CIAA Basketball Tournament Men’s Championship Preview – 2/27
The CIAA Basketball Tournament is popular for many reasons – history, tradition, and parties are just some of the outward characteristics that make it among the most attended athletic events in all of college sports.
But one thing that folks who don’t even come for the games can appreciate is the surprising and fantastic finishes that the tournament games can provide, and the 2010 CIAA Basketball Tournament hasn’t been short on the unexpected.
Two of the top three seeds in the tournament, Bowie State and Virginia Union, saw first day exits. You can set your watch to at least one of the top four seeds going out early in the Tourney, but two caught even the most seasoned CIAA observer off guard. One of the giant killers rode the momentum of vanquishing a favorite all the way to the finals – Elizabeth City State University.
The Vikings come into the contest with an average margin of victory of 10.6 points per contests. In two out of their three games they have outpaced opponents in points off turnovers and points in the paint. Led by likely tournament MVP Trent Bivens (10.6 ppg, 6 rpg), the Vikings have survived horrendous three-point shooting (25 percent) with decent team free throw shooting (62 percent) and by limiting turnovers.
ECSU will face the CIAA’s best team through the regular season and through the tournament, St. Augustine’s College. The Falcons come into the championship game with 20-point wins over Livingstone College and fourth-seeded Chowan University. They have the best shooter in the tournament in Chris Jordan (36.5 percent from three) and one of the best forwards in the CIAA in Hayward Fain (10 points, 10 rebounds in win against Chowan). If they can stay out of foul trouble, as they committed 23 fouls against an inferior Livingstone team and 24 against a comparable Chowan team, they will have a chance to make the last game of the season look like one of the first – a lopsided victory.
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