Virginia Union University’s Kaylen Vines only scored three points in the game, but if he never scores another point, people will be talking about his scoring for a long time to come.
Vines took an in-bounds pass and dunked the ball with 2.2 seconds left to play to tie VUU’s game with Virginia State University on Saturday, February 24, in Petersburg, Va.
Vines then sank a pressure-loaded free throw to give the Panthers a 64-63 win over the Trojans.
The win, coupled with Lincoln University’s loss to Bowie State University, earned the Panthers Co-Champions of the Northern Division of the CIAA in the regular-season finale.
VUU’s Tahj Harding led the Panthers with 20 points while teammate Joshua Caine added 13 points in the win.
Virginia Union’s Travis Vaughn added 11 points while Vines and Jonathan Salazar grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
“It was a rough, tough game,” said VUU Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jay Butler. “I thought the kids kept fighting to tie the game, they played hard and with a lot of heart. At one point we looked up at the clock and we were down 10, but I told them we were going to play it out and keep fighting.”
Virginia Union will enter the 2024 CIAA Tournament with a 13-17 overall record, but have a 7-3 Northern Division record along with Lincoln to capture the co-championship.