March 2, 2008
Box Score
CHARLOTTE, NC - Fourth-seeded Johnson C. Smith stopped a late rally to beat sixth-seeded Fayetteville State 65-57 on Saturday (March 1st) to claim their second CIAA Men's Basketball Tournament title in school history. With the victory, the Golden Bulls gained an NCAA Tournament automatic bid in the South Atlantic Region.
The victory occurred at Charlotte Bobcats Arena where the Golden Bulls won three games in three days before their hometown fans. The Golden Bulls also claimed the 2001 CIAA crown against the Broncos.
On Saturday, the backcourt trio of Fayetteville State's Andy Gebru, Phillippe Harris and Jamel Austin drew the attention entering the title game, but it was the threesome of Edmund Rainey, Jerry Hollis and Maurice Hooper who led the Golden Bulls to victory. Rainey, the tournament MVP, scored 16 points while Hollis and Hooper added 15 points and 13 points, respectively, for the Golden Bulls, who led by as much as 14 in the second half before the Broncos' Harris and Gebru sparked a rally.
Trailing 40-26 with 13:49 left, the Broncos used a 21-8 spurt to pull within 48-47 with 5:36 left. Harris and Gebru combined for 11 points including three three-pointers during the run. The Golden Bulls countered with a 9-1 run capped by Rainey's layup to open a 57-48 margin with 1:36 remaining in the game to ice the win.
Harris led the Broncos (14-15) with 18 points including 4-of-8 three-point shooting and Gebru added 13. But the Broncos' guard trio of Harris, Gebru and Austin were 11-of-39 combined from the floor.
The Golden Bulls, shooting 50 percent in the first half, took charge early as seven different players scored. Hollis led the way with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and Hooper added six points. Both Rainey and David Sanders scored five points for the Golden Bulls. The Broncos shot 23.3 percent in the first half. As a result, the Golden Bulls led by 16 points before Harris' three-pointer with one second left sliced the margin to 32-19 at halftime.
Three Golden Bulls (Rainey, Hooper, Sanders) and three Broncos (Harris, Gebru, Austin) made the CIAA All-Tournament team. The other members include Jason Ingram, David Paris and Joshua Johnson of Bowie State and Brad Byerson of Virginia Union. The CIAA men's team sportsmanship award went to Virginia Union.
2008 CIAA Men's All-Tournament Team
NAME POS CLASS INSTITUTION
Phillippe' Harris G Sr. Fayetteville State
Jason Ingram G Sr. Bowie State
Brad Byerson F Sr. Virginia Union
Andy Gebru G Sr. Fayetteville State
Edmund Rainey G Sr. Johnson C. Smith
Davis Paris F Sr. Bowie State
Jamel Austin G Sr. Fayetteville State
Joshua Johnson F Sr. Bowie State
David Sanders C Sr. Johnson C. Smith
Maurice Hooper G Sr. Johnson C. Smith
2008 CIAA Men's Tournament MVP
Edmund Rainey G Sr. Johnson C. Smith
2008 CIAA Men's Team Sportsmanship Award
Virginia Union University
