TOURNEY RECAPS
NCAA DIV. I
PLAY-IN GAME (Men)
Niagara 77, FLORIDA A&M 69
In the game that tipped off the NCAA Div. I Tournament Tuesday, MEAC champion Florida A&M had its chances but struggled with its free throw shooting in bowing in Dayton, Ohio to the MAAC champ. The Rattlers (21-14) fell behind 20-7 early but made a first-half push to trail 35-31 at the break. They stayed close, trailing 56-51 with a little over eight minutes left, but were done in by missed free throws. FAMU made just four of 12 free throws in the second half, only eight of 17 for the game. Darius Glover's 15 points led the Rattlers.
MIDWEST REGION (Men)
FLORIDA 112, JACKSON STATE 69
SWAC champ Jackson State (21-14) battled defending national champ and Region top seed Florida on even terms for one half but the Gators put on a clinic in the second half. JSU forced ten first-half Florida turnovers and led early in the game before missed shots and turnovers of their own left them trailing 41-35 at the break. Florida hit 14 of its first 17 shots to begin the second half and totalled a school-record 71 second-half points. The Gators finished with an NCAA Tournament record 62-19 rebounding advantage. JSU star Trey Johnson, the nation's second-leading scorer, had 25 points to lead the Tigers on 8-of-21 shooting from the field..
GREENSBORO REGION (Women)
VANDERBILT 62, DELAWARE STATE 47
Delaware State junior guard Raquel Collier had a game-high 22 points but DSU's other star, center Katreem Palmer struggled through a 1-for-14 shooting night as the 15th-seeded Lady Hornets (20-13) threw a scare into second-seed Vanderbilt before succumbing late in the game. The MEAC champions kept it close, trailing 28-24 at the half and 43-40 with under nine minutes to play before the Lady Commodores scored on eight straight possessions, including three consecutive 3-pointers, to pull away.
DALLAS REGION (Women)
NORTH CAROLINA 95, PRAIRIE VIEW 38
Top-seed North Carolina scored the game's first 11 points and sprinted out to a 57-15 halftime lead on its way to easily putting away SWAC champ and 16th-seed Prairie View. Gaati Werema, Candice Thomas and Shavonne Smith each scored eight points to lead the young Lady Panthers (19-14). "We got out-rebounded today, we got out-played today, but I like our chances of coming back next year and making a bigger impact," said Prairie View head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who posted the program's first winning season and SWAC title this year. Cooper-Dyke's team has eight freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and one senior.
NIT, WNIT
EAST REGION (Men)
WEST VIRGINIA 74, COPPIN STATE 50
Regular-season MEAC champ Delaware State made just 22 of 60 shots from the field, trailed 39-13 at the half and didn't put up much of a fight in falling at West Virginia in a first round NIT game. Two-time MEAC Player of the Year Jahsha Bluntt led the Hornets (21-12) with 19 points as he and four other seniors that led DSU to three straight regular season MEAC titles finished their careers. Fellow senior Aaron Fleetwoood added 14 points. Junior forward Roy Bright, who had 53 points in the last two MEAC Tournament games, shot just 1-for-14 from the field and had two points.
NORTH REGION (Men)
MISSISSIPPI ST. 82, MISS. VALLEY ST. 63
NIT region top seed Mississippi State jumped on the regular season SWAC champ Delta Devils (18-16) early and were never headed in Starksville, Ms. MSU led 12-2 to start the game and 40-24 at the half. They stretched the lead to as much as 28 points in the second half before settling for the 19-point victory. MVSU junior forward Carl Lucas had a game-high 22 points but was the only Delta Devil to score in double-figures.
(Women)
TULANE 76, JACKSON State 43
Tulane opened the game with a 28-7 run and shot 56.5% for the game in routing the SWAC regular season champ Lady Tigers (22-11). JSU was led by 14 points from Shante Stanford, and 13 points and nine rebounds from Carena Easley.
NCAA DIV. II
SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL (Men)
WINGATE 73, VIRGINIA UNION 56
After racing to a ten-point 35-25 lead at the half, the Virginia Union Panthers shot just 26% (6 of 23) from the floor and 50% (9 of 18) from the free throw line in the second half and were outscored 48-21 to fall in the finals of the South Atlantic Regional. Senior Chris Greene led VUU with 17 points, LaKeith Blanks had 12 and Brad Byerson 11 in the loss. It was VUU head coach Dave Robbins' first loss in a regional final in nine tries.
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