Byron Westmoreland scored a career high 38 points and Bowie State continued its Cinderella run with an 85-74 victory over Livingstone in the CIAA championship at Time-Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte Saturday.
It was the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament championship for the Bulldogs (16-13), who upset no. 7 Winston-Salem, 83-66, in Friday’s semifinals.
Westmorland’s effort was sorely needed as the Blue Bears (22-6) got 34 points from Mark Thomas.
Bowie State was up 43-41 at the half, but Livingstone grabbed a 46-44 lead quickly in the second half on Thomas’ three-pointer.
Westmorland knotted the score 46-all a few seconds later, though.
That set the tone for the early moments of the second half. Thomas would knock down a trey or short jumper and Westmorland would answer.
Finally, the Bulldogs found the edge, ripping off a 14-4 run, paced by seven points from Westmoreland to grab a 67-57 lead.
That lead would balloon to as much as 13 points.
Despite Thomas’ efforts, the Blue Bears never got closer than seven points.
Besides Westmorland’s 38 points, Darnell Turner added 11 points.
Carlos Smith had 11 points for Livingstone and Najee White added 10 points in the loss.
Marcus Goode scored 17 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to help the Tigers (23-6) knock off the Maroon Tigers (19-8) for the SIAC championship at Forbes Arena in Atlanta.
Morehouse took a 43-35 lead early in the second half when Shawn Allen knocked down three jumpers, Malcolm Ford nailed a trey and Andrae Nelson banked in a layup.
Benedict fought back and retook the lead, 48-47, on Lamar Adkins’ short jumper with 10:17 to play.
The Tigers took control at that point, pushing their lead up to seven, 56-49, on Rickie Jackson’s three-pointer with 6:57 remaining. The leader eventually became eight points.
Austin Anderson’s three-pointer and Nelson’s short jumper cut the Morehouse deficit to 61-58 with 1:43 left in the game.
Adkins, however, countered with four free throws, while Xavier Collier added two free throws to seal the victory.
Adkins finished with 15 points, while Collier added 10 points and a game-high nine assists.
Nelson led Morehouse and all players with 20 points. Darrius Williams put in 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss.
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