South Carolina HBCU Sports This Week

**Tigers Knock Off LeMoyne-Owen, 82-81**

The Benedict College men's basketball team took another step towards a SIAC title on Tuesday, as Gob Gabriel hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to lift the Tigers to an 82-81 victory over LeMoyne-Owen in the 2023 TIAA SIAC Basketball Championship Tournament presented by Cricket held on the campus of Savannah State University.

"It doesn't even seem real," said Benedict head men's basketball coach Artis Maddox. "But it's that time of year. It's win or go home and you've got to find a way to win."

The Magicians, the third seed from the West Division, hit the first of two free throws with nine seconds left in the game. Gabriel rebounded the missed shot and passed to Brandon Smith. Smith then passed the ball back to Gabriel streaking down the left sideline. Gabriel stopped at the 3-point line and lofted the game-winning shot.

"I knew if I had the ball in my hands, I would let if fly," said Gabriel, who finished with 10 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers. "Once Brandon got the ball back to me, I knew I was going to get the shot off. It was a great feeling. Emotions were rushing. My teammates were running up to me. It was a lot of fun, for sure."

Benedict now advances to face Savannah State, the second seed from the East Division, on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on the Savannah State Tigers' home court, where they lost just once this season. Savannah State defeated Benedict 58-54 in Savannah on Jan. 25. Three days later, Benedict defeated Savannah State 69-64 in Columbia.

"At this time of year, everybody is going to be good," Maddox said. "We just need to come in ready to play and be dialed in, limit our mistakes and take good shots on offense."

Tuesday's game was close throughout. The Magicians took an early lead, but the Tigers got their running game going and capitalized on some fast-break dunks to take a 35-28 lead. Gabriel hit a jumper to close out the first half and gave Benedict a 39-32 lead at the break.

Marshaun West hit a jumper to open the second half to give Benedict it's largest lead of the game, 41-32. The Magicians put together a run and took a 46-45 lead after a three-point play with 16:32 remaining and the game stayed tight the rest of the way.

The Magicians hit a 3-pointer to take a 72-68 lead with 3:25 left. A pair of free throws a short time later gave LeMoyne-Owen its largest lead of the game, 74-68 with 2:49 remaining.

Asanti Price hit a 3-pointer and Dontavius King followed with a layup to cut the lead to 74-73 with 1:14 left to play. The two teams traded 3-pointers, with Brandon Smith connecting with 14 seconds left to play to make it 80-79. The Magicians hit the free throw with nine seconds left, setting up Gabriel's game-winning shot.

Malachi McCoy led the Tigers with a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Price had 11 points and Gabriel scored 10 points.

**Women’s Tennis On The Road At Charleston Southern**

The defending MEAC Champion South Carolina State women's tennis team return to action on Tuesday (Feb. 28th) on the road versus host Charleston Southern at the Gary Clark Banks Sr Tennis Center. First serve is 1 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs (1-2) dropped a tough 1-4 defeat to Kennesaw State in their last outing, while CSU also suffered an 2-5 setback to KSU.

**Claflin Track & Field Gets a Great Start to Outdoor Season**

After completing a successful indoor track & field season, the Claflin University men's and women's outdoor track & field teams made a tremendous debut into the outdoor track & field season at the Savannah State University Eyeopener, Saturday.

"Overall, the teams did a great job," said Claflin University track & field head coach Garon Jackson said. "We used this meet to focus on executing and improving our overall health."

The Panthers were especially impressive on the track. The Panthers' long sprinters had the best day with freshman Reginald Gore leading the way once again. He took first place in the men's 400m run with a 48.78. Sophomore Zion Murry added a third-place finish in the event with a 49.29. Sophomore Darius Holmes added a third-place finish in the men's 110m hurdles with a 15.86 in the event. The reigning Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) men's indoor 4x400m relay team carried their strong efforts into the outdoor season when the squad won the 4x400m relay at the outdoor meet with a 3:17.81. In field events, sophomore Jocolbi Morgan placed second in the men's long jump with a 22'2.25" (6.76m) jump.

