By LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
Basketball tournament time is here.
The 77th men’s and 49th women’s CIAA tournaments got underway Tuesday and runs thru Saturday at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena.
Two NAIA tournaments also begin this week – the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Tourney and the Gulf South Athletic Conference (GCAC) Tourney.
Langston (20-2) is the top seed in the men’s SAC with the Langston women (11-11) seeded eighth. Quarterfinal games tip off on the home court of the higher seeds on Wed., Feb. 23 before play shifts to the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for semifinal and final rounds on Feb. 27 and 28.
The Hope Credit Union GCAC tourney runs from Feb. 23-26 on the campus of Tougaloo College in Jackson, Ms. The Lady Bearcats of Rust College (12-2) are the No. 1 seed for the women. Host Tougaloo (14-1) is the top men’s seed.
CIAA Men
Virginia Union is the top seed for the men’s tournament with a 12-4 CIAA record. Fayetteville State (11-5) is the second seed followed by Virginia State (10-6) and Claflin (10-6).
Those four received first round byes and will hit the court Wednesday and Thursday in quarterfinal action.
VUU (6:40 p.m.) and FSU (8:50 p.m.) will play Wednesday’s men’s quarterfinal games respectively. VSU and Claflin will play in the 6 and 8 p.m. quarterfinal games on Thursday.
CIAA Women
For the CIAA women, Fayetteville State (14-2) is the top seed followed by Lincoln (Pa.) (12-4), Winston-Salem State (11- 5) and Bowie State (10-6).
FSU (2:20 p.m.) and Lincoln (4:30 p.m.) will enter play in Wednesday’s quarterfinals while WSSU (12 noon) and BSU (2 p.m.) will play in Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
The two women’s and men’s semifinals games are Friday, March 24. The championship games follow on Saturday, March 25.
Fayetteville State defeated Virginia Union 65-62 in the 2022 men’s championship game for its first title since 1973.
Lincoln won the 2022 women’s tournament championship with a 67-52 win over Elizabeth City State.
SIAC
The top two teams in the men’s and women’s SIAC East and West Divisions received byes into the quarterfinal rounds of the Feb. 25 to March 4 SIAC Tournament.
SIAC Men and Women
The top two teams in the men’s SIAC East are Benedict (16-5) and Morehouse (14-7). The top teams in the West are Miles and Tuskegee, both 15-5.
Miles (5 p.m.) and Benedict (7:30 p.m.) will play in the Wednesday March 1 quarterfinal round followed by Morehouse (5 p.m.) and Tuskegee (7:30 p.m.) on theThursday,March2quarterfinals.
The top two teams in the women’s SIAC East were Clark Atlanta (14-5) and Savannah State (13-5). The West’s top seeds are undefeated Tuskegee (19-0) and Kentucky State (12-7).
Women’s quarterfinal round play next Wednesday involves Tuskegee at 12 noon and Clark Atlanta at 2:30 p.m. Savannah State (12n) and KSU (2:30 p.m.) play their quarterfinals on Thursday.
Friday’s semifinal rounds are 12 and 2:30 p.m. for the women and 5 and 7:30 p.m. for the men. The championship games on Sat., March 4 are at 4 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men).
Savannah State and Benedict met in both the men’s and women’s championship game a year ago.
Benedict won the women’s 2022 Tournament championship 71-69 over Savannah State.
Savannah State turned the tables on Benedict in the men’s championship, coming away with a 76-62 triumph.
MEAC and SWAC
There was some shake-up in the MEAC races.
The previously undefeated Morgan State Lady Bears dropped two games (74-37 to Norfolk State and 64-56 to Howard) to fall into a tie for first place with Norfolk State at 9-2.
For the men, both first-place Howard (89-76 to Morgan State) and second-place Norfolk State (69-62 to Coppin State) lost.
In the SWAC, the Alcorn State men (11-2) and Jackson State women (13-1) are still on top.
