We lost at Oklahoma, took Kan
sas State to overtime and lost to Ne
braska on the road, beat Colgate and
killed Duquesne at dur place and our
RPI (power index rating) went down,"
Mitchell said. "As long as that happens
we know we’re going to get a 15 or 16
seed."
Jackson State head coach Andy
Stoglin, who has his Tigers (14-15) in
the so-called Big Dance for the first
time in his eight years at the helm,
expected and got the biggest giant of
all, #1 ranked Kansas in Memphis. But
WHERE AND WHEN
BLACK COLLEGE TEAMS PLAY
NCAADIV.il (Men)
ELITE EIGHT
Louisville, KY - Wednesday, March 19 - 3 pm
S. Dakota State (25-4) vs. Elizabeth City (22-6)
NCAA DIV. I (Men)
SOUTHEAST REGION
Memphis. TN - Thursday, March 13 - TBA
(1) Kansas (32-1) vs. (16) Jackson St. (14-15)
EAST REGION
Pittsburgh, PA - Friday, March 14 - TBA
(2) S. Carolina (24-7) vs. (15) Coppin St. (21-8)
(Women)
WEST REGION
Stanford, CA-Saturday, March 15-6:36 pm (Pacific Time)
(1) Stanford (30-1) vs. (16) Howard (24-5)
MIDWEST REGION
Knoxville, TN - Saturday, March 15 • TBA
(3) Tennessee (23-10) vs. (14) Grambling (24-5)
Elizabeth City repeats as bridesmaid in D-2 track
Three black colleges produced national champi
ons and one other captured All-American honors at the
NCAA Division II IndoorTrack and Field Championships
in Indianapolis, March 7-8.
CIAA powerhouse St. Augustine's finished sec
ond in both the men's and women's team competition
behind Abilene Christian just as they did a year ago. The
Falcon men scored in six events for a total of 43 points
while the women picked up 61 points in seven events to
secure their runner-up spots. Abilene Christian easily
outdistanced the field scoring 1-28 points in the men's
competition and 76 points in-the women's events. Lincoln
(Mo.) University was third in the women's competition on
the strength of three first place finishes. North Carolina
Central placed 11th with 12 points.
Morehouse College produced national champions in two
men's events and finished fifth overall.
he could care less.
"If they told us to play the (New
York) Knicks it wouldn't matter since it's
our first time in," Stoglin said of a team
that may be on a par with the top-ranked
Jayhawks. His team, which started the
season 2-12, won seven of their last eight
knocking off SWAC regular season arid
defending champion Mississippi Valley
in the conference tournament final.
The only other black college team
alive is Elizabeth City with head coach
Barry Hamler. His Vikings handled
CIAA tournament champion St.
Augustine's in the Div. II South Atlantic
Regional final to earn a berth in the Elite
Eight (March 19) in Louisville, Ky. The
Vikings closed out their regular season
with a loss to St. Aug's and fell to the
Falcons again 66-65 in the CIAA tourna
ment. They will face S. Dakota State next
Wednesday. S. Dakota State knocked off
top-ranked and defending Div. II champ
Fort Hayes State in the Regional final.
Women repeat, new men's
champs in SWAC, MEAC
Howard Sports Photo
HILL: Came within
two points of tour
ney scoring record.
Coppin State forward
Reggie Welch scored his
team's last six points in regu
lation including two free
throws with sixteen seconds
to play , then added seven
points in overtime to pro
pel the Eagles past North
Carolina A&T 81 -74 in the
Mid Eastern Athletic
Conference men's cham
pionship game.
"We knew we had to
keep our composure and
play Coppin State basketball," said
Welch whose team stayed calm despite
a second half A&T comeback and a
noisy pro-A&T crowd.
In the opening round, the top-
seeded Eagles (21-8) survived a
quarterfinal scare from the University
of Maryland Eastern Shore. CSU jun
ior point guard Danny Singletary came
off the bench to score 28, while Welch
added 22 as the Eagles made up an 18-
point second half deficit to pull out a 90-
88 overtime win.
Howard's women didn't have to
work overtime at all in destroying the
women's tournament field, completing
an undefeated season in conference play
and repeating as conference champion.
The top-seeded Lady Bison (24-5)
broke the tournament points total, tally
ing 255 points (85 ppg.) in three games
winning by totals of 24, 25 and 31
points. In the finals the Lady Bison
drubbed Florida A&M 84-53.
