A year ago, Winston-Salem State was hoisting the CIAA Tournament trophy while Bluefield State was waiting to get into the league.
Wednesday morning the new bloods beat the blue bloods as Bluefield State knocked off defending CIAA Tournament champion Winston-Salem State 67-66 in overtime. The win was just the ninth on the season for Bluefield State, while WSSU came in with a record of 19-8 and a five-game winning streak.
Jordan Hinds, the CIAA’s leading scorer in the regular season, scored a team-high 16 points. He was one of five Bluefield State players to finish with double figures.
“I feel like we just shocked the world,” Hines said.
The win was the second in less than 72 hours for Bluefield State, which beat Saint Augustine’s 60-58 in the tournament opener. Bluefield State head coach Devin Hoehn said he was confident in his team’s ability to play with anyone, including the defending champions who beat BSU 82-71 in West Virginia earlier in the season.
“I told these guys before the game: It’s crazy – until it happens,” Hoehn said after the game. “But you stay resilient, it doesn’t matter who you play against. You can play against anybody.”
WSSU missed five of its six free throw attempts in overtime, including four misses by Jaylen Alston. The newly-minted CIAA Player of The Year scored a game-high 34 points and 15 rebounds on 10 for 16 shooting from the field and a 13-for-20 shooting performance from the free throw line.
Issac Parson was the only other Ram in double-figures as he scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. After leading 31-26 at halftime they shot just 26.7 percent from the field in the second half, and 35 percent for the game.
Bluefield State will face another CIAA blue blood in Virginia Union in the CIAA Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night as it hopes to keep on dancing into March.
“It’s almost March,” Hoehn said after the game. Crazy things happen in March.”