The Fayetteville State Broncos joined the women’s team in the CIAA tournament finals.
Powered by a late scoring run in the second half, the Broncos held on for a 53-51 win over the Virginia Union Panthers.
Caleb Simmons led the Broncos with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and nine rebounds. Kaleb Coleman followed with 13 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Tahj Harding shouldered the scoring load for Virginia Union, producing 17 points and hitting three three-pointers.
Both teams had a rough first half, shooting 36% and 25% from the field, respectively, ending with Fayetteville State holding a 25-18 lead.
However, the beginning of the second half was a completely different story for the Panthers, who found a rhythm from long range.
They connected five of their first six three-point attempts, turning the game in their favor and building a five-point lead.
Virginia Union head coach Jay Butler talked about his team managing the game’s flow when they went on their run in the second half.
“We challenged them in the locker room at halftime because we weren’t playing Virginia Union basketball in the first half, but we played enough to stay in the game. I challenged them in the locker room, telling them we had to play better defensively and find ways to score the ball. I thought Tahj came out and scored the ball early in the second half. You have to execute down the stretch if you want to play championship basketball. [Fayetteville State] made plays down the stretch, and we missed a few.”
The pendulum of momentum swung back in Fayetteville State’s favor, going on a 14-2 run in minutes to take a seven-point lead with 2:52 remaining in the game and would hold on for the win.
Fayetteville State head coach Luke D’Alessio discussed the point of emphasis throughout this critical run and how it led to their victory.
“The key is not turning the ball over and not letting them get in transition to get easy baskets. Harding’s a great player, and he got hot for a while, so we made it hard for him. So, I think at the end of the day, he ended up 6-for-21. We have to play hard. That’s the biggest thing we did in that stretch.”
Fayetteville State is looking to become the first team to sweep the conference championships in men’s and women’s basketball since Virginia Union did so in 2018.
The men will get their chance to win it on their end when they face the Lincoln (PA) Lions.
