HBCU basketball got a Hollywood finish as Virginia Union guard Serenity Johnson delivered a Reggie Miller-style dagger in Brayboy Gymnasium.
With “Brayboy Madness” roaring in Charlotte, Serenity Johnson flipped the script in a blink. In the final second, she drove in for a quick layup to cut it to 42-41, then immediately jumped the next play for a steal. Before the crowd could even reset, Johnson rose up and buried a long two-point jumper that pushed Virginia Union in front for good, 43-42.
That’s the kind of late-game chaos that made Reggie Miller legendary — one player turning a building from loud to stunned with a rapid-fire, back-breaking sequence. The official numbers underline it: Virginia Union escaped 43-42 on the road, with the winning jumper coming at the 0:01 mark.
And Johnson’s overall night matched the moment. She finished with 10 points in 28 minutes and stacked four steals, including the swipe that set up the winner.
The bigger story is how quickly Serenity Johnson is becoming a problem in the CIAA. It’s her first year at Virginia Union, and she arrived from Los Angeles after playing JUCO ball with a scorer’s mentality and a defender’s edge. Even when the shot hasn’t been perfect, her activity travels. Through 12 games, she’s at 8.7 points per game, shooting 34.7%overall, 31.8% from three, and 71.4% at the line, while totaling 22 steals (about 1.8 per game). That’s impact beyond the box score. She’s scored double-figures in six of her last nine games, including a season-high 17 points against UDC and Virginia University of Lynchburg.
For Virginia Union, this CIAA road win wasn’t just another notch in the standings — it was a warning. In the league’s toughest gyms, one HBCU guard can take your momentum, take your breath, and take the game… in about one second. Just ask the crowd at Johnson C. Smith.