A.D. Drew | Black College Sports Network

March Madness started a week early for teams that participate in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) basketball.  Yesterday, there were four match-ups that involved HBCUs as they began play on their road to glory.  Today, there will be an additional five games involving HBCUs, including the opening rounds of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament (GCAC).  Yesterday's results and where to watch today are listed below:

via hornetsathletics.com - The Hornets, who have won three of the last four AMC Men's Basketball Championships, were defeated by the Owls by a final score of 70-40 to fall to 1-9 on the season. With the win, the Owls will advance to play Lyon (Ark.) College in the quarterfinals of the AMC Men's Basketball Championships.

Harris-Stowe came out in the first half of the game and found themselves down 5-0 in the first three minutes of the period. They battled back over the next few minutes of the contest and were able to score seven straight points to take their first lead of the game. The teams exchanged baskets over their next few possessions but a 10-2 run from the Owls put them up 21-14 midway through the period. The Hornets answered back and were able to cut the lead to three, but another run from the Owls put them up 29-19 at the break.

Harris-Stowe struggled to score the ball to start the second and the Owls were able to grow their lead to 16 in the first two minutes of the half. The Hornets quickly cut the lead down to seven over the next few minutes, but a 9-2 run from the Owls pushed their lead back out to 17 with eight minutes to play in the game. The Hornets did their best to get back into the contest but their shots were not falling down the stretch as the Owls closed them out to advance to the quarterfinals of the AMC Men's Basketball Championships.

The Hornets had a difficult time scoring the ball tonight as they went just 16-for-60 (26.7%) from the floor and 4-for-26 (15.4%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded 45-35 and turned the ball over 14 times while picking up nine steals.

Isaiah Dicks led the way for the Hornets as he finished with a season high 10 points while pulling down five rebounds. To go along with Dicks, Riley Barnes finished with 10 points, Marquis Peppers finished with a team high four assists, and David Spell grabbed six rebounds to round out the top performers for the Hornets.

This marks the conclusion of the 2020-21 Harris-Stowe men's basketball season. The Hornets finished the season with a 1-9 overall record and a 0-6 record in the American Midwest Conference. The men's basketball team will return to the court in the fall.

via langstonsports.com - A strong second half performance paved the way for the seventh-seeded Langston University Lady Lions to knock off second-seeded Mid-America Christian 75-66 in the opening round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Women's Basketball tournament on Tuesday night.

Langston (7-6) trailed 36-29 at halftime but opened the third quarter on a 20-11 scoring run to turn the tide. The Lady Lions moved in front following a three-pointer by Victoria Vickers to make it 49-47 at the 2:35 mark in the third quarter.

The rest of the way the Lady Lions would hold the lead.

Langston pushed their advantage to as much as nine in the fourth quarter after Asheika Alexander knocked down back-to-back free throws with 37 seconds left. Alexander led all scorers with 27 points (10-of-25) on the night. Adia Rogers chipped in 15, Vickers finished with 11 and Talia Edwards registered double-digits in rebounds with 12. 

Tuesday night's win marks the first victory over MACU and the first SAC tournament victory for Langston head coach Elaine Powell and Lady Lions since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference in Fall 2018.

The Langston Lady Lions (7-6) now square off against number three-seed University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 26 in the semifinal round of the SAC Women's Basketball Tournament. Tip-off time has not been announced.

via fmuathletics.com - Despite a career night from freshman forward Cheyanne Whitfield, Florida Memorial University's women's basketball team couldn't pull off the upset of host Webber International University Tuesday night as the Lady Lions fell 69-67 in the opening round of the Sun Conference Postseason Tournament.

 

The teams played a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, trading the lead eight times over the final 10 minutes. After Heather Durand gave FMU a 65-64 lead with 2:22 left to play, Webber International scored the next two baskets – taking a 68-65 lead that it ultimately wouldn't relinquish. 6-seed Florida Memorial did have one final shot to potentially pull the upset on the 3-seed Warriors, getting a possession only down two with three seconds to play after Webber split a pair of late free throws.

 

After a timeout, the Lions tried to get the ball to leading scorer Keaynna Tolbert, but the Warriors had multiple defenders draped over her and instead the ball found freshman Chantel Barnett – who threw up a desperation heave that bounced off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded, cementing the final 69-67 margin.

