The Black College All-Star Basketball Classic men's and women's games went down to the buzzer this weekend in Baltimore. The South women and North men pulled out victories at the Baltimore Arena.
SIAC stars Kwanna Graves (Morris Brown) and Melissa Upton (Paine) hit clutch free throws in the last 15 seconds to give the South All-Stars a 40-37 victory in the first of two games on the day.
The South team, made up of representatives of the SIAC, SWAC and independent Central State, was down 21-17 at the half to a North squad with players from the MEAC and CIAA.
The South team opened up the second half with a 9-0 run led by seven points from game MVP Marieme Lo (Central State). Neither team led by more than five points in the game and the score was tied at 37 with less than a minute remaining, when Upton and Graves salted the game away from the charity stripe.
The South squad was led by Ebonyee Williams-Thomas (Alabama State) with eight points. Lo finished with seven points and four rebounds.
The North's Donita Mays (St. Augustine's) led all scorers with 13 points.
In the men's game, the South fought back from a 19 point deficit to come within one shot of victory. Down 57-38 following a dunk by Tremain Byrd (Morgan State) at 15:18 in the second half, the South rode the back of SWAC Player of the Year Randy Bolden (Texas Southern) to tie the score at 80 with 1:59 remaining in the game.
After going 0-4 in the first half, Bolden lit up the nets for 17 points in the last five minutes of the second half. After Bolden's free throw tied the game, Steve Mattair (Miles) hit a three pointer to extend the lead to 83-80.
Roderick Blackney (S.C. State) was fouled on a driving layup and completed the three point play to tie the score at 83 with 40 seconds to play.
After Bolden missed a layup at :22, Antoine Brockington (Coppin State) was fouled and sank two free throws to give the North an 85-83 lead at :17
The South squad called timeout and set up a play for Bolden but he missed a three point attempt with four seconds on the clock. The North scored at the buzzer on a Rene Harry layup to extend the winning margin to 87-83.
The North squad was led by Blakney with 13 points and five assists. Game MVP Marquise Newbie (Virginia Union) scored 12 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Brockington finished with 11 points.
Trent Pulliam (Jackson State) led the South with a game high 19 points. Bolden finished with 17 points, all in the second half.
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