HBCUAC Tournament Day 2
After two days of tournament play, here are a few takeaways:
Tougaloo College was the only HBCUAC school not here in attendance on Wednesday due to bus trouble – the men are second seed and are scheduled to play on Feb. 28, and the women are third seeded and also scheduled to play on the same day.
Kendall Campbell led Wiley with 21 points in her team’s 78-71 win over Wilberforce, who was led by Laniya Early with 31 points.
Kaylan Jack’s 22 points led Southern University, which lost to Rust 64-61 in one of two exciting contests that went down to the end. Talyia Cawthon had 23 points to lead the winners.
Tyon Thompson’s 29 points led SUNO to an 83-80 triumph over Rust, whose leading scorer was Justin Hicks with 20 points.
All the game officials who worked the two days of women’s and men’s tournament games all have been males.
HBCUAC Tournament Day 3
The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) overall theme is Where Winners Thrive. But this week during the 2025 Hope Credit Union Basketball Championships, it should be Where Teams Survive and Advance.
It was the highest and the lowest among Thursday’s HBCUAC tournament on Day 3 at Spellman College.
Wiley and Virgin Islands combined for 167 points in an 8/9 men’s basketball matchup. No. 8 Wiley advanced to Friday with a dominating 95-72 victory over No. 9 UVI, who fell behind 10-0 at the start and never got back in the game from there on.
Thursday’s lowest scoring game occurred with Fisk (5) and Philander Smith (4) barely combined for over 80 points in an ugly 4/5 women’s basketball matchup. It was a contest that was dominated by poor shooting, tons of fouls, ill-timed turnovers, and hawkish defense by both squads all game long.
Miracle Thomas’ three-pointer with seconds remaining proved the difference as Philander Smith prevailed 43-40 over a scrappy Fisk club. Thomas led the winners with 15 points, all coming off the bench. Fisk was led by Jayla Bibbs’ 12 points.
PS advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Day 4 is Friday.
Finally –
During halftime of Thursday’s fourth and final game that featured No. 4 Talladega and No. 5 Philander Smith in men’s hoops, gospel music was played. This was the first time in my sports journalism history that I was at a basketball game and church broke out as the spectators sang along with the music. It was a refreshing change from the sampling of rap and other music that has been played throughout the tournament all week.