Johnson C. Smith downs Fayetteville State for CIAA Tournament Crown
March 1, 2008
CHARLOTTE, NC - Fourth-seeded Johnson C.
Smith stopped a late rally to beat sixth-seeded Fayetteville
State 65-57 on Saturday (March 1) to claim their second CIAA Men's
Basketball Tournament title in school history. With the victory,
the Golden Bulls gained an NCAA Tournament automatic bid in the
South Atlantic Region.
The victory occurred at Charlotte Bobcats Arena where the Golden
Bulls won three games in three days before their hometown
fans. The Golden Bulls also claimeed the 2001 CIAA crown
against the Broncos.
On Saturday, the backcourt trio of Fayetteville State's Andy Gebru,
Phillippe Harris and Jamel Austin drew the attention entering the
title game, but it was the threesome of Edmund Rainey, Jerry Hollis
and Maurice Hooper who led the Golden Bulls to victory. Rainey, the
tournament MVP, scored 16 points while Hollis and Hooper added 15
points and 13 points, respectively, for the Golden Bulls, who led
by as much as 14 in the second half before the Broncos' Harris
and Gebru sparked a rally.
Trailing 40-26 with 13:49 left, the Broncos used a 21-8 spurt to
pull within 48-47 with 5:36 left. Harris and Gebru combined for 11
points including three three-pointers during the run. The Golden
Bulls countered with a 9-1 run capped by Rainey's layup to
open a 57-48 margin with 1:36 remaining in the game to ice the
win.
Harris led the Broncos (14-15) with 18 points including 4-of-8
three-point shooting and Gebru added 13. But the Broncos' guard
trio of Harris, Gebru and Austin were 11-of-39 combined from the
floor.
The Golden Bulls, shooting 50 percent in the first half, took
charge early as seven different players scored. Hollis led the way
with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and Hooper added six points.
Both Rainey and David Sanders scored five points for the Golden
Bulls.
The Broncos shot 23.3 percent in the first half. As a result,
the Golden Bulls led by 16 points before Harris' three-pointer with
one second left sliced the margin to 32-19 at halftime.
Three Golden Bulls (Rainey, Hooper, Sanders) and three Broncos
(Harris, Gebru, Austin) made the CIAA All-Tournament team. The
other members include Jason Ingram, David Paris and
Joshua Johnson of Bowie State and Brad Byerson of Virginia Union.
The CIAA men's team sportsmanship award went to Virginia Union.
2008 CIAA Men's All-Tournament Team
NAME
POS
CLASS
INSTITUTION
Phillippe'
Harris
G
Sr.
Fayetteville State
Jason
Ingram
G
Sr.
Bowie State
Brad
Byerson
F
Sr.
Virginia Union
Andy
Gebru
G
Sr.
Fayetteville State
Edmund
Rainey
G
Sr.
Johnson C. Smith
Davis
Paris
F
Sr.
Bowie State
Jamel
Austin
G
Sr.
Fayetteville State
Joshua
Johnson
F
Sr.
Bowie State
David
Sanders
C
Sr.
Johnson C. Smith
Maurice Hooper
G
Sr.
Johnson C. Smith
2008 CIAA Men's Tournament MVP
Edmund Rainey G Sr. Johnson C. Smith
2008 CIAA Men's Team Sportsmanship Award-Virginia Union University