The Lady Panthers were also impressive as well with some great performances at the meet. Freshman Phejana Burnside took center stage for the Lady Panthers when she won the women's 100m hurdles with a 15.31 and she followed the effort by winning the women's 400m hurdles with a 1:13.54. "She is definitely improving and working hard to be among the best in the conference," Jackson added. Sophomore Zoe Adams moved from her usual 400m run to the 800m run with a great performance. She placed fifth with a 2:31.29 while senior Jonnica Fuller added a sixth-place finish with a 2:31.40.

**Central State Rallies in 4th to Upend Allen Women in SIAC Tourney**

The 4th seeded Allen University women's basketball team saw their 14-win season come to an end Monday evening as they could not hold off the 5th seeded Lady Marauders of Central State (OH) falling 79-68 in the opening round of the 2023 TIAA SIAC Basketball Championship presented by Cricket. The week-long tournament is being hosted by Savannah State University at Tiger Arena.

This was the first year that Allen's men's and women's basketball programs played in the conference tournament as they make the transition to full-time NCAA Div. II member.

The Allen Ladies finished their first full year in the SIAC with a 14-13 record overall and 8-11 in the conference while Central State improved to 11-13 and advances to a Wednesday Quarterfinal matchup against #1 seed Tuskegee.

Allen was led by four-time Newcomer of the Week, guard Keyshuna Fair as she scored 18 points while shooting 4 of 8 from behind the arc and played a team-high 28 minutes. She also added 4 rebounds and 2 steals before fouling out. Also playing well was fellow junior guard Destinee Jamison-Whitfield scoring 12 points with 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.

Allen got out to a slow start scoring just 6 points in the opening quarter as they fell into an early 18-6 hole. AU then went on a 13-4 run in the second quarter getting to within 3 points at 22-19 with 5:30 to play. However, CSU would extend it to seven at the break leading 32-25 at the intermission. The Lady Yellow Jackets then found their offense in the third quarter outscoring the Marauders 28-22 while climbing to within one point at 54-53 on a Tatanyi Morris three at the buzzer. In the fourth, CSU would again increase their lead to seven at 63-56 with 7 minutes to play until the Jackets made one final run. Back-to-back threes from Jamison and Fair plus free throws from Jamison-Whitfield and another three by DJW gave Allen their only lead of the game going up 67-64 to complete a 11-1 run with 5 minutes to play.

Unfortunately, that would be the last basket of the game the Jackets would make over the final five minutes as CSU finished the game on a 15-1 run for the win.

Allen held CSU to just 28 percent shooting from the floor and only 25 percent from three. However, the difference came at the free-throw line with CSU making 26 of 41 freebies while Allen managed just 17 of 28 as the teams combined for 45 total fouls. Central also only made 14 turnovers while they forced AU into 28.

Freshman forward Talayah Boxley finished out her rookie campaign with 6 points and 9 rebounds while fellow freshman wing Ananda Mayhew recorded 11 points with a block and steal. Senior guard Jazeem Bethea also added 6 points and 6 boards before fouling out while junior Kayla Pope and senior Symone Jackson combined for 8 points and 10 rebounds. Pope also had a team-best 4 assists while Jackson blocked two shots.

**Lady Tigers Drop Pair At Albany State**

Albany State swept a softball doubleheader over the Benedict College Lady Tigers on Saturday.

Albany State scored five runs in the sixth inning to take a 12-6 victory in the first game. The Lady Golden Rams scored six runs in the fourth inning to take an 11-3 victory in five innings in the second game.

The Lady Tigers were held to five hits in the first game. Tre'sor Eady had two hits. Olivia Townsend had a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

In the second game, Benedict had five hits again. T'yannah Lake had two hits, including a solo homer in the third inning to cut the lead to 4-3. The Lady Golden Rams then scored one run in the bottom of the third inning, then scored six runs on six hits in the fourth.

Benedict, now 2-8 overall and 0-2 in the SIAC, will take on Albany State in the third game of the conference series on Sunday. Albany State improved to 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the SIAC.