All-conference junior forward
Alisha Hill came off the bench in the
final two contests but came within three
points of breaking the tournament scor
ing record. She was named the
tournament's Most Valuable
Player tallying a total of 78
points (26 ppg.) in the three
games.
Jackson State got 19
points and 13 rebounds from
tournament Valuable Player
Trent Pulliam as they handed
regular season winner Missis
sippi Valley an 81-74 whip
ping in the SWAC finals in
Dallas The Tigers beat Miss.
Valley in the last week of the
regular season and entered the
tournament as winners of seven of their
last eight games.
"I thought the key was rebounding"
said JSU head coach Andy Stoglin, whose
team will be making their first NCAA
tournament appearance. The undersized
Tigers (14-15) outrebounded the Delta
Devils 41-36. "We had balance," said
Stoglin, "and they were a lot better than
people thought. We played some tough
schools early on. We just weren’t ready."
The Tigers are one of two teams to enter
the NCAA tournament with a losing
record.
Grambling State's women's team
completed the conference's first ever per
fect season with their 66-55 win over
Alcorn State in the SWAC women's final.
Frederica Wills had 18 points and
Temika Mitchell got 15 as the Lady
Tigers repeated as conference champs.
GSU guard Shiakea Carter, who
had 25 points and six assists in their
semifinal win over Miss. Valley, added
just five points and six assists in the final
but was named the tournament's Most
Valuable Player. "We'll go into the tourna
ment with the attitude of not caring who we
play," said head coach Patricia Bibbs.
Elizabeth City oniy one
to emerge from Regionais
I.. rv:., IT . I before failing to #9 Kcnne
In Div. II Regional play,
four black college teams
reached the final round but
only one could advance to
the national quarterfinals.
Elizabeth City (22-6)
who fell in the CIAA semifi
nals to St Augustine's got
revenge Saturday 90-73 in
the Div. II South Atlantic
Regional final and earned
their first ever trip to the
NCAA Div. II quarterfinals, dubbed
the Elite Eight in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Vikes, after establishing them
selves as CIAA favorites down the
stretch of the regular season, lost their
final game of the season to St. Aug's
(95-78) before dropping a one-point
decision (65-64) to the Falcons in the
CIAA tournament semifinal.
This time the Vikings never trailed
after all-CIAA forward Maurice
Mincey hit a three to open the game.
Mincey, who was named the Regional
Most Valuable Player, had 17 points
for the Vikings while Marcus Riddick
led the attack with 25 points and 11
rebounds; The Vikings defeated Elon
and Presbyterian to reach the finals
while St. Aug's downed Georgia Col
lege and North Carolina Central.
Three times in the second half St.
Augustine's cut the lead to four but
could never tie the game or take the
lead.
CIAA tournament MVP Bernard
Heard led the Falcons with 21 points
while Eric Harris and Michael
Harrington had 12 each.
In women's South Atlantic Re
gional play in Marietta, Ga., CIAA
champion Bowie State battled gamely
CIAA Photo
MINCEY: MVP of
S. Atlantic Region
tournament.
before failing to #9 Kennesaw
State 74-68. Kennesaw State
routed CIAA runner-up
Fayetteville State 99-64 in the
semifinals to set up the matchup
of schools with identical 29-1
marks.
In men's South Region
play in Huntsville, Alabama,
host Alabama A&M, seeking
their fourth consecutive Elite
Eight berth, came up just short
against Lynn College of Boca Raton, FI.,
87-82. The win stopped the Bulldogs 33-
game home winning streak.
"It's a tough way to lose to end your
season," said A&M coach L. Vann
Pettaway.
The score was tied at 75 with just
over three minutes left when a critical
charging call against Bulldog forward
Marcus McCall wiped out an A&M bas
ket. The Bulldogs scored only seven points
the rest of theway.
"It was a judgment call," Pettway
said. '‘The determining factor is what hap
pened after that."
Chris Davis, an Auburn transfer, led
Lynn with’28 points and was named the
tournament's Most Valuable Player. Al
bany State was ousted in the first round
by Delta State, 88-64. A&M defeated
Delta State in the semifinals, 81-80.
In women's South Region play. Delta
State, the 19th ranked team in the nation
handled SIAC East champ Fort Valley,
81-58. Kentucky State defeated Ala
bama A&M 78-63 in first round play but
was defeated 83-61 by Delta State. Fort
Valley defeated Florida Tech 67-59 in the
semifinals.