Former NC State All-American and NBA player Julius Hodge made his presence felt in his first-ever press conference at the CIAA Tournament.
Hodge’s Lincoln University squad — the the defending CIAA Tournament champion — came into the tournament feeling disrespected. And he let it be known, even after his teams’ 58-42 win over Winston-Salem State.
Lincoln was lead by senior guard Reggie Hudson with 16 points and six rebounds and senior big man Peter Sorbert who had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Hodge made it known that he felt Sorbert was slighted by not winning defensive Player of The Year or even earning all-conference honors.
“Peter’s is the returning MVP of this conference tournament, and I love that it happened. You know why? Because I don’t have to light a fire under them. It’s already there,” said Hodge. “So perfect bulletin board material. And with Reggie leading our team. We have a ton of experience and we like the place we’re at right now.”
While it wasn’t a sterling offensive effort for Lincoln, it dud suffocate WSSU on offense. The league’s worst team shot just 29 percent for the game and 25 percent in the second half as Lincoln never trailed.
“We just came in focused and our energy was was there from start to finish,” said Hudson. “Guys came in and produced and guys who wasn’t able to play was on the bench providing energy and performance.”
The two teams made just three 3-pointers but Lincoln was impressive down-low, scoring 40 points in the paint — nearly equaling WSSU’s output for the entire game.
It was a bitter end for a tough season that marked the worst record in school history 4-22 for WSSU under first-year head coach Corey Thompson.
Both Hudson and Sorber have been through the fire as the Pennsylvania-based HBCU went from an upstart to a perennial contender. Both players were on the 2023 team that lost to WSSU in the CIAA championship game. They returned last season to win the school’s first-ever tournament title and they came back to the school under Julius Hodge.
“It’s really the guys that put on the jerseys, and we were just so connected,” Sorber said after the game. “We made it for like, three, four years. And I’m saying we’re still connected and we’re playing with a lot of motivation. Like, as coach said, there’s a lot of disrespect. I feel like there’s a lot of disrespect.”
Lincoln will play Claflin University in the quarterfinals on Thursday.