 

Whitfield led all scorers Tuesday with 20 points (on 8-of-13 shooting) and finished one rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 9 boards to go along with 2 steals. Whitfield's 20 points and 33 minutes played both set new season highs for the Lynwood, California native.

Tolbert, a veritable lock for First Team All-Sun Conference honors with a decent shot at a possible NAIA All-American nod, finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Lions. Durand played all 40 minutes and finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and a block.

 

The Lady Lions fought their way back into the game after falling into a 9-point hole early in the first quarter. FMU settled in and began playing the style of basketball that it has when it's been most successful this season – fast-paced offensively and defensively – going on an 8-1 run at one point in the second quarter and took a 36-35 into halftime.

 

Webber International, who will play the winner of the St. Thomas University-Ave Maria game, knocked off the Lady Lions for the third time this season. Four different Warriors players finished with at least 10 points – led by Eletra Graham's 16 points – and they gained a slight edge on Florida Memorial by winning the turnover-margin battle. FMU turned the ball over 26 times Tuesday while Webber International only gave it away 19 times.

via fmuatheltics.com - Making its first appearance in the Sun Conference Postseason Tournament for the first time under head coach Ansar Al-Ameen, Florida Memorial University's men's basketball team found itself hampered by one of things that plagued it for much of the season – cold shooting – as it shot just 31 percent from the field in their 75-64 loss to host Ave Maria University Tuesday night in the TSC Tourney Opening Round.

 

The Lions, who trailed by eight at halftime and as many as 14 in the second half, made just 21 of their 67 attempted shots Tuesday. Within that was a 5-of-21 (24 percent) three-point shooting performance, marking the 10th time that they shot below 25 percent from long distance.

 

Only two FMU players scored in double digits. Senior Mubashar Ali, who will be taking advantage of the "COVID year" and will be returning to FMU in 2021-22, recorded his 13th double-double of the season with a team-high 23 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

 

Aubrey Washington, who also is likely to return next season, finished with 18 points, 2 steals, and 2 rebounds before fouling out in 34 minutes of action. 7-foot-2 freshman Nicodemo Majuec had 8 points and 11 boards while Andrew Drugan chipped in with 5 points in 10 minutes off the bench.

 

The Lions truly missed the offensive production of senior guard Sam Mack Jr. A 15 point-per-game scorer this season, Mack struggled to find his shooting stroke Tuesday – going 0-for-10 from the floor (0-for-3 from three) and finished with just 2 points and 3 turnovers in 22 minutes. It also didn't help that 6-foot-9 forward Cheikh Kebe had just 1 point and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes.

 

Ave Maria, which will play the winner of Keiser University and College of Coastal Georgia in the second round, also only had two players finish with double digit points – Eric Klekas' game-high 24 and Chayse Culpepper's season-high 22 – but had two other players finish with 9 points and another finish with 8 while the Gyrenes as a whole shot 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range, not great shooting clips but still considerably better than what Florida Memorial shot.

 

In spite of its final record, FMU and Coach Al-Ameen could sift through the season and find multiple positive takeaways and building blocks for next year. Ali is a shoo-in to receive First Team All-Sun Conference honors; the team may have found its big man of the future in Majuec, and the Lions swept its neighborhood and conference rival – St. Thomas University – during the regular season.

American Midwest Conference (W)  - #5 Harris-Stowe (5-9, 5-6) at #4 Williams Baptist (15-5, 12-3), 7pm CST Wed, 2/24

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (W) - #5 Philander Smith (4-7, 2-4) at #4 Xavier (LA) (9-6, 2-4), 5:30pm CST Wed, 2/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL6RF6_zZSo&list=PLs31sGNXlOaQ8hrgFsLoUPFCL1h-A0reB&index=37

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (W) - #7 Dillard (2-9, 1-5) at Co #1 Talladega (15-2, 5-1), Wed, 2/24 6pm CST https://team1sports.com/talladegatornadoes/

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (M) - #5 Edward Waters (11-7, 2-4) at #4 Rust (7-9, 2-4), Wed, 2/24 6pm CST https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt8NCl9c1fvyNz9PZ0nlYZA

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (M) - #7 Tougaloo (3-10, 0-6) at #2 Xavier (10-4, 5-1) Wed, 2/24 7:30pm, CST  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kq3likKn0&list=PLs31sGNXlOaTy_HDXbRYcFoxXLs0ZtQgX&index=47