Thursday, January 30, 2014

Final month of CIAA promises to go down to wire

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  -- One thing is clear with a month to go before the CIAA basketball tournament: The South is wide open.

Four teams are 2-1 in division games and are within a game of each other in the conference, which sets up a wild February. Winston-Salem State and Livingstone, the preseason favorites, have one loss each, while Johnson C. Smith and Fayetteville State have been surprisingly strong. St. Augustine’s and Shaw is in the rear with a combined 1-5 division record.

“It’s certainly a Southern Division tournament type atmosphere,” JCSU coach Steve Joyner said after his Golden Bulls stopped Livingstone 76-73 on Jan. 25. 

Winston-Salem State (11-8, 6-3 CIAA) has been much better against league foes than its overall record indicates. The Rams and JCSU square off on Jan. 30 in Winston-Salem, with the winner locking down first place in the division. Marquez Jones leads the Rams in scoring at 19.6 points a game and forward Wykevin Bazemore hauls down a league-leading nine rebounds an outing.

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