Tuscaloosa, Ala. – March Madness isn’t just so-called big-time schools playing post-season basketball. “Win or go home” neutral-site games exist at all levels, especially the NAIA, where the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) is the only all-Black conference at that level.
For the second consecutive season, we were the only Northern-based media at the 2026 HBCUAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship at Stillman College, only my second time in Tuscaloosa, a town more known for the larger University of Alabama, nearly 15 minutes away from Stillman’s historic campus.
Rarely if ever do we see college basketball played by all-Black teams, especially in Minnesota, watching it among folk who look like me, where the crowds, bands and cheerleaders all have rhythm and soul.
“The difference… DI is athletically,” said Fisk MBB Assistant Coach Will Jennings. “They are also athletic in D2. In NAIA, the players are very scrappy. The skill level is very high.”
All four finalists, Tougaloo College and Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) on the men’s side, and Rust College and Talladega College on the women’s side, are assured NAIA tournament berths. This year, SUNO won the men’s title and Rust College captured the women’s championship to earn automatic bids, while Tougaloo and Talladega received at-large bids.
Minnesota guard sets the tone at Oakwood
Oakwood senior Naftal Morara is the only Minnesotan on an HBCUAC roster this season. Morara earlier averaged nearly 21 points and three rebounds, including 24 points in a victory over Philander Smith University – his three-game week earned him the school’s Player of the Week honors for the week ending Feb. 15.
The 6-0 Farmington, Minn., guard had 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals in the team’s opening round 79-66 win last Tuesday against Wiley University, overcoming a one-point halftime deficit. He had seven points and two boards in the 80-66 win over Dillard University the following night.
“My role on the team is to be contiguous,” he told us after the win. “I try to set the tone in games.”
Oakwood Head Coach Simon Jacob said of Morara, “He leads by example. We gave him an opportunity (to become a starter) and he took advantage of it.”
Morara’s tone-setting was in full bloom last Friday in helping Oakwood advance to the semifinals in their come-from-behind 85-84 quarterfinal win over Talladega. The guard knocked the ball away and set up his teammate for the winning bucket with 10 seconds left, then repeated the feat to seal the victory. Oakwood had trailed by as much as 13 points in the second half.
Coach Jacob afterwards said of Morara, “He’s very passionate. He exemplifies the toughness we want to play with. When he’s playing hard, we’re tough.”
After the win, Morara downplayed his performance: “This was a win or go home game and we showed up. I didn’t affect the scoreboard but I showed up in the moments when we needed it. It’s all about the heart.”
Morara had 11 points as Oakwood lost 80-71 to Tougaloo in last Saturday’s semifinals.
Fisk plays in memory of a fallen teammate
The Fisk University men’s basketball team entered the tournament honoring a slain teammate – 20-year-old sophomore guard Andre Bell was shot and killed in a targeted highway shooting in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 11. The Bulldogs lost to SUNO 109-84 in the quarterfinals.
Short-handed Rust refuses to fold
Rust College and Paul Quinn College met last Friday in the women’s quarterfinals – both teams had six players.
“I started the season with 17 kids,” reiterated Rust Coach Jalessa Sams. “After Christmas break, I had six kids who didn’t want to play anymore.”
Hired in 2024, Sams is in her second year as head coach – she quickly pointed out that this season at Rust probably was her most challenging.
“Coaching this year and these kids, it’s been tough,” Sams admitted.
“It makes us go harder,” 5-7 guard Patsy Johnson told MSR after her team’s 78-49 win over Huston-Tillotson University last Wednesday – Johnson finished with 17 points. She later led all scorers with 24 points in Rust’s 72-58 quarterfinal victory over Paul Quinn.
The Lady Bearcats’ shorthandedness again didn’t get in the way as they fought back from a 12-1 deficit to start the contest, then later erased a 10-point third-quarter deficit to defeat Oakwood 74-71 last Saturday and advance to the tournament finals against Talladega.
Johnson again led all scorers with 23 points. “We don’t give up even though we only got seven (players). We’re all we got and never give up,” declared the conference player of the year, who led the HBCUAC in scoring (18.1 ppg), was second in three-point field goals, scored at least 20 points 11 times, and once posted a 30-point game.
Sams said, “Patsy Johnson is a lovable kid. She loves the game of basketball and is a team player. She got Player of the Year because she is a team player.”
“As a head coach, your job is to know how to pivot,” reiterated Sams, who noted she usually is a man-to-man coach. “I did some research, learn some things to teach my kids. I do a 3-2 and a 2-3 (zone).”