FOR LIFE
Tournament Pairings
Women's Bracket
Men's Bracket
58 thAnnual CIAA Basketball Tournament
Number One Seed Falls in CIAA Tournament
FEBRUARY 28, 2003 - RALEIGH ---The second seeded Bulldogs
of Bowie State defeated the top-seeded Eagles of North Carolina Central,
99-87, at the RBC Center. The Bulldogs will face the winner of St. Augustine’s/Virginia
Union tomorrow in the CIAA Tournament Finals.
Bowie State (25-4) held its biggest lead of the first half, 27-22 on two
free throws by Shawn Hampton with 8:12 remaining in the first half. After
that, the Eagles (16-13) tied the game three times and finally took the
lead 38-36 on a tip-in by Curtis Knight with 2:49 remaining in the first
half. The Eagles went up 41-36 on a three-pointer by Charles Nickens (19
points) with 1:04 remaining in the half. A three-pointer by Allen Van
Norden with seven seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs a 44-42 lead. Shawn
Ray’s jumper at the buzzer tied the score at 44-44 at halftime.
Both teams shot well from the field in the half, Bowie State shooting
54 percent, North Carolina Central at 52 percent.
“The shot well from the outside in the first half, but we did a
better job of defending the three-point shooters in the second half,”
said Bowie State head coach, Luke D’Alessio
The Bulldogs took control of the game, coming out in the second half on
a 15-3 run as Tim Washington’s jumper put the Bulldogs up 59-47
with 16:27 remaining in the second half. Bowie State continued to stretch
its lead and held the biggest lead of the game, 87-63 on a free throw
by Tim Washington at the 4:13 mark of the second half. North Carolina
Central was not quite done however, going on a 22-7 run over the next
3:18, cutting the lead to nine points with 58 seconds remaining, forcing
D’Alessio to put his starters back in the game. The Eagles ran out
of time as Bowie State moves on to the finals of the tournament. The Bulldogs
shot an astounding 75 percent from the field in the half, 63 percent for
the game.
Bowie State had five players score in double figures, led by Washington’s
24 points. Nickens and James Tucker led the Eagles with 19 points a-piece.