Entrenched in a battle down the stretch, the Fayetteville State Broncos came out on top, taking down the resilient Bowie State Bulldogs 49-46.
Nyah Wilkins led the Broncos with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals. Talia Trotter followed with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
Bowie State guard Malaka Cobb led all scorers with 14 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers.
This game was a tale of two halves, with the first being controlled primarily by Fayetteville State, albeit in a tightly contested affair.
In the first half, both teams looked to their defense to fuel their offense, combining for 27 points off turnovers.
Bowie State began to make its mark on the game in the third quarter, getting the hot hand on offense to take its first lead in the game.
They hit 62% of their shots in the period, including all three of their three-pointers, taking a 43-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
However, this did not translate to the fourth quarter, missing all 11 of their shot attempts from the field in the period, getting smothered by the Broncos’ half-court defense.
As Bowie State head coach Shadae Swan recounts, things turned around in the fourth quarter due to falling into bad habits that they have been preaching all year.
“I really think it was more about us,” said Coach Swan, explaining the reasoning for the Bulldogs’ losing their lead in the fourth quarter. “From the beginning of the season, we always practiced don’t go looking for fouls because it’s a 50/50 chance you’re going to get the foul. A lot of times when we were driving to the basket, we were looking for the foul instead of finishing shots, so we ended up missing. Then, it got to a point where we weren’t getting foul [calls], so we just started settling. I think that’s what stopped us because we were getting to the lane, then all of a sudden we started settling for jump shots, and they weren’t falling. So we went away from what was working for us, and it kind of played into [Fayetteville State’s] hand.”
On the other end, Fayetteville State’s defense played its part in Bowie State’s struggles, forcing multiple shot clock violations and disrupting their ball movement with their switching.
Then, on offense, they began to get more aggressive, driving the ball into the lane, getting efficient opportunities at the rim, and drawing fouls.
Fayetteville State head coach Tyreece Brown was very emboldened when speaking about his team’s championship DNA and why he does not panic in big moments.
“I feel confident because I have [my players],” said Coach Brown. “I may feel [upset] when stuff ain’t going our way, but I’ll sit on the side, blow off a little steam, and I’m good. Because I trust [my team], we can be down 10 or whatever, 5, I trust them. The only way I’ll panic is if I don’t trust them. If I feel as though we don’t got nothing, then we’re done. No, I’ll be cool, we’ve been here before.”
In the end, it came down to a last gasp three-pointer for Bowie State by Afia Owusu-Mensah that went in and out, sealing the win for Fayetteville State.
The Broncos will now advance to their third straight CIAA championship game, looking to become just the fourth school to ever win three straight conference titles (Norfolk State 1991-1993; Bowie State 1997-1999; Shaw 2003-2006, 2011-2014).
In their way is CIAA South rival Winston-Salem State, with whom they share a division title and split the regular season series against.
On January 27, Fayetteville State handed Winston-Salem State its first loss of the season against a Division II opponent, beating them 72-57.
The Rams got their revenge in their second matchup on February 7, winning 50-36, holding FSU to its lowest scoring total of the season.
