Virginia Union trending up in CIAA while Chowan and Lincoln dropping

Double-header conference basketball games to take over Saturday? Don’t mind if I do. Six CIAA teams went head-to-head in men’s and women’s basketball on Saturday afternoon. It was an unpredictable afternoon to say the least, as four women’s and three men’s games were determined by a margin of ten points or less.

As far as “headscratchers” go there were a few, but I’ll keep it at two games and one location.

Tough Day in Fayetteville

In women’s basketball, Virginia Union (12-1, 4-1) won 63-53 over Fayetteville State (8-5, 3-2), but it was a heart-breaker for FSU. Both teams came in with just one conference loss and respective win streaks to protect. FSU was neck-and-neck with VUU for a great deal of the game and only trailed by a point at the end of the third quarter. However, VUU rallied and scored twice as many points as FSU in the final quarter to pull off the 63-53 win. Fayetteville State’s win streak ends at five and Union has now won four straight.

Fayetteville State’s men (2-10, 1-4) took the floor in hopes of turning things around, and they almost did with a 14 point advantage over Virginia Union (7-5, 4-1) at halftime. FSU had its biggest lead of the night at 17 points with seven and a half remaining in regulation. VUU wasn’t ready to quit, though, and went on a 28-11 run to take the game to overtime. Union went on to win 80-73 in overtime. VUU has now won four in a row.

Women’s Basketball Results

Bowie State: 58
Shaw: 44

Lincoln (PA): 58
Saint Augustine’s: 50

Chowan: 77
Winston-Salem State: 72

Virginia Union: 63
Fayetteville State: 53

Virginia State: 85
Livingstone: 72

Johnson C. Smith: 67 (OT)
Elizabeth City State: 64

Women’s Top Players

Kyaja Williams (Bowie State): 22 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals
Amaya Tucker (Winston-Salem State): 34 points, 4 rebounds
Chrisanna Green (Virginia State): 30 points, 11 rebounds
Dasia Harris (Livingstone): 30 points, 5 rebounds
Macy Keen (Shaw): 20 points, 22 rebounds

Men’s Basketball Results

Saint Augustine’s: 72
Lincoln (PA): 62

Winston-Salem State: 90
Chowan: 84

Bowie State: 90
Shaw: 77

Elizabeth City State: 76
Johnson C. Smith: 63

Virginia Union: 80 (OT)
Fayetteville State: 73

Virginia State: 82
Livingstone: 71

Men’s Top Players

Amir Hinton (Shaw): 34 points, 4 rebounds
Roger Ray (Livingstone): 26 points, 4 rebounds
Will Jenkins (Virginia Union): 24 points, 10 rebounds
Zach Hobbs (ECSU): 29 points
Will Crandell (WSSU): 22 points, 8 rebounds

Social Media Highlights

Hard Hat of the game, Miss Kyaja Williams! pic.twitter.com/oWopSkofY3

— Bowie State WBB (@BowieStatewbb) January 12, 2019

When you're leading @VUUPanthers 60-46 in Capel Arena, all you want is a little pound cake by Marquise Crutchfield. pic.twitter.com/rFqu6DvexH

— FSU Broncos (@FSUBroncos) January 12, 2019

Tucker's 34-Point Game Not Enough for Rams in 77-72 Loss to Chowanhttps://t.co/ylVYKp4anu pic.twitter.com/uOmvI9dx2g

— WSSU Athletics (@WSSU_Athletics) January 13, 2019

Huge win for WSSU. Chowan has been looking like the top team in the CIAA. Rams take em down at home. https://t.co/LCz14hYhZ7

— Steven J. Gaither (@stevenjgaither) January 12, 2019

Good win on the road today against a scrappy St Aug team. Jamari got us going early from three with the hot hand. Kwanza led us in scoring with 18 and Dee with a nice double double 17 & 10. Tonight they earn themselves the impact award. #LUHoopz #RoadWin #Impact #CIAA 💪🏾🔶🔷🔶🔷 pic.twitter.com/M7emlWvtLZ

— Darrell Mosley (@DMoseLU) January 12, 2019