Feb. 12, 2011
Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - It was one play, but Ariel Robinson had seen enough.
The play didn't even hurt the Broncos, because Sidney Evans was able to knock the entry pass out of bounds. But the play was shaping up too easily for Robinson's taste, and as the officials retrieved the ball to set up the inbounds play, Robinson wheeled around on his heels and absolutely gave it to his teammates.
Moments later, the Fayetteville State Broncos got the stop Robinson was looking for, and after scoring on their end, they held a six-point lead with 6 minutes to go. From there, the Broncos took control of the game, knocking off a ranked team for the second time in a week after beating Livingstone 92-78 on Saturday night at Felton J. Capel Arena.
"Defense comes from having character and integrity," said Fayetteville State head coach Alphonza Kee. "If a play goes against us, we don't hang our heads. We get right back after it."
After a Darius Cox dunk with just over 6 minutes remaining in the game, Fayetteville State (11-10, 7-6, 3-3) held the Blue Bears (12-8, 7-5, 3-3) without a field goal for 4 minutes as the Broncos used a 9-2 run over that stretch to build an 81-71 lead with 2:19 remaining in the game.
It was the decisive stretch.
After failing to hold off Johnson C. Smith after leading late in the game on Monday night, the Broncos closed things out emphatically against Livingstone, which came into the game ranked 10th in the Atlantic Region. Seth Hawkins (So., Greensboro, NC), pressed into extra duty when starting point guard Andre Best (So., Raleigh, NC) fouled out, hit five of six foul shots down the stretch and made a pretty scoop shot in the waning minutes to preserve the victory for Fayetteville State.
"Seth gave us some huge minutes," Kee said of Hawkins, who made three of his four shot attempts for 13 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. "He showed great poise and great maturity."
The Broncos overcame a career-high 32 points by Cox, who scored 18 in the first half to lead Livingstone to a 46-42 lead at the half. The Blue Bears shot 55 percent from the floor in the opening period, but the Broncos limited Livingstone to just 28.6 percent shooting in the second half. And by holding a staggering 55-34 edge in rebounding, including a 21-12 edge on the offensive glass, Fayetteville State was able to pull away and finish off the Blue Bears.
"After not finishing the game at Johnson C. Smith on Monday, to come back and do it here against a great team like Livingstone just shows how much our team has grown this season," Kee said.
And the Broncos were balanced throughout the lineup. Robinson (Sr., Coral Springs, FL) scored 14 points in just 15 minutes off the bench, hitting four 3-pointers, each of which seemed to come at a critical time in the game. Sidney Evans (Jr., Durham, NC) added 14 points, 10 of them in the second half, to go with nine rebounds. Tim Plummer (Jr., Apex, NC) had his second straight double-double after finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. John Herrington (Jr., Jacksonville, FL) had his fifth double-double of the season after 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. And Jarmel Baxter (Jr., Davidson, NC) shook off foul trouble to add 10 points.
Carl Boswell and Omar Ford-Bey each had 11 points for Livingstone.
The game was tight throughout, with 10 lead changes and eight ties. The teams traded the lead seven times in the first half alone, but Livingstone never led by more than four points. The Blue Bears led 59-55 with 13:14 remaining in the game, but Robinson buried two 3s and Evans slammed home an alley-oop, sparking a 13-3 Broncos run that handed them the lead back, 68-62, with 9:03 left.
With the win - and after Shaw's victory over Winston-Salem on Saturday night, Fayetteville State moves into a tie for second place in the Southern Division. The Broncos host St. Augustine's at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at Felton J. Capel Arena.
